Before the surgery I tried to stay busy in the evening. Now by evening I'm so tired and hurting that I haven't found anything that helps. I have always read a lot so I'm trying to read in the evening. In the past I used to cross stitch but I just haven't felt like doing that in months.

Right now I haven't found anything that works. I've always read a lot in the past and I'm trying to do that again. Before the heart surgery I tried to stay busy in the evening, but now by the evening I am so tired and hurt so much that I am just sitting in my recliner.

My depression is worse in the morning. I hate getting up in the morning and facing the day. I'm not sure why your depression is worse in the evening. It could be that you are over tired or if you have insomnia you are dreading going to bed. Part of your depression may be because you've had two major things happen in your life. You've had breast cancer and open heart surgery. I've read that many people get depressed after having open hear surgery. You didn't mention if you had depression before these two events or not. Maybe someone else on this board has a better answer for you. Good luck.

Minnie 1971

I'm sorry but I must have misled you. It is my husband who just had the open-heart surgery. And he's doing very well, with me as his caregiver. And he isn't even depressed. I can't imagine what it would be like if he was prone to a mood disorder, also. I've had other major things in my life-one was my father dying when I was 5, and nobody talked about it my whole life. I don't know exactly when this little black cloud started hovering over my head. I am thankful now that I'm 75 and am taking goof meds ordered from my psychiatrist.

Let me try to detangle the confusion. Callalily, @lesbatts was replying to @lyndamm who started this discussion saying that she had open heart surgery 7 weeks ago, but that she also deals with depression. As @crhp194 points out, experiencing depression after heart surgery is quite common. Studies show that up to 33 percent of heart attack patients end up developing some degree of depression. You can read more about it in this article from the American Heart Association http://bit.ly/2amdotX

Callalily, I'm happy to hear that your husband has not experienced mood swings or depression since his heart surgery. As his caregiver, you may want to be on the lookout for this as it can be a delayed reaction.

Lesbatts, did you experience depression before your major medical events, breast cancer and heart surgery? Or is this a new diagnosis?

I never had breast cancer or open heart surgery. There seems to be some misunderstanding with this conversation.