My Bipolar Journey

In the latter part of 2015, the stomach pain became unbearable. I went to my doctor and he suggested that I go to the hospital. Of course, I resisited. But after a week of excruciating pain, I relented. The prognosis was a bowel obstruction and immediate surgery. Despite my fear of hospitals and operations, I had no choice. In the first of 3 operations, the surgeon inserted a colostomy bag to eliminate the obstruction. A month later, I had a second surgery that would remove one foot of my colon. Thankfully, it was benign. And the third operation was to remove the bag and hopefully get back to normal. The surgeries and subsequent pain really hit hard. And I slipped into a depression after a 10+ year period.

Post-op depression is a common, temporary, and treatable condition, affecting many patients with sadness, anxiety, and fatigue weeks or months after surgery. Caused by anesthesia, physical pain, and trauma, it often includes symptoms like sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and hopelessness. Treatment involves social support, rest, gentle exercise, and potentially antidepressants.

At the time I was not seeing a psychiatrist, so my family doctor prescribed Paxil again and it vaulted me into a manic state which destroyed a relationship, caused an arrest on false charges, and wreaked havoc on my day to day life. I was arrested for harassment and luckily the charges were dropped. All of my arrests were based on verbal harassment, I never touched another person. I’m a pacifist and have never raised a hand to another individual in my life.