"putting the SPRING back in our step - village support for depression and anxiety"

[LEMmingaround]

Heres the new thread guys. What is this, thread 9?

This is a thread that is situated in a virtual village of support for those suffering from mental health issues, or just those struggling with what life throws at them.

Please feel free to join in.

Lots of uncertainty here still over whether people will keep their psychiatrist or CPN

Thanks snowy it went well... what a relief! Sorry to hear about the disruption with ur facing. My cpn was changed a few months ago & now I've been told it's changing again. I'm not that bothered now as it's happened so many times but it is very unsettling so thinking of u

A lot of people I know have been discharged from services. I haven't though. Glad jc went ok.

Nana - i am on 20mg citalopram a day :) i have had diazepam before, but only 6mg a day, if i was on 20mg i really don't think i would get out of bed!

Thanks for that advice CiQ, will tell my DD to look into it, she works part-time so could fit a day a week in at college, especially if she felt no pressure. Will suggest it to her.

I have been on my diet for a week now - lost a few pounds i think, my scales are a bit inprecise and i can't see the graduations properly but its going in the right direction. Got really upset when i went on the NHS website and it told me i needed to loose 6 stone to be within a healthy BMI - thats like a whole person!!! Have downloaded myfitnesspal on my phone and have cycled for miles today - i cycled over to where DP was working (about 20 miles) and made him bring me home, we did have a pub lunch but i was good and only had water. So a good day today although im a bit snippy now because im hungry, waiting for DP to come home so i can cook dinner and he is late an dinner wont keep - argghhhhhh

Yes, the service user involvement movement round here has been worrying about discharge from secondary services. Things are tight

As for me, I am not too bad at all. Still suffering from recurrent inertia, however I am managing fairly well to get going again. The glorious sunshine has shone right into the house, revealing the not-so-glorious state of the housekeeping

Hi Nana - sorry only just seen your message. The lithium is great for getting rid of suicidal thoughts but it made me a bit flat iykwim, they've taken me off it as of yesterday as it make my bladder bleed but that's really unusual. I'd say give it a go - you can always come off it.xxxxxxxxxx

needaholiday - 3 weeks off work is nothing for depression and anxiety. According to the statistics 4 out of 5 people make a complete recovery from depression in 4 - 6 months - If you go back too soon you will in all probability cave in again. Do you mind my asking what your job is - although it doesn't really matter, because if you aren't fit you aren't fit and the GP will surely understand that you need a significant period of time off.

DD oh god it must be awful having to go to the JC and jump through their hoops when you are feeling so crap. I know these WCTests do not really take account of mental illness, but presumably things went ok today - have they put you in the ESA group.

Snowy glad you have lifted a little bit - same here but only a bit. At least I don't feel suicidal and managed to do a bit of gardening today which I don't really enjoy - it's housework outdoors to me!

Lem thought you couldn't be taking 20 mg of diazepam!! Have you tried Slimming World - I did well on that a few years ago but need to go on it again.

CIQ I think you said you felt a bit more motivated but got anxious in the shops. That happened to me yesterday and I kept pushing on but don't think that was a good idea.

Some people are mentioning possible changes in psychiatrists and CPNs and being moved out of secondary services. I haven't heard anything - is it regional or national.

True Worrier yes I find GPs can be very dismissive and her advice to increase the meds or wean yourself off them is rubbish. I think we all need to remember that we pay these GPs (through our taxes) and they get paid very well so we should raise our expectations of them. Do you mean you have taken 5mg of diazepam per day for 6 days? I don't think these is a consensus about the use of diazepam but it can be addictive and I think care has to be taken not to keep on taking more and more as this can lead to addiction.........well that's what I think anyway.

Sorry if I've missed anyone.

Thanks QofK you are the second person to say lithium made you feel flat, and on bad days I feel flatter than flat! I don't think I can take it anyway as it is contra indicated to the tryclics I'm on as well. Oh god why does there have to be so much hit and miss in meds for mental illness. Mind I think that might be true for physical health as well.

TW I am prescribed diazepam 2mg x 3 per day and I get 2 monthly supplies. I only use them occasionally as for me the depression is often worse than the anxiety.

Nana - i have actually started a thread about slimming world, i was going to do it but was dubious, there is a NHS fitness plan and also an app i have downloaded to my phone which works on pretty much the same basis and its free :)

Trueworrier - the advice the doctor gave you was really contradictory and dismissive. If you feel they are making you worse then it would be wrong to increase them, but if you feel they are not helping and you feel bad still then giving them up would be wrong. She needs to take a bit more time on this and help you come up with a plan - could you see another doctor?

Well done with the weight loss and exercise, LEM I've done a week now too, wish I could do the exercise. I'm using myfitnesspal to monitor.

I think some people will really suffer, Shimmering

I don't know what's safe TW, I think you're supposed to get used to it and end up taking higher doses for the same effect.

Can you do something you would enjoy, NN?

Poorly DD - with her at local a&e :( this day can't get any longer...... Feeling really anxious now :(

Oh no DD32 I hope it's nothing serious.

Well done on getting your errands done CiQ. It's horrible when you don't know what the specific stressors are are - makes it much harder to know what to do, I find.

Good luck for the healthy eating and fitness LEM. It's definitely worth it when you start noticing the effects.

NN it's such a pain trying to get the right meds - I've so far only been on citalopram for this but I've been on so many different types of contraceptive pill before finally finding one that worked for me.

DD32 I hope you're daughter is okay.

The counselling session was quite good today. We covered quite a wide variety of stuff but it's good to have someone to offload that stuff on. I'd made plans to spend time with a couple of friends tonight but they cancelled to both do seperate things with their partners. I was a bit a upset but I suppose there isn't much I can do.

I'm a bit worried about what happens when my sickline runs out. I don't think 3 weeks is enough. I'm really struggling to focus at all - especially during the day and then I'm struggling to sleep properly at night. Is it okay for me to ask for it be extended?

Hope everyone is getting on alright. It's a hard slog this!

Thanks snowy & salem we just got back she is ok now thankfully but was coming in n out of consciousness earlier gave me a big scare. Got to keep an eye on her for next 24 hours in case she develops a rash! I'm praying hard she doesn't. No sleep for me tonight as she luks like she will be up aswell . She's got a temperature, runny nose & vomiting. Think it's a virus - normally I don't bother & just let it be for a couple of days until it's out her system but when she went pale as anything and stopped responding to me it was panic stations!

On a us point my attention was so diverted onto DD I didn't feel any of my crapiness at all this evening. Though now I'm home & shattered it may start to creep in :(

Hope everyone has had a nicer day/evening then me :)

Poor dd, DD32 I hope you're both ok.

I'd have thought you could ask for another note, salem

Hi everyone,

snowy did you get some spring sunshine where you are? - its been nice here.

salem definitely ask for another note, if your GP doesn't ask you first!

dd last week my dd had your dd's symptoms - fever of 40, congested and then spectacularly sick. Seems to be going round our school. Anyhow she's fine now tho we stuck to plain food for a while as she was still getting stomach pain. Do you have any of those rehydration sachets (dioralyte) I find them v helpful in speeding up recovery. Hope she's soon on the mend.

Well I got to college and did manage to paint. Did something different this morning to try and calm myself down, and then back onto the big landscape. Did the sky - looks OK. But have had awful anxiety all day . Going out with dsis tonight which should be nice and I think I will have a few to try and relax...

Thanks snowy & ciq DD is on the mend today so far only been sick a couple of times. I've got dioralyte saches but she won't drink it no matter what I try. So I've been giving her juices diluted with water to keep her hydrated (it's the only way to get anything down her). Her colour is back thankfully & she is talking a bit today. Still has tummy pain & temperature so I'm still giving her paracetamol. Did take her for a walk though as the sun was shinning she seemed to have enjoyed that though I carried her most of the time.

I'm definitely exhausted though now as she was most of the night yesterday no surprise there though. I'm hoping we can both have an early night tonight (fingers crossed).

ciq well done for getting started on the painting first step over with. Enjoy ur evening with dsis & relax as much as u can :)

salem 3 weeks off isn't much time at all so definitely ask ur G.P to extend it.

snowy how u this evening?

Hello to all & hope everyone has had a good day.

Well done on getting to college and painting, CIQ! Enjoy going out. I hope you get a good/long night, DD32.

I gave in and ordered pizza tonight, so much for the diet

snowy don't feel bad pizza is good :) I've not concentrated on my diet for pat week at all. Tomorrow is new day I'm hoping to restart my calorie counting on Myfitnesspal again!

Just devoured the whole thing & I'm
Not even sorry :)

That looks yummy!

It really was & just the pick me up I needed tonight snowy :)

Morning all

How is everyone today?

The sun is shinning here but I'm feeling low I think the last few days are catching up to me. I feel as if I should just stay in bed today (no chance of that with DD).

Hope all are having an ok morning :) xxx

Evening everyone.

Thanks snowy I had a good evening. Did take a lot of to relax but had a good v open chat with dsis and fun with the quiz.

dumdum how did you get on today?

I've had a busy day. Not too anxious this morning (tho hungover!), but back to previous levels by lunchtime Had a bit of a chat with dh though which was good.

I've just stopped doing stuff - have got most things done on my list for this week - phew. Tomorrow a.m. need to decorate dbro's birthday cake... and then I have booked a massage