General support thread - come on in

[Kielyflower]

I couldn’t see a recent one of these so thought I’d start one.

I just feel I need to do something positive so will hopefully share some more thoughts later that I hope will help - others as well as myself.

In the meantime, feel free to check in as, if nothing else, it helps to feel less alone.

@RunningBananas we would believe you. You don’t need to do anything. It’s one day. Look after yourself.

Morning all, how are people doing?

I’ve been out walking this morning and feel better for having done so. Would recommend it if you possibly can.

Urgh, have wasted the afternoon. So tired from all of this shit. Roll on bedtime.

@Wolfiefan thank you
You have not just my sympathy, but my empathy too. There are no antidepressants that I can take.
Please take care of yourself.

Hi! How is everyone? A bad day for me. I feel absolutely wiped out all the time and if I didn’t have kids to care for I wonder how much time I’d actually spend awake. Since I woke this morning all I have wanted to do is sleep. But when I do have a chunk of time and sleep through I just feel so guilty that I’m letting my DS down. He’s got ASD and has no friends at school so I’m sort of his play friend as well as his mum so school holidays are doubly exhausting. 🥲

Hello All,
Totally wiped out today too.
My brain feels really weird.
I've been on 125 mg Sertraline for a week now since upping my dose.

I think this stuff - whether anxiety, low mood, unhelpful thoughts etc - is exhausting. And often affects sleep patterns.

So tiredness is no surprise.

Depression/feeling crap about whatever also makes lying down/bed a tempting place.

I managed a walk today and have done some a couple of household chores so I am grateful that I have had this level of functioning today.

I hope things settle down for you @ladybee2, weird brain could be side effects from increased dose?

@Thewolvesarerunningagain has your day been any better? I feel for you with your DS. Parenting and all that it involves is a bit of a trigger for me even though objectively my kids are not difficult.

How has today been for others here?

Just had a letter saying I’ve been refused a blue badge. Sitting here feeling like sobbing. And supposed to be having a lovely day out for youngest’s birthday tomorrow.

I'm so sorry to hear this Wolfiie.
Take good care of yourself.

Evening to you too!
You’ve got better once. You can again.

Hi @Kielyflower. it’s been another bracing day here, not helped by waking up to water pouring in through the ceiling! Thanks Storm whatever this one is. I managed to get it together enough to arrange to take DS to meet his one school ‘friend’ ( though that’s overstating a bit) tomorrow which is good. I’ll have to stay and do bright shiny happy chatty mum though so that’s going to mean tomorrow evening collapsed in a heap. :-( I know what you mean about parenting triggers. I just see all these other mums who can be what I pretend to be and still function and I feel so sad. I don’t want to let my kids down and where we live is very ‘sociable alpha parent land’ iyswim. I guess that’s why they pay us the big money huh? Lol

Oh no @Thewolvesarerunningagain sorry to hear about water damage issues, I hope it’s not too stressful to get it sorted. How did the play date go?

I’d put money on some of the sociable alpha parents doing some pretending too. I think someone else on these boards was saying that even though we hear/read more about mental health in the media etc, we are still a very long way from people being up front about them like they would about physical health issues in social circles.

Hi and welcome to the thread @TheBuggerlugs though I’m gutted for you that things have flared up. How’s your day been?

You’ve both quoted from my regular mantras - one day at a time and you’ve got better before, you can do it again.

I can add ‘dial not a switch’ to my collection too!

You’re right @TheBuggerlugs poor mental health absolutely utterly sucks.

Thank you for this. It is helpful.

‘Glimmer’ is a nice word and I will definitely look for glimmers and savour them .

I’m glad you didn’t feel the need to have a day during the day today. I have things like that which point to progress and it’s good to be grateful for those things.

Sleep well all if I’m not back again later on x

Is anyone else on Sertraline?
Do you get the early morning dread and panic?

I’m on Citalopram but I get this. BUT, I also had it before starting on the medication. It’s actually improved since being on the medication but not gone away completely. How long have you been on Sertraline?

5 weeks so far Kielyflower.

IME that’s still relatively early days and you might hopefully find it settles down. Fingers crossed at least.

How do you feel the medication is going more generally?

I think the effectiveness of different meds varies hugely between different people.

For me, medication is only part of the solution, certainly in the recovery stage, which I still consider myself in 2 months in.

@ladybee2 what time of day do you take the Sertraline? It can make a difference apparently (who knew?)

@Kielyflower playdate went ok, and (yay!) I managed to actually stay out of bed afterwards and play some card games with DS. Sadly I was just congratulating myself on that, got cocky and took DD shopping for back to school basics and came back in a state. So I’m in bed again. Oh… poo!

Thank you,
I'm on 125mg at 7 am every morning.

I’m glad the play date went ok@Thewolvesarerunningagain

Go easy on yourself, shopping is enough to tip the balance. Try to focus on the positives if you can.

I’d be delighted if I was seeing 5% improvement each day. Although I totally agree that both how you feel and what you’re able to do are part of it. So eg I might not feel better but I can do more or vice versa.

From past and current experience I think I’m more like 5% per week and even then it’s a bit all over the place depending on what you judge it on.

I’d be interested to hear how others find the recovery period.

Here’s to things being better for us all in 2024.