HELP Please

[Jewel]

Hi All

I dont know what is wrong with me but I seem to have just stopped. I have no energy and loose my concentration really easily.

I just seem to have reached a plateau where I feel numb and scared all the time. I feel very strange and disconnected and worry that something is really wrong with me. I have had depression in the past quite severe and have dreaded the day that it returns. I keep urging myself to carry on doing normal things but things seem to be getting harder. My thoughts have becone skew wiff and I dont seem to be able to concentrate on anything I just feel strange.

i do not know whether to start taking meds or just see if this goes and it is just a phase but it has lasted about 3 weeks now and I am really scared as I just about to start a new job on Monday after having 4 months off. This si making my anxiety worse because I worry incase I cannot cope but I just feel very strange everyday and want to stay in and hibernate. My sleeping is also not very good as I can have a long sleep but wake up feeling exhausted. Is meds the only answer and how will I cope with starting the new job.

i also keep breaking down adn crying and my mind feels as though it is racing at 100 miles per hour.

Dont know if this makes any sense or anyone can relate to this.

many Thanks

nicola

[Sue K with 5]

Hi Jewel

It sounds to me like your taking a lot of new things on and this could be the cause of your over anxious state! When You suffer with anxiety, your body starts to breakdown and you cannot think clearly, your body is teeling you to sleep and stay calm, but your mind wants to do the opposite, Anxiety is harder work than running a six mile marathon, trust me it is exhausting, I have got up some days and gone back to bed an hour later, not because I have not had enough sleep, because the sleep I have had has been disturbed by my anxious state of mind!

You need to return to work, because this could help with keeping yourself alert and occupied but make sure you also have some time to relax and you do not exert yourself too much at the beginning, you dont want to feel worse in yourself. but this is half your battle, I think once you start things will return to normal and will calm down! The racing head is quite normal and breathing and relaxation techniques will help with that!

Dont give up or give in this will get better !! Keep fighting honey and never ever give in to it !


Sue with 5

scknight

[Lottie32]

Hi there

Taking on a new job is nerve racking for anybody in a "normal" state of mind.

It is perfectly natural to be nervous about changing jobs and starting work at a new place. HOWEVER, remember, you didn't just go and say I'd like a new job, can I start Monday please? Unless you were very lucky or your daddy owns the company, you applied for a job, had at least one interview and were selected as being the most suitable candidate for the job (unless you applied for the most disgusting horrible job in the world, in which case you got the job because you were the only one who replied).

So, remember, your new employer liked what they saw, and selected you as being the most suitable candidate for the job. Just try and keep this in mind.

Depression is very difficult, and traumatic to deal with. It becomes even more unmanageable when you are faced with difficult things (i.e. moving house, starting a job etc). What you are feeling now is perfectly normal for somebody in your position, so just try and remember this.

As regards meds, to take or not to take is a personal decision.

I tried the following
1. CBT
2. Changing my thought patterns
3. Eating sensibly
4. Supplements : Omega fish oils, Vitamin B complex, Vitamin C, and a good mineral supplement
5. Exercise (the gym in the first place, then cycling and riding)
6. Setting targets and pushing myself
7. And a determination to get better.

Whilst ALL of the above have been beneficial, I still found that something just wasn't clicking, and after two years of hard work (where I had made significant improvements) I felt I had "gone down hill" a bit.

Eventually, after advice from my therapist and family GP, I decided to try a course of meds. I was prescribed fluoxetine, and have found in my case that they have made a significant difference.

I have several friends who have tried fluoxetine, and other anti depressants. Some never got on with them, and some had to try a few until they got one that worked for them.

Luckily for me, meds were exactly what I needed, and have made a huge difference to my life. However, I know that they are not the be all and end all, and I still practice all the above as well as taking my meds (although I must confess I haven't been to the gym for over a year now!)

I was quite a way into my programme of meds before I had to have my horse put down and got made redundant (within 48 hours of each other) I am convinced that if I hadn't been taking the meds along with my other attempts to rid myself of this illness, then I wouldn't have coped as well as I have.

Whilst I am not advocating meds as a cure all, I can say that in my case they were a very positive experience.

Until you try them for yourself, you will not know. If you are following all the recommended methods for getting better and still feel that something is missing, then maybe taking meds is right for you at this time.

Taking meds doesn't mean that you are a failure, nor is it wrong if meds don't work for you. We are all different, and there is no definitive cure all.

Try not to be too hard on yourself. You sound like you are doing very well to me. There is a huge difference between thinking that you can't be bothered to get out of bed and going to work, and actually not doing it. Although it is very hard to keep going, you are doing all the right things.

Good luck with the new job, I hope your first day goes well

Love


Charlie

Nemesis - Rita QofS I JFDI'd THEM!!!!!!

[Jewel]

Hi

Thanks for your replies they help enormously.

I know what you mean Lottie when you say that something is just not clicking, I just feel that something is missing not quite right.

I just panic incase I cannot cope with the nside effects of the meds whilst I am starting a new job. The Dr prescribed Prozac and I did take it for nine days in the summer but all I wanted to do was sleep.

Does anyone think that you can treat depression without meds because I cannot seem to get going or pull myself together. The overall opinion I think is that it is chemical imbalance that needs to be corrected.

I also feel a failure because I should be able to cope as there are four others starting the same day as me and I bet that they dont feel like this.

I just seem to have lost all direction and purpose in life and I dont know how to get it back.

Thanks

nicola

[Lottie32]

I bet the other four feel exactly the same way as you!!! I don't know anybody who doesn't get nervous before they start a new job.

As regards meds - with prozac you need to take the meds for a minimum of 1 month before they start to have an effect. Then it is a matter of taking a full course (current thinking is about 18 months) for full effect.

Many people fight depression without the use of meds. There is no right or wrong way to tackle individual problems as they are just that. Individual to the person suffering.

Are you having any other therapy? CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) is extremely effective in tackling depression, as are other types of thought therapy. Obviously you need to tackle all the issues involved that are having an effect, both mental and physical. This means creating a healthy body as well as a healthy mind, so all of the things listed in my first reply are very important.

I have some friends that prozac made sleepy, and it did have an effect on me, but personally it was more that the prozac shut down a lot of the anxiety and panic I was feeling, and I stopped being so "wired" all the time. This allowed me to relax, and "chill" out a bit, and long term this has also helped my recovery.

I too didn't want to take drugs (somewhere in the mists of time there is a post that I wrote, very similar to this one, and there was lots of good advice from everybody on this site as to how meds can be a positive option). In hindsight, my experience was so good, I wished I'd started drug therapy (along with all the other things that I do, including still taking part in CBT) sooner. It certainly helped me.

Have you read Overcoming Depression? It is a very good book and has lots of very helpful things in it that help recovery without medication.



Charlie

Nemesis - Rita QofS I JFDI'd THEM!!!!!!