Life with and after depression
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hi all
I regularly wrote and chatted on this forum last year and found it a huge help, but haven't been on for some time - apologies if i didnt reply to any of the lovely people i'd chatted with!
Just wanted to let people know that really you can and will get through through this but please be patient! I went through all sorts of side effects with fluoxetine and sometimes it was hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I am so glad i stuck it out as i have now got my life back, the fear and anxiety are gone and i am really enjoying life to the full again, something that i couldnt even imagine 12 months ago.
I know i am not cured forever , it doesnt work like that and i continue to take a low dose as a precaution while i go through some big changes (all good ones though!). I hope hearing this will help someone to keep persuing happiness.
Everyone is different but there is hope. Persevere, talk to friends and family (hiding this will not help), be honest, most of all rest if you can and look after yourself.
I wish everyone who is suffering from depression the strength to keep going and find their happy place again, it is there just dont give up in it .
Good luck all, you'll get there.
Vix xx
5 likes, 42 replies
felinelover vix167
Posted
How long did it take you to get to that feeling of peace, where you can stop the inward thinking and awareness of not feeling good??
I'd love to hear, thanks x
vix167 felinelover
Posted
Nausea was my worst symptom, lost nearly 2 stone in 2 months (tho i was overweight but not the way to lose it!). I had 3 months on citalopram first before fluox but changed because nausea didnt improve much and struggled with extreme fatigue.
If i remember rightly it was between 16-20 wks of fluox that things started to pick up for me and there was no miraculous good feeling just an odd day when i forgot i was ill (sounds daft but i just started to realise id had a normal day now n again).
I eventually went up to 30mg as although feeling physically better i still felt blue. That was probably 5 months down the fluox line.
Then i levelled off and began to live more fully again
Everyone is different and different things work but if youve noticed improvement then do try hang in there. I found my even keel at 30mg after avoiding an increase for a long time without revisiting side effects thank god but i may have just been lucky .
Believe you will get there, get some exercise preferably in fresh air every day (i dont do exercise but walked 30 mins each day) and get yourself up and ready to face the day as often as you can (tho sometimes blankets days are just what you need😀).
Take care and good luck
Vix xx
felinelover vix167
Posted
It is so good to hear from someone who understands the nausea and loss of appetite, most people seem baffled by it. I have only had two bouts of mental illness and the last one was four years ago after my father died. I ended up in a psych clinic and because the anti depressant (Lexepro) I was given hadn't worked after a couple of weeks and I was still nauseous, the psychiatrist tried to give me ECT. To cut a long story short, I declined and did eventually recover after about 8 months. This time I lost 12 kilos but I was pretty thin before that so I looked really bad. Have managed to put a bit back but everytime I have a bad day and eat very little I think I lose the weight again. Anyway I'm staying off the scales now, it's just something else to worry about.
I'm still on 20 mg prozac but like you may up it to 30mg. So you didn't revisit the side effects, that's interesting because I worry so much about going through all the dry retching again but maybe it wouldn't happen. I do feel better than I did so maybe I will hang in there a bit longer, fluoxetine seems to be a very slow acting drug.
Yes I do walk every day and try to eat well but being vegetarian, the food isn't really weight producing which is what I need.
Thanks so much for the information, you've given me some hope......
f l
joanne75435 felinelover
Posted
Thought I'd just send u a little catch up email. I too didn't have side effects when I upped my dosage to 40 mg from the 20 mg but I think at the time the anxiety was so terrible that perhaps I wouldn't have noticed - I spent most of my days dry retching! Personally I am still having more good days although I have a terrible cold at the moment which is making me a bit low today-also it's the weekend so too much time for thoughts! With you, keep going, as Vix says try and get out in the sunshine when you can and take time to smell those flowers. Concentrate on the nice and the beautiful and little by little you will find more peace.
vix167 felinelover
Posted
felinelover joanne75435
Posted
Again it is heartening to hear that someone truly understands the horrors of constantly dry retching. That stage seems to have passed though I had a bad day last week when I dry retched a few times. When that happens I get so down and think I'm back to square one. I still don't have an appetite and become anxious wondering what to eat. However I have been re reading a book which got me through last time I was sick and the book advocates acceptance of all bad feelings and always lookiing forward. I particularly liked the book as it had a section on nausea and vomiting. I have found that very few self help books mention that.
I hope you are getting over your cold, I can understand it making you feel low.
Thanks again for the encouraging comments
felinelover vix167
Posted
I love ginger beer but unfortunately it has a lot of sugar and as my blood sugar levels are high I can't really have any. I found Ativan the best for nausea but as they're addictive I couldn't take them regularly and had to be selective about when to take them.
It must be a wonderful feeling to be over all these horrors but I know after my last recovery I felt so incredibly happy just to have my life back. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can enjoy life again.
vix167 felinelover
Posted
And yes, i felt so happy to just feel well again i think i was slightly manic for a few months but in a good way😀
joanne75435 felinelover
Posted
felinelover vix167
Posted
We don't have Tesco in Australia but I'll look to see if the local supermarket has sugar free ginger beer.
Yes I can understand that slightly manic feeling, if I have had a good day it tends to more manic because I'm just so happy to feel normal.
felinelover joanne75435
Posted
felinelover vix167
Posted
I am now at 17 weeks of fluox and feeling nauseous today. I foolishly cancelled a doctor's appointment yesterday because I was feeling OK. Can you remember if you were still feeling nausous at week 17. I have made another appointment for next week and think I'll ask the doctor about increasing my dose. I just hope I don't have to come off this medication because it doesn't agree with me. Last time I saw the doctor she said I could see a psychiatrist but it is expensive so I'm not so keen. The nausea really gets me down and I so want to be well again.
Hope you can you some advice.
Thanks
f l xx
felinelover joanne75435
Posted
Hope you are getting over your cold. At what point (how many weeks, months) did you increase your dose from 20mg to 40mg? Also how long have you been on fluoxetine for? I'm so indecisive at the moment but feel that after 17 weeks I should be feeling better than I am, although I'm not dry retching now.
Thanks,
f l
Thanks for your
joanne75435 felinelover
Posted
vix167 felinelover
Posted
The bad days dont half knock you back when they come but as time goes by they become less frequent. I think by 17wks the nausea was a lot better though dr gave me propanalol. I also had acupuncture for the nausea and it may have been coincidence but by the end of that week the nausea had gone. Worth a try and not too expensive but you need to find a reputable experienced person for it to be effective.
Hope it settles for you soon, if yoyve had good days its prob worth sticking it out a bit longer before considering a change but you know how best you feel.
Hope it improves soon
Vix x
felinelover joanne75435
Posted
How long after taking the 40mg did the nausea stop? How long have you been taking fluoxetine this time around?
f l x
felinelover vix167
Posted
I tried acupuncture last time I was suffering but I think I got a dodgy person as she put the needle into the loose skin between my thumb and finger and I had a lot of pain there for some weeks. When I asked my doctor for something for nausea she gave me Ativan which does work but as it's addictive, I can only take one every now and again.
Hope the pregnancy is going well.
f l x
joanne75435 felinelover
Posted
About two weeks for the nausea to go and appetite to improve, however if I have a REALLY bad anxious spell I will occasionally still dry retch but NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT IT WAS! I really can sympathise with you. This time round I initially took 20 mg for 3 weeks and then upped the dose to 40 mg which I have now been on just over 4 weeks. I don't claim to be fully recovered but, my goodness, thankfully, I'm better than I was - but I was at full breakdown stage - not eating, sleeping, barely functioning. I go to work and try to carry on as I always have done - I feel routine is important. Some days at work are very hard and I get home feeling I've battled anxiety all day - other days I sail through. I think I said before, alongside my prozac I am seeing a psychologist for CBT and I find just talking helps relieve some of that terrible pressure we feel in our heads sometimes. You are having a real dilemma with upping the dose arent you? Perhaps give it another week and then decide, but don't be scared. There are always horror stories, but, as I said before, I was absolutely fine.
felinelover joanne75435
Posted
Thanks for the reply,
I have been having racing heart every now and again since being on fluoxetine and this morning it was really bad. My pulse was 157 and the doctor gave me an ECG and has decided to take me off fluoxetine. So I am gradually tapering and starting Valdoxine. Who knows what the future holds!
It's been nice talking to you and I hope the fluoxetine works out for you.
All the best,
f l xx
vix167 felinelover
Posted
Hope the valdoxine suits you xx
joanne75435 felinelover
Posted