Sudden depression

[charr]

Hi folks,

It's been a long time since I've posted on here, and generally I've been coping really well - managing my symptoms through a combination of diet, exercise and wellbeing activities.

That being said, without reason, last Wednesday morning I was hit with a huge bout of sudden depression. I sobbed uncontrollably for two days with no idea why I felt so sad, I can barely eat, I have fallen out of love with everything, my favourite TV shows not managing to even make me smile, I can't look at my husband or pets without feeling a surge of guilt and sadness, I can't concentrate, I'm worn out, and I feel really stuck - all of this and I have no idea why I'm feeling this way or where it has come from.

My husband has done some reading online and told me just now that depression can be a symptom of fibro, and read me the description on fibro-related depression on WebMD which matches my recent experience pretty much exactly. I'm relieved that this means I haven't miraculously fallen out of love with my husband and life (even if it feels like it right now), but also now frustrated that extreme depression can apparently just appear as 'part of my fibro' whenever it wants without reason - which I hadn't realised.

Has anyone experienced this? Does anyone have any tips for getting over this sort of fibro-depression? I don't know if the regular depression rules apply in terms of how to treat it (i.e., exercise, therapy) - but am going to try a walk later on.

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Charlotte

 

[JayCS]

Hi Charlotte, yeah, some of us have depression contributing to fibro come up, some get dragged down emotionally from all the trials and tribulations of it, but it just coming up can be one of the "severe symptoms" that belong to the diagnosis according to the criteria.
I know @sunkacola can give best advice on this, but I'd definitely use the regular depression treatments before just waiting for it to (and come back again). Therapy to me would offer coping / management skills for the depression itself as well as that extra frustration it's causing you. I spose any extra symptoms when you've been feeling OK-ish a while would cause frustration - flares are a part of it, and not confined to the physical.

Altho I'm generally "very" happy "all" the time, there's some underlying sadness, and I've had weeks at the beginning and at the moment where nothing much is funny, my loss of appetite this year is a bit of an indicator. Best for me for laughing my head off is table tennis itself and things my mate does while playing. Always something that makes a certain amount of post exertional malaise / overdoing-it Ache worthwhile. I dunno if our Humour thread can help. In depressed times in my youth I used music, often starting with sadder ones, maybe "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" then "It's my life" kind (Billy Joel was my preference), and progressing to anything more cheerful. Or just some "mindless" motoring to keep in limbo, keep going, moderate instead of down, old or new.

 

[sunkacola]

Hi Charlotte,
This depression may or may not be as a result of your having fibromyalgia. There is no way to be sure either way, but really that isn't pertinent in any case, since it's the same problem either way.

This has just come up for you in the past few days so it could be a very transient thing. Let's hope so, but at the same time it is good for you to be asking for help on this, and not putting that off.

I recommend that, if you spend a couple weeks or so trying the obvious things like eating very healthy food, getting outside every day (preferably in nature), finding things to do that you typically enjoy, avoiding alcohol as if it were poison (which it is, if you are depressed), limiting screen time and avoiding the news, and so on (you can find lists of things to try in many places), and there is no let-up whatever from how you feel, then seeing a doctor who can prescribe medication for depression might be a good idea. It wouldn't mean you'd take the medication for a long time; you might just need help to get out of the current hole you are in.

And simultaneously I urge you to find a therapist so you can talk to someone about how you feel. sometimes depression comes up like this as a result of an issue that you have that needs to be addressed psychologically, and getting help to figure that out and resolve it is a good idea.

The one thing I urge you not to do is just assume it will go away and do nothing if it continues more than the next couple of weeks. The longer you go on feeling so low, the worse it may get. So far it's only been a few days and it may resolve easily given, as I suggested, a couple of weeks of actively taking steps to reduce it. But don't let it go on for months.

 

[Tibro1029]

@charr Hi! I recently had been dealing with quite a bout of really bad depression. Which hasn't happened to me since high school. Throughout my 20s and 30s, I've dealt mostly with extreme anxiety, and not so much the depression side of things. I can actually attribute this to a few things after really taking a look at my overall circumstances since last October. Job stress, not accepting that my fibro was going to keep me from things that I used to think I could do, and I also deal with complex- PTSD, the latter in which I am currently dealing with some rehashing of emotions that I long had ran away from and stuffed down. All that to say that our circumstances could be different, but maybe what I tried could work for you.

I do see a therapist every other week. Have for 6 years, but when the depression was at it's worst, I switched to once a week. When I realized that it wasn't necessarily going away, I decided to get on some meds because I felt as though something in my brain wasn't connecting properly. I don't suggest meds right away, it's just what I did after I realized that it was not going away. I also started recently attending a chronic pain, and fibromyalgia group so I could understand my illness a bit better, and ask others in real time if they've been through similar things I was finding. It also helped to have others who knew exactly how I felt to talk to. Another thing was I reframed how I felt about crying. I would tell my therapist, I had a melt down, or I lost it, or a cried uncontrollably, and she said when we cry, it is very important to know that that is our body trying to get out the emotions it is feeling, and that it isn't a bad thing at all. That we need to let it happen or it will stay trapped inside of us. And the last piece of advice I got from my support group was to be easy on myself, and right now, just do things that you love. I know it feels hard to find something you love when it's like this, but for me.. I love TV and Movies more than I love anything else (besides my husband, but even he stresses me out sometimes), and I always felt bad or weak or lazy for just laying around and doing this thing I love, but feeling that way just made me feel worse about myself, and I wasn't being easy on myself. My therapist said, just make sure that if you lay around and watch tv all day after work, then the next day get up and take a good walk or get a little exercise and then go right back to doing what you love. It's just important to be easy on yourself. I know it's hard to discover new symptoms, but you aren't alone. Today I feel a little bit brighter than I did two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, I thought I'd never be grateful for anything ever again. I to, find it hard to get joy out of anything, but today, not so much. Okay. That was a lot. Sending you good vibes.

 

[Auriel]

Hello charr, well fibro "can" bring you down (if you get pain/chronic fatigue) it's just not nice being in constant pain/chronically tired, it's gonna take its toll and yes I do suffer with depression but I've had that since childhood from c,a and in adulthood from d.a, d.v and s.a 's but having fibro really doesn't help, if your not sure where or why it came from then I don't know? (the mind is a funny thing) I know I've felt that way before without really knowing why?, but I'm glad your being supported (that's a good help) it says you're new, (I missed when you joined) but I've been having flaire ups for a few weeks and back pain so I've not been "that" diligent with forum posting lately so late welcome (but depression is horrible, only someone who's experienced it will understand what it's like to have)

 

[JayCS]

Wow, great at least you're getting excellent support, Tibro!

TV and Movies more than I love anything else (besides my husband, but even he stresses me out sometimes), and I always felt bad or weak or lazy for just laying around and doing this thing I love, but feeling that way just made me feel worse about myself, and I wasn't being easy on myself. My therapist said, just make sure that if you lay around and watch tv all day after work, then the next day get up and take a good walk or get a little exercise and then go right back to doing what you love.

Now that's interesting, cos TV and movies and are very stressful to me, even documentaries or comedy or things I used to like. The emotions are too much, positive or negative. But I think that may be more due to MCAS, cos even positive stress makes the immune system overreact. But I also had difficulty in the first few months of my fibro full flare to find something that i could laugh about.
What I spose I loved more than anything else was making music, but that's become too much of a strain, too, even a few minutes. So, as often in my life, I've learned to love something new, my garden plants and animals. But the birds regularly getting chopped up is also a pain / sorrow, one I'm gonna have to get used to - I just found another half a bird, but it was fairly OK.
But what I also like which doesn't harm is listening to music (incl. mine), altho not long any more. And learning & researching all kinds of stuff, cos it distracts, enriches and helps. And trying to help myself and others online. And table tennis, however short & painful - always good for lots of antics & laughs. That's all stuff for me not falling mentally - altho this week after a painful exam is a challenge, mentally too.

A suggestion for boosting everything is doing gentle self-treatments while watching stuff, like I do if necessary while researching. Gentle stretch positions, acupressure, breathing exercises etc. - many exercises can be adapted to different postures. That way you are not only self-caring by doing what you love, but also by not just laying around, so feeling "useful", and also decreasing symptoms, improving yourself. And a posture in a good position that doesn't cause additional harm, like in my case twist-stretching can make this be "active rest". With headphones it would even be possible to use something noisy like a massager or cross trainer (or just a foot cycle device, they had one in my fibro clinic, not sure if it helped me tho).

 

[Bebe]

Hi folks,

It's been a long time since I've posted on here, and generally I've been coping really well - managing my symptoms through a combination of diet, exercise and wellbeing activities.

That being said, without reason, last Wednesday morning I was hit with a huge bout of sudden depression. I sobbed uncontrollably for two days with no idea why I felt so sad, I can barely eat, I have fallen out of love with everything, my favourite TV shows not managing to even make me smile, I can't look at my husband or pets without feeling a surge of guilt and sadness, I can't concentrate, I'm worn out, and I feel really stuck - all of this and I have no idea why I'm feeling this way or where it has come from.

My husband has done some reading online and told me just now that depression can be a symptom of fibro, and read me the description on fibro-related depression on WebMD which matches my recent experience pretty much exactly. I'm relieved that this means I haven't miraculously fallen out of love with my husband and life (even if it feels like it right now), but also now frustrated that extreme depression can apparently just appear as 'part of my fibro' whenever it wants without reason - which I hadn't realised.

Has anyone experienced this? Does anyone have any tips for getting over this sort of fibro-depression? I don't know if the regular depression rules apply in terms of how to treat it (i.e., exercise, therapy) - but am going to try a walk later on.

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Charlotte

It is part of fibro from time to time for me. I was taught to double up on self care,and spend time in things( reading, needle work, ..) that I enjoy, even when I don't "feel," like it.

 

[charr]

Hi folks, thanks for all your support and advice. I really appreciate it. Apologies for the long radio silence, but I thought I would update you all on how things are going and what happened in case anyone experiences anything like this.

The sudden and severe onset of depression and emotional-numbness was one of the scariest and most unpleasant experiences of my life. I remained like this, unable to enjoy anything, smile, laugh, feel sad or cry, hug my husband or pets, for about a week. On the last day my husband took me for a walk to our local duck pond which seemed to unlock something in my head somehow. When I got home I tried to talk to my husband and how I was feeling but found my fibro flaring up and I couldn’t speak, when I realised I couldn’t speak I got upset but then (and this is a brand new symptom for me) I suddenly couldn’t see. Naturally, I panicked and starting crying. My legs gave way and I couldn’t stand, but my husband comforted me and when my crying subsided I could see again and I felt almost like a veil or cloud or something had been lifted off my head and I could look at my husband and feel love and joy and I could smile and seemingly I was back to normal.

It was a truly bizarre and terrifying ordeal and I hope it never happens again, but at least I know now if these sort of symptoms return I have got through it once and I’ll get through it again.

Thanks all and take care x

 

[SweetWithSour]

Congratulations and welcome back through the other side of it. Keep living your joy and finding things that fill you up. Keep loving and caring for yourself