Anti-depressants & training

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  • Book a double appointment, Staggers. Seriously. If you can, that is. You might have to say that it's for a coil fitting...
  • ((((((((((((Staggers))))))))))))))))))))))
  • STAGGERS YOU HAVE MAIL
  • Staggers

    If I were you, I would do as hipps and vrap have suggested. Go back to your GP. How long have you been on your medication? Maybe the GP needs to refer you on to someone more specialist... not that I'm an expert...

    Sorry you are feeling so down today and the run was like torture for you.

    Not sure what else to say except we are here for you and sending you a big hug a la teletubbies (which must mean I'm Po as I'm not very tall!)

    Oh dear, references to childrens' TV - might be a good job I am seeing the psychiatrist again tomorrow!!!

    HHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

    CC
  • could the fact I've only been on Prozac of 10 days be part of the problem as it hasn't achieved the working level yet? My GP said I shouldn't have any problems stopping the Escitalopram and starting the porzac, but I'm wondering if that's why the last week has been so lousy feeling.
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    just an idle ponder...

    do antidepressants have the same effect on one's typing ability as do tranquillisers?

    I'm thinking of doing a study.
  • Possibly, Staggers. Prozac takes a good 2 weeks to start to show any benefit (except in one situation which is not likely to apply in your case) and 4-6 weeks to take maximal effect. Or it may be as Creamcake says - it's not just pills you need.
  • don't know, typing fnigers is hard enough when sober
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    then it's lucky I came back.

    ((((((((((((((((((((((((((staggers))))))))))))))))))))))

    ruffle and mwah!
  • I'm trying to look for logical reasons why Vrap - I'm usually good at logical. If the levels of the ssri's have dropped too far, then I'm going to be feeling lousy - I'm kidding myself in any way that I'll just take them for a couple of months and everything will be okay.
  • Prozac does take a while to kick in.
    I don't know what to say.
    Go to your doctors to get the right sort of help.
    When I was in your situation, the more I thought about things, the harder it was to see a way out.
    I remember, I was once at a concert (which I'd normaly love), I had all my friends around me and everyone was enjoying themselves. All I could think about was the fact that I didn't want to be there. Despite all my friends being there, I felt really alone.
    If you are feeling anything like this, please tell your doctor. Go and see him/her and say, I'm trying hard with the medication but I'd also like counciling. I know you find it hard to speak to someone, (from what you have said about Nottingham) but couldn't you just give it a try? You have nothing to loose, be strong.
  • just re-read the bit of my post, should have said "I'm <b>not</b> kidding myself in any way that I'll just take them for a couple of months and everything will be okay."
  • For what its worth in my experience running and prozac were ok. I agree completly with what E.T has written - some pretty sound advice there.

    Was very depressed, couldn't be bothered etc. Prozac gave me the push I needed to get up and do things. Completed my first sprint triathlon in Oct 2002 no ill effects other than post race tiredness!
    As far as I understand it Prozac promotes Seratonin (the happy hormone), actually something that regular training is supposed to do too. You have to take them regularly over a period they reckon 6 months minimum and then come off gradually, so once started you have to stick with it (or back to square one).
    I stuck with it for about 8 months. It took about 2/3 weeks before I began to feel any better. There were some side effects mainly difficulty sleeping - but overall the drug was beneficial.

    I DID go for counseling and that also helped greatly. A feeling that things won't get better is I suppose a symptom of depression, but believe me they will.

    I'm happy to say I'm ok now, fit and well and still training. I've now done several 5k races and two more triathlons, and none the worse for it.

    I wish you well and hopefully within a few days will feel some benefit.
  • Couple of PS's.

    1. Sorry if anybody medical out there disagrees with me. I'm going only on own experiences.

    2. When you go for counselling obviously you'll be looking at why you feel depressed. This is important in many ways one of them being when you later see the doc about coming off prozac you've got something positive to report.
  • this medical hippo agrees with you
    Good advice Staggs
  • This 'used to be sort-of-medical' psychotherapist agrees with you too!
  • Gawd its Friday already, where did the week go?

    Yesterday got better. I was posting some stuff on other threads (FFF and Plodders) when I started to function, I could concentrate and think rapidly. I got my weekly report knocked off in quick time which also made me feel good.

    Went home, nice clear thoughts and a bit of self analysis (there are some good things here, I've just got to remember them more often). Got in to tales of woe regarding behaviour of small child and large mucking around a bit when he was supposed to be going to cubs......

    Anyway, we also sat and looked at some hotel and flights for our trip, and got a short list of 4. This is good, planning of a treat, something to look forward to.

    Today, I feel calm, a little down but calm and clear. Appart from a stinking headache which I 'm blaming on 3 bottles of Grolshe! Slept much better, about 8 hours, but I'm still tired - not surprising as I've about 5 years to catch up on.

    Counselling: not sure about it. Okay, maybe I'm being stubborn but I know what some of the causes are. The problem like a lots of these things is to correct any problem some one is going to be hurt to an extent (be that cross or genuinely hurt because of changes that need to be made). I don't like hurting other people in case they think less of me, but as a result I've let people push me around and walk on me - there I've said it. So I need to change not only my life but my relationship with other people including those, or possibly especially those, close to me

    I also absorb other peoples' stresses but I don't manage my own. My life needs to change, and I'm the only one who can do it, other people may be able to help me decide what I should do but ultimately I've got to create and implement the plan.
  • Don't know if I quite understand you but have got the general idea. Drugs will only help if you can change the thing or things that are making you feel down.

    In counselling you'll be asked to explain how you feel to counsellor. He/she may well advise you to let OTHERS know how you feel, esp if they're contributing to your depression.

    They may also get you to identify the problems yourself. In your case this may mean the need to be more assertive. I don't know what your answers will be but you WILL be able to find some with counselling.

  • thx jonny, just re-read and you're right, its as clear as mud!

    okay try again. I've been through counsellng years ago and can remember lots of it. As to identifying problems, I've been brutally honest to a sheet of paper (well about 10 sheets actually) and identified a lot of things that cause me "unhappiness" in my life, be that people or situations, and why that causes unhappiness. I need to do something about it, no one else cna make the changes or have the conversations that need to be had. I'm hoping the prozac will give the mental stability to be able to do something about it.
  • Hi SO

    as a veteran (now) depressive - ive kinda worked out some ways to understand it more

    i agree with what peeps have said generally but also want to add that what works for one may not work for everyone - and its important to find a way out of it thats comfortable for you - counselling and therapy are in essence an excellent idea but beware there are as many types of counselling and therapy out there as there are counsellors and therapists - so choose carefully if you go down that road !

    one of the things ive realised is that when i am depressed i will endlessly be picking things over and analysing them - trying to understand whats going on - obsessive thinking is a symptom of depresion -
    so strange as it may seem -

    if you can 'get out of your head' and way from the constant mental chatter (which is exhausting in itself-) it may give you break from a lot of the lot of the angst that comes with depression

    anything that gets you to focus on externals - listening to music, mild exercise, relaxation tapes, watching a favourite movie - just something that you can focus on away from your thoughts and feelings to give you a little break from the depression

    i find loud lively music good - especially singing along in the car or when im home alone ( my cats dont agree)


    if you are a reader - there are lots of excellent books about depression and how to deal with it

    one that was recommended to me was 'Stop Thinking Start Living' by Richard Carlson - basically get out of those bad thoughts and there is another by Pete Cohen - erm Happiness - ill find the title

    if you want to understand how to cope they may be helpful at looking at how you think about things

    another suggestion - as much as the soul searching and introspection helps - it can take over or become obsessive - try and limit yourself to a slot where you do that 'work'- like 50mins of selftherapy everyday and then put it away - as it can become counterproductive and lead to getting more bogged down and stuck in the depressive mire

  • A quick post...
    Is not been a bad weekend in some ways. Only felt down a couple of times, once when I fed up looking for a new suit whilst I had headache! Managed not to get too wound up at the rugby this morning, but I can feel I'm going to end getting roped in to doing some training because I can see the problems they are having. This might be good, but I'm not totally sure (yet).

    Haven't done any running but have had some good time with the kids, which is probably better from a stress point of view.
  • well done staggs

    one minute at a time

  • Took a sick break today - woke with ear, throat and head ache so mailed in sick and went back to bed. Slept till lunchtime and then wandered around for the afernoon, didn't feel down, but do even now feel absolutely whacked!

    No exercise since last Thursday morning, but not going to rush into anything while ear and throat feeling rough. And it doesn't bother me which is good.
  • being physically ill is quite good in a way becuse it means you have to stay home in bed and sleep can be very healing - take as long as you need - dont rush back as stress and depression do lower immunutity and you dont want to be fighting a chronic bug as well
  • Taking the advice Bune, still here at home today. Not much better, could cope with going in if I had to, but can do some bits from here so don't feel guilty about it.

  • Staggers, glad your feeling better these days. Just take things one day at a time as you are doing.
  • Staggers, hope you feel better soon. Take as long as you need to let your body fully recover.

    I think your attitude is fantastic - exercise can wait until you are both physically (and mentally) ready. And you aren't worried by this, which is really good. Well done you!

    I saw my psychiatrist on Friday last week. I don't have to see her again until December and she is keeping my medication the same (75mg venlafaxine/Efexor XL). She was really pleased with my progress over the last 2 months. I have noticed the difference too.

    Anyway, thinking of you and remember - we are here for you.

    Hugs
    CC
  • hi CC that's good news from Friday, glad you feel that you are making progress too. At the of the day, the professionals can only observe and comment, the real progress is how you feel (which is not always what we say).

    Deep thought of day: so how much depression is caused by feelings of guilt over something? Or does the guilt just add to the bucket of stress that's weighing on life. I'm refusing to worry about not training, its a minor thing and there's plenty of time to do that. Not going to work is a different matter... but I know i'm not fit enough to be in the office, and I can do quite a lot from home (what's the difference sanding an email to Switzerland from the office or home?).

    I'm feeling quiet a bit better in myself, very tired but not down. The next step to normality is to focus some of this into effective work. Then we're starting to knock down the areas that are causing me stress - work is stressful because I'm not being effective at the moment.
  • I would say guilt is a major cause of my depression. This is now going to get very personal.

    My mother-in-law died the day my eldest son was due. I was almost 2 weeks overdue when the funeral was held. I was OK I think. My second son arrived 4 weeks early (18 months between them). When he was about 2 months old I was diagnosed with postnatal depression. I had tried to breastfeed both of them but was unable to. Joshua just couldn't keep his bottom lip in the proper place, Samuel was jaundiced and I suffer from Raynauds Syndrome (so exposure of extremities to air meant they lose some circulation and go numb). I felt so guilty at not giving them the best start in life and having to resort to bottle feeds. I was on 20mg Seroxat for about 3 months. GP was pleased with my progress so I came off the pills.

    My second son was not a good sleeper and into everything. The terrible twos seemed never ending and indeed got worse. Also at this time my eldest's speech development was very slow. We ended up seeing the paediatrician and were referred to the assessment centre. My eldest has Aspergers Syndrome/DAMP (disorders in attention, motor control and perception). This was a real blow as there was nothing at birth to indicate this. We were still having behaviour problems with the youngest. I had to do a parenting course (which I felt was an insult to my intelligence!), which didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. He was referred to the paediatrician, who referred him to the psychologist. All this time, he has become increasingly violent towards me, my husband, his brother and anyone else nearby at the time! The psychologist diagnosed ADHD and possibly Aspergers Syndrome - another blow. I wondered what I had done to deserve 2 special needs children and all the stress that goes with it (appointments, fighting to get support at school, trying to get respite care etc). I also started work for the first time after having the children and decided to be a support worker to, yes you've guessed it, adults with learning disabilities. I found this very hard and had to reduce my hours.

    My father is a manic depressive and had a minor stroke not very long ago. My father cannot talk to my mother and so tends to lean on me for support (which I could, of course, do without). I just felt I was drowning in supporting everyone else but forgetting about myself. My husband is brilliant and so supportive - I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. I had even decided how I was going to commit suicide even though I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't leave him on his own with the kids. I just felt I couldn't cope anymore with the youngest's behaviour and the type of work I was doing, plus supporting my dad.

    I went to see a different GP in the Summer because of how I felt (I was also doing a little bit of self-harm too but nothing that drastic!). He decided that the Seroxat weren't doing anything this time and that I would benefit from seeing a psychiatrist. She has been quite helpful in trying to help me look at a lot of what has happened in my life and say it isn't my fault and that I couldn't do anything to change things. She also said I should be more assertive. She put me on the Efexor and that has helped a great deal (plus it has sorted out some of the physical problems caused by the Seroxat).

    At the risk of offending anyone, I am a Christian but this has really tested my faith (ie why has God given me two "imperfect" children ?) That has given me an extra bit of support - my church family have been fantastic. I do struggle some days as to whether God exists when He feels so far away but that is altogether another discussion for another time and place.

    CC
    who could waffle for England!
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