The Mental Health thread - depression, bipolar, ADHD, you name it

[elevenism]

@elevenism, be grateful that she's alive and can talk at all.

My cousin's wife had a stroke, she was fairly young, she was on life support for a few days, we didn't know if she'd make it. Finally, she pulled through but spent a long time in the hospital in rehab, learning to sit up, then walk. Now, she can walk, but slowly. My cousin, thank God, was able to switch his job to telecommuting so he can stay home and make lunch for her and stuff (she still can't do stuff like that, and never will). She can no longer communicate, at all. She can say THREE WORDS and the docs say that's the most they expect. Her brain can't connect with her communication ability. She knows what she wants to say, but can't make the connection. You can imagine how hard this is for a marriage of 25 years, or for their 22-yr-old son. My cousin and his wife have a picture book and she points to communicate. When she misses their son (he has his own apt), she points at his picture.

On the other hand, the brain is an amazing organ. Has your wife been back to a doctor to discuss this?

i am, @allegro . she just confessed to me about not being able to speak the way she wants. But i am just so grateful that she's alive. i love her so much, in sickness and health. i held her tight and we cried a bit.
i was going to make her a doctor's appointment, but she said she would rather make it herself.

ever read Johnny Got His Gun? My dad left my mom because she got hurt at work. They prescribed her too much medication and she was fucked up all the time. She gained weight. she couldn't play music or have fun anymore so he left.

Anyway, i always said that when i get married, i will love my spouse and care for her even if she had no mouth, nose, eyes, arms or legs.
I think i said this to my dad at one point in anger.

He made a big mistake. I've listened to him cry about his guilt and pain for breaking our family.
But i still love him.

I will never make that mistake. I will care for Sheap because i am a good Sheapherd. I will give her green grasses, cool water, the whole nine yards.
Sheap said that she can still THINK normally. It's just her speech...she can't think of the right words.

We will get her to the doc soon

[allegro]

i am, @allegro . she just confessed to me about not being able to speak the way she wants. But i am just so grateful that she's alive. i love her so much, in sickness and health. i held her tight and we cried a bit.
i was going to make her a doctor's appointment, but she said she would rather make it herself.

Yeah, a doc might be able to send her to occupational or physical therapy, or maybe give her some meds to help the process along, or even run some tests.

My dad ran off with some 19-yr-old broad when my brother and I were babies, but holding onto anger or resentment isn't a useful thing. This guy J Ivy wrote a book about it called "Dear Father" -- here he is on Def Poetry Jam

[Dra508]

It was something related to her Type II diabetes. She's overweight, has Type II diabetes, but was under 50, was not morbidly obese, was being treated for diabetes, but I guess she got depressed and was not totally taking care of herself according to my cousin (high cholesterol), then BAM.

Interesting. I just heard today of a woman, just 50 who was diagnosed with early onset dementia. I asked if it could be a result of her epilepsy. Her daughter said no, the docs said probably from the long untreated diabetes. Ohmegah.

Sorry, this is the mental health thread.

Yoga, been my anxiety lifesaver for several years now. I highly recommend any form of it or meditation.

[allegro]

Interesting. I just heard today of a woman, just 50 who was diagnosed with early onset dementia. I asked if it could be a result of her epilepsy. Her daughter said no, the docs said probably from the long untreated diabetes. Ohmegah.

My stepmother died of early-onset Alzheimer's that started in her 50s, although she probably had symptoms in her late-40s. She was fully non-functional and in a nursing home at 60. She died of it at 62. Wtf. People think it's just "memory" but your brain stops sending all kinds of signals, including how to walk, how to communicate at all (she stopped talking completely by 59, was unable); she'd grimace in pain, and we'd ask where it hurt and she'd point at the table; the very last thing they "remember" is the very first thing we learn as babies: how to open our mouths to take food, then they get put on a feeding tube. Ugh, awful.

Oh, hey, look at this. Probably doesn't work very well with early-onset, but ...

[Digital Twilight]

Yoga, been my anxiety lifesaver for several years now. I highly recommend any form of it or meditation.

I used to do Yoga and I can't recommend it enough myself. I found it really relaxing.

The more I look into it the more meditation seems to come up in regards not just to mental health issue but just all round good health. Mindfulness seems to be the big one at the minute. It's something I'm going to try in the upcoming months.

[elevenism]

thank you for your words, @allegro .
you are like a big sister or cool aunt who is just full of wisdom and knowledge. '

I have forgiven my father and am going to see him soon.

Love DPJ, by rhewah

edit: lol by THE WAY. i was SLEEPY.

[Dra508]

I used to do Yoga and I can't recommend it enough myself. I found it really relaxing.

The more I look into it the more meditation seems to come up in regards not just to mental health issue but just all round good health. Mindfulness seems to be the big one at the minute. It's something I'm going to try in the upcoming months.

Yes, it seems to be the 'it' thing right now, but I'm going to take it as it's become more mainstream. It's been around forever. I just heard a man being interviewed about his PTSD and he said a lot about meds and what worked and what didn't, but he said most importantly being mindful and doing yoga really worked for him. It's brain training.
@allegro - Alzheimer's runs in my family. I'm concerned that my mom is going to get it like her father. He apparently did some extremely out of character stuff in his final years in a nursing home.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

So I made it through some stressful days that normally would have left me shaking, agitated and/or withdrawn. This mix of medication seems to be doing the trick, pretty much canceling out the side effects and leaving me with the steadiness I need. Not perfect, but then nobody is.

The one side effect that's inescapable is the one that's visible to everybody: 50 pounds of excess me. Six years ago I had a feeling these drugs were working, but I let my vanity get in the way. (Not that my vanity wasn't grounded in truth — after I dropped the Nortriptyline I lost so much weight that people thought I was going to evaporate.)

I'm five pounds heavier now than I was back then. Sigh…



The greater disappointment: I never found the drugs that would let me manipulate space and time.

[elevenism]

The greater disappointment: I never found the drugs that would let me manipulate space and time.

don't worry. we'll find them

i also want whatever pills david bowie sings about taking in Time Will Crawl...the ones that made his fingers disappear.

[allegro]

@allegro - Alzheimer's runs in my family. I'm concerned that my mom is going to get it like her father. He apparently did some extremely out of character stuff in his finally years in a nursing home.

Genetic Alzheimer's is pretty rare. It's perhaps more likely a coicidence?

See this: http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/alzheimers-genetic

And this: http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/alzheimers-types

Most investigators are convinced that there are many more genes involved in Alzheimer's disease and, moreover, that other conditions must also be present for the disease to develop. One of these conditions may be a problem with the way in which nerves turn sugar, or glucose, into energy, a process known as glucose metabolism.

There's that GLUCOSE, again.

[Dra508]

And this: http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/alzheimers-types

.

This link says nearly 1/2 of all people over 85 get Alzheimer's?!
I'm going to cling to the theory that diet and exercise help, because this shit is depressing. Oh hey, got the thread back on track. You're welcome.

[allegro]

This link says nearly 1/2 of all people over 85 get Alzheimer's?!
I'm going to cling to the theory that diet and exercise help, because this shit is depressing. Oh hey, got the thread back on track. You're welcome.

Well, hey, I still contend that this is in the MENTAL HEALTH category since it is related to the brain.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

Well, hey, I still contend that this is in the MENTAL HEALTH category since it is related to the brain.

Totally agree.

[theruiner]

The depression is really bad today. Like, REALLY bad. I haven't felt this horrible in a long, long time.

[Baphomette]

Interesting. I just heard today of a woman, just 50 who was diagnosed with early onset dementia. I asked if it could be a result of her epilepsy.

Any chance she was taking an anti-epileptic like Topamax? I was on that for awhile and one of the side-effects is mental fogginess that can be misdiagnosed as early onset dementia/alz. Once I was taken off of it, the fogginess disappeared.

[allegro]

Any chance she was taking an anti-epileptic like Topamax? I was on that for awhile and one of the side-effects is mental fogginess that can be misdiagnosed as early onset dementia/alz. Once I was taken off of it, the fogginess disappeared.

I'm on Topomax for migraines, but a really low dose (50mg per day) so I don't get any of those symptoms, vs. the 200mg per day given to seizure patients (why it's often called "Dope-a-max"). Neurologists generally rule all this out, though. A 50-yr-old is probably dealing with the fogginess of menopause, too.

When my stepmom had early-onset Alzheimer's, one of the early alarming things she did: She was driving to work, she was stopped at an intersection and she suddenly got out of her car and she left her car running there in the intersection and she just wandered away.

The neurologists explained that mental fogginess is forgetting where your keys are; dementia is forgetting what your keys ARE FOR.

When I see the trailers for the film "Still Alice," they make me cry. :-(

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

Apparently my doctor decided to do me a favor and put in for 90 day prescriptions this time. (We won't be meeting again until the end of April, but I would've been happy with 30 days and a couple refills.)

Anyway, with my insurance a 90 day prescription has to go through mail order. I was aware of all this only because Express Scripts has my email address and sent me the order confirmations.

Under normal circumstances this would be a big problem, because my prescriptions run out on Tuesday and I know Express Scripts won't ship them out that fast. But I am not normal (heh ), and I've been on and off these particular drugs enough times that I have a collection of leftovers going back to 2009. The nortriptyline will last me another 9 or 10 days — fingers crossed that it's enough.

(These things were less complicated when I paid full retail. But considering that Strattera is going for $300/mo these days, I suppose it's worth the inconvenience.)

[Dra508]

When I see the trailers for the film "Still Alice," they make me cry. :-(

Great book. I have to keep reminding myself those differences. My mom is really forgetful these days, the real short term memory kind, but she hasn't walked out the front door in her night gown yet.

Great question about what epilepsy med. I don't know, but next time I see her daughter I'll ask.

I know this is a old article, but it just showed up in my FB news feed and I really like graphic novels. Having bipolar disorder explained to me this way was great, perhaps it will be to others.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...ushpmg00000030

[allegro]

Great book. I have to keep reminding myself those differences. My mom is really forgetful these days, the real short term memory kind, but she hasn't walked out the front door in her night gown yet.

Exactly. At my late brother's memorial, when my stepmom was still in the fairly early stages of dementia (we didn't realize, at the time, that it gets WAYYYYYYY worse), I found her standing before a big table of food at my mom's house -- cold cuts, bread, etc. -- completely baffled. My stepmom had made me and my (late) little brother some of our favorite dinners for years, since our childhoods, but was totally confused by a build-your-own sandwich type buffet table. It might as well have been a car production line. I stepped in to help her, asking her "do you like ham?" etc. She couldn't remember. I finally just made her a small sandwich of things I remembered that she liked, since she could not remember which lunchmeat she liked but also couldn't remember how to build a sandwich. She was in her 50s. She did manage to eat that sandwich. This is way more than short-term memory fog.

My mom nearly threw out her keys for the 2nd time, yesterday. Luckily, somebody in the trash room spotted them and brought them back to her before they went down the shoot. I think, in her case, she daydreams way too much about "things to do" instead of concentrating on the task at hand.

[Qualis_Dolor]

Depression, evolving over several years now (I'm having my 18th birthday soon), can't remember when I was really happy and serene the last time... I'm taking SSRI (fluvoxamine), which also take away a big part of my tensions I have from obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD; perfectionism and particularly face washing) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). OCD and SAD are/were not that highly developed and with the meds and various therapies, that's much better now. Same with inferiority complexes, which linger pretty deep inside my head, but kinda better now through therapy and positive experiences...
The downside of the meds: they probably took part why I started harming myself and have suicidal thoughts again (pretty much every day)... I reduced the dose, but... yeah, some of you probably know how hard it is to find the right thing... I also think this goes hand in hand with Bipolar disorder II, but that's not yet diagnosed.
I feel something else going on in my head... I just don't know. Maybe it's part of the whole thing and the isolation. >_<

So, my biggest problems right now: depression, suicidal thoughts, both enhanced by morbid lovesickness and isolation. Have to get into another setting.
Got a therapist and the SSRI...

Please correct grammatical and spelling errors, I want to learn.

[Baphomette]

Depression, evolving over several years now (I'm having my 18th birthday soon), can't remember when I was really happy and serene the last time... I'm taking SSRI (fluvoxamine), which also take away a big part of my tensions I have from obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD; perfectionism and particularly face washing) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). OCD and SAD are/were not that highly developed and with the meds and various therapies, that's much better now. Same with inferiority complexes, which linger pretty deep inside my head, but kinda better now through therapy and positive experiences...
The downside of the meds: they probably took part why I started harming myself and have suicidal thoughts again (pretty much every day)... I reduced the dose, but... yeah, some of you probably know how hard it is to find the right thing... I also think this goes hand in hand with Bipolar disorder II, but that's not yet diagnosed.
I feel something else going on in my head... I just don't know. Maybe it's part of the whole thing and the isolation. >_<

So, my biggest problems right now: depression, suicidal thoughts, both enhanced by morbid lovesickness and isolation. Have to get into another setting.
Got a therapist and the SSRI...

Please correct grammatical and spelling errors, I want to learn.

How long have you been taking Luvox? Were you taking any meds previous to it? And what kind of therapy are you currently receiving? I'm quite alarmed that you've been prescribed an SSRI.

[elevenism]

ANOTHER fucking close friend dead for me.

This one i had known since the second grade. He was only 34.

That's 3 in like 5 months. And the other two were YOUNGER!

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

This place needs a Hug button.

[Dra508]

It's probably a sign that I'm going through something if I cried on my yoga mat today. :/

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

I've been feeling a bit … "off" today. I hope I'm not coming down with a cold or the flu, because that would be bad timing on my part. Seems more likely that my stash of leftovers have lost some of their effectiveness, though up to now I haven't had any reason to believe that they would…

In any event, the Express Scripts order arrived today.

[Baphomette]

Stopped taking my anti-depressant six days ago. First major swing happened this afternoon. Ugh.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

Turns out I was coming down with something. But here's the bizarre thing about me on Prozac: on the rare occasions I catch a cold, the more recognizable symptoms — stuffy head, runny nose, sneezing — are totally missing. Instead I get that "off" feeling and a couple days later it deepens into malaise. That's the only way I can tell I'm sick.

And then the next day, I start feeling better again. By the time I feel sick it's already on its way out.

But there may be other things going on here. Prozac makes me feel allergic to … something, 365 days a year. Or maybe it's just "allergy-like symptoms." I dunno, but I buy generic Claritin in 365-count bottles.

I used to have seasonal allergies in the spring and the fall, but those started to decline in my college years and pretty much disappeared in the late 90s or early 00s. Take me off SSRIs long enough and this allergy-ish-maybe-thing will also disappear.

Figure there's some connection there — either the Claritin is relieving cold symptoms (which I don't think is supposed to happen), or the Prozac is monkeying with my immune system to a freakish degree.

[Baphomette]

Figure there's some connection there — either the Claritin is relieving cold symptoms (which I don't think is supposed to happen), or the Prozac is monkeying with my immune system to a freakish degree.

Prozac can give you flu-like symptoms. It's one of those nasty side-effects doctors/bigpharma likes to downplay. You can find other users talking about it here.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

Prozac can give you flu-like symptoms. It's one of those nasty side-effects doctors/bigpharma likes to downplay. You can find other users talking about it here.

I keep thinking I should hang around the Crazymeds forums. Maybe my weird-ass collection of side effects would have some entertainment value if nothing else.

[Digital Twilight]

Having a shitty week. Feel like a child that needs to be looked after.

Nuts to you world.