If you are considering a bariatric procedure and take any oral psych medications PLEASE READ THIS!

[Carissa Ellis]

Hello all,
If you suffer from any mental health problems I am begging you to read this prior to your surgery. I had my VSG in Aug 2013 and have been doing well. As I lost weight the dosage on my medications has been reduced by my health care provider. This is typical of the sleeve which is a restrictive procedure. My husband, however, just had a gastric bypass in Feb 2015. He is also losing weight and looking good. Here is where the trouble comes in... The gastric bypass causes both restriction and MALABSORPTION of everything you ingest orally (this includes food and medication). My husband is bipolar but is extremely compliant with his daily medications and his therapy sessions. He has been stable with no major issues for years. After his surgery he was very upbeat and seemed to have so much extra energy. Great, I thought. He must just be in a good mood because he is losing weight. WRONG! As the days and weeks passed by I noticed he is going to bed much later, waking up much earlier, speaking very quickly and loudly, jumping from one topic to another without ever linking his ideas, he has been extremely disorganized and confused. Then this week he became agitated and increasingly violet (not towards me). This resulted in a visit to the mental hospital. Although he was taking his medication as prescribed it was just not being absorbed into his bloodstream. He needed help and finally agreed to get it.
Now, I am not discouraging anyone from having a life-changing procedure that can allow you to feel like a person again. But it is so important, and often overlooked that medications routes need to be adjusted if you are going to alter the anatomy of your GI system. Thank goodness the medication he needs is available in a monthly injection, rather than a daily tablet. This is definitely something to be explored prior to surgery to make sure you can tolerate it. Receiving the meds via injection allow it to be slowly absorbed without having to enter the GI tract and preventing the first pass effect from the liver. Please discuss you options with you psychiatrist before ending up in a mental health crisis. It is scary and dangerous for both the patient and the family. Good luck with your all around health and thanks for reading!

[Gina4]

Thank you for sharing your your experience, I'm sorry you and your husband went through that. Many others will benefit because of you courage to share. Best to you and yours
Gina

[mem222]

I'm sorry for what you've gone through. I think surgeons should discuss any medication with the prescribing MD when someone is having gastric surgery, especially with the bypass due to the malabsorption issues,, I'm sure after reading your post, people will have more open discussions with their MDs.

[Love4mykids]

IM on prozac and will be discussing this with my Doctor, thanks so much, praying for the best for you and your family ,God Bless

[liveherenow]

Carissa Ellis, I appreciate you bringing light to this subject. I chose the VSG after reading about the bypass and malabsorption of psychiatric meds. It is something that should definitely be discussed with your surgeon and psychiatrist because of how the malabsorption affects the digestion of vitamin/minerals and medications. I hope your post will help others to initiate this conversation with their Doctor. Thank you for sharing and spreading the news.

I am sorry that you and your husband are experiencing this situation. I am saying a prayer for you and your family.

[Skibabe]

Extremely good point and not something that had occurred to me. I had post natal depression after my first daughter and am lucky that this was years before my sleeve, so absorption was never an issue. But I'm so glad you brought this up as it's hugely important that people are aware of this. Which is partly why I've put in my 2 cents' worth, to keep it at the top of the list in this forum :-) Good luck to you and your husband. Mental illness needs to be discussed more, to break the stigma attached to it and to educate those who have never experienced it. Have fun on this exciting chapter of your journey :-)

[niki k]

One thing that my husband's surgeon talked about was meds. That the sleeve was by far the best option due how tolerant it is to medications. He takes a colitis medication that it is not an option to stop taking it. The surgeon also told us about his sister had this done, and was bipolar, and he would not have recommended it, if she couldn't take her meds. That's why I think it is important to really learn about the surgeries. The good the bad and the ugly. Make a educated decision. Thank you for sharing this struggle, it is important for people to know the realities out there! Good luck!

[MamaGavu]

Great post and great insight. Its sad though that the Drs. should know this when you give them your meds list. When I told my Dr I was on zoloft he wanted to know why, how long, and talked to my PCP before he would do any procedure on me. I had the sleeve so it wasn't an issue, but really these Drs need to pay better attention.

[aeridale]

Thank you I too am bipolar I am choosing the sleeve but had no idea that either would affect my mental mefications. Thank you

[kiaka52]

Thanks for the information you are so right. I'm a RN and I work on a PICU Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit and I get a lot of patients who have had a gastric bypass who are admitted on my unit and they tell me the same story like what happened to your husband. Medications should be adjusted for all patients that are having any surgery that is going to cause any major weight loss.

[redkcmom]

thanks for sharing - how is he doing now?