Two and a half years ago I had a triple heart bi-pass. I came through this fine and went back to work. About four months after that I came down with major depression and was hospitalized several times over the past two years. I also lost my job because I could not function at all. The doctors put me on every med in the book and I might be a little better, but I still have my bad days. My doctor changed my med about a month ago and I felt worse for a while, today I am up and feel pretty good. But I am not going to hold my breath about tomorrow, I have to just take one day at a time. After going into the hospital, I started losing weight, I lost 60 lbs in six months and was eating like a horse all the while. I have been eating like a horse for the past year and a half and have not gained any weight at all. Everybody tells me I need to gain weight. My doctor is concerned about my weight, he ran some thyroid tests and every thing looks OK. I read some where there is something called hidden hyperthroidism, whatever that means. There is something wrong somewhere in my glands, but it won't show itself. I have never had mood swings, just dark depression, and everything that I do requires an iron will
and I have the shakes most of the time, a lot of anxiety, and irritability. If anyone has any idea of what is going on with me, I would like to hear from them. I have applied at a lot of places to go to work, but they look at me and they can tell I don't look well. So the long days continue. I feel better if I am up and doing something so I try to keep myself busy. Thanks and have a great day. rlmarch
a lot of folks, after having a heart procedure that major, do commonaly experience depression. it wouldn't hurt to speak with your cardiologist or if you are undergoing cardiac rehab - your rehab provider. my father suffered a bad bout after his quadruple bypass.
after my bad car wreck last March - it was about a month later - I had a really bad deep depression. the docs at the hospital said it was due perhaps to being on heavy duty meds during my 3 week hospital stay and the fact i was in a lot of chronic nerve pain. that because of all that - it exacerbated and intensified my bipolar (bipolar before wreck).
there is a possibility it could be caused by a medical illness or dysfunction. a lot of medical illnesses have symptoms related to mental illness or cause relatable mental illness. still, docs treat the symptoms with psychiatric medications and they encourage therapy for the trauma of surgery or illness.
whether you have bipolar or major depression is for a professional to look at and I'm no professional. whether you are or not - therapy isn't a bad thing and the symptoms are treated with psychiatric medications. it is good that your doc is trying to find an underlying cause and I'd encourage you to keep working with him/her.
I wish you luck