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And now I'm depressed!

Posted , 9 users are following.

pam1313
pam1313

Oh blimey, just when I thought it cudnt get any worse, this has now hit me like a ton of bricks. Am nearly 21 weeks po new knee cap and trochlea. Knee is very slowly improving (I think!) but still occupies my mind until I fall asleep. But, my mind is all over the place. Doc prescribed me sertraline anti-depressants but after I'd talked to him I felt a little better so have not started them yet. I also have fibromyalgia so for 3 weeks had been taking 10mg at night, but I was sure they were making me more weepy, so rightly or wrongly I stopped them and am currently taking nothing......apart from paracetamol. But, I'm also menopausal, night and day sweats are awful, and in the night I'm constantly taking covers off or pulling them back on again. I seem to be in a vicious circle......am I depressed or just menopausal, I don't want to start taking tablets for depression when it cud be menopause, or vice versa, and naturally my fibromyalgia doesn't help!

Every morning from about 5am untill noon I'm very weepy and then I seem to get myself together, but during that time anything and everything sets me off.

Is anyone else experiencing anything remotely similar? I'm so scared of going on anti-depressants and then not being able to come off them. I'd so just like the old me back!

Any advice/suggestions would be so greatly appreciated.

0 likes, 18 replies

18 Replies

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  • mary0606
    mary0606 pam1313

    Posted

    Yes I do know how you feel Pam. I am now 60 and went through menopause a few years ago, I used to have to carry a face cloth with me every where as I would drip with sweat... ..thank heavens that has settled and now it's winter here, I am freezing cold...

    i also went on to anti depressants, but my doctor told me that they use them also as muscle relaxants, so I was very nervous but they have helped in every way, and I don't care if I don't come off them when they are doing their job...if he feels okay to take me off them then I would happily try, but the other thing hey help me sleep, as my sleep cycle is non existent,.

  • caroline46398
    caroline46398 pam1313

    Posted

    I was  similar and got the tablets but then didnt take them as I seemed to feel better just by knowing I could if needed. Like you I resisted but they are there to help and if you really need them then just like we take medicine for physical health we can take it for mental health. This seems to be quite common but another phase in recovery and sleep really helps. Focus in positive way on recovering and also giving yourself some time and space. Its okay to feel sorry for ourselves but we cant self destruct - its almost like grieving for the knee we have lost and our life as it was! But being down and depressed and crying - essential as they are, do not acheive much - best to focus energy on the good things in life. That 5.00 am lot is a nightmare - I know and so so many others - its as if we have a body clock (mine was 4.00 a.m.) that prompts us. Train your brain by doing something - I always iced and walked with high knees, read a magazine, watch a bit of TV and then went back to be about 7.00 had a few more hours and woke up better. 
  • susan33930
    susan33930 pam1313

    Posted

    Hi Pam

    I'm right there with you!  13 weeks post TKR and my doctor put me on antidepressants just over a week ago.  I have family worries and a lot of work worries on top of knee recovery and just can't cope. I cry an awful lot but have good days and bad ones.

    since I started the antidepressants my sleep has improved quite a bit which I am sure is down to them.  I have taken them in the past, so I don't worry about getting addicted - if you need them, they'll help you.

    I am also menopausal - I had a total hysterectomy last July too so went straight into the menopause.  HRT helped with this, making me feel a whole lot better but I'm suffering with sweats at the moment, but I'm wondering if this is to do with the depression rather than the menopause?

    I really wish it was easy for us all to meet for a coffe - we could have our own little therapy group and I'm sure we'd all feel much better from it!

    • pam1313
      pam1313 susan33930

      Posted

      Did you have to stop your HRT prior to knee op?. I'd discussed going on it prior to op, mainly for sweats, feeling giddy and awful pains in my legs (felt like "growing pains", apparently it's the lack of oestrogen in muscles/tendons which makes things feel 'tight and stretched') . My doc told me I'd have to come off it prior to op, so I didn't start as I didn't suddenly want to feel somuch better, then come off it and menopause symptoms returned plus I'd also have pain from knee op........aaargh! 

      This forum can't take away any of the things we're suffering with, but the enormous comfort it provides when you suddenly realise you're not alone on the journey is tremendous! 

    • irish_linda
      irish_linda pam1313

      Posted

      hi pam when i had my bi lateral they also told be to be off the hrt so i did and it was awful as i had a bad time with the bi lateral as it went wrong but aover a year later i had to have a revision my gp said to stay on hrt as it would not effect the op so i kept taking it maybe its because it itwas femston conti that its not as strong and i had no problem it made me feel better to take it 
    • susan33930
      susan33930 pam1313

      Posted

       That worried me a little too as I'd read on the net that it should be stopped a month before. However, at my pre op appointment they said a fortnight, but as that appointment was only 10 days before my op I just stopped it the day after that.

      i think ink it must stay in your system as I was ok for quite a few days and then I started back on them a couple of days after TKR.  so wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

    • ElaineA
      ElaineA susan33930

      Posted

      Hi Susan, I didn't have to come off HRT. I discussed it with the doc at pre-med. He said no need. I am on Tibolone. It is a synthetic HRT (i.e. not mares wee). Have you gone back on it now? Surely you can go back on it now. Have you discussed going back on it with your doc as I am sure you would feel heaps better if you were back on it.
    • susan33930
      susan33930 ElaineA

      Posted

      Hi elaine

      i started back on HRT a couple of days after my op. I think it's called Elleste or Ellesse but I don't know if it's made of mares wee!!

    • ElaineA
      ElaineA susan33930

      Posted

       A lot are. I think yours isn't - I googled and the ones that contain mare's wee begin PREM so like me I think you are on a synthetic one. smile
    • ElaineA
      ElaineA

      Posted

      I wonder why you had to come off and I could stay on? Are you in the UK? Just wondering if there are different rules in different countries.
    • susan33930
      susan33930 ElaineA

      Posted

      Well I'm glad I'm not on mares wee .... Doesn't seem right!!

      i am in the UK, in Yorkshire.  where are you?  maybe it makes a difference depending on the type you are on? When I googled it before my op, one site said to stop taking it a month before surgery!

  • irish_linda
    irish_linda pam1313

    Posted

    hi pam i know how you feel i find that im still not sleeping as i should i have a busy mind when in bed and trying to shut it down seems fruitless  im thinking of nothing meanfull it just wont shut down  my doctor did give me relaxing tablets to stop the mind racing at night it did work but i only took them for a small while , we have such alot to contend with, hang in there it will improve i too was given anti deppresents and didnt  take them i managed without them i try to go out and walk somewhere nice to take my mind off things or go out for coffee just for a change of scenery
  • sarah87162
    sarah87162 pam1313

    Posted

    Sorry you are struggling so much pam.

    I had TKR 3 years ago and had a lot of trouble sleeping afterwards.

    But was never depressed in the way you are describing.

    People are so different.

    This is not so much an advice or suggestion but just to let yu know you are not alone.

    Take care and keep in touch

    Praying for you

    Love Sarah xxx

  • chrishappy
    chrishappy pam1313

    Posted

    Hi pam, I'm 7 wks post TKR .i had to come off hrt for my surgery and what a shock!!! The night sweats are awful, like you the covers are on and off all night. I'm now just sleeping with the duvet over my feet and covering myself with a lightweight dressing gown, which I must admit has eased things not as many sweats now. I can't go back on hrt yet as I'm having my other knee replaced early next year and I'm hoping sweats will decrease. I too have fibromyalgia was diagnosed 15 yrs ago. It has made my recovery a bit slower than others wich left me really frustrated at first, but now I'm just taking one day at a time and doing all my exercises. I got very depressed and had an emotional meltdown about a week ago. It seems to have done me the world of good so now I'm looking at it as tears of healing. You will get the old you back eventually you just need time and healing. Anti depressants are not my personal cup of tea and I would ask your doctor for blood tests first to see if you could be peri menopausal , I'm thinking of asking mine if there is anything I can take for the night sweats as without a good nights sleep I can be very low through tiredness which is exacerbated by fibro!!! So it's a catch 22.  Hope you feel better today and remember it's quite normal after surgery to feel low 🌞
  • terri59470
    terri59470 pam1313

    Posted

    So sorry that youre feeling like this. I have suffered from Clinical Depression many times, so know how rotten youre feeling.

    From my experience, youre showing classic CD symptoms, early waking, weepiness, but feeling progressively better throughout the day. 

    Id urge you to reconsider the antidepressants - youre not likely to become addicted, especially if you continue to work closely with your GP. Sertraline is one of the "newer" types of SSRI anti-deps, the older Tricyclics are more likely to be addictive (Im on one of those at the moment, Amitriptyline, but at a very low dose and it was for pain more than mood, but my quality of sleep has rocketed, and now I can regularly get 8-10 hours a night!) Also, when (if) you start taking them, you may feel worse to start with, and they can take a couple of weeks to kick in, so hang on in there. 

    It must be horrid coping with the menopause on top of everything else - I thought I was peri-menopausal befoe my surgery, but I think my hormones have decided to give me a bit of a break!

    I hope you soon start to feel better, you can always PM me if you need a chat/rant/shoulder. xx

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