If you deal with depression / anxiety before your surgery how have you been dealing with it since post op. I take Zoloft and lithium for my anxiety / depression but I’ve been off my meds since the doctor said I can only crush them. It’s been about 2-3 weeks since I’ve taken them. How do you motivate yourself to go outside and enjoy life ?

Not there yet but my surgeon said if your meds are the size of the bed of you pinky nail you can swallow them. If they are larger some can be cut. If that is no good than see you pcp and figure out what you can do. I wouldn't completely cut them out.

1 hour ago, Dropdeadkim said:

If you deal with depression / anxiety before your surgery how have you been dealing with it since post op. I take Zoloft and lithium for my anxiety / depression but I’ve been off my meds since the doctor said I can only crush them. It’s been about 2-3 weeks since I’ve taken them. How do you motivate yourself to go outside and enjoy life ?

Double check with your surgeon. Unless the pills are huge, you might be able to swallow them by now. I was able to swallow fairly large pills 2 days after surgery.

Why haven't you been crushing them and taking them with something (protein shake, pudding, applesauce, etc.)? Also, you can sometimes get medications in alternative forms (liquid, dissolveable tablet, etc.) that you can take after surgery. It seems very dangerous to have stopped your medications... I can't imagine going off my medications for depression and anxiety and trying to manage my post-op care.

53 minutes ago, brightfaith said:

Why haven't you been crushing them and taking them with something (protein shake, pudding, applesauce, etc.)? Also, you can sometimes get medications in alternative forms (liquid, dissolveable tablet, etc.) that you can take after surgery. It seems very dangerous to have stopped your medications... I can't imagine going off my medications for depression and anxiety and trying to manage my post-op care.

Creekimp recommends sugar-free CoolWhip

My lithium is a capsule and before I left the hospital I asked and they said to try my best to do without them.

Just now, Dropdeadkim said:

My lithium is a capsule and before I left the hospital I asked and they said to try my best to do without them.

This seems like terrible advice to me! I'm so sorry you've been without the medication for this long. The Vyvanse I take is in capsule form, and I just open the capsule and stir the contents into sugar-free chocolate pudding (made with protein powder). Do you have a psychiatrist, and if so, what has their advice been?

Sadly I go to a hospital for my psych appointments so I have to wait a whole month to see my psychiatrist. But I’ll try adding it into pudding or applesauce.

15 minutes ago, Dropdeadkim said:

Sadly I go to a hospital for my psych appointments so I have to wait a whole month to see my psychiatrist. But I’ll try adding it into pudding or applesauce.

Hello (waves) I have high functioning autism, I deal with depression and anxiety disorder. My meds have been well it's been a rocky road with absorption, I am on Cymbalta (generic) 60 mg it's a time release capsule I now am on two daily one in the morning and one mid afternoon to get my absorption rate back up to 60 mg. I had numerous appointments with my psyche doc to get the dosage right. I've been put on Lexapro 10 mg in the morning with the Cymbalta as a 'booster' it's month two and I've had dizzy spells with the Lexapro.

I take amitriptyline 50 mg, 0.5 Clonazepam, and eszopiclone (generic Lunesta) for sleep issues. My sleep has been OK'ish at best and fitful restless at worst. I'm 8 months out now and by far the worst adjustment to post-op life has been the depression, anxiety and absorption with medications for my depression.

The first two months were hell, I had a severe depressive relapse and dear god it sucked balls. Cried myself to sleep most nights months 1-3 and woke up snot covered.

Now I'm over the major hump and I just think my body is trying to find it's equaliburam the 'new normal' once I reach my goal weight of 160'ish things should calm down and find the balance.

I'm also on low dose birth control and haven't had a period for 10 years. So there is that. My body is wonky right now, and as such I've been 'blah' 'f this' and not motivated forcing myself to workout, lift weights, walk outside. Do this thing called life.

With all that said, welcome to the forums. If I can be a sounding board for you to listen to (read your replies) I'd be more than willing to share my experience and advice should you request it.

I had all of my medications converted to either liquid form or immediate release in preparation for my upcoming surgery. I bought a pill crusher that is hospital-grade (Silent Knight Pill Crusher) which was overkill, but I am determined to keep the mental health stuff in check during my recovery to the best of my ability. @Dropdeadkim I'm really disturbed that a medical provider told you to stop lithium and Zoloft cold turkey. Zoloft comes in generic liquid, and my understanding is that lithium capsules can be opened and sprinkled into something. In fact, I find it so disconcerting that I would suggest filing a complaint with State of New York.

Definitely check with your doctor. I can't be off my meds for more than a few days without feeling really down. I was also able to swallow my pills the day after surgery.

I'm somewhat struggling with the original post here. Did the doctor not know you were taking these medications? There are all sorts of liability issues here for the doctor given the fact that you could slip into depression and/or mania if it's bipolar related, increased risk for self-harm, etc. Was a psych eval performed? I don't mean to infer you aren't telling the truth, but I simply don't understand how this could happen from a medical perspective. I feel like we are missing pieces of the puzzle here.

Sad to say, doctors are,not always kind to depressive. The same group that Said to us while we were obese to stop eating, that we were lazy and not trying, now tell depressive" snap out of this, you are only doing this to gain attention!" When I have a flare of my own deorssion attention is the LAST thing I want, I want to curl up in a ball and hide.?

I take something for anxiety, but it’s a small pill. Pre op they told me I could even take one the morning of surgery. Post op my surgeon said it was fine to swallow. Which was a welcome surprise because anxiety meds taste like ? when crushed ?

I am shocked someone told you to stop! With those kind of meds you can’t just stop ever. In fact, the reason I went with the sleeve is because my surgeon said I wouldn’t have to give up any of my depression meds with that surgery.
I hope you can find another doctor to get information from. Good luck with everything!

Luckily I’m about to reach my fourth week so I can start taking them again. It was really hard being off them but hopefully I’ll be feeling better. Thank you all for the support