Please tell me this is normal!
Yep. Here is a post I saved from one of my Yahoo groups.
sending you love.
Amy
Hibernation Syndrome
After WLS, you may be feeling tired and become depressed. When you are several weeks post op, and are either on a liquid diet or you are eating many fewer calories than you were pre op, this depression and inactivity can become more pronounced. All you want to do is sleep, you may have crying spells, you may begin to believe that the surgery was a mistake, or you may think 'what in the world have I done to myself?'
All these feelings are completely normal and, to a certain extent, are to be expected. The low number of calories you are eating produces what many of us call the 'hibernation syndrome' and your depression and feelings of despair, are a direct result.
During the weeks immediately following surgery, our body starts to notice that we are not taking in enough calories. It doesn't know we've had WLS, or that it's the year 2003. Our body is missing food, thinks this is a famine, and struggles to conserve our energy. The human body reacts like it always has in a famine; it makes us depressed--so we don't have the motivation to do anything, and it makes us tired--so we don't have the energy to do anything. In this way, we will conserve as many calories as possible and remain alive. You can see the practical value of this as our bodies have been living through famines, snowstorms, and other periods of unstable food supply for centuries.
This stage can last several weeks. Our discomfort is compounded as we are, at this same time, trying to recover from major surgery, adopt new eating habits, and deal with a liquid or soft diet. To get out of this stage, our body has to say to itself 'gee, this famine is lasting a bit too long. If I keep conserving my energy with inactivity, I will starve to death. I'd better use my last store of energy (the remaining fat and muscles in our body) to hunt up some food'. At this point, our body will switch from getting energy from food, to getting energy from our fat (and muscle too if we don't eat enough protein) and that is what we want.
In order to deal with this difficult transition period, tell yourself that you're right on track; this is exactly what is normal and to be expected. Tell yourself that, in a few weeks, this will pass, and you will feel like a completely new person. We all seem to turn the corner about 4-6 weeks post op. Then, your mood will lighten and, with your weight loss starting to add up, you'll feel more positive and have a better outlook on life. Just keep telling yourself that you will not always feel this way! You WILL be back to feeling like your old self. Just give it time!
I had a day recently where I just cried off and on. I dont' know why. I'd talk to my sis on the phone and then get off and cry. I cried because I bought two pairs of shoes for walking and only needed one. I watched Steel Magnolias and cried when Julia Roberts was getting married...not to mention when she died. I would just sit and boo hoo at stop lights. Anyway, mine didn't last long and it's gone now. Good luck to you. Pam
Tammy-
As others have confirmed this is normal. My MIL and SIL both had this surgery over a year and a hal*****hey said the first month (actually one of them said the first 2-3 weeks) was not great. They said that this was the ONLY time they were thinking "what have I done" type thoughts.
I have only had a few short moments of crying or feeling really down- like "why did I do this".
I think what has helped is I just keep saying my mantra of "just get through this first month". I prepared for it to be pretty awful!
But once it is over and your eating small amounts of normal food. You will gain back some energy. And you will have lost a good amount of weight. And you should be feeling GREAT!
Also know that lots of us- me included- use food for emotional reasons. So having that "crutch" gone may be hard long term to deal with. Lots of people experience mild to moderate depression. So if your crying jag lasts a couple of weeks or more...don't be ashamed... Tell your Dr. you think you might be depressed.
Hugs and I will be praying for ya!
Linda
I believe that we ALL in our OWN WAY must go through a grieving process. We have LOST some of our freedom of CHOICE. We have LOST our former best friend (FOOD) and, now, suddenly everything seems so different.We have to acknowledge these losses and deal with them as we would deal with death or any other form of loss. If you read many profiles you will see that in most cases this grieving happens and then is over and that people get on with their lives, adjust to a NEW way of thinking and living and then HOP ON THE ROLLER COASTER and prepare for the RIDE OF A LIFETIME!!!!
You KNOW in your heart the the decision to have this surgery was truly in your BEST INTEREST! Just keep looking FORWARD and I pray that your depression and grief will quickly pass.
Sandy