Post by Honeylioness on Dec 2, 2010 16:02:15 GMT -5
Honeylioness - 12/01/10 12:12 PM
Ladies -[/b] I am still willing, though I failed miserably last month to follow through as previously posted, to do a monthly recap of people's progress with appropriate "present icons". But I didn't get any response to my offer - so just wondering .... does anyone else still want to see this or
Struggling a lot here with a combination of sadness, some depression, kids, money, work, and feeling like I need to do everything perfectly each time all the time. And then feeling as though I have failed miserably at all of it. Add to this that Hawk's brother died on Sunday after being diagnosed 6 weeks ago with renal then bone cancer, my worry about his state of mind, second guessing some recent decisions issues with my quilting guild, and a deadline for a quilt .... well, let's just say sleep has not been very long nor restorative lately.
Sorry to be a downer - but honestly, its not something I can dump at home.
Sharing the Simple Lifestyle - 12/01/10 06:20 PM
Honey[/b], read your post with huge interest and just have to give you a huge hug for all you're enduring. What a terrible shame about RedHawk's DB. On depression...I am DESPERATE to get help for DD#2, who is just as desperate. No doctors taking new patients, thus no referral for, in any event, a non-existant psychiatrist in central, ne Ontario. This is beyond the pale. A doctor who treated her five years ago for OCD, further north, said he could not see her for five to six months. Dear heavens! This is a young woman who is so close to suicide most days this month I am beside myself. I'm ready to take her to Atlanta and just pay for services. What the h##l good is universal medicine if you can't get a doctor? I wish she'd just go over to Buffalo with me (that's what we all do, anyhow, it's ridiculous, but god bless the medical facilities in Buffalo) but she won't go to Buffalo because once we got a bit lost and ended up in a rough area. Anyhow, if on or offboard you or others wouldn't mind sharing what meds do seem to help, I'd be grateful. Poor kid. Of course, this time of year is beyond brutal for her. She needs sunlight.
spruby - 12/01/10 08:09 PM
Honey -[/b] hugs for you - so sorry about Red Hawk's brother - sounds like you have a lot going on - no good advice - but perhaps something to think about - would you be as hard on anyone else (hold them to those standards) as you are to yourself? We often are much kinder/more forgiving/generous of heart & spirit to others than we are to ourselves. You are an amazing person doing amazing things - even if you can't always see that yourself.
sharing - oh dear - your poor DD - I can't recommend any one thing - everyone I know is on some combo and it usually took a while to get the right mix. Can you get a more experienced driver to take you to Buffalo? Can I send you my GPS (I think it has Canada - I could check)? Does Canada not have emergency services for this kind of thing? What good is universal health care if it can't deal with this! Is DD explaining she is suicidal or downplaying the issue? Have you heard her describe it to a doc? I'm just surprised if she told them this that they wouldn't have some kind of more immediate answer. I also know from my experience with my DH - when his meds got out of whack - he always downplayed things unless you asked VERY specific questions - which I now do.
MittenKitten - 12/02/10 12:39 AM
Sharing: [/b] BTW 5000 IUs of vitamin D are often recommended for us northerners. Have her do that, if nothing else it is NOT going to hurt. Also have her read or spend some time by a bright light. I found St John's wort helped and in her case it may be worth it to try it. I know it messes with birth control not sure about other things so research it.
3catslady - 12/02/10 02:21 AM
Sharing; [/b]I've taken Welbutrin, prozac, paxil, zoloft, and any of the others you can name. They help for a while, for me, and then I'd have to go to something else. I am finding that taking vitamin D helps some, but I am only taking 400 iu's. Did someone say they were taking 1000? I can't find any that have 1000 iu's or do you take more than one tablet? Being a druggie, I hate to take more than the bottle says to take because I could go way overboard. I was on a sleeping pill that kept me asleep for 4 hours and I lost 3 days because I would take another one when I woke up from the first pill and kept doing that for 3 days not realizing what I was doing. I went to a "friend of Bill's" meeting and they told me to dump the pills. someone came home with me and watched me dump them. They were afraid of what I could have done and I never realized what could have happened. My GF just went back on her "crazy pills", as she calls them. I keep telling her that she just needs something to get her through the winter months, just like the rest of us.
I haven't had a crying jag for over a week but I think it is because I shared with you all what was happening and "when sorrow is shared, it is halved". And I have kept myself busy crocheting and doing little things around here. I have a LOT to do but if I just keep plugging away at it, it will all get done.
Sheila in Cali - 12/02/10 09:51 AM
Sharing:[/b] sounds like your DD needs a "Medicine Man" (that's what our dear departed friend Dave called the Psychiatrists as he was a psychologist). With DH's bipolar it was explained to us that until the imbalance was fixed then the antidepressants would not help at all. So DH had to be on Lamictal, Geodon and one other I don't remember, then the Effexor for the depression and Atavan for the panic attacks.
Going on Antidepressants is a serious thing, especially with the Effexor. I was on it too and had to sign a contract saying that I would be on it a minimum of one year and allow myself 4 to 6 months to cycle off of it. Quitting them cold turkey is extremely dangerous. The side effects of going off them like that can be really intense.
I am sorry you aren't able to get an appointment for her. For immediate help there are several hotlines with trained counselors that she can call to talk to.
shanendoah - 12/02/10 01:02 PM
sharing: For OTC meds, my friends have used St John's Wort and Vitamin D. Definitely a house full of the full spectrum lights (as we were discussing for 3cats) for your DD. What helps my DH is to have a regular schedule, to know that other people expect (and depend) on him to be someplace at some particular time. Knowing that it would make other's lives (and not family/friends: they'll forgive) more difficult if he's not around helps him focus on sticking around. Other things that might be available: a suicide prevention hotline, or an Employee Assistance Program. THe hotline, besides giving her someone besides you to talk to might be able to recommend/get her in to a certified professional sooner. I don't know how common EAP's are up there, but they are pretty common here. They go along with health insurance, and provide a toll free number anyone on the policy can call for counseling. It is all counseling, not meds, and its over the phone (though studies have shown that phone counseling to be quite effective), but its done by medical professionals and its better than nothing.
There's also my favorite therapy (though she may not be allowed): pet ownership. The pets dependency gives the person something to get up for on days when they won't get up for anything else. The pets provide unconditional love, an ear that always listens, and studies prove that petting a cat or a dog lowers blood pressure and calms emotional turmoil.
Ladies -[/b] I am still willing, though I failed miserably last month to follow through as previously posted, to do a monthly recap of people's progress with appropriate "present icons". But I didn't get any response to my offer - so just wondering .... does anyone else still want to see this or
Struggling a lot here with a combination of sadness, some depression, kids, money, work, and feeling like I need to do everything perfectly each time all the time. And then feeling as though I have failed miserably at all of it. Add to this that Hawk's brother died on Sunday after being diagnosed 6 weeks ago with renal then bone cancer, my worry about his state of mind, second guessing some recent decisions issues with my quilting guild, and a deadline for a quilt .... well, let's just say sleep has not been very long nor restorative lately.
Sorry to be a downer - but honestly, its not something I can dump at home.
Sharing the Simple Lifestyle - 12/01/10 06:20 PM
Honey[/b], read your post with huge interest and just have to give you a huge hug for all you're enduring. What a terrible shame about RedHawk's DB. On depression...I am DESPERATE to get help for DD#2, who is just as desperate. No doctors taking new patients, thus no referral for, in any event, a non-existant psychiatrist in central, ne Ontario. This is beyond the pale. A doctor who treated her five years ago for OCD, further north, said he could not see her for five to six months. Dear heavens! This is a young woman who is so close to suicide most days this month I am beside myself. I'm ready to take her to Atlanta and just pay for services. What the h##l good is universal medicine if you can't get a doctor?
I wish she'd just go over to Buffalo with me (that's what we all do, anyhow, it's ridiculous, but god bless the medical facilities in Buffalo) but she won't go to Buffalo because once we got a bit lost and ended up in a rough area. Anyhow, if on or offboard you or others wouldn't mind sharing what meds do seem to help, I'd be grateful. Poor kid. Of course, this time of year is beyond brutal for her. She needs sunlight.spruby - 12/01/10 08:09 PM
Honey -[/b] hugs for you - so sorry about Red Hawk's brother - sounds like you have a lot going on - no good advice - but perhaps something to think about - would you be as hard on anyone else (hold them to those standards) as you are to yourself? We often are much kinder/more forgiving/generous of heart & spirit to others than we are to ourselves. You are an amazing person doing amazing things - even if you can't always see that yourself.
sharing - oh dear - your poor DD - I can't recommend any one thing - everyone I know is on some combo and it usually took a while to get the right mix. Can you get a more experienced driver to take you to Buffalo? Can I send you my GPS (I think it has Canada - I could check)? Does Canada not have emergency services for this kind of thing? What good is universal health care if it can't deal with this! Is DD explaining she is suicidal or downplaying the issue? Have you heard her describe it to a doc? I'm just surprised if she told them this that they wouldn't have some kind of more immediate answer. I also know from my experience with my DH - when his meds got out of whack - he always downplayed things unless you asked VERY specific questions - which I now do.
MittenKitten - 12/02/10 12:39 AM
Sharing: [/b] BTW 5000 IUs of vitamin D are often recommended for us northerners. Have her do that, if nothing else it is NOT going to hurt. Also have her read or spend some time by a bright light. I found St John's wort helped and in her case it may be worth it to try it. I know it messes with birth control not sure about other things so research it.
3catslady - 12/02/10 02:21 AM
Sharing; [/b]I've taken Welbutrin, prozac, paxil, zoloft, and any of the others you can name. They help for a while, for me, and then I'd have to go to something else. I am finding that taking vitamin D helps some, but I am only taking 400 iu's. Did someone say they were taking 1000? I can't find any that have 1000 iu's or do you take more than one tablet? Being a druggie, I hate to take more than the bottle says to take because I could go way overboard. I was on a sleeping pill that kept me asleep for 4 hours and I lost 3 days because I would take another one when I woke up from the first pill and kept doing that for 3 days not realizing what I was doing. I went to a "friend of Bill's" meeting and they told me to dump the pills. someone came home with me and watched me dump them. They were afraid of what I could have done and I never realized what could have happened. My GF just went back on her "crazy pills", as she calls them. I keep telling her that she just needs something to get her through the winter months, just like the rest of us.
I haven't had a crying jag for over a week but I think it is because I shared with you all what was happening and "when sorrow is shared, it is halved". And I have kept myself busy crocheting and doing little things around here. I have a LOT to do but if I just keep plugging away at it, it will all get done.
Sheila in Cali - 12/02/10 09:51 AM
Sharing:[/b] sounds like your DD needs a "Medicine Man" (that's what our dear departed friend Dave called the Psychiatrists as he was a psychologist). With DH's bipolar it was explained to us that until the imbalance was fixed then the antidepressants would not help at all. So DH had to be on Lamictal, Geodon and one other I don't remember, then the Effexor for the depression and Atavan for the panic attacks.
Going on Antidepressants is a serious thing, especially with the Effexor. I was on it too and had to sign a contract saying that I would be on it a minimum of one year and allow myself 4 to 6 months to cycle off of it. Quitting them cold turkey is extremely dangerous. The side effects of going off them like that can be really intense.
I am sorry you aren't able to get an appointment for her. For immediate help there are several hotlines with trained counselors that she can call to talk to.
shanendoah - 12/02/10 01:02 PM
sharing: For OTC meds, my friends have used St John's Wort and Vitamin D. Definitely a house full of the full spectrum lights (as we were discussing for 3cats) for your DD. What helps my DH is to have a regular schedule, to know that other people expect (and depend) on him to be someplace at some particular time. Knowing that it would make other's lives (and not family/friends: they'll forgive) more difficult if he's not around helps him focus on sticking around. Other things that might be available: a suicide prevention hotline, or an Employee Assistance Program. THe hotline, besides giving her someone besides you to talk to might be able to recommend/get her in to a certified professional sooner. I don't know how common EAP's are up there, but they are pretty common here. They go along with health insurance, and provide a toll free number anyone on the policy can call for counseling. It is all counseling, not meds, and its over the phone (though studies have shown that phone counseling to be quite effective), but its done by medical professionals and its better than nothing.
There's also my favorite therapy (though she may not be allowed): pet ownership. The pets dependency gives the person something to get up for on days when they won't get up for anything else. The pets provide unconditional love, an ear that always listens, and studies prove that petting a cat or a dog lowers blood pressure and calms emotional turmoil.