Depression, anxiety, brain fog?
Posted by: admin on April 24th, 2009
Posted: Brain Fog
Depression, anxiety, brain fog?
Ok here goes!
I suffered from a case of depression and anxiety about 2 years ago. My symptoms were nausea, headaches, detached unreal feelings, dizziness, not wanting to leave the house etc. I started taking Prozac 20mg and after a while my symptoms passed and my life got back on track. After about a year i came off them.
So up untill Christmas i was fine, then i caught flu and since then all the old symptoms are back, mainly the detached, unreal, brain fog feelings. Also i cant sleep although i am so tired and drained. I fall asleep then wake up in the very early hours. I have been back to me doctor and she has put me back on the prozac and given me sleeping pills. Bascially im scared the Prozac will not work and im never going to be myself again. I loved my life up until i got the flu! I have been signed off work for two weeks to try and sort myself out.
Basically has anyone been through this? Have u had a relapse after illness? How did u get out of it? And will these symptoms go?
Im so so scared right now!
You have a glass with water in it and at the moment it is half empty…..what you need to do is change the way you look at it and see it as half full.
In other words you are looking at everything negatively instead of positively and you are the only one who can change this.
Human brains have a strange way of working and we set ourselves up to lose by thinking we can't succeed, ie " Oh I can't do that" so we do everything in our power to prove ourselves right, so we fail and can then say " see I told you I couldn't do it"
Why shouldn't these tablets not work this time? They worked fine last time!
Take some "me" time for yourself and once a week go and pay and have a facial, eye lash tint or manicure and treat yourself and if you can't afford that, then one evening a week do a home manicure, relaxation bath, facial etc
Been just were you are, got through and been back again……….life is full of ups and downs and when you are down the only way you can go is up.so look forward and start that process.
Good Luck
Don't worry about it, the Prozac worked the 1st time, there is no reason to believe it won't work again.
Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and anything can set it off. Mine was an emotional trauma, but you have been feeling under the weather and I wouldn't be surprised that it has triggered a chemical imbalance in your brain again. Be positive, take your pills and you'll return to your old self in no time!
References :
Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Seroquel my friend
References :
Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
You will come out of this period of depression. There is no need to be scared but you do need to try and take some control of the situation.
There are strategies you can utilise that will work alongside any medication to help defeat the feelings you describe:
- Limit the amount of time you spend sleeping or trying to sleep. Try to go to bed at a regular time (maybe 11) and always get up by 7. Staying in bed too long can negatively affect your outlook but sleep (particularly the REM period) is an important aprt of the day.
- Make sure you limit the amount of TV you watch. The continuous stream of changing images can overload your brain (which hasn't evolved for this rapid stream of changing info).
- Try and find an opportunity to help others in your community. This could be by formally volunteering or by looking out for elderly or needy neighbours. Focussing on the needs of others will get you out of the habit of dwelling on your own problems and will give your esteem a boost as well as building up a wider circle of friends and social contacts.
- Get some exercise each day. Even a walk to the park or library counts but if you are able swimming, sports or running are good tools for combatting depression.
- Grow some plants at home and give them to local organisations or people in your community. Examples could be to donate a young plant to every elderly person in a home nearby or grow fruit and veg for a local children's nursery.
- Have you got a pet? Caring for an animal can be theraputic.
- Make sure you talk to a close friend at least once a week. Try to focus on discussing others and external issues rather than dwelling on how you are feeling. Close friends or family will know how you are already and repetition will only reinforce how you're feeling (as well as increasing the likelihood they may not enjoy contact with you).
- Try to laugh every day and smile at people when you see them. Returned smiles and laughter will help you make small steps to feeling better.
- Each day you need to plan something to do so you can reflect on it at night and plan something for tomorrow. Count your blessings (make a list!) and tell yourself out loud that you are going to enjoy doing what you choose to do and that you will feel better at the end of the day.
I hope you can use this to put an effective plan together and begin to meet your emotional needs. Best wishes!
References :
Human Givens: Emotional Needs, and Slough Happiness Manifesto as well as professional involvement with individuals and families affected by depression
Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Hi,
I think you might need to know some factual stuff about Depression? Read on…
I've been in fairly hefty senior management positions for around 4 decades and have had up to 500 staff under me at times. I’ve had to deal frequently with many people suffering Depression, so know a little about what you are going through. Depression is far more common than most people think because most people either don't recognise it or hide it. In fact, I think the stats show that up to one-in-five people suffer from Depression, all over the world. It's good that you're getting it out in the open and seeking advice. Just be careful of the myths and here-say, though. A lot of people don’t know what they’re talking about and just seem to make things up as they go along.
Anyhow, to cut to the chase - Nowadays, I produce videos, and last year made a 35-minute DVD presented by a top UK Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Darryl Britto, who is a personal friend of mine, and who wanted to squash all the myths about depression, because he felt that very few people thoroughly understood what it is all about. In the DVD he includes an explanation of the three main treatments available. It's purposely in simple layperson's language and aimed at 4 categories of people.
1) Those with Depression,
2) Those who think they may have Depression,
3) Friends and family of those with Depression, and
4) People training in the healthcare sector.
If interested, you can see a FREE PREVIEW on YouTube at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce1viJ7zqCU
I also have a Blog at http://business-sage.blogspot.com which has heaps and heaps of useful FREE ADVICE about enhancing your lot in life, which you might be interested in. (Some of it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.)
Also I’ve include some weblinks below which are of course FREE.
I sincerely hope this information might help you, and that I haven’t given you too much text here – but I felt it important to lever you away from (sometimes) harmful here-say, gossip and myths. You are not alone, you know. Depression is treatable in the majority of cases and it's truly not as bad as you feel it is - you just need to know the FACTS and what Depression is all about, which then makes it ten times more easy to handle.
Good luck & Cheers
John E
References :
http://business-sage.blogspot.com/2009/01/depression-bipolar.html
http://www.timetrappers.com
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk
http://www.mentalhealthcare.org.uk
http://mentalhealth.org.uk
http://www.scmh.org.uk
http://organizedwisdom.com
http://bipolar.about.com/cs/celebs/a/bl_celebrities.htm
Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
You have a glass with water in it and at the moment it is half empty…..what you need to do is change the way you look at it and see it as half full.
In other words you are looking at everything negatively instead of positively and you are the only one who can change this.
Human brains have a strange way of working and we set ourselves up to lose by thinking we can't succeed, ie " Oh I can't do that" so we do everything in our power to prove ourselves right, so we fail and can then say " see I told you I couldn't do it"
Why shouldn't these tablets not work this time? They worked fine last time!
Take some "me" time for yourself and once a week go and pay and have a facial, eye lash tint or manicure and treat yourself and if you can't afford that, then one evening a week do a home manicure, relaxation bath, facial etc
Been just were you are, got through and been back again……….life is full of ups and downs and when you are down the only way you can go is up.so look forward and start that process.
Good Luck
References :
Human Behaviourist
Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 7:17 pm