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.

The chemical imbalance that causes true depression would not be one that would be noticeable in regular blood workups. It would be an imbalance in the serotonin, norepinephrine or dopamine in the brain. It would take extensive/specialized testing to pin that down. More often, depression is diagnosed by physical and mental symptoms and the length of time one suffers from such. I've included some of the symptoms which are used to diagnose.

**************************************************************

• You feel miserable and sad.

  
  

• You feel exhausted a lot of the time with no energy .

  
  

• You feel as if even the smallest tasks are sometimes impossible.

  
  

• You seldom enjoy the things that you used to enjoy-you may be off sex or food or may 'comfort eat' to excess.

  
  

• You feel very anxious sometimes.

  
  

  
  

• You don't want to see people or are scared to be left alone. Social activity may feel hard or impossible.

  
  

  
  

• You find it difficult to think clearly.

  
  

  
  

• You feel like a failure and/or feel guilty a lot of the time.

  
  

  
  

• You feel a burden to others.

  
  

  
  

• You sometimes feel that life isn't worth living.

  
  

  
  

• You can see no future. There is a loss of hope. You feel all you've ever done is make mistakes and that's all that you ever will do.

  
  

• You feel irritable or angry more than usual.

  
  

  
  

• You feel you have no confidence.

  
  

  
  

• You spend a lot of time thinking about what has gone wrong, what will go wrong or what is wrong about yourself as a person. You may also feel guilty sometimes about being critical of others (or even thinking critically about them).

  
  

• You feel that life is unfair.

  
  

  
  

• You have difficulty sleeping or wake up very early in the morning and can't sleep again. You seem to dream all night long and sometimes have disturbing dreams.

  
  

  
  

• You feel that life has/is 'passing you by.'

  
  

  
  

• You may have physical aches and pains which appear to have no physical cause, such as back pain.

  
  

  
  

It's this wealth of depression symptoms, and the broad scope that confuses many people as to what depression actually is. Explanations rarely cover all the symptoms, and everybody's experience is different.

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

I've thought of that, actually, since I remember suffering from it when pregnant. When I'm not pregnant my bp is borderline high but I've not been medicated for it. That's definitely one of the things we'll be checking up on tomorrow. Of course, I think my bp varies according to the person measuring it; it's always higher at one doctor's office than the other. :rolleyes

I'm glad you are just in a funk and not depressed. Not fun.

I second Nadine's suggestion about tanning. It is amazing how much better I feel after I tan for a few sessions. Just don't forget your sunscreen! (yes, I actually put on sunscreen before I use the tanning booth, especially on my face.) Of course, the only beinfit to being in ID as opposed to WA is there is actual sunshine in Feb! Amazing!

I tend to also have low bp. (let's hope I also have low pb after I'm banded!) It is pretty funny when a new nurse takes my bp and does a double take. (I'm fat after all; my bp should be sky high, right?)

Glori,

I LOVED taking the Rosemary! After my 3rd baby, I started taking it again (wouldnt take it during pregnancy) and noticed that I would have severe headaches every afternoon. A nurse friend who is also a holistic specialist told me that I had developed a reaction to it, so I havent tried it since....

Just opening the bottle and taking a big whiff makes me smile.