Hi I am kind of new at this, and for the past couple of weeks I have had this depression I can't seem to get myself out of.

Things at work are fine, my home and family are fine, but I am feeling BLUE.

I am down over 40Lb and I should be dancing, and feeling great, but I am not.

Has anyone else felt this way?

Someone at work told me it could be the food, or lack of it, maybe Vitamins.

Any light on this would be very helpful.

Glori, 40 pounds!! That's wonderful! Do you take any prescription meds...ex. thyroid, etc.? If so, you might want to contact your dr. and see if you need to adjust your dosage since your weight loss. Also, you might want to have a CBC (blood work) done to see if all is well.

Do you take a multi-Vitamin supplement? Are you eating good foods...proteins, veggies? Too many carbs make you feel bad. Do you have consistent exercise?

Do you feel like you're grieving for your old preband ways of eating?

I know for me, this yukky weather is depressing. When the sun comes out, it makes all the difference in the world. Spring is just around the corner!

How about buying yourself something new to wear...celebrate your weight loss. Spring clothes are coming out in gorgeous colors. Of course, don't buy too much because they'll be too big very shortly. Or just a cute, cheap little bangle bracelet or something fun that you can wear as your personal award.

(((Hugs))) girl. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

I am feeling the exact same way, I think mine has alot to do with mother nature coming to visit me:-)

and for the past couple of weeks I have had this depression I can't seem to get myself out of.

A couple of ideas...

In all honesty, you may have a chemical imbalance and need some sort of temporary anti-depressant drug.

If you want to avoid that route, try walking/exercising... any type of exercising acts as an instant mood lifter.

One more thought. Ever heard of the herb Rosemary? Its awesome for lifting moods. Its cheap too! Usually a vitamin/herb store will sell this. I took Rosemary for about a year and a half - loved it!

It made me so HAPPY!!!

Good luck. Keep in mind that depression is very hard on a person and their family! I hope you find an end to this soon!

I'll chime in about the mourning the loss of the preband ways of eating. Reading the boards, I have realized this could very well be a reality for me, when my time comes. No more just popping food in my mouth and gulping it down...THAT will be a big change for me. And I have read about banded people getting frustrated on occasion about not being able to take that last bite, etc. Of course, the benefits outweigh the frustration, but it is a reality for some.

I think this might ring true for me because that depressed feeling is how I felt when I quit another bad habit, smoking. Everything was fine, my husband, my job, we were beginning to plan our family (hence, the quitting smoking) but I remember driving to work and feeling very BLUE, like I didn't really know what was wrong, like I had lost my best friend, or...I just really didn't know. I felt like there was something wrong, something bad happened and I couldn't remember what it was, an argument with a friend? There was almost an anxiety associated with it. Then I realized, I HAD lost my best friend, the cigarette. Well, that explained my Blue Mood, which helped alot, but it took weeks for it to go away.

If this is you with food, you are not alone. I hope all this helps. Everybody is so nice to pitch in and hand out advice and experiences. Take what helps you, and if it doesn't, maybe it will help someone else. Good luck to you and keep us posted!

Hi Glori,

You've gotten great advice here and I just wanted to chime in and explain that I moved the thread to the Support forum so it will be seen by more people. (The Suggestions and Feedback forum is for matters relating to the forum itself.)

Be patient with yourself and allow yourself to feel what you feel. One of the things I came to terms with was realizing that weight loss will NOT change everything in my life, and I'll still be who I was before. I'm still me, just smaller. Things that made me sad or mad or frustrated will still do that. And we all go through times of feeling blue, it's perfectly normal. Above the Mason-Dixon line, it's called February. :rolleyes

Good luck, and I hope things look brighter soon!

The older I get, the funkier I get. I never had problems with depression in the past. I attribute mine to boredom. I know there's much more I could be doing with my life, but I spend hours and hours on the couch cuz it's where hubby wants me. Not that I do what he says, but he makes life so easy (LAZY) so that's my excuse for laying around.

When I get too blue, I clean out closets and throw away clutter and rearrange the house. Or call a friend... call two friends... call ALL your friends. Call me, I'll make you laugh, just ask anyone here!

Uh, excuse me, Marie... are you saying weight loss can affect my thyroid? Cuz I'm on thyroid meds, but I've lost 70 pounds. Should I get my blood tested? Could the meds cause this blue funk I've been in?

Lisa, I'm certainly not a med. professional. But a lot of meds. are affected by weight/hormone changes.

Uh, excuse me, Marie... are you saying weight loss can affect my thyroid? Cuz I'm on thyroid meds, but I've lost 70 pounds. Should I get my blood tested? Could the meds cause this blue funk I've been in?

Lisa, I've had my thyroid levels checked a couple of times along the way and so far there's been no change. But in the last month or so, I've been feeling a little funky sometimes--lightheaded, a little dizzy if I get up too fast--and I'm thinking it may be related to that. My PCP did say we should keep an eye on it as I lose weight, so at my physical on Monday I'll be telling her about these new symptoms.

I'll let you know what we find out.

Just bumping for Lisa. Not hijacking.

Thanks, Marie. Here's the story: About a year ago I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition and was given Levrothyroxine (sp?) that I have to take every day for the rest of my life. But then I lost 60 pounds, so a couple months ago my primary doc gave me blood and urine lab tests to have done. But I shoved them in my wallet and forgot about them till I saw this thread. So I went to the lab first thing this morning and hope to have the results in a few days.

Alex & Rebecca, you described my funk - blue, funky, nervous, light headed, etc. I'll let you know when I get the results.

Hey Lisa, I'm on the same stuff you are, but a very low dose. I know they told me I'd be taking it for the rest of my life, but I'm hoping maybe someday....

Glori, just how bad are you feeling? Is it a funk? Or is it serious depression? If you think you are truly depressed, my advice would be to see a psychiatrist.

I think two things happen that can cause us to feel blue when we get banded: 1) We have to mourn our old way of eating, as someone said. 2) We are suddenly without one of our main coping mechanisms. I know I used food to soothe me, to calm me, and to help me just zone out. I also used it to lift my spirits when I felt down and it worked! In fact, it worked great, which is how I got so fat. When the band forced me to give up emotional eating (for the most part), I suddenly had to feel feelings that I had previously suppressed with food. And I had to learn new ways of helping myself, which takes time. I'm definitely still working on it.

I think your feelings are very normal. Just don't let them get so bad that you feel paralyzed.

Alexandra, the lightheadedness you feel when you get up sounds like positional hypotension. Don't know if you are on blood pressure meds, but if you are, you may need to ask the doctor to adjust the dose. My blood pressure tends to be low and I sometimes almost faint if I get up too fast.

nancy

Hey Everybody,

Thanks so much for all the great advice, I went out yesterday and bought the Rosemary from my local herb store, my mom had told me about this a long time ago, and when you guys mentioned it, it came back to me.

I also just went thru my yearly physical at work, all blood test, thyroid etc. all came back just fine, so it does not seem to be chemical.

And I am originally from Chicago, so I know what the winter blues are all about, but I now live in Fort WorthTexas, and our weather is pretty good.

Some of you have mentioned the mourning my old eating habits and I had not thought about it before, but I think it might have something to do with it. I do find myself looking at my husband, and kids during dinner, and sometimes wishing that I did not have to take so much time, chewing my food, or not drinking during meals, I miss that a lot, I also feel this way when I eat lunch with coworkers, seeing how it takes me longer to eat a much smaller meal, than they have, and it takes me twice as long to eat it.

Or that I can’t eat all the foods that I used to love, like chicken, or steak, both get stuck, unless I chew the hell out of them, and by that time it taste like mush.

Don't get me wrong, I love that I am losing this weight, it would have killed me, if I didn’t. I am hoping that as time goes by I will be so used to my new ways of eating, that the old way, will seem like a life time ago.

Again, thank you so much for your well wishes, and concern, and for those who have asked about how bad is my blue feeling, I am feeling like I am in a funk, than in a depression.

Looking forward to brighter days.

Hi I am not banded yet, but I seem to always have trouble with the winter blues/blahs and generally dumpy feeling about February or March which I now recognize as SAD and from the advice of my counsellor many years ago, I go tanning a few times and it seems to improve my outlook immensely!! It is amazing what that lack of sunshine can do to how we feel

Nadine