is that depression?

[MOTAH]

Hi guys,

I've had an episode of very bad illness that I've never experienced before. I'm 29m that tend to do everything right & my life was going "perfect" & I was the happiest person ever until I was overseas in SE Asia on a business trip & got sick & I constantly now feel nausia & want to vomit.

Drs said that there are many causes for such a case including that they found that I got dead Hep A cells in my blood & think the mood of tiredness, abdominal pain, etc.. is from a 2 months ago illness of Hep A that is still affecting me.

I've spend the last 2 month on my nevers, I don't know what is wrong with me & feeling that I could have a cancer or I'm practically dying for a reason or another but doctors didn't know. Even now that my doctor done all tests, he thinks that I have some physical pain but what's making it greater is my depression. My constant search on the internet for the possible causes of my disease got me closer to be crazy, I found all possible cancers & serious illnesses which after I find out about them I feel even sicker!

I'm constantly anxious when I'm feeling nausia, I lost interest in everything that I used to like before, I have no energy.

the only thing that makes me wonder if this is depression or not is that when I feel better (with no nausea or feeling to vomit) I act like a normal happy energetic person & I even like doing my old hobbies again!

do I have depression or do I feel depressed due to my illness? I mean is it because I constantly feel like vomiting is what is making me feel depressed?

Do depression sufferes feel better when physically they're ok?

Also, since my illness has been CONSTANT for 2 months, I had funny thoughts in my head of how my work & my life will be affected & if my family can take it anymore & the rest of all the bad thoughts.

I've tried researching ways to get myself out of that bad mood I'm constantly in & I couldn't find any info if what i have is depression of not.

Your opinions will be much appreciated.

Thanks guys,

[sick stomach]

Hi there, I too suffered from nausea for several months, I had every test done on my stomach and was in the hospital several times.  I felt like the nausea came first and then the anxiety came and that just made it worse.  We treated the anxiety and that got better but I still had the nuasea there were times when the nausea was gone and I felt good especially in the evenings.  Then I really started showing signs of depression like the crying, tired not wanting to do anything, it got so bad I couldn't even take care of my kids, I lost over 20 pounds.  My pyschiatrist put me on zoloft and serequel 50mg to help me sleep at night.  I think we have finally found the right dose of meds because as my mood has gotten better so has the nausea, I still have it now and then but I can tell it seems to go along with my mood.  I also had some food allergy testing done and found I was allergic to some things I eat on a regular basis.  To get to the point, if you have had lots of tests and doctors can't find anything wrong then trust them and see a pyschiatrist.  It turns out that I was suffering from depression and did not recognize it, I let it go so long that it manifested itself into physical symptoms.  The anxiety is just about gone because I know where the nausea comes from.  Know that you are not alone, when I read your post I totally understood what you are going through.  Good luck and post again to let me know how things are going, or if you have anything I can help you with.
T

[MOTAH]

Hi SS,

When I read your comments I was thinking its exactly as if It was me writing down the problem :)

yes, I had the same thinking that anxiety came after illness, but you're right, it could've been before the illness that it could've made things worse or even made the whole sickness from scratch.

I was wondering if you know of where should I go from here? I have to admit, I'm not a fan of psychological drugs, they usually makes me drowsy & my work requries me to be alert all the time.

Do you think that therapy with a phsychologist could be of help or does treatment usually requires medications?

I also just had news that my immune system is going lower & drs are still investigating possible reasons! again, I'm put back into the "do I have a sickness or not" circle & just have to wait & see.

thanks for your words, at least I know that I'm not the only one with those issues.

cheers,

[Northcoast]

Motah,  I would suggest that you ask your doctor about getting on some type of anti depressant or anti anxiety medication.  It can be a short term thing.  I just went on Lexapro about two weeks ago and feel much better.  I take it at night and it doesn't make me drousy.  I can totally relate to your situation when you mentioned going on the internet and seeing all these diseases.  I did the exact same thing and it freaked me out even more.  All my friends told me to STAY OFF THE INTERNET!  LOL!  I was convinced I had MS or Parkinson's or some terrible disease.  But I think a lot of my problem was a mild depression that was caused by a diagnosis of a neurological disorder that kind of scares me. And, of course, my mind overreacted and had me thinking very negative thoughts about my health.   But since being on some meds the problem seems to be under control and I'm not freaked out anymore.  I wish you well.  Everything will be okay!