Lets all be anxious/depressed together.

Hugo Stiglitz

lukesmom wrote: »

Yeah mirtazapine that's good to hear, were you on them long?

About 2 years or so with Anafranil and Lyrica. My anxiety increased recently so my Anafranil dose was upped. This meant that the mirtazapine had to be dropped.

lukesmom

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

About 2 years or so with Anafranil and Lyrica. My anxiety increased recently so my Anafranil dose was upped. This meant that the mirtazapine had to be dropped.

Ah right I've had insomnia since I stopped I'm hoping it settles down. I stopped from. 15mg to nothing. I'm on other meds too cymbalta & seroquel.

Hugo Stiglitz

lukesmom wrote: »

Ah right I've had insomnia since I stopped I'm hoping it settles down. I stopped from. 15mg to nothing. I'm on other meds too cymbalta & seroquel.

Yeah I was on the 15 mg too.

cloudatlas

I got two job refusals on the same day so a double sucker punch and then I got a viral infection, I'm almost over it but it has weakened me and made my head ache. I couldn't sleep for more than three or four hours at a time and my mind was leading me to terrible places that I had forgotten, took a while to reassure myself that everything was fine regardless. I'm still pretty low. My motivation is totally gone.

Hugo Stiglitz

cloudatlas wrote: »

I got two job refusals on the same day so a double sucker punch and then I got a viral infection, I'm almost over it but it has weakened me and made my head ache. I couldn't sleep for more than three or four hours at a time and my mind was leading me to terrible places that I had forgotten, took a while to reassure myself that everything was fine regardless. I'm still pretty low. My motivation is totally gone.

So sorry to hear that CA.

Killer_banana

Going to work out...just as soon as I can take my hand of this drawer without thinking it will cause someone I love to die. :rolleyes:

handbagmad

Im very something today can't quite put my mind to what it is. Heart is racing all day. Doing breathing exercises a few times through out the day not doing much good.
Im also gone really fussy with food meaning I'll only eat certain things for a few weeks at a time all the time then change when I get sick of them. Weird

stinkle

Upset. Thought I hadgood Relationship with my mother. went to visit today only to be told I look pregnant and look like my grandmother (ugly, evil woman that I hated). I never had a bad body image before and am v v sad and hurt. I don't want this to affect me

Killer_banana

handbagmad wrote: »

Im very something today can't quite put my mind to what it is. Heart is racing all day. Doing breathing exercises a few times through out the day not doing much good.
Im also gone really fussy with food meaning I'll only eat certain things for a few weeks at a time all the time then change when I get sick of them. Weird

I get like that sometimes, sort of feel like I'm about to have a panic attack but the damn thing just won't happen. I find breathing exercises helps me as well. Square breathing especially.

stinkle wrote: »

Upset. Thought I hadgood Relationship with my mother. went to visit today only to be told I look pregnant and look like my grandmother (ugly, evil woman that I hated). I never had a bad body image before and am v v sad and hurt. I don't want this to affect me

That's terrible. I'm sorry she said such horrible things. I know it's clichéd but in my experience people make comments like that and put people down do so because they feel insecure in themselves. Regardless of how you looked she'd probably have found something to pick on. It's **** when you don't get on with family. I hope things work out.

stinkle

Killer_banana wrote: »

I get like that sometimes, sort of feel like I'm about to have a panic attack but the damn thing just won't happen. I find breathing exercises helps me as well. Square breathing especially.



That's terrible. I'm sorry she said such horrible things. I know it's clichéd but in my experience people make comments like that and put people down do so because they feel insecure in themselves. Regardless of how you looked she'd probably have found something to pick on. It's **** when you don't get on with family. I hope things work out.

I thought I did get on. I know you're right, she has some weight issues at the and I've been trying really hard with my exercise lately, more from a mental health point of view but I did think I was looking better and felt more confident. Now I'm not I'm v sad but I might have a word when I'm less angry and upset

stinkle

handbagmad wrote: »

Im very something today can't quite put my mind to what it is. Heart is racing all day. Doing breathing exercises a few times through out the day not doing much good.
Im also gone really fussy with food meaning I'll only eat certain things for a few weeks at a time all the time then change when I get sick of them. Weird

I do all that too! Hate the heart racing!

Gremlinertia

After working almost straight through for thirty odd hours I got home and slept really well.. Really really well.. Actually woke up in good form.. First time in a few years I think. Don't know what made the difference because all conditions were same as usual but wow was I grateful.. Hope I can remember this when I'm down hagain.

kryptonmight

A little on edge today. Didn't sleep very well last night, but that's common enough for me on a Sunday night when i have to go to work the next day. I'm leaving my current job next week and I am raring to go now as I'm just bored.

Doesn't help having stupid crazy thoughts which can trigger anxiety.

Been on the cipramil for just over a week now, 10mg per day Have to call the gp in a couple of weeks to let her know how its going. Not sure i feel much different but it took nearly a month the last time and on a stronger dose but I am not planning to go to that dose again and neither is the GP. I might suggest to her to increase it to 20mg and leave it there, i think I might feel more comfortable on that.

i also wouldn't mind a resupply of zyprexa. I find it really good for calming me down.

stinkle

not too bad today thankfully. I'm away next week (will be interviewing for that job I want!) so yay that it's a break and the future is looking up which is very exciting. I;ve been putting some work stuff off cos was busy with other deadlines, but made a good start today. I need the help of others to do it,which is why I was putting it off as I hate being in the way or an inconvenience. It's actually been nice chatting away to them today and feeling welcome.

I slept ok. I was genuinely upset yesterday but had been awake till 6am the night before and tired which may have heightened my upset. It's still not right but I'm glad I slept on it. If anything the knock to my confidence spurred me on to have a good week and get through all the work before I go so I dont feel like things are hanging over me on my return. There's already an issue as I'll be away for a meeting and I dont know if it'll be rescheduled for as soon as I get back, but I'm assuming it will be and want to be prepared for that. Feel good to have risen to the challenge

Rothko

Not doing well at all today and I don't even know why. I've mostly been relatively ok over the past few weeks so it's annoying to have this just as I thought things were looking up.

Hugo Stiglitz

Suas11 wrote: »

Not doing well at all today and I don't even know why. I've mostly been relatively ok over the past few weeks so it's annoying to have this just as I thought things were looking up.

What's on your mind there friend?

Rothko

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

What's on your mind there friend?

I've just been having suicidal thoughts. I felt down straight away when I woke up this morning but it's been getting worse over the course of the day. I can't really pin point any specific reason for this but that's not unusual for me. I do have an appointment with my occupational therapist tomorrow so I might bring it up with her.

Hugo Stiglitz

Suas11 wrote: »

I've just been having suicidal thoughts. I felt down straight away when I woke up this morning but it's been getting worse over the course of the day. I can't really pin point any specific reason for this but that's not unusual for me. I do have an appointment with my occupational therapist tomorrow so I might bring it up with her.

Definitely bring it up.

Is it just the idea or do you feel like a compulsion to act on the idea?

Rothko

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

Definitely bring it up.

Is it just the idea or do you feel like a compulsion to act on the idea?

It's just the idea. I don't have any intention to go through with it and I've actively been trying to push the thoughts out of my head but it's difficult.

Hugo Stiglitz

Suas11 wrote: »

It's just the idea. I don't have any intention to go through with it and I've actively been trying to push the thoughts out of my head but it's difficult.

I know the feeling man. I get that myself a fair bit. Not nice thoughts to be having.

The good thing is that you don't have any intentions of following through with them. Hopefully the thoughts will pass for you soon.

Rothko

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

I know the feeling man. I get that myself a fair bit. Not nice thoughts to be having.

The good thing is that you don't have any intentions of following through with them. Hopefully the thoughts will pass for you soon.

I hope so too. The medication I've been taking has been making it easier to deal with and even posting on here has made me feel a bit better so I'm sure I'll be fine.

Hugo Stiglitz

Suas11 wrote: »

I hope so too. The medication I've been taking has been making it easier to deal with and even posting on here has made me feel a bit better so I'm sure I'll be fine.

And lease post here as often as you need to

It would do no harm to let your doctor know about these thoughts the next time you see them.

Rothko

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

And lease post here as often as you need to

It would do no harm to let your doctor know about these thoughts the next time you see them.

I certainly will. It does help.

Yeah, I will. There's other times where I didn't and I regret it. I'm sure it'll go away soon enough anyway.

Esel

Suas11 wrote: »

I certainly will. It does help.

Yeah, I will. There's other times where I didn't and I regret it. I'm sure it'll go away soon enough anyway.

I posted this recently in the 'Let's all laugh at people with depression' thread.

Hope it helps!

Esel wrote: »

I'm not sure if I developed this technique myself, or maybe I picked it up during my journey. Either way, I find it very effective.

Technique: When I find myself suddenly having negative, dark thoughts, I consciously stop and 'click back' to see what I was thinking about just before those negative, dark thoughts arose.

Lo and behold, I realise I was thinking about some aspect of my 'life' about which I feel bad. *see example below

That makes me realise that my downward spiral arose as an immediate consequence of that previous thought.

You might say 'So what?', but the fact (for me) is that:

NB: The apparently simple process of 'clicking back' has the effect of stopping the downward spiral in its tracks.

Try it for yourself. Please don't discount it just because you read it here (i.e. came upon it by accident, not from an expensive course of therapy).


* Example 'results' (aka insights):

I thought my life was worthless (downward spiral) because (click-back) I feel I am too fat / ugly / bald / short / not good enough in work/college/relationship / *insert your own negative thought here*.

As I said, stopping and 'clicking back' is easy. The insight it produces, though, stops the downward spiral in its tracks (for me).

stinkle

that's really great! I'm a demon for worrying for no reason (like feel ill at ease but no idea what it was that started me worrying). Must try that technique next time it or negative thoughts happen.

Am ok again today. For some reason there was no general tiredness/life wearyness last night and I went to bed early enough. Have a lot to get through today, bit wired cos wanna go to my exercise class on time (am a time worrywart). I actually just used that technique there - there's an issue with a work thing, deadline is today and I really need to sort it. I had what I thought was general dread, but pinpointed it to that worry. Now hopefully it wont interfere with more mundane aspects of my day once I make a phone call and speak to a human about it!

handbagmad

Night 4 in a row of insomnia. Eyes R stinging the feck out of me for the want of some sleep even with sleeping pills.
Can hear several dogs having chats outside or maybe im gone mad.
Gonna get up n make some cocoa no point staring at the ceiling

Killer_banana

Had some relatively good days and now back to feeling really low. Do not feel like I can handle college today but not able to miss it. Fecking group projects...

Drumpot

Insomnia . .

I frequent the "lets all laugh at people with depression" thread on After hours and I see this issue come up here aswell. Just thought I would share my experience and hope it helps somebody!

I had awful insomnia in my teens and for as long as I can remember (now in my 30s).

I was advised:

- Read before going to bed
- Don't watch TV hours before settling down
- Get exercise earlier in the day so you are knackered before getting into bed
- Eat healthier and less before going to bed
- Make sure your room is clean
- Go to bed earlier
- Other tips that I just cant remember

To be honest, these do help some people and they are good habits to have whether you have sleep issues or not, but they did not work for me. My insomnia issues were deep rooted and none of these things helped when I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling or with my pillow on my head desperately trying to get some sleep.
In short, if I was in a certain frame of mind, the only thing that could help me get asleep was sleeping tablets that knocked me out (and sometimes even they didn't work!).

Its gas because sometimes I forget the way things were because right now, if I only get 7 hours sleep I consider it a bad night sleep. It used to be the case that anything over 4 hours was acceptable!

In hindsight it sort of makes sense now. The single biggest trouble I had getting asleep was either switching off my thoughts and/or learning to relax and let go of any anxiety. I realised that much of my life I would distract myself because I didn't want to deal with things that upset me or I just didn't know how to deal with. Then when I get to bed and there's nothing to distract me, some of the things I needed to acknowledge and deal with on a daily basis (could be trivial things), were keeping me awake at night.
Not just that, its not like I was dealing with daily issues and then dealing with new ones the next day. I was mentally hoarding things that I would play over and over again in my head at different times.
I thought I was nuts and was afraid to say it to anybody for fear I would be locked up!

So I cant say for certain how I improved my sleeping issues, but I know dealing with emotional issues that I just couldn't properly digest played a huge role. I used to think if I got my sleeping sorted , then my emotional and mental health issues would sort themselves out. Turns out I was trying the tips (mentioned above) which were not dealing with the main issue.
It used to be the case that I would try and stay up as late as possible (well past 1am) to try and nacker myself out so by the time I would be going to bed I would just collapse!Now there are nights I am actually nearly excited about going asleep (sad I know !!!). I goto bed much earlier then I used to (try to be in bed by 11 most nights).

Its amazing how CBT has helped me change my perception on so many things. Originally I would of tried something (to help me sleep) and the only thing I would use to measure its success would be on whether or not I got a full nights sleep. Irrespective of whether or not it even helped a little bit, I would just dismiss it and not even give it a decent time to work (if it didn't work first night then its a failure!). I have learned (through meditation tapes) that its easy to get hung up thinking about where you want to be (in this case asleep for full night), instead of trying to stay focused working on the steps to get there.

I try not to value most things in life the way I used to. In work, with family, in success's, in failures because I used to have really bad habits that all linked into my depression, my lack of sleep, my anxiety and my general dislike of life . .

LanaFey

Hi everyone.

Glad to say I'm doing better. Started counselling this week. I think with that and the meds (which my doctor has increased the dosage of) I'm starting to feel more optimistic. I'm having more good days than bad I think.

However Today hasn't been great so far. I am very, very anxious. Been trying to do breathing exercises the therapist showed me and they're not really helping. What set me off was two of my Facebook friends posting news stories about global warming and melting glaciers, that kind of horrible pessimistic stuff. This kind of thing really triggers me I can't stop thinking about it no matter what I try to distract myself with. At least the therapist has me keeping a journal so I've made a note about this to talk to her about it at next week's appointment. And work is tough today, I made a mistake this morning that I'm now going to try and spend my lunchtime rectifying.

Hope everyone else is having a pleasant day.

Call Me Jimmy

Very helpful post Drumpot and I believe your definition of the problem is bang on the money. Life is one big distraction from the things that really worry us. Most people (and I include myself a lot of the time) need to move on to the next thing, whether in our minds or in our actions. It becomes an insatiable appetite for distraction. Any time I've had a serious cry I will usually sleep like a baby. I feel like things are being let go, or at least processed properly, rather than through 'thinking' them away.

Great point about CBT and something 'helping a little bit'. CBT stuff is really obvious but most of us don't think about the obvious and if we do it is usually dismissed.