How to tell if it's depression or just part of being sick?

Depression with Chronic Illness is very common. Here's a good article: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/chronic-illnesses-depression

I can relate to what you are saying. I often question whether I am depressed, yet I don't really fit the criteria other than feeling lousy. I often minimize my symptoms and then I find out I'm really sick. I just did this with my latest c.diff infection.

You have been through so much, and I'd imagine it is so hard to figure it out. It's great that you push yourself to go for walks, etc as I think that will help. I always get up and take a shower and get dressed even when I feel lousy and I'm going nowhere. I think it really helps me. If you think you fit criteria for depression though, maybe a trial of antidepressants will help. At the minimum. I'd guess you are a bit traumatized after all you have been through!

Sci I completely empathize with you. I recently attended a seminar on depression due to my own concerns and family hx. Here are some thoughts for you that I found out

Surprise surprise depression is being studied as an inflammatory disease or linked with them
Depression is linked to exhaustion but you also generally see no activity. It sounds like you are still doing things but just what you can.
Watch for lack of appetite. Wow hard to tell with CD!

I was looking into therapy but was concerned about adding meds. I just don't want to and have concerns. The leader of the seminar really was adamant that many will do well with new coping methods as opposed to their usual even if they used to work. I am no expert but you sound like you have not fallen to depression but could use a recharge. Can you talk to a therapist?

I would say that having a diagnosis of depression is way less important than figuring out what you need to do to feel better. That may include trying an antidepressant (I have heard that Wellbutrin has less side effects than many other antidepressants and can be beneficial to those with GI troubles), or it might not. You may try it for a while and see if you feel any different. If you're not depressed, it won't do anything for you. If you are depressed, it may help.

Other things to try: check Vitamin D level, iron level (not just the anemia test, but TIBC, which checks the iron your body has in "storage" and the regular "iron" test, which shows how much iron is currently circulating in your system.) Hypothyroidism can also give you sluggish feelings, and after giving birth is a common time for a woman to start seeing a change in her thyroid function. You may also want to get your Zinc level checked. Apparently many people are low, and being low can make you feel fatigued.

You said that getting together with other people to do things is motivating for you. Let your family & friends know that you're going through a rough spot and that you need lots of support from them right now. Set up a weekly walking date with a couple people, and try to organize a regular "playdate" morning with a few friends. Get some things on your schedule so you have commitments that you will want to get moving for.

I totally get where you're coming from about just the idea of taking a shower is overwhelming on some days. When you're sleep-deprived from having a little kid, that makes life tough, but adding a chronic illness to that makes things way tougher. If you are still able to get moving when you want to, I wouldn't worry about being depressed, BUT if antidepressants or talking to a counselor is helpful in any way, I would encourage you to take advantage of those things. Let people know you're having a hard time, and let them know specifically what they can do to help. I'm sure there are people in your life that would love to be there for you when you're going through this tough time, and maybe your doctor can help you correct some imbalances medically.

This week, pick one thing to accomplish (make an appointment with the doc, call up 3 friends to ask them for help, make a weekly walking date with someone, make yourself get 30 extra minutes of sleep each night, etc). Just anything that you think might help the situation. Next week, pick something else to do. Each week, just keep building on your successes and before you know it, you'll have attacked this from every angle. Just don't feel like you have to do it all tomorrow, or it will become to overwhelming to even approach. Maybe your thing for this week will just be writing a list of all the things you can think of that might help the situation. Then next week start picking them off one at a time.

I wish you luck & know that things will look up for you because you want them to!

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. My D levels are fine - I've been taking 10,000 a day for the last 4 months at least. My iron was just barely under range last time, so I started taking that as well. I think it's just being sick. Finding out I've had parasites for at least the last month made me feel a little better about feeling crummy. :)