mental illness

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy @ Oct 13 2006, 05:21 PM) [snapback]332485[/snapback]</div>

I PM'd Marj about a week ago, but I hope she posts an update here for all of us. We've all got your back, Marj!

OK ... was it a "weird-nice person rash" or an actual nice person rash? :blink: Inquiring minds want to know.

I hope the more regular sleep cycle and exercise are working out for you. What a pain that something that was working for you gave you a reaction. Keep us all posted on how you're doing, too!

 

Not my fault you have a weird nice person.
[smile]

I, too, have confronted/am confronting demons, primarily through therapy and taking control of my life after a rather tumultuous youth and early adulthood. The process has been tremendously scary at times, absolutely liberating at others, and is a Life accomplishment of which I'm quite proud. It's allowed me to realize that I'm far more resilient and adaptable than I've ever given myself credit for.

Thanks, everybody, for sharing. I admire your outpouring of courage and honesty.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Proco @ Oct 13 2006, 06:10 PM) [snapback]332502[/snapback]</div>

Sidestepping the thread just a tad. I took a snapshot for you: http://www.jonco48.com/blog/pumpkin_2Dbutt_2D574.jpg The rash is starting to clear up a little!

Back to our regularly scheduled thread....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(marjflowers @ Sep 13 2006, 12:46 AM) [snapback]318831[/snapback]</div>

Wow lots of good advice here diet and exercise probably one of the best. My story goes back almost 3 decades. It starts with diabetes and progresses to End Stage Renal Disease ESRD. The final result was a dual transplant of a kidney and pancreas which was quite successful but the resulting sever depression from the major surgery and chronic bouts of insomnia almost did me in. So most of my points will just be repeats . . .

1) Double check your meds, I'm on a lot of meds and sometimes it's the meds not the underlying condition that is acting up. Another thing, take your meds according to the instructions. I can’t tell you how many times this screwed me up especially with misuse and overuse of anti-rejection pills and sleeping pills.

2) Diet & Exercise, Diet & Exercise, Diet & Exercise, Diet & Exercise, you get the idea? Moderate amounts can have enormous effects such as a 20 min walk around the hood. Helps the meds work better also and keeps you regular. Don’t mix your meds with grapefruit juice for some reason I keep picking that one up when I do research on drugs and side-effects. May want to ask your Doc about that if you love grapefruit juice like I do.

3) Terri had one of the best ideas go out and do for others even if it's a small thing like what SPE did, great story BTW.

4) Watch a lot of "America's Funniest Video's" even if you don't feel like it. Laughter is the best medicine.

5) Find a Positive thought/attitude when it gets overwhelming and focus on that if possible. Sometimes the more inane the thought/attitude is the easier it is to hang on to and use it to push back the overwhelming stuff. It helps even if for just short periods of time. Prayer, meditation and good thoughts also help if you’re the type even if you aren’t, it still helps.

God Bless

Wildkow

Good thoughts and Prayers coming your way.

p.s. BTW it's rare that you get so many responses to a story like this, many people find it difficult to respond to other people’s pain or suffering, there is a good group of people here on PC.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Oct 14 2006, 02:42 AM) [snapback]332646[/snapback]</div>

**very** good point wildkow! this is something that should be mentioned to anyone who's taking any kind of medication. and i'll explain a bit so you can see why.

the liver is responsible for metabolizing or breaking down any chemicals that are in your bloodstream. the liver enzymes that are largely responsible for this are called the cytochrome p450 enzymes. there are many subtypes of these enzymes, each one is responsible for metabolizing chemicals with a certain structure to them. so if you have multiple chemicals in your body that have similar structures and are metabolized by the same enzyme subtype, these chemicals start to compete with each other for metabolism. the enzymes can only work so fast before they reach their limit.

when the enzymes can't metabolize a drug quickly enough, it extends the amount of time you have active drug in your bloodstream. your dosage regimen is based on the half-life of the drug, or how quickly your body can get rid of half the drug in the bloodstream. this is to keep your blood drug concentration within certain limits so you don't have too much and get toxicity, but you don't get too little and lose the therapeutic effect. so when you take your next dose, it's based on the assumption that a certain percentage of the drug from your last dose has gone away. when your body metabolizes less than this percentage, it increases the active drug concentration in your bloodstream. this could eventually put you over the toxic threshhold.

by toxic i'm not talking fatal, necessarily- although i suppose it's a possibility. but you'll start to see much nastier side effects. obviously too much of anything is a bad thing.

and here's where grapefruit juice comes in. a component of grapefruit juice is metabolized by one of the p450s. i forget which. but it competes with many drugs for metabolism and increases your bloodstream concentration of drug, leading to some of the possible side effects of too much drug in your system.

so if you're not sure whether drinking grapefruit juice has an effect on any drug you're taking, please please please talk to your doctor before drinking any. your doctor will be able to tell you (or look up for you) whether your meds are metabolized by that certain enzyme.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy @ Oct 13 2006, 09:23 PM) [snapback]332547[/snapback]</div>

Awwww, geez, bigdaddy! I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks now!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Oct 14 2006, 02:42 AM) [snapback]332646[/snapback]</div>

Wow. That's quite a story. I'm glad to hear you were able to come through everything OK. Thanks for sharing your story & your suggestions. It's really valuable to someone like me who's on the mild end of the depression scale.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Oct 14 2006, 02:42 AM) [snapback]332646[/snapback]</div>

These are great suggestions!! I have a tape of stand-up comedy that I can watch when things are looking gray and it certainly helps. Sometimes listening to heavy metal at loud volumes helps me, too. But I wouldn't suggest that for most people.

In the positive thought area, I have a file of emails from friends that I look at. A while back I was feeling very lost and I sent out an email to friends who've known me for more than a couple years. I told them I was feeling lost and asked "who I used to be". What I got back was such a sincere outpouring of caring & compassion that I was overwhelmed. I go back & re-read those emails to remind myself that people around me really care.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Oct 14 2006, 02:42 AM) [snapback]332646[/snapback]</div>

I think you'd be surprised. My wife heard someone say something like "it's through our flaws that people make connections". And we've found it to be true. Being willing to fearlessly say "this is what I've gone through" allows others who've had similar experiences to see that they're not alone and are allowed to talk, too. I'm glad Marjorie put this thread on here.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 14 2006, 10:57 AM) [snapback]332714[/snapback]</div>

Thank you very much for the great explanation of how drugs are metabolized by our bodies and why grapefruit juice could be a problem. I had heard about it being a no-no if you're taking statins to maintain your cholesterol, but not for other meds.

 

"2) Diet & Exercise, Diet & Exercise, Diet & Exercise, Diet & Exercise, you get the idea? Moderate amounts can have enormous effects such as a 20 min walk around the hood."

I fully agree. A 20 minute walk is not enough. I suggest you buy a pedometer (only about $12.00) and try to walk 10,000 steps a day. That's over 4 miles. Reduce your calorie intake until you're body mass index is well under 25. For a BMI calculator, see here: http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

Eat a healthy diet rich in greens and with small amounts of meat. I eat an asian diet of lots of vegetables, tofu, rice, some meat (pork, beef, chicken) fish and fruit.

I also suggest doing volunteer work. One characteristic of depression is self-absorption. Try actively helping the many people who are worse off - people with autism, the elderly, etc etc. Be socially active.

I would minimize or avoid medications unless they are really essential. Our society is grossly over-medicated. (Do it to infuriate the drug makers) Instead of taking a pill, exercise and get more sleep.

Every case is different, but a lot of problems can be traced to lack of exercise, obesity and over-medication. Good luck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 16 2006, 01:01 PM) [snapback]333630[/snapback]</div>

A common point of agreement? Stop the presses! :blink: :lol:

Moo

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 13 2006, 07:37 PM) [snapback]332524[/snapback]</div>

And just look at 'Pinto Girl' now, shes still a Hottie .

My story:
I suffered from ADD & ADHD back in the 70's I was listed as slightly retarded :angry: because I was slow and had a short attetion span...( until dignosed) In the 80's I got dignosed as an epileptic after a grand-maul siezure in a grocery store. I went to a hurricane storm party drank too much the next day walked into a grocery store looking for batteries, found them had the siezure fell into the battery rack. Then into a wall had two metal pins that hold the batteries on the wall lodge into the top of my right eye socket and hung me there for a few minutes until my body wieght bent them and ripped them from the wall then went through two shelves. I came to laying in a pool of blood on the store floor with the FD working on me. They transported me to the hosp. after surgery, (now blind in the right eye) was put on welbutrin which was supposed to calm me down but of course had the reverse effect it was like taking leagle speed with a violent streak :blink: . I couldn't drive for 1 yr, I then quit taking the meds and have been fine ever since. even been to the dotor and they said The reson I had the siezure, Im allergic to alcohol.. (yeah I dont drink more than one anymore). B)

There thats my story... :mellow:

I have noticed a lot of people have skeletons or behaveural trates they keep in the closet.

 

"I then quit taking the meds and have been fine ever since"

Good move.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Oct 16 2006, 05:16 PM) [snapback]333691[/snapback]</div>

PG - Thanks for sharing your story with us. Like everyone else who shared, it took a lot of courage to face what you faced and come through it. If you hadn't, who would grace us with the Liberal waaabulance?

I think, like Jack Kelly suggested way back in the beginning, it's vitally important that these mental health "skeletons" boogie on out of the closet. By sharing stories and experiences, it demystifies "mental illness" and makes it less scary. It also shows others who are afraid to share that they're not alone. Even if they don't share, maybe they can get some comfort from just reading or listening.

We've come a long way from the days of lobotomies and sending people away, but there's still a long way to go.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 16 2006, 04:01 PM) [snapback]333630[/snapback]</div>

i'll agree to an extent on this. yes, our society is indeed grossly overmedicated. it's partly due to the culture of america coming to the point where real work to improve ourselves is too much- there's a huge market for pills that make you lose weight without changin your eating or exercise habits for example. it's all a load of crap but it sells because it requires no effort on your part.

sure that's not exactly within the scope of fda approved drugs but it's a good example.

antidepressants are a strange groups of drugs. about half of their effect is placebo, that is to say about half of the effect is from having taken steps to place oneself under the care of a physician rather than let the downward spiral continue, and isn't necessarily related to the drug itself. many do vastly different things or do similar things through very different mechanisms, yet all claim to have the same general therapeutic effect plus or minus side effects.

however, we are talking about drugs that alter the chemistry of the brain. we know for a fact that many cases of depression are caused by chemical imbalance. so logically, one bet would be to try to return that chemistry to normal as much as possible. due to the incredible complexity of the brain and the fact that we can't target to any particular PART of the brain, there are lots of extraneous effects which need to be carefully considered and a balance between the benefits and potential harm to taking any drug needs to be struck.

in short, drugs are not things to play around with. but for those that need them, they're invaluable. finding the right drug is hard, and using the wrong drug can cause some bad side effects.

but really- we don't need any more contributions to the stigma against antidepressants.

 

Wildkow...good point about laughter, as well!!

We fill this house with laughter...jokes, DVDs that are funny...my husband is blind now, but we relish the humorous videos...we bought a whole set of "Are You Being Served" and sets of great comedy moments on video...funny movies...we laugh at our verbal mistakes or mistakes we make because of hearing issues....

Can never underplay humor....

terri

 

"in short, drugs are not things to play around with. but for those that need them, they're invaluable. finding the right drug is hard, and using the wrong drug can cause some bad side effects.

but really- we don't need any more contributions to the stigma against antidepressants."

Of course, in serious cases of severe depression, drugs may be essential, at least in the short term. I question where you say "using the wrong drug can cause some bad side effects". In fact, even using exactly the right drug in the right amounts will usually have significant side effects. The negative effects of the side effects may be as great as, or greater than the beneficial effects of a drug. Given the right conditions, the body and mind can usually heal themselves - the right conditions being good diet, daily exercise, strong social support. I think that depression is more of a problem in western societies where people are often isolated and socially atomized than in more traditional societies where extended families provide support and it is rare to be alone. (They have different problems with tensions in the families). There is also, for lack of a better word, the spiritual dimension of depression, which the pharaceutical industry completely ignores. Some people may need some kind of a belief system to give them a sense of hope and purpose. This could be supplied by religion for some, but others may find it in music, art, literature, nature. Over reliance on drugs should be avoided, although they may be appropriate in cases where the cause really seems to be a chemical imbalance.

 

As for medication, I respect the meds. I would not rely on them solely (and at the moment I am temporarily not relying on them at all), but I do look at them as a part in an overall treatment program, which includes meds, exercise, therapy, talking to friends / family, diet, sleep, hobbies.

I just remembered something. The cover art of this year's PC calendar was the product of an intense manic/OCD spurt I had over Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of little avatars to be collected and arranged to look like the Prius Power button when combined. Very intense "labor of love" type obsession for 4 days.

I sure would hate to lose that type of "creativity" in the future through the misuse of meds, or through a depressive funk due to not using them. Be it born out of mental illness or not, my creativity is sort of what pays the bills around here.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 17 2006, 12:47 PM) [snapback]333969[/snapback]</div>

choosing the "right drug" involves finding something that is the most effective and has the least side effects for each person. if it's effective but the side effect profile makes the treatment as bad as the disease... it's NOT the right drug for that individual. given that there are so many available drugs... you're not stuck with something that has these horrible side effects.

those tend to be the first steps that one should take. however, that doesn't always work. i know. depression tends to draw me away from such things personally ... basically into your own little corner, alone, with no energy or will to get out and about, and grabbing whatever food takes the least work to prepare which tends to be the unhealthy sort. it compounds upon itself from there.

i would hope most doctors would encourage their patients to try these things first before jumping to medications. but like i said, that's not always enough. for many, depression involves a major shutdown.

 

Another risk of drugs besides side effects, is the risk of allergic reactions.

“This is an important study because it reinforces the really substantial risks that there are in everyday use of drugs,”

Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/health/1...amp;oref=slogin