Anyone awake? Send a little hand squeeze pls

[AuntLucy]

My bloody bastarding depression is back, and I'm in the middle of a horrendous house move so GP has agreed jt's best to delay restarting Sertraline for a week til it's over, as I always get off my tits on trippy panicking side effects for the first 10 days of meds. Took prescribed sleeping meds two hours ago but am still wide awake with whirling dark thoughts and eyes on stalks. Heart racing. Hate this so much. Noone IRL to tell apart from my poor husband who is having to carry the family and the move and his burden of a wife. Send a little hand squeeze of solidarity if you're awake pls. Depression can do one 🙁

squeeze

Squeeze and 🤗

I like talking books or radio talk channels.
There’s a very good technique if you can have either of those on to go to sleep to.
I can explain it if you’re interested.
(It isn’t any kind of meditation)

We don't have a spare room for me to move to, and it would wake DH. But thank you for trying to help x

Is there anything that helps you with how you're feeling this late at night

??deep breathing
??mindful activity

Do you think you need to keep busy or try to sleep?

A squeeze from here.

A silly distraction technique I used to use on myself when I was spiralling (especially at night) was to choose a letter and think of something beginning with that letter in as many categories as possible.

Animal, vegetable, country, capital city, celebrity, flower etc etc.

Sounds silly as I say but I found it really helpful - worth a go

Hey there AuntLucy looking in on you.
Solidarity hand squeeze to you.
I'm sure your family love you very much, sometimes when it's tough going we don't always see or feel it.
Sending caring thoughts your way and a little bunch of flowers

Does it feel like physical activity is needed eg cleaning/some stretches

Or does it feel like you need to talk to someone?

Am working my way though the usual suspects of mind calming/distraction techniques but no joy yet. Just feel so horribly despairing. And its such a shitty shitty shitty week ahead of me. I need to get my gameface on in front of the kids and hold it together til I can get back into sertraline, which I do I at least know works.

Squeezes

Breathing exercise for me unless too
Spirally. Currently have covid so awake due to really messed up sleep patterns.

If you did want to listen to something I’ve taken to wearing a soft Bluetooth headband to listen to audio books. Amazon (and other retailers) sell them my only issue is hat hair when I wake up.

Could you have headphones in, and a talking book?
Or what I do is, go over the words of songs/ poetry or anything you know by heart, in my head.
And what you have to do is similar to what @youvegottenminuteslynn described above.
Listen for a word beginning with a, then b etc.

Squeezy squeeze from here too.
Do the breathing.
I go with trying to think of the longest band names beginning with each letter alphabetically til I drift off ...
.

You then go on to the next letter. No cheating and jumping ahead, you have to do it in alphabetical order.
It’s very good for switching off. You could try it.

Do you like numbers? Sometimes I can fall asleep trying to think what 13/17 would be as a decimal.. I’m not a maths brain so fall asleep long before anywhere near an answer.. if you are a maths brain this might be irritating in which case apologies

Right. Am trying vegetables. Stuck on D already. Brain fog not helping! Wish me luck x

Hope it all feels a bit lighter (emotionally) by the morning, nights are always the worst.

You can do it!

(D is bloody hard though for vegetables and I can't think of any so it was a good letter to pick for maximum distraction)

Daikon - it’s a type of radish :)

Would you rather get off to sleep or stay awake for a while

I so want to sleep and make it all go away for a while

Put some headphones on a play your favourite music.
Music always makes me smile.
I would cheat for D. Diced carrots...

Squeeze and . Wikipedia has dandelion and dill as vegetables?

Handhold for you OP, I was in a right state Sunday night, similar to what you've described.

Is it possible for you to make a hot drink (Horlicks has become my night time friend). I end up on the sofa with a blanket and listen to the radio. It just settles me enough to relax down.

Regarding the Sertraline, has the doctor suggested half a tablet just to take the edge of?
Perhaps not if your hypersensitive to it but just a thought. How about ringing the practice in the morning?

I feel for you, sometimes life just gets overwhelming, I understand it and know it to well. You can only do what you can do, remember that yes? Don't be hard on yourself, as my gran used to say 'it will all come out in the wash'

I don't even know where that saying comes from! But it makes sense!

Squeeze

Here for a while if you want to chat, otherwise just here and thinking of you.

Still awake. I've done girls names, boys names, veggies, fruits and towns. I hate insomnia.

Hand-squeeze from me too, OP. As a chronic insomniac, I know how exasperating and exhausting it is.

Are you still lying in bed? You might feel better, tho maybe not immediately sleepy, if you go and read a book in the living room. Make a cuppa, take a blanket, turn on a lamp. Give yourself permission to amuse yourself for an hour. Once you're snug and contented on the sofa you might nod off quite easily.