Depression, Lightheaded, Dizzy

I just hit my 3 week date. I had my 2 week post op on Monday. I had been feeling fine from a mental status until my appointment. the doc said something and then that triggered the ****strom that is my depression. I am M.D.D. and have been depressed most of my life.  I have been taking my meds but this week I have been horribly depressed with crying and mood swings. They say that this is normal for a couple of months after surgery, however I have had surgery before and I have not experienced this before. I have also been staying in close contact with my therapist and working through the things that are coming up. Does anyone know the technical reason why this happens? I'm more of a need to know how /why the things work  and not just a "well, these things happen".  I was wondering if anyone has noticed an absoption rate being heightened or decreased. It feels like my klonopin hits me like a train now when i take it to calm down and im wondering if that is what is happening with my Pristiq and thought about backing that dow to see if that helps with the mood swings. I also check the calendar and its not OMS time so this really shouldnt be happening.  The other thing i have noticed this week is that i am very lightheaded and dizzy... almost to the point of altered. Im getting in my 40 - 60 gm of protien and im taking in less than 30 gm of sugar as recommended. Maybe its withdrawals from all the crap i was eating before?  im trying to get in more water. This morning i almost finished 50 oz before i started on my protein drink. they told me not to watch my calories but since i log my intake to make sure im hitting my macros i am getting in 500 -600 calories a day.... which also may be part of the contributing factor.  I got moved up to solid foods early and that helps with the absolute starving hunger i was having on just liquids... and yes really hunger, not head hunger.... i've been doing this a while and learned a while ago how to identify the difference.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I don't have any experience with or about depression so I can't offer much help with that.  I just want to tell you that I am wishing you the best and hoping you get past this and feel better. 

I have depression and anxiety and my surgery was on 5/2.  I have not had any big problems with any of them. I did cry for a couple hours once home from the hospital wondering what I had done to myself but that's better now.

  Are you exercising?  Sitting and waiting from meal to meal would drive me absolutely insane.  I have never exercised before the surgery.  Now, I know I have that 30 minute period I can't drink after I eat so I go for a walk to pass that time away, which, led to me exercising as soon as I get up in the morning and have my decaf tea. I'm up to 3 miles in the morning sometime****ting 6 or 7 miles by the time the day is done.  It has done wonders for my self esteem.

Even those not depressed are going to feel some kind of depression going from any food you want to picking and choosing the best for you and not being able to eat very much.

Did you have a pre diet and how long did you do it.  I think doing mine for 4 weeks really help me wean from the caffeine and sugar and I haven't had the urge to even cheat once.

My point is, exercise is proven to help with depression so move move move.  It will help with your weight too.

As for why this happens, not sure but our bodies have been through a major trauma so to speak. And as quick as most of us heal, we can not heal our minds way of thinking that quick.  Keep posting, keep talking and keep working thru it.  We're all rooting for you!

Good luck to you and kudos to you for keeping your therapist in the loop.

Oh the only problem with exercise is that i have no energy by 2 pm. i think i may have just found the answer for that. I started wondering if it was a big sugar drop since they only want me having less than 30 gms of sugar. I got a orange juice from downstairs and almost immediately started to feel better. Now i haven't gotten up to walk yet to see if i'm still dizzy but i'm definitely not doing a major crash and wanting to cry and im starting to think a bit more clearly. I am also journaling right now which of course always helps.   with the version of my surgery there wasnt a pre op diet so that was really nice. However i was already eating better and going to the gym pre op so that once the surgery was done i could roll right back in the the habit i started. 

I would buy the whole major trauma to our bodies thing if I hadnt already had lapband. that was a major surgery and i didnt have the gas pain with that or and of the depression. just the hunger. i quit caffeine in my early 20's and have been cutting back on sugar but not to this degree so im thining it sugar withdrawl now. ill monitor it and ween down and see how that goes.

You're almost certainly hitting what folks call the "hormone dump." Estrogen is stored in fat cells, and as we lose weight rapidly, all of those extra hormones go flooding into our systems.

I have bipolar, tending more towards depression, and having the hormones on top of mental illness was a ***** As far as my psych and I can find, there's no affect on absorption because of the sleeve, BUT if you're on a med that's affected by estrogen (like Lamictal, which I'm on) you may need to tweak.

OK good advice.  My estrogen was pretty high for my pre op blood work. i guess i didnt expect it to do this as it all started falling out. My plan this weekend was only take 50 mg of Pristiq instead of my full 100 mg and see what happened. that way if i had a total melt down, id be at home for it where no one could bear witness. :)

Oh lamictal..... fantastic for some.... i almost committed myself when i gave it a try.  lol  sigh. the joys of finding the right psych drug. :)

That's a good plan! I never tweak my pills when I have to be coherent, LOL.

Let's give a big old middle finger to medication trial-and-error!

 that's the best I can do. Lol

I felt better mood shortly after surgery.  I think it was the steroids they gave me during surgery.  If they gave you steroids to shrink inflammation during surgery that too can have negative effect on your mood. Even after weeks.  Hormone dumping from fat stored hormones as we lose weight also wreak havoc with our minds.  The lightheaded and dizziness could be blood pressure issues.  If you have a blood pressure cuff you might want to find out.  I went from taking 4 meds that affected my blood pressure to one over the course of a few days.  Also, make it your job to get a minimum of 64 oz of fluid / day.  I get over 100.  Really helps with the dizziness.  The carb thing is a separate issue.  If you think your blood sugar is dropping enough to make you dizzy it really needs to be checked.  I would not bump my carbs up with OJ because that is like drinking sugar.  Our bodies are pretty good at converting what we need from our energy stores.  Hope this helped.

I'm not diabetic, but was thinking of it like a diabetic does and it seemed to work. I'll keep playing around with it and see what happens.  Definitely seem to be symptoms of hypoglycemia.