No energy & down and out

Hello everyone.  I have been reading this site since my surgery 06/01/07.  I have lost around 105 pounds and am so happy! What a ride this has been!  At almost 2 yrs post op, I find myself able to eat more and always so very tired. I switched from the B12 injections to the nasal spray about 6 months ago and enjoy not having to be stuck with a needle!  I cannot find any energy.  I expected to be overwhelmed with energy since the weight is gone.  I have had my blood work done and everything comes back in the normal ranges.  I get home and want to crash! I havent exercised in months. I know that will bring back the energy level to some degree but I cant get motivated!  I seem to be a little depressed and I am always worrying I am going to gain my weight back!  Then I get mad at myself for eating more, exercising less and BAM, more depressed I become.  Anyone else get in this rut!  How do you get out of it?  I look forward to your responses!  Thank you

I know exactly how you are feeling.  There are days I just want to crawl in bed and stay there.  My surgery was on 8/3/07.  I take B-12 subliguals everyday.   All my labs are good.  As a matter of fact my B-12 was high in Dec when I had my labs done.

I stay stressed about gaining weight.  I know I don't eat like I should because I am afraid everything will cause me to gain.  I had lost 105 back at Christmas but have leveled out at 100-102 pounds lost.  Which is great for me.  I just don't want to fail at this.  I know if I don't keep my thumb on it that it can come back.  But like you I haven't really exercised in months.  I know if I did that I would feel alot better.

I guess I am just saying in all of this is that you know you are not alone.  I look forward to seeing how others respond. 

I don't have any magic words of wisdom other than to say I am really tired too.  I attribute mine to working 12 hours shifts as a nurse at 54 years of age but who knows.  I really don't feel much better than I did at 245 lbs.  I really expected to have tons more energy but that hasn't happened.  My labs are also perfect.

I think we are all terrified of weight gain cuz all our lives that's exactly what has happened.  We went on a diet, lost 40-50 lbs and gained it all back within a year.  How many times did that pattern repeat itself in our lives?  Unfortunately too many to count.  So the fear of regain is natural.  But this time is different cuz we KNOW the rules work if we follow them.

Exercise...what the heck is that?  Our world is so busy and stressful right now, making the time to exercise is hard.  We KNOW we NEED to, but doing it is another story.  I know that for 6 months I faithfully exercised 3-4 days a week then I hurt my knee.  Well the knee is completely healed and I haven't been back in months.  Somehow I need to regain that motivation too.  Cuz the funny thing is, I really liked going and it did help me feel more energized.

Luckily, I've never had to deal with depression.  I've always been a happy person who has been able to move through what ever hand was dealt to me.  So what's the magic answer?  Maybe formulating a plan and writing it down.  Set some goals for yourself and try your best to achieve them.  Also come here more often cuz we'll always be here to "talk things through" with you.

Get out my head, lol; you and I think to much alike.  Oh and as for having more energy I expected to have more now to; I've never gotten that energy boost others speak of BUT I've never exercised either and that might be (probably) the key to unlock my energy.

When and what labs were drawn?  I say this because there are so many that don't have enough drawn to get the true picture of what affects us as gastric bypass patients.  If you had 2-3 tubes of blood drawn then you didn't get everything.  When I have labs drawn it's 9-11 vials of blood, this finds out all the vitamins, minerals, iron, ferritin, calcium, etc.

Depression will cause exhaustion and fighting it for a while is ok, but as some point getting meds to help becomes a necessity.  I don't know if you are there yet or not, but I've been down that road and believe me once I got pass the hardheadedness I've been thankful I finally gave in and got the help.  I'm also dealing with hormonal female stuff that has impacted how I feel, just thought I'd throw that out in case you have any female issues to deal with, it will definitely throw you into a tailspin.

I believe so many of us live in fear of failure and regain that the emotional part of this journey is worse than the physical changes.  Fear is not cool, but how do we that have failed so many times and look to WLS as the last resort get rid of the fear?  I cannot answer that, I do believe that therapy is important along with self-help books if it's something you can commit to.  Learning to believe in ourselves and knowing we aren't perfect is important too along with getting back on that horse and riding away when we do fall off.

I know I didn't give you an answer on how to get out of the rut, but wanted you to know you aren't alone.  Please post on the boards as time allows to stay in touch with the rest of us, support is so important.

It's good to know I am not the only one; kinda was hoping I wasnt!  I have always been a happy person as well; I guess it is just "life" happening as it should but I am going to make an appointment to talk with a counselor just in case! 

When they have taken my blood, it was only 3 vials.  Can you tell me what all they check for you?  I have a very good relationship with my doc and can call them and ask.  I have had a hysterectomy so I do have hormonal issue. I have thought about finding a good internal medicine doc with the thyroid, hormone and deficiencies we develop due to the gastric bypass surgery.  I love my doctor but I wonder if he is missing something. He says he's doing a complete workup but it doesnt sound like he is. 

Thanks to everyone for your response and I will use this source!

Judy, PM me your email address and I'll send you a suggested detailed list of labs to check.  I do suggest an internal medicine doctor, mine in Houston was fabulous.  Being in Louisiana I haven't found one yet, my PCP here had lapband surgery though so has some WLS knowledge and he's doing what I want so I can't ask for much else.

I just got a call from his office saying they received all my labs back.  I asked does anything stand out and the nurse said "it all looks good as far as I can tell".  I'm going tomorrow morning to get copies of my labs, I track them myself.  I know before any doctor begins to worry what my body is telling me to hopefully prevent deficiencies.  I'll decide once I see them if a change in vitiamin quantity is necessary.

Sorry for the novel, getting hormones, thyroids and all vitamins checked may shed light or not but at least you have an idea and a base of where you are at.  Always get copies of your labs and put them in a spreadsheet.  As I mentioned before doctors don't worry until it's deficient, you will see things and can work on preventing deficiencies if you are aware of where you stand after each set of labs are drawn.

Did you have sleep apnea prior to WLS? 

Are you getting copies of your lab results and judging for yourself or are you trusting them to tell you "everything is fine." 

I'm just curious about that because even though something may be within an acceptable range, there could be a downward trend somewhere that they might not be quick to notice.

You have a couple of the answers...exercise and watching your foods. If these are the things that cause you stress, take control of them so they don't.

I worked out regularly and religiously from 6 weeks post-op until I bottomed out at 128 lbs. (my goal weight was 152). I cut out my gym workouts at that point because I was traveling for my job so much, but I always traveled to great walking cities, so it worked out for me. I'd just schedule my meetings so I could walk everywhere and got enough exercise in that I maintainted.

Getting in a regular workout routine will give you an energy boost while releasing good endorphins and giving you a personal sense of accomplishment. Add to that tracking your food on Fitday or Calorie King and you will then be in control of the two things that are adding to your depression.

I don't think there's anyone here who isn't afraid of re-gain. But taking control of two of the major contributing factors should empower you.

My first thought was to check your thyroid. And...just because the thyroid numbers were "in range" doesn't mean the levels are good. My endocrinologist puts his patients on thyroid even if the numbers are in the low acceptable range. He says the patients all respond well and notice a marked improvement. The regular docs often overlook this, so get yourself to an endocrinologist. If you live in Houston, I can reccommend mine if you PM me.

Therese