Mood issues post weight loss

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I don't take anti depressants and I dont think I am depressed but I do at times struggle with blasts of feeling blue. I wanted to talk about it here because I am trying to understand what is happening to me and think you are all tremendous resources.

What happens is that I get short lasting periods of feeling pretty down. It might last 30 minutes ....extreme case it might last a day. Weird thing is it is never triggered by bad news or some concrete clear reason but there must be some cause. My situation is getting better, not worse but I want it to be gone...lol...So I am asking for advice. I also went through a period of really bad anxiety but that is pretty much better too (ie I get infrequently anxious over things that scare me rather than unknown so I consider that normal)

Counslor I sometimes see thinks it is a sign of growth. I buried alot of pain under obesity and food and now I am wrestling with"meaning of my life" type questions rather than worrying if I will fit in a chair or airplane seat. I have moved up the maslovs needs hierarchy. I think she is right because I do find myself examining my life, eliminating people and activities that are negative and adding people and things that are pleasing. Good stuff but a truckload of change. I find myself working hard to let go of my grown sons and accepting that they need to make their own mistakes (I just ask they make different ones..Haha). I find myself facing that my life is almost unrecognizable from say 5 years ago. It's only partly weight loss related much of this change is age related normal life progression and some of it is me fixing some pretty broken things (work in progress).

My medical doctor thinks it is mostly hormone related. I wake up every night and somtimes have serious sleep issues. She thinks hormone things are triggering adrenal surges which is why I am sometimes wide awake for hours. that is under much better control now but I was up most of Saturday night with a tummy problem and was just depressed all day Sunday. I slept great last njght and feel great emotionally and a little better physically so it was excellent evidence that sleep deprivation can trigger the mood swing. The fact that I am sleeping better in general AND that my little blasts of the blues are reducing is also more evidence for this.

A close friend is absolutely convinced it is hormonal too because of experiences with other women my age. I went through menopause in my early 40s...very young. I have always believed it was triggered by the devastating tragedy of my sister's horrible illness and eventual death. We were like twins...very bonded...and losing her lin 2007 left a hole in my life. Oddly I did not really experience menopausal symptoms until after weight loss. I think my fat was like taking hormone replacement. I don't have hot flashes but do now experience some other menopausal symptoms so it could be that this is absolutely the cause.

Anyway I am not dead set against taking anti depressants except I am not depressed and I don't want to mask symptoms I want to resolve them so my remaining years are the best they can be. Would love to hear how others have experienced this. I look back and I do feel in my heart that I am getting better and more resilient as time goes on. I am less concerned with how others see me and really developing a stronger inner confidence. I hope this means that I will work through this issue too. I am not sure it is weight loss related EXCEPT I know I used to go around pretty numb much of the time and life is in Technicolor these days. It's good, it's GREAT but it's also alot if you know what I mean.

[Katcloudshepherd 630]

CowgirlJane,

Can I ever relate. I have no reason to be blue, yet at times, I get very depressed. I sometimes wonder if I am mourning my old friend--food. My old friend was ALWAYS there for me. Feeling a little low? Have a bite or two, or three, or four........ Sedate myself and swallow away the pain. I don't have that avenue now. I have to deal with my emotions--head on.

I wouldn't go back--but--at times I think I'm mourning the way my life was and learning that the "new normal" is quite an adjustment. I have no choice--I have to make that adjustment.

[ElyQuint 446]

I can relate to you both. I am medicated bipolar and there are days now where I wake up poverty-minded & know that the day will be a loss. Antidepressants only manage chemicals that are unmanaged so they won't eliminate normal moments of funk. I am learning to sit in the feelings, rather than sedate with food, knowing they are only temporary. They are my signal for radical self care! I pull up a bucket of hot bubbly lavender Water for my feet, make a nutritional shake, put a face mask on and watch an old Jimmy Stewart film. I call these saturation days. I have a list of self love activities specifically for these days. Funk happens.

[swizzly 901]

I totally feel you, as you know. Have you read up on mid-life crises, cos it sounds like a full-blown one to me. I've got several under my belt now. :-( Yes, also, to the hormones. For sure. And lack of sleep. They are all additive.

For whatever it's worth, I've always had super intense down periods/anxiety attacks that last from an hour or two to a whole day, almost always gone the next day though. I think it's called...life. I stopped trying to over analyse and 'fix' it and just try to roll with it instead. Most of the time, I tell myself it's not real -- it's hormones or lack of sleep or work stress just having its way with me, and I can ignore it enough to get through it. It ALWAYS ends again. <3

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Swizz, that is exactly what I do - tell myself this too shall pass, and usually very quickly. In the case of Sunday since I also had GI distress I have myself permission to have a down day and took it really easy. I put myself to bed early and took something to really sleep and guess what - I feel good today so far.

One other coping thing I do is call a friend. I used to call and tell them how horrible I felt but then I realized that didn't help either of us. Now,I just call and talk for like 5-10 minutes and about 99% of the time that seems to reset my brain since I usually don't really have a dang thing to complain about. It is a mystery that maybe has no solution. Maybe it is just one of the joys of womanhood (hormones) and that at my age i really need my sleep. I used to be able to have a few nights of poor sleep and be just fine and I really can't anymore for some reason.

I also believe that some of it is that I am not suited for a desk job, which I have. I need to move and be in front of people. I love many many things about my job so I am not complaining, but over the long run, I may be thinking about additional lifestyle changes that suite my personality better. I like to be on the MOVE, I like to interact with people face to face, I like to be constantly challenged and as I am very verbal - I like that interchange with people. I don't get enough of those things at work and I know sometimes the tension for me is trying to focus on desk work when what I really want to do is run around and talk to people...haha

[lsereno 2,525]

I have to exercise or I suffer from depression. It's a sad state of affairs because I hate exercise, but that's the way it is for me. I walk 3 times per week for about an hour and feel even better if I throw in a couple of 45 minute strength training classes.

I took an antidepressant for several years but after I began exercising, I was able to stop them and I felt better than I did with the meds.

Mine started pre-menopause. I do think there is also emotional work to be done since I no longer eat my feelings. I found Cognitive Behavior Therapy the most helpful for that.

Lynda

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I am on the exercise "feel good" band wagon also. If I do not exercise in a day, I have a much harder time dealing with stressors and daily problems that come up, mostly work related, some which are simply imaginary in my own head. Exercise normalizes my mood and even keeps me on the up side of things. I wish my personality did not depend so much on releasing endorphins from exercise, but that is the way it is having somewhat of a type a and addictive personality. Before surgery, I used food often to feel better, to bring me out of my constant moody blues. Now I use exercise and fitness. I do hope you find something that balances out your mood because struggling with short or long term stretches of deep depression or anxiety is no fun. Been there, done that. Thanks for sharing.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Fiddleman

[Escape_Pod 358]

Count me in for the exercise as stress relief! My weekend hikes help so much with shaking off whatever's going on at work.

You might also look into things like amino acids. I think especially for women as our bodies change as we get older, it's not uncommon to end up out of balance biochemically. I read Julia Ross' Diet Cure, and tried several things she recommended based on how I was feeling. I take HTP-5 and GABA, which have really mellowed out my moods - I'm just on a more even keel, don't end up with really disproportionate reactions to things emotionally, and L-Glutamine worked wonders for me, albeit briefly, with the sugar cravings. I was really skeptical, but the difference when I take them is quite noticeable. Might be worth a try if antidepressants seem like more than you need. Ross's book or Maria Emmerich's book Secrets to Controlling your Weight, Cravings and Moods are good places to start if you're interested in this approach.

[Seela 1,187]

I totally get it. I know I'll feel better if I exercise but the depression won't let me. It's like Iron bars holding me down. It's a circle and I don't know how to break free. Depression sucks.

[swizzly 901]

This is a great book on exercise and depression, very well-researched and convinced me totally! :-)

http://www.amazon.com/Spark-exercise-improve-performance-brain-ebook/dp/B000SFD21Q/

This is an awesome book about mid-life crises and the good that can come out of them...

http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Meaning-Second-Half-Life-ebook/dp/B000P2A436/

I'm still working on both approaches...

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Thanks for the links Swizz... will check em out.

I have been reflecting on this thread and realized something. Due to plastics, I stopped exercise back in october. Then, when I was cleared to resume exercise I decided to join and gym and work with a personal trainer who quickly injured me (not that I hold a grudge or anything). Now, I am re-habbing with a different PT who is having me do very focused, low intensity strength training of small muscles. What I am missing is my old high intensity aerobics. I am still active, riding horses, working around my farm, going on walks all that stuff, but I am not doing the high intensity spinning or group classes. I am going to resume that as I do think that "working up a sweat" nearly daily really helped me feel good. I also don't like that I seem to need an "endorphin fix" but it's where I am at right now so I guess I will just accept that and see what happens.

An observation about my favorite hobby - horse back riding - is that I KNOW it triggers endorphins but i don't have time/ability to do that everyday.

I suspect that there is no single thing - sleep issues, hormone issues, the need for endorphins... they all play together somehow and it is a matter of managing that balance and then just tolerating those times when I get the unexplained mood drops.

I really don't think I am depressed since I have alot of energy and MOST of the time feel from fine to pretty dang good. I have alot of optimism about life and my future and to me that is not a depressed experience.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

It is not necessary to go full on HIIT or cardio zone for 45 minutes or your usual 1 hour to reap the benefits of a better mood and a better feeling body for those of you with desk jobs. For example, I was really dragging this morning and was repeating to myself "how am I going to make it through the day in this chair". And I was really achy everywhere (residual SI ache and neck strain issues). So I popped in my p90x plyo and did two rounds (20 min). The first two rounds plus warmup (8 rounds in whole workout) is always enough to kick my heart rate up and my body loves it. Sure enough, my heart rate was 167 after doing 2 rounds of jump squats, run stance jump squats, foot to foot leaps and swing kicks with as much intensity as I could muster. Not a huge commitment with 20 min, but I am back in the game and feel much much better to do my day job. 20 minutes is nothing if it means a heightened mood for 8 hours. Maybe I will do another 20 min at the end of lunch. I would definitely prescribe exercise like this over SSRI because SSRI basically just flattens out your mood where there are no highs, no lows, just flat lining. Short HIIT bursts on the other hand turns on the feel good * 1000. I will have my regular workout after work, but until then, I will be buzzing from the quick endorphin jolt to the system.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Fiddleman

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Further experience has shown me that a poor night's sleep is the number one predictor of mood swings the next day.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I definitely agree on the lack of sleep comment for it has been a struggle of mine for a while, ever since VSG. After finding melatonin does not really help me stay asleep (helps me fall asleep fine for about 4-5 hours), I have given in to taking a prescription sleep aid. Sure there is some next morning grogginess again, but getting asleep for 7-8 hours is more important for me or I will go paranoid. Another thing you might try is upping your carbs. I always feel a little better after hitting the carbs early afternoon (2 hours before working out). Of course, I encourage you to get back into the high oxygen consumption, sweat inducing cardio you know and hold dear. That always brights my mood and clears the fog from my head.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Fiddle, I find it interesting that you suffered from a fairly similiar situation as me - the sleep deprivation leading to not feeling 100% the next day. As a woman, it is always said to be my hormones acting up. I assume they didn't try to tell you that it was due to too little estrogen...haha. Anyway, I do wonder if there is a correlation to the massive weight loss? My other theory is that I used to feel miserable but since I felt so physically miserable all the time when i was obese I didn't notice. My standards are much higher now!