Ileostomy - Serotonin - ADHD - Depression - what is actually going on?

I dont know the answer but would be fascinated to find out as I have an ileostomy and suffer from anxiety..I have wondered about this myself.

Kath

Me too!

Anxiety is off the scale some days - and for no real reason. I'd be interested in a natural solution rather than a pharmaceutical one. It would really interesting to find out if there had been any research done on this.

Hopefully someone will have an answer

I thought mine was because I had my op,then chemo then straight into covid lockdown.But as I still have anxiety I have been wondering about malabsorption,but cant get a straight answer out of the colorectal nurses.

I do hopr someone on here has some info.

Kath

Hi KKat23 

I’m going to tag Artsie in as I know she has experience and some knowledge on this. I was on Sertraline for anxiety right up until my surgery and stomas but then stopped. I’ve got a colostomy and urostomy so not sure if that makes a difference but my anxiety recently has been ramped up and I wonder about any connection.

Sarah xx

Thanks Sarah 

Hello Kat 

I had my LAR with temporary Ileostomy August 21.

I was really careful in my diet and slightly paranoid about blocking so I logged my intake but it was basically beige paste food. No nuts or high fibre. 

Around the end of November I was in a dark place.  That’s the only way I can describe it, I’d suffered depression when my son was in a spinal unit with an RTA.  It was the same which I felt cross as I should have felt relieved and grateful that the cancer was in the bin.

My mood would not lift so I contacted my GP and asked for some happy pills I knew I couldn’t lift myself out. It was really strange

Anyway about a month later the dark mood lifted, I wasn’t jumping for joy but definitely was more able to cope with life 

I then researched what I was taking, serotonin which we get from things like NUTS  I ate peanut butter and introduced loose leaf salads even chewing nuts at times though they cause jaw ache

I was convinced that the serotonin tablet fixed my lack of finding it in my diet 

However there’s more to this 

Thirteen months later I was reversed so I thought get off the happy tabs. 

I’ve not managed that so far as I’ve had another cancer diagnosis it’s not a spread, 

Ive tried to cut them down but for now they’re staying in my life. 

I may be dependent on them for now but I have a lot to manage and need to keep my mood as light as possible 

Sending you a hug 

take care 

Thank you all for your contact and advice - it's so helpful!

I think it's all relevant and connected and I'm just surprised that it wasn't mentioned to look out for when thinking about our recoveries.

I've been doing some more research are Serotonin (which are in the SSRI's or happy pills as you call them Ann Artsie !)

95% of serotonin is produced in your intestines (from the food we eat) so if some of my intestine is not currently in use, my body is going to have a hard time producing this.  In addition, due to the diet restrictions, some of the necessary nutrients for increasing serotonin uptake are recommended not to eat at the moment!!  It all makes so much sense now - and the guilt I sometimes feel from having mental illness (I know I shouldn't but I still do!) and not being able to work is eased a little.

I like a plan - I struggle just sitting around, even when particularly depressed - probably the ADHD element coming out. So, I am going to start trying to increase my intake of fruits/vegs as I don't eat much of them at the moment due to the risk of blockage.  I had a minor one after some cherries - not something I wish to repeat. Along with them, I'm going to add nut butter and whiz them all up in a smoothie. 

If you have any other ideas of way to get more of what we need into our bodies - please let me know!

Has anyone tried St. John's wort?  Apparently, it acts as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (like SSRI meds) ... probably shouldn't use both and SSRI and St. John's wort at the same time!!

Thanks everyone xx

Hi KKat23 

You are right-St Johns Wort should not be used with SSRI meds as this has the potential to cause a life threatening reaction and could be very dangerous.

Sarah xx

I agree with you completely. When I realised the difference that taking serotonin made I phoned my stoma nurses to discuss the subject.

The basic response was unless they have funding to research this lack of serotonin in Ileostomy patients have they can neither confirm or deny 

There was me excited about a new discovery and that was soon squashed. I wrote about it here thankfully Sarah linked us 

I am definitely interested in your research with diet. My diet is still quite unhealthy but I’ll get there 

I will try St John’s though and see if I can bin the happy pills 

take care 

I will stop taking my Happy pills first better still chat to my GP next week 

Yeah - they like to wean you off them slowly.  However, if your low serotonin symptoms were in relation to your stoma then hopefully St. John's wort or a combination of other things will help rather than medication. I'm no expert but if you're not a fan of taking the meds, then it's always worth speaking with your GP.

I struggle with the consistency of diet and exercise (ADHD again) so the SSRI has been useful in this respect.  But I keep trying to find a simple new habit to make me feel a little brighter that is easy and doesn't take too much effort so I can keep it up!

If I find anything good, I'll let you know. xx