Depression

oldbatty......let's get a club (?) running...it would be great for us all just to be able to dip into something......share our thoughts and help each other along. I know I would benefit so much from sharing thoughts...both negative and positive and not be told to pull myself together...' what have you got to be depressed about?'.
Xx

" pull yourself together" is massively irritating!!!

Nobody chooses depression.

I am on the way down again...gym and exercise keeping busy during
day..lost 21lbs OH working hours and relationship worries real or imagined,..can feel myself slipping again...have been on escitaloproram for years...I would describe mine as reactive/ endogenous type,at the moment am full of fear and anxiety,am on beta blockers too for anxiety affecting blood pressure ....am a complete mess at the moment

aw sorry to hear that downtoearth. Its so miserable and isolating.

I know exercise is good for us but sometimes we have to be kind to ourselves too.

Right I'm going to start a thread where we can pool ideas and share.

It's terrible isn't it? I too burst into tears at the docs. My BP was through the roof. I think everything that I've had to cope with came to a head. Trying to stay calm, for all who are struggling.

{flowers] hope you feel better soon.

The way I look at it is this: I now have fewer years left to enjoy life and I don't enjoy it when the depression descends - I ask myself do I want to suffer during these last yeaRS IF THERE IS A PILL THAT WILL HELP ME?.....ANSWER nO - SO DOWN THE NECK THEY GO!

Ignore that capitals!

Have you tried a Seasonal Affected Lamp,SAD lamp ,you can get them online .My MIL swears by hers and as soon as the days shorten she has it on for a couple of hours a day ,worth a try .

As well as Citalopram, I find using a SAD light every day from when the clocks go back is very helpful. Also Vit D supplements in line with the NHS guidance, and going outside for walks in as much sun and daylight as possible. As others have said depression is an illness and nothing to be ashamed of. Good luck.

I've had depression on and off since I was 12. In my experience it comes on when it's trying to tell me something - even if it's only: Winter is coming, get ready! Would second the Lumie lightbox if SAD is an issue for you. I make myself get out of doors every day for at least half an hour - even if that's just sitting in my garden but without my glasses on (you need pure daylight to hit the retina in your eyes, not filtered through glasses). My GP advised me to take extra Vitamin D3 (apparently, we just don't get enough sun in the UK) and that helped too. There are a couple of books that really helped me understand why I get depressed: The Depression Cure by Steve Iliardi (not a cure, but it definitely alleviated it for me and also made me feel less helpless) plus "Listening to Depression" by Lara Honos-Webb. But yes, I go to my GP as soon as I start to feel down and the self-help measures are not working (they often do). I think those of us who get depressed are born with a lower "threshold" and so, sometimes, we just need chemical help. Would you feel bad about taking insulin if you were a diabetic? Of course not. Take any help you can - drugs included.

So sorry to hear that you are feeling below par. Have you tried raising your vitamin D with full cream dairy / butter - preferably from grass fed cows if you live near a farm shop?

I second the good advice to take the prescribed medicine and not to feel guilty.

I love winter, but DH does not. He finds it helpful to light candles or tea lights in the early dark mornings and in the evenings.

Could you perhaps find a hobby or pastime that you like and only do it in the autumn and winter months, so you have something to cheer you up? Something nice you associate with the depressing time of year?

If you haven't the energy to do so right now, and you probably do not, as depression drains energy away, do please give yourself some kind of little treat.

I hesitate to suggest chocolate or cakes, as they will probably just make you feel guilty too, but listen to some music you like, or watch a film you love on Netflix. Or buy yourself a teddy bear to cuddle when it all becomes too depressing. Read Winnie-the-Pooh to your teddy - he/she will love it and I garuantee "the bear with no brain" will cheer you up.

Take the polls and then move to South West france. Much better winter weather more sunshine and blue skies and it doesn't go dark until 6pm even in December. Makes so get bearable for me.

Thinking of all of you suffering from depression. It is such a debilitating illness and you should accept all the help that is on offer.

think I can remember oldmeg pulling down the blinds in the hot weather, now its hibernation in the winter,
couldn't resist.

Does anyone else use a light box for S A D? Do they really work?

I've had a box for years but mostly I can't motivate myself to plug it in. Irony or what.

Lynne59
An antibiotic for depression?
That can't be right. Antibiotics are for infections.

Please don't add to the depression by feeling bad about feeling bad and take it from someone who's there as well. It's hard when you have an 'invisible' illness - no one can see it, so all you can do is take the tablets and hope. It will get better, Doris, I promise you, so I'm sending you lots of love and a great big hug from a kindred spirit.

How to fill your day? Get out of the house, get a dog, join clubs, go for walks and then you will find your days and evenings full.

Thank you coolgran65 I'm thinking about a lumie box for the winter Do they really work? Anyone had success in dealing with the Winter Blues by using one?

Oh Doris19, how I sympathise with you. I think I was born anxious and both parents were depressive. I have taken Citalopram for years now and I think it helps me to "keep my head above water". My GP has referred me to Talking Space and I am having CBT. Had an initial meeting with the counsellor and now a fortnightly phone call for half an hour. I have lots of work to do on my thought processes during that fortnight and - guess what - it is really helping!! Could you have a word with your GP and see if there is anything like that on offer in your area? Please don't feel ashamed or guilty.

The way I understand it, our bodies become less efficient at making serotonin as we age. Look at the citalopram as a "supplement" for something that younger bodies are better able to manufacture for themselves. My mum, aged over 100, started on citalopram last year, and it has made a huge, positive difference to her life. I hope it works for you, too.
Don't feel guilty - it is a matter of chemical balances.

It is not always possible to get out of the house if you feel really rough.