Hormone dumping post op rny?!!

It happened again last night. I am 3 weeks post op. I think it is hormone dumping. For the second time since surgery I went from feeling normal to extreme depression and extreme anxiety pretty much all at once.  Everything hurt, everything was wrong, nothing would be good again. I wrote out my feelings and realized I was not thinking like my usual self which was good to know but did not stop the anxiety, panic, and crippling depression.  I felt like I was losing my mind completely and had gone insane.  Fast forward a few hours and I felt 50% better, fast forward to this morning and I feel normal again.  Has anyone else experienced this and if so how did you deal with it?  What worries me is that this will happen while I am at work and cause problems. I am seeing my family doctor on Monday and will be discussing it with her and my nurse practitioner but was just wondering if anyone else experienced these types of feelings and if so what did you do to deal with them?  What I did was I cried for a few hours, went out for a long drive and bought a mini bag of sour cream and onion chips and ate about 10 of them very slowly.  I feel like a failure for eating chips this early out but it was an emergency situation so I did and they did seem to help strangely enough. I have been getting in all my protein, vitamins, liquids, meds, so at this point I am stumped. I was thinking of returning to work part time next week but now I am afraid of acting like a lunatic at work and embarrassing myself. Anyone else have this happen? How did you deal with it? I would rather not take more medication but if I have to then I will.

What is "hormone dumping" ?

It sounds like you may have had a panic attack. There is no "emergency situation" that ever calls for chips. You posted about your issues with anxiety/depression prior to surgery and these things will not magically get better after surgery. There is a lot of change and healing going on in your body and that can contribute to feeling emotional but I don't know what you're referring to with hormone dumping. I've not heard that term before. I am glad to hear you are going to see a doctor. I am very concerned about you. I really hope you can find some relief.

Here is a link to hormone dumping in case anyone is interested: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/4232259/quotHormone-Du mpquot-question/

I just read about it a few weeks ago, before that I had not heard of it either.

I have had panic attacks many years ago and this seems different somehow, but maybe that is what is happening, I will mention that to my doctor. I know surgery does not cure anxiety and depression, but I was hoping it would not cause it. No depression or panic attacks before surgery - they tested me for that, just normal anxiety and nervousness. Right now it is just "boom!" and I feel so completely emotionally devastated and anxious. There is no stressor or incidents that are causing them, they just seem to come out of nowhere and then are gone.   It is very disturbing to me and I hope it stops soon. 

I am sorry to hear you are struggling emotionally at times. It could be hormonal imbalance, yes, it could be any number of things really. You are going through a huge life change and times when you may have felt like you did last night may have been soothed with food in the past. Now that you are post-op bariatric surgery, food is not an option, sorry. The fact that you chose chips over the thought record process (I am assuming you are using this technique due to your mention of writing thoughts out and assigning a percentage to the intensity of them) or relaxation techniques to calm yourself is quite scary to hear, frankly. Anxiety and the need to feel calm is not an excuse to eat chips. Or anything else for that matter and I am very sure you know that.

To truly find use in using the thought record you need to think through the whole process - don't stop at simply recording your thoughts, you must write out evidence, evidence that doesn't support your hot thought or distorted thinking, etc etc. for it to be effective.

If you are already on medication there is a very good chance that it will need to be adjusted and maybe not just a few times either. Whomever prescribes your medication needs to understand clearly that you are struggling and may need an adjustment to find the right dosage.

If you would like some assistance with using the thought record effectively, I am more than happy to share some ideas with you - feel free to send me a message anytime, sometimes two heads are better than one. It is best to be prepared with how to effectively use the thought record so you have some comfort with it before your feelings are very intense.

Karen

Edited to add: Meant to also say, I think perceiving your situation as an emergency is not helping. An emergency to me is life threatening. Have a little faith in yourself that you can get through the feelings. xo

Hi Karen,

I did cbt tables for an hour as I cried and it only made me feel worse to know that the cbt was not helping as it normally does. I was aware that my thoughts were not logical nor helpful and even came up with logical healthy responses, but my level of distress did not go down as it usually does. Maybe I should have just kept on going with the cbt for longer until I was feeling better?  Yes, that is definitely what I should have done. The chips were a mistake, I know that and it scares me how upset I became. My family doctor has a walk-in tomorrow so I might go in and see her then rather than waiting for our Monday appointment as I had planned.  I am also made a list of other activities to help rather than chips:  put on my softest pjs, let myself cry, write out my feelings, cbt charting, have some herbal tea or sf hot chocolate, snuggle with my dogs, take a nap, do a guided meditiation, distract myself.  I found this interesting webpage that uses a 7 step process, sounds interesting:

http://intentblog.com/7-steps-to-dealing-with-extreme-emotio ns/

1.     Take responsibility for your present emotion.
2.     Feel it in your body.
3.     Label your feeling.
4.     Express what you feel.
5.     Share what you feel with someone you trust.
6.     Release the toxic feeling through a ritual.
7.     Celebrate the release and move on.

I am a very methodical person and processes help me feel safe and confident, so I will give this a shot the next time I feel that way. If anyone else has any other non junk food ways they dealt with this then please let me know, I am open to ideas. Karen, I may take you up on your offer regarding guidance in cbt, thank you for the suggestion. 

Just running out the door (sorry!) but I will send you a PM later today. I have a relaxation process that I have started doing when things are really intense that actually works (who knew!) that I want to share with you. That 7 step process looks very helpful, thank you! I will definitely check that out too!

We are all in this together, you know - still learning and coping and dealing. Sometimes it helps (me) to talk things through.

Look for a PM later!

Karen xo

Thank you Karen, I really appreciate your response as I know many people do not feel comfortable discussing the strong emotions that can be experienced after surgery.  In know I am not the only one who experiences this, would love to hear from other people too who are going through or have gone through similar experiences. Don't be shy - your experience may help someone get through their own. I am off to chapters to by that Deepak Chopra book I mentioned in the last post, sounds great.

I can't help you with all that medical aspect cause I know nothing about this subject but all I can do us be there to listen. Take care xo

Thank you Julie, I know you are such a good support, I really appreciate it.

You are an emotional eater. But to claim it was an emergency situation to eat chips 3 weeks out is a very bad excuse. You had a bad time yes but to say say you had extreme depression and anxiety I highly doubt. Those last alot longer than a few hours especially depression, I have suffered from the following for 15 years...1...Major depressive disorder, 2... Severe Social anxiety disorder, 3.... Post traumatic stress disorder 4.... Obsessive compulsive disorder and General anxiety disorder, and I have never used my illness as an excuse to eat, I also knew this surgery would not help me in this area. You ate them slowly you say, doesnt matter, you still ate them, you should never been near them. Whats going to happen the next time, are you going for hamburger and fries or pizza? You are looking for excuses to eat, put on your big girl pants and deal with it. Yes I am coming on strong, because you were so excited about this surgery, you were so ready, now it looks like you are going to blow it because you were down. Dont diagnose yourself, get to your doctor and let him/her do it.