Back again! This is the best I have felt since my surgery. Lots of updates!

From a surgical perspective, I have done great. Healing has gone wonderfully, very little pain, which has been a blessing given what else I have been going through. I’ve been cleared to get in the pool, so I am excited about that. Two weeks post-op I am a smidge ahead on my weight loss. Foods are progressing well, I’ve even progressed a little more quickly than I should have. I am excited to get swimming and my husband and I are going to start walking.

But I had one huge issue in my recovery… So here’s a little “would I do it again this way?”

With bariatric surgery comes meds. Whether it’s supplements, prescription meds, etc., there will be adjustments so that you can take those after surgery. Mainly having meds that are chewables, crusheable, etc. None of this went to plan. And here’s why…

There was one med I had to adjust from a capsule to a tablet after surgery. It was Venlafaxine (Effexor). I had been on this situationally due to anxiety and depression after I left my job last year (WHOLE other story!). Where I failed was doing my due diligence. I knew what the med was, but with the state I was in I went with the doctor’s recommendation without doing my usual research. Now a year later, with surgery approaching and adjustments needing to be made in the med, I talked to my doctor about discontinuing the Effexor. He told me to just take one tab for a week and then stop. To say getting off this drug was a nightmare doesn’t even cover it. Titration of this med is horrible. It basically irritates nerves to the brain causing “brain zaps,” extreme nausea (nausea meds didn’t work), brain fog, headaches, fatigue – you name it, I had it.

So for the two weeks I was home recovering it was hell. Pure hell. Each day I woke up literally praying to God that I could get out of bed and the symptoms would be better. I spent time reading up on Effexor and the stories I was reading just slayed me. Symptoms months after discontinuing, harder to get off of than heroin, really slow titrations, just misery. I couldn’t take my supplements, they tasted horrible and with the constant nausea I would have thrown them up. Unable to do anything but try and sit in a chair, and even then I was experiencing the “zaps” constantly. They don’t feel good, almost to the point of pain, vertigo, headaches, nausea. For a solid week and a half I just thought I would keel over and it was depressing. Trying to get off the med for depression was making me so disheartened and depressed! Ugh! I can’t win.

Luckily, my symptoms have continued to taper off. I feel like I am almost there. My first week back at work was last week, it was rough. My husband very sweetly told me he couldn’t have made it through the whole week, all day. He said he would have been crawling up the stairs in pain. I am woman, hear me roar! LOL… I actually had very little pain and if I hadn’t been having withdrawal symptoms, I would have been a powerhouse! Well, a powerhouse unable to lift over 20 pounds or vacuum or do any of the things I normally would.

The drug withdrawal symptoms have now decreased to almost nothing. I notice the afternoons when I start to get run down they increase a bit, but still MILES from where I was.

My care nurse with my surgeon’s office was not thrilled when she heard that I was discontinuing the med while recovering. Bariatric surgery comes with it’s own set of issues, some of which can be depression related. But I was stuck with it. I had already started the titration (if you can call it that) and I was ripping the band-aid off and getting through it. It was going to be hell either way. If I would have titrated more slowly I would have had those symptoms stretching out who knows how long.

If I had to do it all over again – I would never had started the Effexor. But my recommendation to anyone thinking about getting off of any long term meds – read up, do your research, really talk with your medical provider about a realistic, safe plan for discontinuing your med. And again, research before starting any med! Doctors don’t always talk about side effects in detail unless you bring it up. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for my doctor, but I am my own best advocate.

So, now that I’ve made it through, I’m ready to move forward and get this weight off and get my health back! I’ll be back with an update on how I did surgically during my recovery, what I ate, what I’m progressing into now. Thanks for reading!