Posted by Gerald Davis on November 02, 2002 at 21:37:09:
In Reply to: MAZE / DEPRESSION posted by Rodger Ellison on November 02, 2002 at 18:51:09:
I'm glad this subject has come up, because I think it needs to be discussed. I had the open chest maze on 03/06/02 at Texas Heart Inst. Everything went well with my surgery and recovery, no major problems. At about 9 weeks post-maze, I started feeling tired & weak. A couple of days later I lost my appetite, couldn't stand the sight of food. I generally felt lousy and hated waking up in the morning to face the day. I consulted with my regular doctor who did lots of lab tests, could find nothing wrong and sent me to my cardiologist.After the cardiologist checked me out and talked with me for awhile, he said that I was probably depressed. That was the first time anyone had mentioned depression to me. He wrote a prescription for Celexa, had me take it for 3 months, then start reducing the dosage and stop completely. There have been a few times since then that I had that same feeling, but not nearly as severe or as long as the first one, and it has gone away after a couple of days. I am 61 years old and had retired from my job a month before my maze, so that may have also contributed to my depression, not having a regular schedule to go back to after I recovered from the surgery. I am working part-time now, feeling great and am excited about a life without afib. Telling someone to "get over it" doesn't help, but it does help to know that it's not a permanent condition. Taking an antidepressant for awhile can get you over the hump.