I think I need some drugs...

eminenz2

Cathlete
I think my dysthymia (low-grade chronic depression) must be back in full swing. I've been trying different exercise routines for months now, and nothing is working. I have no interest/enthusiam in doing anything - exercising, playing bingo;), riding, working (I'm a music teacher) - it's all just by rote.

If you have dysthymia or depression, would you share what worked for you?

I'm at rock bottom, I think. I'm not weepy or anything, just dull dull d-u-l-l-l-l-l-l-l.....

Susan L.G.
 
Hi Susan,

I too suffer from low grade depression. I've been taking Zoloft for years but I believe that it has lost its effectiveness. I do believe exercise makes a huge difference for me, as well as prayer and focusing on the on the one Person I can trust, and that is Jesus Christ. He has made all the difference for me after years of both physical and mental pain. Don't know where I would be without Him.

This time of the year is hard on people because of the gloomy weather, but once some warmer, sunny days head our way, we can look for elevated moods and spirits. It's tough to be stuck inside with "cabin fever" when we are already suffering with some form of feeling "dull." Hope everything starts looking up for you very soon. This won't last forever Susan, we were meant to live joyous lives!! :)

Take care of yourself and I pray that your depression will lift and you will back in the swing of things once again.

God Bless you,
Karen
 
I tell this to everyone who inquires about being depressed, I use 5HTP and it really keeps me on a fairly level sane level. I suffer from severe seasonal depression and low grade depression that will take me down in times of stress.

To get me out of my black hole I have used exercise, listening to music, dark chocolate, being out with people, reading forums of personal accounts that show people with way larger problems than mine so I can realize my situation is not so bad.

This time of the year my daughter suffers from severe depression. Seems like her seasonal depression is from Feb - April. She is trying to find the right cocktail of med's to help her deal with life.

I hope you find something that works for you. If you just want to vent/talk feel free to pm me.

-Carolyn
 
I have had problems with dysthymia for much of my life. I started the "Ten Years Thinner" diet by Christine Lydon Dec 25th to "clean up" after the excesses of Christmas and experienced a remarkable change in mood and mental attitude after about a month. I did find that dairy and wheat cause me problems. Getting rid of sugar was a big help too.

I didn't experience any great loss of inches that the testimonials promise (but then I am 63 and am in fairly good shape anyway). I am slowly dropping weight without being all that hungry and my clothes are fitting better.

I feel better than I ever have in my life and didn't expect the psychological changes. I have tried a lot of different things over the years, but never tried meds because I was afraid they would cause more problems than they'd solve. I hope you are able to find something that helps.

Dr. Lydon's website is http://www.tenyearsthinner.com/about.html if you would like to check it out.
 
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I suffer just as you do and it gets worse from Nov to May, particularly living here in sun deprived MI.

I haven't exercised much either since Nov. I just had zero motivation. But I didn't have much motivation to eat either so... I felt like crap pretty soon. Two weeks ago I just couldn't stand myself any longer and put fabulous music in my portable CD player, went to my local ice skating rink which has a really cheap fitness room and leapt on the treadmill. In just 2 weeks of high intensity, push as hard as I can powerwalking workouts, I feel so much better and am more motivated to continue. My endurance is back, everything in life seems easier...

The key for me is to get the hell out of the house. We have a rental place and whoever decorated it lives somewhere in the dark medieval ages because they pannelled the walls and ceiling with wood, for god's sake, and it's all so dark and depressing it makes me feel even worse. The local fitness centre is low budget and the equipment is not top of the range, but at least it has LIGHT!!!!!!! And warmth. I need those two things right now soooo badly.

I am not lifting weights right now, because I do that at home and right now, I can't stand to work out in this dark, cold, depressing place. But since it is increasingly getting lighter, soon I will resume weight lifting again. But the thing is to start doing something,and I have and I feel so much better.

The first few times I went to workout were extremely hard. I had to force myself to go. But I also talked myself through it, told myself that it didn't matter that I had lost so much fitness and wasn't in as good as shape as I had been a few months ago, but that it was OK, I would get there again, the important thing was to start.

Music is a great motivator for me.

ANother thing I do is get out fo teh house and go to my local Borders where rhewy know me and I feelwelcome. I sit there with a large latte and read, write letters to people, do research, whatever. The point is that I am surrounded by people, I am not alone, it is warm, there is light and I love books and to sit and read is one of my greatest pleasures. It helps.

The biggest thing is to lower your expectations of yourself during this time. Loathing yourself because you can't get motivated is pointless. You cannot help it. But if you can find a few things that ease the discomfort and self-disgust, however simple and innocent, even if they are passive activities like reading surrounded by other people, then it will all help.

Remember: nowhere is it written that if you do not do kick-ass workouts with Cathe at least 4 times a week then you are a complete loser. And anyway, while exercise definitely relieves depression, if you can't get motivated to do it, knowing that you cannot summon up the desire to do it and beating yourself up about it only makes things ten times worse. Give yourself permission to not exercise if you simply can't. But do find something that makes you feel more sociable and human, that makes you at least tolerable to yourself.

Maybe you would like to sit down with a big pile of old magazines and cut out pictures that are peaceful to you, that restore your inner peace or inspire. Stick them in a scrap book, make a collage? Anything is good.

Clare
 
Carolyn,

I think somewhere along the line, researching insomnia (which I suffer from GREATLY!!!) I read about 5-HTP. Maybe I'm confusing it with something else, but it sounds familiar.
How much do you take (or how do you figure out how much to take?) ? and do you take it at night ?
Thanks,
Becky
 
I've had success with St. John's Wort in the past.

And I agree with the earlier poster about getting out among people. I would add volunteering to help others has been shown to help with depression, too.
 
Carolyn,

I think somewhere along the line, researching insomnia (which I suffer from GREATLY!!!) I read about 5-HTP. Maybe I'm confusing it with something else, but it sounds familiar.
How much do you take (or how do you figure out how much to take?) ? and do you take it at night ?
Thanks,
Becky

I started off with 50mg taking it at night. I read that it may cause strange dreams but I always had strange dreams so I never noticed a difference. I bumped up to 100 mg from October - Feb which is my seasonal down time. When the sun starts getting stronger I'll feel better and know when to drop it back down.

I was really wacked out mentally with the low grade depression and menopause starting and this really did help me. I've been on about 5 different antidepresants and this, so far, has kept my life more manageable.
 
LAUGH

Find something funny in everyday life. Watch a comedian, watch a funny movie, read a funny book. It's not the cure for depression by any means but it certainly helps!!!!
If I didn't laugh at my life over the past 8 yr., I would have gone crazy!!!

ellie
 
Have some things to look forward to. We recently signed up for a mountain biking class and I found it really helped me to have that to look forward to. Now that our class is over, I have noticed a significant drop in my mood. This is just an example of what I have found to be true for me over the years. The day in day out grind takes its toll if there isn't something special on the horizon to look forward to. There is also research which supports this. (I don't have a citation handy, but I know it is out there.) I have read that one "should" have 5 things to look forward to at a time.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. One of the only things that truly makes me feel good is working out. If I could work out all day I would, just because it feels so good.

I try to focus on doing the several things every day that bring you even a little pleasure. They don't have to be huge, but just small comforting things, but make sure you focus on doing something every day.

I have tried all kinds of different chemicals over the last 20 years and have really found that they are a monkey's paw at the very best. For me personally, it is just better to stay away from them and focus on myself.

My heart goes out to you because I know how truly BLAH dysthymia truly is. Kind of an absence of all pleasure.

Take care.
 
Prozac and running long distances. I went on the Prozac when I got so desperate but only for about 4 months. I've sorta got a crapy job that doesn't help things. I've noticed that running really zones me out and clears my head. I also take kickboxing and ballet, . . being in a class and making myself responsible to go has helped tremendously. I feel for you because I've been there, . . hang in there.
 
Being a nature girl,after my 2nd baby,at 36, with periods that went from 4 a year to every month, 2 weeks of every month were horrible..I had everything I wanted out of life and would be overwhelmed,panic stricken,sad....and I KNEW it wasn't situational,it was chemical...yes, yoga worked,but it took 2.5 hour classes to induce the calm and normalcy..and it wasn't long lasting...I did St.Johns wort which is not regulated, and didnt really do much after 3 months, but I saw 2 cases of heart block in our ER from it...so reluctantly,I was part of the PMS trial that was going on for Zoloft for pms - in the mid 90s....within a WEEK,I woke up and felt a cloud had lifted....
By 40 I took 50mgs a day.....then my liver functions elevated an I switched to lexapro...
Then last summer (age 47)I was getting REALLY sleepy in the afternoons, and my girlfriend,a psychiatrist in NC suggested weaning off over 4 MONTHS (not weeks) because with perimenopause,maybe I wasn't needing it...so...over 4 months dropped off, and now I'm not on anything...I know hormonally things are changing judging by my skin thinning, the fact that I was getting leg sweats on the SSRI's which I never had before....so something chemical must have changed...
If EVER I feel that kind of depression/anxiety again, although I'm all about my wheat grass, organic living, I would NOT hesitate to treat again.

If a person is a diabetic and doesn't take insulin, they are foolish...is not distress of the human spirit as destructive to marriages, children and your very soul?!!!

The minutes of our lives go by way to fast to suffer if exercise,prayer,yoga,herbs don't work....clinical pharmacology can save your life.
 
sounds like

A vitamin D deficiency can cause this problem. Get your vit d levels tested and the cool part is that its easy to treat. I hope you feel better soon!
 
I agree that it would be a good idea to get you vitamin D levels tested.

I am on 20 mg Melatonin and that stuff is really great, my doctor gave it to me for other reasons but my DH who has been diagnosed with depression last year started taking it and says it is working for him and it must be because this past week he started working out again (which he hasn't in months, aside from the occassional stint at the gym).
 
Susan..

So sorry you are going through this, I know all too well about depression. I have been treated with meds for 10 + years, and will be on them for life, my family history is just too scary to play with fire and think about getting off of them, I'll tell you what works for me when I feel like crap.

Driving in my car with the music blaring.

Pushing myself even harder with my exercise, because I know the wonders it has done for me, even if I don't always feel like a workout.

Hanging out here with forum friends.

Reading is also a tremendous escape for me.

Also, for those times that I might need a little extra boost, I schedule an appointment with my local therapist. Although I am no longer a regular patient, I do keep her number handy when it does become time for a mental oil change.

As Ellie said, laughter is huge as well, I use humor as such a de-stresser that sometimes I have to reign myself in from over-using it.

Hope you feel better real soon!
 
Why don't you go see the doc and see what they recommend for you? If you need drugs, then you should be taking them.

One of my greatest mood enhancers, aside from shopping of course, is what I call "dragon-slaying". I take the thing on my to do list that I'm most afraid of and have avoided for the longest time and do it. When I find out it wasn't as hard as I expected, I usually feel pretty good.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions.

It seems many of us have the winter/loss of light thing going on. I must admit, this winter has been a lot rougher than winters past.

I have a great workout area downstairs, but the average temp in the basement is - for real - 54 degrees F. Now who in their right mind wants to get up from the warm comfy couch and go jumping around downstairs in those temps? Oy! It takes mega energy (and mega$$$) to warms things up to a just comfy 62. There is a mountain nearby that we hike on the weekends.

DH and I have discussed getting a SAD lamp. Has anyone used these things? Have they helped you?

Carola - I had to laugh when I read your post because I just saw my oncologist yesterday and guess what she tested me for? You guessed it - my vitamin D levels. Seems as though there is one very small study that has shown some interesting results regarding the relationship between growth of breast cancer cells and vitamin D. Of course, this theory is in its very early stages, but it is exciting to think about. Not bad for a traditional doctor, eh? She said to me yesterday, "Susan, the Creator provided us with everything we need on this planet to cure what ails us. We just needs to figure out where it all is because the traditions and knowledge from the past has been lost." My D levels were very good!

Anyway, RE: the Vit D - I take calcium with D everyday along with a multivitamin, B12, and horsechestnut (also recommended by my oncologist to aid in the prevention of lymphedema).

It's very strange how it seems like I crave the sunshine. I can go riding on a cold, cold day as long as the sun's out, and will curl up at home on a drizzly warmer day simply because of the clouds.

So, thanks again everyone for all your wisdom. The sun was out a bit today, so I managed. I didn't exercise though.

Come on spring! I'm looking forward to the forsythia blooming because then I know I don't have much longer to wait before things get better.

-Susan L.G.
 
I second the Vitamin D levels. If you are tested be Quest labs, they were outted in the NY Times as being 60% below the actual level.

Alot of doctors now feel that Vitamin D is instrumental in keeping us healthy in the winter months. They have also said that it aids in depression. Giid luck!
 
I have SAD and a circadian rhythm disorder (my days and nights flip so I am awake all night and asleep all day). A few years ago I got a light box for my SAD and the sleep disorder. I tell you I love this thing. In fact I am sitting here in front of my light box typing as I speak. I sit in front of my light box for 20 -30 minutes each morning. I eat breakfast, check e-mail and the forum during this time too. I have to tell you this is the best thing ever. I was put on antidepressants every winter and taken off of them every summer for years. In the three years I have had my light box I have not had an episode of depression though the past two years have been the worst in my life by far. I have been able to deal with the problems fairly well and still have some semblance of hope. I was fortunate that my insurance paid for my light box, but if they didn't I would pay for it out of pocket in a second because you can't put a price on the improvement of my quality of life. Yes, sometimes it is annoying to have to get up a half an hour earlier to sit in front of the lightbox, but I know that if I don't my mood will suffer so much that it is not worth it.

I would encourage anyone suffering from a seasonal mood disorder to look into light therapy and a light box. The therapist who prescribed the lightbox encouraged me to read the book Winter Blues by Norman Rosenthal. It has been several years since I read it, but I felt like it totally described me and gave me some hope that I could overcome this.

Good luck to you all.

Shayne
 

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