h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Things seem better.

I think.

I'm on anti-depressants now, which seem to be evening me out. I have a tendency to be very moody, and this seems to be helping. But it's not doing much for my motivation. Maybe it's me, and not the depression that's making me lazy.

W is doing well, as are the pets. Milo (the kitten) is a million times better after just a month. He follows me around the apartment and even lets me pick him up. This is a *BIG* improvement from him cowering under the futon all day.

School... Well, see above where I talk about lack of motivation. I just can't seem to find a way to get interested in school again. I'm so tired of it, and yet it seems ridiculous to take a semester/year off now, since I've only got the remainder of this semester and two more to go. At this point, I think it would be more expensive to put off finishing. But I still feel like I'm wasting all that money I'm paying for my education. I don't feel any smarter than I did in high school. In high school I didn't feel any smarter than I did in 8th grade. *sigh*

I think I'm just burnt out. Where's summer when you need it?

I know exactly what you are talking about. I was finally allowed to go off of my antidepressents this past September after having been on them for almost 2 years. Things will get better.

I bet that was tough.

Man, everybody I know's getting on anti-depressants, and I fear I may need them to proceed, too. What is this world coming to? WHAT IS IT CO--...

Hey, just make sure that if things start to get weird, to talk to your doc ASAP. IMHO antidepressants are vastly over prescribed.

They are indeed over prescribed there are however many people who need them at some point in their lives.

sea. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Having lived with someone who was on several antidepresants I can only say that if they are needed, keep taking them. Lots of people have to try different ones and different dosages until they find the one that is right for them, but they do work.

I'm glad to hear you feel better, generally. All the best.

Thanks, guys. s

This one is helping, but it's the first I've tried. I don't think it's the right one, but at least I'm on the road back to 'normal'.

And yes, I agree that they are over-prescribed, especially because of the ease with which they were prescribed to me. But I really do feel that I had a legitimate reason for them. I've been growing progressively more anti-social, have let old friendships lapse, and feel no interest whatsoever in the things I used to do. Exercise and diet change haven't helped (I tried!). My grades have dropped, motivation is gone, and I've been super moody and very easily angered. But I'm beginning to feel better. Little by little.

*fingers crossed*

They take a while to work and all too sadly wear off rapidly if not taken or negated by too much alcohol.

Support is important, just know you've got lots here.

On the contrary, most anti-depressants take about 4 weeks to really get into your system. They take about 6-8 weeks to completely leave your body.

I'm just going by experience. I found that they took a long time to go into effect but things like alcohol seemed to negate them fairly rapidly.

great news for me, 'cuz i never drink.

mine felt like they started to work fairly quickly, but i'm very different if i forget a dose. i only did it once, and it was a noticeable difference.

i'm very fortunate to have a great support network both here and with my fiance and family. you guys are fantastic! s

Thank you for all your kindness. it means a lot.

No problem sea!

sea, you don't need antidepressants - you just need way more h2g2 (with added marshmallows).

Glad to hear you are improving. The antidepressants will fix your symtoms, but they won't fix the cause of the problem. You would do well to go see a reputable herbalist and start attacking the underlying cause. You said that you tried changing your diet. What did you change?

*Offers support and friendship*

tried for healthier, cut the fast food. started taking multivitamins. more water, less soda. didn't change much of anything. just felt like a dying rabbit (lack of caffeine is killer ).

Did a little research.

What could be causing your depression is a lack of B vitamins. It's very difficult to get enough B vitamins in your diet, particularly for vegitarians. And if you happen to be taking birth control pills, they deplete B vitamins. Get a high quality, time-release B vitamin complex and start taking that.

That is the most likely cause, but there are a couple of other possibilities:

1) It could be hormonal. In our society, we get exposed to a lot of chemicals that mimic Estrogen (plastics give off these chemicals and we store alot of our food in plastic, plus they are found in our water and most beef has residues from the hormones they get fed). The result is that as a society, we are feminizing - girls are reaching puberty much earlier, average male sperm counts are way below what they were in the past and frilly underwear is selling like hotcakes (I made that last one up ). Normally, estrogen is balanced in the body by progesterone, but we are being overwhelmed by environmental estrogens, plus doctors are prescribing estrogen in the form of birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy for menopause. Signs of estrogen dominance, are basically PMS symptoms - irritability, mood swings, weight gain. I just googled for it and found this explanation:
http://www.consciouschoice.com/holisticmd/hmd1209.html
The "cure" is to increase your progesterone, by using a natural progesterone cream. My wife uses it and swears by it. If you are interested in reading the science behind it, this is the guy:
http://www.johnleemd.com/

2) Another dietary cause could be the fats you eat. You may or may not know that there are good fats and bad fats. Our body has to have fats to function properly, so the recent low-fat craze is slightly misguided. It should really be a low-bad-fats craze. Which are bad fats? The worst of the bunch are trans-fats. These occur whenever hydrogenated oils are used - i.e. in most margarines, pretty much all commercial baked goods and in anything with vegetable shortening in it. In Canada, the nutrition labels on foods don't have to list the ammounts of trans-fats, but you can calculate them by taking the total fats and subtracting all of the other fats - what's left is the trans-fats. The other type of fat that is looked down upon (the jury is still our whether it is actually bad or not), is saturated fats. But I wouldn't worry too much about them. The possible problem for you is more likely a shortage of the good fats, in particular Omega 3 and Omega 6 polyunsaturated fats. For more info, take a look at this site (and order up "Fats that heal, fats that kill" from your library):
http://www.udoerasmus.com/firstscreen.htm

Good health takes a lot of research these days. The normal North American diet and lifestyle are slow killers, and our doctors are woefully undereducated on these issues. You really have to look out for yourself. The choices you make drastically affect your health. You can choose the easy way out, eating the normal North American diet, and watch your health slowly deteriorate, or you can choose to take a more difficult path, do your own research, eat well and be healthy. My family have chosen the more difficult path, and sometimes we feel like sisyphus (the guy who had to roll the rock to the top of a hill every day, only to have it roll back down again), but we are much healthier and getting more healthy all the time.

*gets off soapbox*

So, for sure try the B vitamins. And look into Dr. John Lee's stuff and Udo Erasmus's fats stuff - it will take a bit of work, but your health is worth it.

Good info to know, for all of us, GL.

Definitely!

I've begun taking a multivitamin that claims to provide over 300% of my daily B6 and B12 requirement... Though I haven't taken it the last few days, which could explain my depressed mood swing the other day...

I'll talk to my doc about that the next time I see him. Thanks, GL!