I’m not feeling so good today.  I seem to be worse 2 or 3 days a month which I think is hormone related as I was like this before I was ill.
I actually feel physically ill today too and can’t believe the difference from how I felt on Monday.  I genuinely feel ill and feel like this quite often. I feel as if I’ve got a head cold - sluggish and tired as well as more down than usual. I don’t feel so positive and I’m wondering if I have something physical that’s related to the depression or vice versa.  I get this physical thing fairly often if I’m honest but I feel it’s psychosomatic and not really there, as if it’s a side effect.
I’m supposed to be seeing friends later for dinner but I don’t feel up to it. I feel teary today and unable to cope with being social.  Some of the guys know of my illness and others don’t so the pressure of pretending to be normal isn’t helping.
I have a stressful time ahead of me work wise and I just can’t afford to feel like this on a regular basis. I really want to get well but feel like these setbacks are affecting me so badly.  My doctor dismissed my physical illness as just sleeping with my mouth open, which I know I don’t, and sort of dehydration. When I mentioned the fact I feel worse naturally some days and that that happened before (I even said I think it’s related to my monthly pill which it could well be) but he said he didn’t want to change my prescription in case it affected my other medication!  I’m not sure the fluoxetine is doing that much. Should I feel tearful when taking it?
I’m so tired of feeling tearful and ill and desperately want to get better.

Hi Snoopy

Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad today.  I just wanted to let you know that your symptoms sound very similar to what i have been going through over the last 7 months.  The doctors thought it may be hormone related so put me on the pill which i subsequently had to stop as it made me feel physically ill.  My mood is definitely affected by my monthly cycle and today is one of those days….just like you i feel physically sick, very teary (even though i’ve been on Citalopram for 7 months).  Yesterday i felt fantastic but the change today is huge….just when you think you are getting better it hits you again which is extremely frustrating.

Unfortunately i don’t have any answers for you but just wanted to let you know you’re not alone.  I am currently thinking about changing my meds as they don’t seem to be working for me at all, and after this amount of time i think they should at least be doing something if they are going to work for me. 

Anyway, sorry i couldn’t be of much help, but as i said, just wanted to let you know you’re not on your own.  im sure someone will be along soon who might be able to offer you some constructive advice!

Take care

No, that does help. I thought it was just me!  I’ve been on femodene for a few years and have noticed that I get two or three days where I’m definitely worse and for no apparent reasons. At other times I know why I’m feeling down as my illness has an external source - work. Something triggers the tears. This is internal and I think it must be hormonal because there isn’t anything that should cause this reaction.  It’s so much more dangerous when you have depression though because my fluoxetine doesn’t seem to work when I’m in this state and yet I was fine on Monday - so fine I had my first complete day at work for months. I didn’t leave early or procrastinate.
I was on fluoxetine before several years ago (again work related) and I feel so different. I felt better almost immediately and able to cope. I didn’t get relapses and didn’t get tearful. I felt on a level which I don’t now.
I may take my mum to my next doctor’s appointment as she’ll push the issue with me whereas I sometimes give in because I feel I’m making it up or exaggerating. Which I know I’m not deep down.
I’m lucky though that at least I know I have a problem and somewhere to turn so am building on that today.
Thanks again and let me know if changing your meds works for you.  I have to be on the pill for other medical reasons which also can affect my depression apparently.
xxx

Im glad i helped, if only a little bit!!  We actually sound very similar.  I too was on fluoxetine in 2001 when i had my first bout of depression after a long illness and it worked really well for me.  The citalopram, although worked really well for me after having my son, does not seem to have done the trick this time around.  I am not saying that medication alone can solve the problem, i have also had extensive cbt, but i just know deep down that the citalopram aren’t for me this time around.

Both my husband and my mum are regular visitors with me to the doctors, as i too feel as though i am wasting their time a little with my problems!!  but i guess feeling that way is all part and parcel of the illness.

Anyway, i hope your day improved for you and congrats for managing a full day at work!  Im fairly “lucky” in the sense that im self employed so if i am feeling REALLY bad, its not too much of a problem if i dont work but that doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty about it!

I will let you know if i have any luck once changed meds…. take care x

I had to respond to your posts Snoopy and Juppster.  I am so sorry that you are not feeling good today Snoopy.  You are such a huge support to people on the site and seem to find the right words to comfort and encourage.  I do hope that you get the same back from the site as you put in and I hate to think of you feeling so ill.  I just had to tell you about Denise Welsh - probably best known for Coronation Street - and her praise for finally feeling ‘normal’again with hormone treatment after 20 years of clinical depression since the birth of her son.  I saw her speaking on Loose Women about it only last week (I try to have my lunch when it’s on. I think that the girls are great. That is always guaranteed to make you smile if you have time to watch or record it). Denise said that she has felt for years that the medical profession have not understood her or taken her seriously about her illness.  She says that she finally saw a doctor who diagnosed her as lacking in estrogen and her hormones being out of balance. He prescribed her estrogen (gel I think) that she says has totally turned her life around.  She was singing his praises so much so that I was even going to tell a friend of mine about it who thinks that her severe depression has something to do with her hormones.  Like you she has been taking antidepressants but they aren’t affective when she considers it to be ‘PMT’ time.  I don’t know a lot about it myself apart from what I have read on the internet but my sister-in-law is finding out for me as she is a nurse.  I will post anything on the site that I find out about it.  I hope that you feel better tomorrow (or already even if that’s not being too optimistic or naive on may part!  It’s wishful thinking actually Snoopy as I do so hope that you are and I am sending you those wishes) Goodnight. Helen

Thank you both. I made the effort to go out and felt really good for doing that.  It was hard but I wanted to see my friends. I feel better today but not as I should. I’m going to aim to do as much next week as I can.  I am supposed to be starting an exercise class and I feel lacking in energy but am going to give it a go anyway.
It sounds like hormones could be responsible for a lot of problems and someone should do something about it.  It’s high time doctors stopped seeing us and fobbing us off with drugs and started seeing about physical reasons why some of us are more depressed than others. I have always had problems since puberty that my mother did not have but my grandma and great aunts did so it is obviously hereditary too.  Post natal depression must have roots in hormones in some way or other and I’d love to do anything I can to help research it.  I have always been tearful and cried easily which infuriates me.  I didn’t seem to be before puberty put it that way. My weight seems to pile on and stay on too. Has anyone else experienced that?
I also feel like I’m wasting the doctors time sometimes so am taking my mum next time I go for backup.  My doctor isn’t exactly unhelpful but he doesn’t seem to understand that when I say the medication doesn’t work, it doesn’t.  I should feel better than this but seem to get worse.
I did get the support I needed and want to help others as much as I can.

Hi Snopy
I’ve just joined this fab web page.  Sorry to hear you are not feeling good today.  Have you been refferred to the Community Psychiatrist or are you getting the support via your GP?  I only ask as I only really started to get properly well when I was eventually reffered to the Psych as they are the ones who are the experts in the field of mental health.  Make sure you see the Consultant or the RMO as they are the ones who are there all the time.

It sounds as though your medication isn’t doing what it should do.  Although any change in meds usually takes about 4 - 6 weeks to kick in.  So if you’ve just had it increased, be patient as it will work eventually.  Other things that I have found that help me are meditation and having aromatherapy massages.  The local college near you will have students training to be therapists, and you can get a massage for as little as £7.50 - huge difference to £30- £40 quid!!!  I ahve found both of these therapies a hug help in the last 2 years, and definatly feel more at peace and in control of my depression, even if I’m having an episode, as I feel at least I am taking some control.  The other thing I’ve learn’t is that the symptoms don’t last forever, they will eventually go and you will be feeling good again.  This is from experience.  I now just go with the flow when I have an episode of depression knowing it will eventually go.

Take care - thinking of you

Best wishes

Bridget

Hello Snoopy, I just wanted to add to your comment about weight gain.  I gained 3 stones in weight too.  It was a side effect of the antidepressant Olanzapine (it is a documented side effect of the drug) but wasn’t helped by my sloth like existence!  I was eating all the wrong foods laden with sugar that my body was craving and which I would never have eaten when I was well and actually cared about my body, and I wasn’t doing any exercise.  In fact I wasn’t doing anything.  I was mostly in my bed.  So I guess it should have been no surprise really. 
I didn’t care for a long time but when I was starting to feel a bit better and feeling up to going out, I did care, very much. 
I had no energy to do anything though and really couldn’t face all the gorgeous fit bodies in the gym.  I joined a small local pilates group where I lived which was brilliant. Pilates is an exercise for all levels and has great results. It grows with you.  When you get and feel fitter and you get more energy you can progress to the more difficult levels of Pilates.
Also walking with a dog (you don’t have to buy one.  Lots of friends are always more than happy to hand over dog walking duties as are dog homes).  It also gets you outside in the fresh air and your mood is distracted. 
You don’t dwell on negative ruminating thoughts while you are doing these things, which is always good and your body is benefitting (we all feel better if we look better) and we feel like we’ve achieved something (which is an important antidote to depression). 
Marisa Peer has very kindly given me her audio CDs that are relevant for the site for Weight Control, relaxation and confidence. I will be putting podcasts on the site on Monday if you feel like tuning in.  Best wishes, Helen

Why should we put up with this as a “side effect”? This isn’t FAIR!  Sorry but this really miffs me right off!!! As if I haven’t got enough to annoy or upset me!!! Right.  Who wants to lose it? Snoopy xxx

The best way to get over stress and depression is to take a break from your regular schedule, go out, and take good sleep. This helps in clearing the mind and try consulting a specialist who can suggest you as how you can get over your problem. There are various prescription drugs to get over anxiety and depression, but these should only be used in accordance with the instruction of a physician. There is a lot of fake selling of such medicines on internet, so before you can order it online just make sure it is a real pharmacy.(URL removed by administrator)

Have you tried drinking a glass of love. I visualise love in a glass of water. I turn the water into love and I drink it. I feel the love and happiness flowing into my body and take a great big deep breath and breath in all the happiness in the air. With every deep breath I draw happiness into my body. Sometimes I play uplifting music and stick my head into fresh smelling laundry. Hope this helps Xx

Hi can anybody help me right now? I’m so depress and i really don’t know what to do with everything. I cant concentrate on my job, cant even focus and never have the appetite to eat. My special someone is one month away from me with n communication due to his training. and after the training he will be going to another country. I really don’t know what to do. I don’t what him to be far away from me. Please I need your help..

regards,
jessica
Simulation prêt

Jessica I found watching films like the notebook the lakehouse help me. With these films I can empathise and have a bloody good cry. I tell myself I am going to live till I am 100 and there is plenty of time Xxx I know I am going to be reunited with my love ones, I tell myself I am going through a lifes lesson to show me how much I care otherwise I would never know and not understand. You sound like you are very much in love. When my ex was on a HMS warship lads would break their legs with spanners fall down hatches do all sorts to stop a trip Xxx My ex used to go away 6 months then have 6 weeks off then 6 months on. Is your partner a service man ? Do you know other girls who can chat to you and get their movements or chain of communication. When I saw my ex it was like a honeymoon again very intense and very passionate, I know in my heart you are going to get through this and you can be strong If you are a forces wife Xxx you shall be reunited, be STRONG XX
The pain is all a lesson and a testiment of your love xxxx sounds very romantic XXx HUGS XXXXX

Hi Jessica, it’s not easy when a loved one has to be away.  At least you know that you love each other lots and lots which is very very special.  Such love is powerful and wonderful but feels dreadful when you are apart and don’t have it right there.  I know that we all have our own ways of dealing with things as we are all wonderfully different.  I love Chloe’s suggestions.  When my husband used to be away for months at a time I used do all the things I felt guilty doing when we were together that he didn’t particularly like doing or that we couldn’t do together.  I used to catch up with friends and visit them at weekends; I used to blitz the house; I used to go for a swim, a steam and a sauna after the gym and spend half a day there rather than just an hour that I usually allowed myself; I used to go to the movies.  I used to feel so fit and well by the time he came back!  I do remember the heartache and I remember swimming and thinking to myself how much I missed him but I used to tell myself that he would be back soon (even when he’d just gone!).  Come on here and chat Jessica.  We’d love to talk to you.  The time will pass.  Please eat though Jessica.  If your body is healthy your mind will feel healthy too.  Meet a friend for lunch or/and dinner if you don’t feel like cooking for one.  Get some food in that doesn’t take a lot of preparation.  Eat it watching a good TV programme or a film so you don’t dwell on eating alone.  Thinking of you.  Helen

Dear Jessica, just to add, you may find support at work.  Do they know your situation?  My husband couldn’t call very often but when he did manage to call from a satellite phone while I was at work, if I wasn’t at my desk (which for some reason I never was on the rare occasion he did call.  I think they call that ‘sod’s law’!) my colleauges used to shout from one end of the trading floor to the other and I would come running and they would cheer and be very sweet.  It was quite funny and they were all very supportive.  Helen

Helens right You must look after his precious sexy goddess XXXXHUGS XXXXX