Depression

johngirl

I'm moderately depressed and I recently started taking zoloft. I have been working out and eating right the last few weeks, but now I'm losing motivation to continue. This week has been particularly bad regarding my depression, I haven't exercised or have been eating right. What can I do to keep from losing my mojo?? Does anyone out there struggle with depression? What helps you stay on track?

dyannajoy

unfortunately I have no answers, but just wanted to say you are not alone. I deal with it also and have for most of my life. It is better since antidepressants, but still bites me from time to time. I am struggling with eating exercise at the moment too. I know it will pass......it always does.....in the meantime.......we just continue to put one foot in front of the other and trust that the sun will shine again. :flowerforyou:

seal57

I'be been suffering depression for the last 2 years and I have finally found myself some Happy Pills....They are called Remifemin.....My depression is a part of menopause......Within a week of starting them, I had never felt so bloody good....

My GP has now lowered my dose of Prozac and hopefully will cut them out altogether and just take my Happy Pills............

lorro

Hi if it is only a few weeks taking the meds then you may stilll be adjusting to the dose - this typically takes 2 weeks but may be up to 4. If you still feel this bad after that then tell your doctor as their are different types on anti-depressents and maybe another would suit you better.

As for practical strategies, depression robs people of motivation. The way this happens is that you just don't feel like doing things, and/or feel doing them is pointless. Yet if you think about it, when you do them anyway, you usually feel better. It's important to remember this, that the "I can't/there's no point" feeling is not usually true and by changing behaviour you can often change mood. People don't realise they are doing it, but subconsciously they are waiting to feel like doing whatever it is they are putting off. This feeling of wanting to do something often never does arrive when you are depressed so try and stop waiting for it to arrive and take charge anyway.

Exercise is as effective as anti-depressants in beating depression. To help with motivation I suggest you plan your activity using a diary sheet like this one: http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/BACEdiary-weekly-splitcells.pdf When it comes to the set time, hopefully you will feel more able to over-ride the feeling and take action. If not then it's worth using a method of challenging the depresssive thought (I can't do my exercise/succeed at this). Here is an example of a method of doing this http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet7.pdf . There are some great self help resources out there if you're not sure how to go about it. These methods are elements of treatment programmes which have been shown to be effective in clinical trials (one to one treatment and self help). I hope you find them useful. Good luck :flowerforyou:

kokaneesailor

Yes, I have Post Tramatic Stress Disorder and major depression. At my worse I was on 150 mg of effexor which side effects include suicidal thinking as well as constipation, dizziness, dry mouth, insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness, sexual side effects, sleepiness, sweating, weakness, weight gain.

So in addition to this I also self medicated, which is a big no no. I drank 8 to16 x 12 oz Canadian Beer a day, every day. It was how I spent my day, drinking and smoking and passing out, all to be repeated the next day. This went on for years, until one day I had enough. I quit the medication much to my Doctors protest. It was a difficult 3 days, but finally the brain shocks quit. A nasty side effect of Effexor.

Then I had a spiritual encounter with my Savior. Jesus did a full on tackle and got me. I had been running from him all my life. No more running. He took the scales off my eyes and gave me a reason to take back my life. Now there are people reading this that are doing the eye rolls and muttering under there breath and that's fine. I don't believe in religion, I do believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It's the only truth that I believe. I read the Bible, and try my hardest to apply God's laws to my life. I don't get on a soapbox, and I don't get into arguements about Jesus. The Lion of Judah needs no protection from a sinner like me.

So what happened next? I quit smoking cold turkey, quit drinking cold turkey. Then the next issue to deal with was gluttony. Yes it's at sin. However I didn't view it as a capital sin like murder. I have changed my thinking about it now thou.

What can't I do when I'm overweight? Hummn just about everything that I love to do. So not being able to challenge yourself is like living life in a plastic bubble. You just drift thru life never being able to fully engage, to touch it, to experience it.

So here I am at 51 years old, I'm losing weight by following the program. One pound a week. Starting to feel extra comfortable in my skin. I want to take this journey as far as I can.

I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy instead of medication. I can't say what will work for you. All I can say is the medication that I was taking wasn't ( IMHO) doing me any good. Nor was the path of self destruction.

Perhaps seeing your Dr. again if your symptoms worsen would be a logical start. There are alot of different medications out there. One of them might work for you. Diet, exercise, CBT and my faith are what work for me regarding depression. Is it cured? no, is it manageable? Yes.

Feel free to pm me if you would like more information.

Cheers


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy