Personally I find that if I can think in images, rather than discursively, I’m more likely to sleep. Like if I lie there compiling lists of things then I’m never going to sleep, my brain is too active. But if I think like “what might I do on my holiday to Tasmania” and my brain fills with images, I have a better shot.
1 Like
I have it bad. I sometimes go 2-3 days without sleeping. My mind can’t stop thinking.
Ever since I started taking adhd medication I have been sleeping like a baby, almost entirely through the night. I thought the opposite would happen.
It is important to limit your interaction with screens before bed. I also try not to do anything overly stimulating - some light reading or an episode of some nature/science documentary series will put me down typically.
1 Like
I’ve been listening to ASMR stuff for a while now.
Favorite and easiest way to drift off with no other aid. When you listen to the same few repeatedly (no new stimulus): brain goes into neutral.
Massage, medical, and/or a couple of different male voices treat me fair.
I’ve tried ASMR and similar stuff and I just lay there thinking about how stupid it is.
Does exercise before bed in an attempt to become physically exhausted work or do you just stay up because of the adrenaline?
Everyone is different but for me with a racing mind, late night exercise and even some weights was a huge help, like a massive help. It felt like pissing out my thoughts in the toilet before bed.
My thing was always taking screens TO bed. That’s the worst thing anyone can do. I finally had to completely ban my phone and tablet from the bedroom.
I can predict how much sleep I’ll get by whether or not I’m on my iPad right before turning the lights out. It’s a perfect inverse relationship.
Are there any services like the ones they use to sell generic viagra that I can use to try antidepressant or anti anxiety (and maybe ADHD) drugs? Like, something I can call or chat online with a doctor and they’ll give me an rx? I don’t want to go to a doctor, I don’t want to deal with a doctor who suggests vitamins or some bullshit, and I do not have the energy to try to find a therapist right now but I need to try something.
I think a normal doctor can prescribe for you after an appointment
I don’t have a GP but I’ll need to find one at some point. But point taken on the meds, you’re probably right that it’s not a good idea to try to fly solo with them.
2 Likes
I went off escitalopram over a few weeks and had some of the worst mental health times of my life plus sexual issues over the next several months. I can’t be certain the SSRI was to blame but I’m highly suspicious of it and have seen plenty of similar stories online. I’ve always been susceptible to anxiety but this was anhedonia and that was new for me.
I spoke to a GP at that time and mentioned this and he said “oh no, when you stop taking an SSRI it’s out of your system in a few days and then that’s it”. This is exhibit #1,233 in my catalog of doctors not knowing what the fuck they’re talking about. You have to be highly educated to be dumb enough to believe that you can use a potent psychoactive drug daily for months on end and then just stop and have absolutely nothing happen.
1 Like
I took that for about 6 months once, didn’t have issues. However, SSRI’s are completely ineffective at treating depression for me.
I take a cocktail of Vyvense 40mg, Wellbutrin 300mg, and Abilify 5mg. It took me years to find the abilify - that’s the secret ingredient. Wellbutrin wipes out my depression but makes me on edge and irritable (or maybe that’s just my natural state at this point - don’t know). So, abilify is a mood stabilizer and it makes me feel quite pleasant to be around. Total life changer.
Combine that with the confidence boost I get from Vyvense and the ability to better sustain focus and I’m like an entirely new person, seriously. Meds can do that if you’re having a problem - the issue is that even doctors who specialize in these meds don’t really know them all that well, and the standard approach is to just try different stuff until something works. A little more complicated than that, obviously, but a trial and error approach on your own is gonna be at best a waste of time, and at worse send you spiraling into worse anxiety/depression (black box warnings). It helps to have a physician to monitor any changes in mood or behavior, because they can be subtle and not easily noticeable to yourself.
I have a psychiatrist that basically will prescribe whatever I want, within reason. I like to direct my own therapy. If I research a med one day and say hey, I want to try this, he’ll be glad to accommodate me. I came in one day and told him wellbutrin always worked well for me, so I want to take that, and he was like ok sure. My last asshole psychiatrist took me off of it for a year because he was worried about seizure risk and it was hell. But for me, I have been on this stuff for over a decade now and am well experienced with the side effects and what all the meds do. I think I have taken every single major antidepressant at one point or another (treatment resistant chronic depression).
I sometimes will miss a week due to poor planning of my refills, but I don’t suffer any withdrawal other than feeling extremely grouchy when I miss my abilify.
1 Like
Its been two years now since I had surgery for a disease called hyperparathyroidism. So I just wanted to mention that this surgery probably added at least ten years to my life. Without getting into all the details of it, just know that the disease can cause mood swings and depression, and leave you feeling not-so-great most of the time. I didn’t really understand it and my doctor didn’t make a huge deal out of it, so I waited a few years before I dealt with it. Thankfully, after getting a new doctor, we caught it before it did major long-term damage.
I guess my wish is that you guys take your blood work seriously from your annual physicals (which I know you get). If your blood calcium level is too high and out of the normal range, its very likely that you have a problem. And its likely that problem won’t go away by itself. Its the first sign of hyperparathyroidism. Over time, the disease can wreck your kidneys and your bones as well as your mood.
Nowadays, I often have to stop what I’m doing, just to appreciate how good I feel. Its hard to explain, but most of the time now, I just feel fucking great! The damage we were starting to see in my bones and kidneys was stopped in its tracks, and I was cured. Straight up. This disease hits women about twice as often as men, so make sure the women in your life watch their blood calcium levels too.
I just had to get this off my chest. Sometimes your mental health is really a result of your physical health, and though I’m still not in a perfect place mentally, at least I can say that physically I feel fantastic.
9 Likes
I’m being weaned off of one of my anticonvulsants and while I still have moments of anxiety, the panic is considerably less than in the past. Seems like good news so far.
3 Likes
I got mine yesterday and my anxiety is already drastically reduced. I didnt even know I was carrying so much of it. It’s hugely relieving even though I’m not at any level of protection yet. Just knowing that soon, I’ll have faded this thing for at least a little while is so encouraging.
3 Likes
I’m really glad to hear it! Missed this post somehow. But yea, meds are great. If you have a headache or a heart problem you take medicine for it, so I don’t know why psych meds carry this huge stigma. A lot of people dont get help because they feel like it’s admitting there’s something “wrong” with them, so they’ll literally spend years or decades miserable as shit for basically no reason.
One of my life’s goals is to reduce mental healthcare stigma by trying to be as successful as I can be while living with chronic depression/ADHD. We aren’t unicorns, there’s plenty of successful people with some issues. The day I can just casually talk about my mental health struggles over a watercooler as casually as people talk about their other health issues will be a day I want to see in my lifetime, but I kinda doubt it’ll happen.
Anyway glad you’re feeling a little better.
5 Likes
Have to admit that my anxiety has decreased since getting the first shot as well.
Another part might be my temporarily reduced workload.
1 Like
If someone said this,
I wouldn’t think they meant this,
I think it is far more likely a miscommunication on his part as he should have better understood what you were asking.
Alright, I need a reality check. I think I know the answers, but would like some other perspective. Unfortunately, this requires some exposition. I’ll try and keep it short, but that’s tough because it’s a triggering story for me.
Roughly 20 years ago my family started an annual beach trip. It started somewhat larger, but over the years has shrunk to a core contingent of six people: My father (turning 84 in October), myself (44), my brother (57), my brother’s wife, my sister and aunt.
Though we’ve missed a few years recently, typically what happens is we rent a house for a week each year. There is much drinking and eating and storytelling. This is basically the only time we get together as a family anymore.
For years, I have asked if we could change the location of this trip. Or maybe just change it once–try something new. The house we rent is almost always in the same basic area, a spot my dad likes and feels comfortable.
I have skipped a few years. Just couldn’t take doing the same thing in the same place, again. What once felt joyous now feels dead, repetitious, obligatory. I feel resenful when there. We can’t pick another beach, one year?
There are reasons, it tended to be here. My aunt and sister had, in the past, less mobility. They live in the area, and so this was easy for them. My dad likes the area. He lives maybe 3 hours from it. … My brother and I live about 18 hours north.
In 2019, after skipping a year (the trip didn’t happen), my dad decided he wanted to go again. My brother made a reservation – no discussion of the location or date. The dates of the trip have tended to fall around my Dad’s birthday, but not always and in the past were moved around slightly because of my brother’s business obligations.
I told my brother in 2019 that having him just set a date, select the place, it didn’t feel very inclusive. Like, what if I had plans? Could he just ask? It became a thing. I felt railroaded into this one thing again.
Anyway, in 2020 we didn’t do the trip of course. Now, Dad wants to do it again. My brother texted the other night:
beach trip on the books, “hell or high water” lol. Talked with the ole man tonight… lots of energy. A tad buzzed right now but what ya think?
I replied …
Let’s do it.
He replied:
think we should…
glad you think so
talk later…
Anyway, yesterday I got an email saying he’d made the reservation. Deja vu …
Ugh. So, yeah, triggering. Immediately the tension came up. The same thing, again.
First. IS THIS NORMAL?
The trip is seven months away. Guy can’t have a discussion on dates? Does that seem off to anyone else? So weird. … And yet he acts like it’s totally normal.“Dad said to do it,” he’s basically said twice.
Second. … I guess I just need to accept that this trip isn’t a “family trip” in that we all plan it together. I can go or not … if I go, it needs to be because I love my family and want to see them … I have to see clearly my brother simply can’t give me what I have asked for … maybe I interpret that, and my dad’s refusal to consider alternatives … “they don’t care that I don’t like it there, and that means they don’t love me” … maybe that’s the thought troubling me? … “they didn’t care enough to check if the dates worked for me, that means they don’t really want me there” … maybe
As sucky as it feels, this also feels like a great opportunity to put into practice all the work I’ve done this past year. I’ve got to see thru this feeling of hurt … I’d like to see my dad again … when we talked a couple of years ago he said we’d try a new place for this trip … amazing how family dynamics stay with us. Feels insane to feel so triggered by all this at 44.
4 Likes
I would have brought it up before you agreed honestly, instead of saying lets do it, say something like i’d be interested if we can agree on a place/time. I would still try to change it now if it was me and i had the problems you described. Not sure how i would treat it if they refused to change.
Seems like a dick move by your brother to do it like that in general but doubly so if you mentioned having a problem with it before.
We have an annual beach trip every year for about the last decade, but we see each other more often since we all live in the same city essentially. However, my mom always sets it up, same place every year but she goes through a ton of trouble to make sure the dates accommodate everyone. I would imagine it would cause some problems if she just set the date without asking.
2 Likes