Depression

Pompa and Mishap Sorry that you are both feeling so low. Keep posting on here and know that we are all thinking of you.

Oh poor Mishap, I do feel for you and hope you can find something to lift your mood, if I could, I would give you a hug. Try to find some positives in your recovery, I'm sure that there are some if you look hard enough.

I'm OK now, depression has broken, more enthusiastic about everything again. Peed off about this hip problem, but if it has to be sorted, so be it, it's the uncertainty that bugs me.

Fluoxetine is good stuff

The new painkillers I am using seem to have improved the digestive problems.

It's my turn to look after Linda now, she has a streaming cold and feeling sorry for herself.

Hang on in there, Mishap. and coming your way.

Hip was so painful in bed that I got up at 12:20am. Linda has banned me from the workshop and making me sit and rest the hip today. It certainly is less painful atm, but I can't believe it will cure itself. I see the surgeon about my knee tomorrow (he that originally operated on the hip also) I hope he will give me some advise on how to move forward and get it sorted.

Mishap, how are you today ?

Must be the weather. I was up half the night with sciatica! Grrrrr

Sciatica is grim. Hope it is a bit better today.

I am still struggling pompa - something is seriously amiss and I feel perfectly dreadful at times. I am hoping to get to the doc tomorrow to see if there is anything I can safely take after the AF episode to help me get through this and back on track. I get sudden bouts of wipe-out weakness and weepiness - it is deeply unpleasant and troublesome in its sudden arrival in the midst of apparently being OK. Let us hope he has something to offer, just as I hope the surgeon will have good news tomorrow for you. Good luck and let us all know how it goes.

Mishap All the stresses you have had with your joints and other health issues over the last couple of years have probably worn you down.
None of us can go on living in stressed state for a long time. It catches up with us all eventually.
Don't start thinking you are being weak and beating your self up about feeling depressed. Just be kind to yourself. xx

Mishap - What Nelliemoser said

Hugs and for all those in pain.

There's nothing like ongoing pain to just wear you down and wipe you out.

Got an appt with GP at 11 am today, so that is good. I do not feel quite as grim just now, but it hits out of the blue, so I don't feel any confidence in it. I hope he will have some ideas for me. Poor chap must be sick of the sight of me. I am!

Good luck pompa with your appt - I do hope that your gloomy predictions for the hip scenario prove unfounded and that your knee is found to be progressing well.

Just seen the doc who was kindness itself and so patient. He said that he was not the slightest bit surprised that I feel so bad (he knows all the things that have happened over the last few years). He is suggesting that I go back on a minute dose of Dosulepin and feels that this is the right thing to do, as there are no anti-depressants that are not cardio-toxic to some degree and at least we know that I have no known side effects with this. He was reassuring and understanding about the AF and talked me through how to deal with it if it were to happen again.

He also said that if I were of working age he would have signed me off till the end of the year and that I was to cancel the mass of things I am meant to be doing and concentrate on getting better. He is going to ring me on Friday to see how I am getting on.

I call that a good service - I feel greatly reassured and that is half the battle won.

I call that good service too Mishap and I'm glad you feel happier. Shame about your other commitments but the most important thing is to get better.

Now, we need to hear from pompa.

Excellent news Mishap Glad to hear that you saw such an understanding and empathetic doctor.

So . . . cancel a few things, which will take the pressure off you a bit, and concentrate on you!

for you on this grey, wet day!

You sound much more positive after seeing your Doc. cancel everything and just let life pass you by until you are ready to pick up the threads again. Although I wouldn't recommend the day time TV, enough to drive anyone to drink. (I could kill for a GOW, not a drop for 8 weeks now)

My news was good (ish).
Surgeon is very happy with the knee, although I had a new physio lady today and she is threatening me with nasty things if I can't get more movement in two weeks. Given me a new bunch of torture exercises to help it bend.

Hip - it probably is as I suspected, coming loose, but surgeon says if I see my GP and get referred back to him, he can get a bone scan organized and sort me out. This will be under the NHS at the same private hospital my hip and knee were done at. If it is as easy as he says, that will be great. Booked an appointment with my GP for Tuesday 18th Nov.

Surgeon wants to see me in 4 months re the knee, said he may be able to sort hip at the same time.

This may seem to be a poor outcome, but it is what I suspected and now the wheels are in motion I am much happier.

So glad that you are feeling much happier pompa. I hope they can sort your hip out simply. What a nuisance that is.

We are all crumbling merrily away it would seem!

"there are no anti-depressants that are not cardio-toxic to some degree"

That's going to have quite a lot of people worrying. I wonder if it's correct?

It is correct. We have researched this, and the GP acknowledged this too. But the risks are very low indeed for those with no history, so there is no need for worry. The benefits for the majority outweigh the very tiny risk, which may be nothing more than a few palpitations.

Those who have had heart rhythm problems will have the pros and cons weighed up by their doctor, as we are doing now.

Took my first dose last night and was awake half the night, but I hope I will adapt over time and get some benefit. Ready to go back to sleep now.

Hope you have had a comfortable night pompa.

If you dig deep enough everything is going to kill you eventually (if you believe everything that is published)
For me 20 years on Fluoxetine (Prozac) has made my life (and that of my wife, family & friends) not just bearable, but enjoyable most of the time.

I have never been aware of any side effects although if you read the blurb, there seem to be many.

I'm sure that overeating and alcohol are far worse than most medication.

I am sure you are right pompa - my DD is on citalopram and it has, as for you, transformed her life - I am glad that the prozac has been so helpful for you. They are very safe drugs and have been lifesavers for so many people. And you clearly have no contraindications to taking it. Where there are contraindications they obviously have to proceed with caution.

I think they are just being extra careful with me at the moment as the heart blip is so recent and it was quite significant. I am happy to take my GP's advice as I am sure he has my best interests at heart.

Life is a balance of risks.

How is the knee/hip today? You have a new knee and a problem hip; and i have a new hip and a problem knee from doing one of the prescribed exercises! - when I see the consultant next week I will ask him to take a look at the knee. Maybe he can inject it or something and stop the pain.
It is just one d*****d thing after another! - but spring is round the corner?!

You say you have researched the cardio-toxicity of antidepressants Mishap. Any chance of a link or two? I take fluoxetine. I googled "cardio-toxicity" and it means 'damaging to the heart muscle'. That has to be extremely worrying.

Oh gosh - I truly had no intention to worry anyone; I was just passing on what my GP had said and his research before he saw me. It is known that all antidepressants can (in a few cases) potentially alter heart rhythm a bit, but that does not put people at risk unless, like me, they have had a serious episode of a disturbed rhythm - I am sure that your GP will have judged that you are not one of the few people at risk. Most anti-depressants simply say that you should "talk to your doctor" if you have a serious heart rhythm problem.

Please please do not worry - I am very sorry indeed if I have caused you any anxiety. That is the last thing I would want. I am sure it is not necessary for you to worry as you will have been given the right drug that is appropriate to your circumstances, just as my GP is trying to get it right for me and my circumstances - which are different to yours.

All drugs carry potential side effects and it is the GP's job to make sure those are minimised by ensuring that the right drugs go to the right people. I am sure your GP has done just that.

Tbh it's not so much me I am worrying about. Anxiety and depression is a family thing with us. Sometimes I wonder if we would be better off without these drugs. We would just have to cope then.

I have already heard the heart thing about another common antidepressant. Just not about fluoextine.

I have always been a worrier, so don't mind me.

jinglbellsfrocks. I have been on Prozac (fluoxetine) for 20 years now, never had any problems that I know about. it definitely controls my depression. I had a total breakdown when I was 55, off work for 6 months and not much use to anyone.
My Doc tried me on several antidepressants, but the side effects were horrible. Also had counseling.
Once I got over that breakdown, the Prozac kept me on the level. I still get occasional relapses, but never as bad as he original and they usually only last a few days.
There are some drugs that should not be taken alongside Prozac, but your Doc will know about those.
I am certainly not aware of any heart problems, which I'm sure would have been identified prior to my recent surgery etc.

Thank you pompa. That is very reassuring.