No longer know what to do

[Thankful]

No longer know what to do

Michelle, a lot of great wisdom here. You can learn a lot just by rereading your first post to this thread.

We always know what to do and what advise to give others, yet we have such a hard time following our own advise. Why is that?

Anyway, I depression has been cured since I have been living AF. I thought I suffered from depression for years. Come to find out it was just self sabotage with the AL.

Just wanted to let you know that I too "get it". We all do. But now you have to choose to make your life better and not let anything, I mean ANYTHING get in the way of that goal. The is no buzz or taste out there that feels better than happiness. Remember that, hun.

Love, Me
:l

[Boss.man]

No longer know what to do

Michelle, being male, I can't have a baby or even know what it feels like. But I imagine the process has a lot of the hormone imbalances that we feel when we go AF.

In the 2000 recession, my business was deeply in debt due to some bad decisions my (former) business partners made. I went to the doctor for "depression". He put me on SSRI's (Serotonin inhibitors). It started with a Z, but I forget the name.

The SSRI's did in fact deaden my low moods, but it also deadened my high moods. I found I couldn't enjoy little things. And it deadened my sex drive and my wish to date (I was single at the time).

The problem is that SSRI's take 2-3 weeks to get started on, and double that length if you want to leave them. You have to go through 8 weeks of feeling like dog-doo, just to get off the pills. That's silly.

The doctor commented at the time, that my reason for being depressed, was different than most people. I had a "real" reason. He said "booze is not a bad way to decompress, and only has a 24 hour recovery time".

I'm now very cautious on doctors who prescribe a pill for everything, and don't mention the consequences. I'm very aware of my own "addictive" personality, and don't dare take codeine or morphine derived drugs, but due to recent surgery I have a bottle in my nightstand that I can neither open, nor throw away. Why in the world do I live with a mini-Frankenstein next to my head when I sleep?

Michelle, I think it's all the serotonin system. When it goes unbalanced we feel bad. We feel like the toilet paper of the world. We cry when they show dog stories on TV.

I've been reading books on serotonin, and they are somewhat helpful. They recommend a balanced diet with grains (oatmeal) and fruits. When depressed, repetitive tasks like knitting help a lot. Tasks where you "win" help. For me its Sudoku, and crosswords, but only the easy ones.

So I guess this is a VERY long post to say simply, that Oatmeal cookies and knitting may do better to help depression caused by body chemical adjustments, than pills that hook you on a lifetime of dependence. But your doctor won't prescribe the non-pill side of things. Go figure.

[startingover]

No longer know what to do

Bossman, what an insightful post. You are amazing you know.
Michelle, listen to him, he is right

[lil.michelle]

No longer know what to do

Oh i know, Bossman is amazing. He has soo much wisdom and is very supportive.

Thanx everyone for the advice and support. You're all amazing and supportive. Don't know what i'd do without this site *Big hugs to everyone*