Depression 2

Thanks everyone - we won't mention the blinding migraine that is afflicting me today! I knew it would be tempting fate to say I was feeling better.

I am so pleased for both of you.

My village friend who had her hip op in October has only just confessed to me how low she felt. She said she really couldn't see how she would ever be better, and thought that she would be scared to leave the house for ever. Like me, she had thought it a good time to have an op, as the garden wouldn't run away and get out of control. She now thinks it would have been better to at least been able to sit out in the sun more to recover.

Lovely news from you both.

Thanks.

Onwards and upwards now for both of you (and everyone else feeling down).

Pleased to hear things are improving at last for both of you

Mishap and pompa it's great to hear your positive news

Good news, long may in continue for both of you.

Wonderful news! Thanks for reporting back. So glad you are both feeling better. Snowdrops are out and spring is on the way!

That's really great to hear Mishap, it's super to hear things are brighter
Pompa I'm so pleased the knee's improving, pity these things can take so long.....

Great start to my Saturday morning. I have been very busy this week but have looked for this thread each time I've visited gransnet.

I hope things just get better and better for you both.

Pompa - I am so glad that your knee is beginning to feel better. It does seem that these things take a long while to recover from - certainly I had no idea how slow it was going to be after my hip surgery. I hope the consultant is able to be reassuring for you.

Thanks Tegan.

That's great news Mishap, let's hope things are on the up now.

I've been loathe to say anything just in case things go wrong again, but my knee has been much better for a few days now. I am still getting the clunking from the tissue being caught in the joint, but I see the consultant soon, so will discuss it then. I am getting nearly as much flex with my new knee as the other one now (which from what I read may be the cause of the clunking)

That's good to hear. I'll be forever grateful to my friend who persuaded me to try anti depressants when I was at rock bottom, because people still have the idea that they'll just be 'zombiefied' if they take them. Onwards and upwards Mishap!

I just thought that after all your kindnesses I should report back that the anti-depressants seem to have kicked in. It is hard to explain but it is as if something vital, some spark of life, which had been switched off has now been switched back on again.

I have a number of physical problems still: pain from the hip surgery (worst down my leg), migraines (bad yesterday), painful broken foot and IBS, all of which should make me feel thoroughly miserable, but I am coping OK and I think that is a measure of how things have improved on the depression front that I can cope with these without sinking.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken the trouble to help me through a very bad time in my life. It is greatly appreciated. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me and how much it helped. Thank you to all the Gransnet forum members for seeing me through.

Sciatica runs down the back of the leg; this is down the front. I had a steroid injection in my hip a few years ago and they were trying to make sure that the source of the groin pain was my hip and not my back - they concluded that it was the hip as the injection gave me several weeks of relief.

I did have a prolapsed disc about 8 years ago which caused pain down the front of my leg - but that resolved many years ago. This pain is also down the front of my leg, but starts in the hip joint and groin which makes me think it is related to the operation - it is too much of a coincidence - and I have no back pain.

I am hoping that there will be some way of easing this.

I recognise the sardine can analogy!

Mishap. Is there a chance you could be suffering from sciatica as well? When I had a bad bout of sciatica years ago as a result of shingles, it was so painful it felt like someone was trying to peel the skin off my shin with one of those keys you use to open a can of sardines.

DH was wrongly diagnosed with sciatica when he needed his first hip replacement. I think the two sites of pain are closely linked.

Thank you for your posts.

I have had a few good days and feel deep down that something has changed as I do not feel so nervous of just breaking down out of the blue. There is a little sparkle that has returned - it is difficult to describe what I mean, but it is welcome and I so hope it will last.

It is just as well really as I am in lots of pain - so much so that I did not get to sleep until 3 this morning. Nothing to do with depression, but simply because I have so much pain, both from my hip surgery which is causing nerve pain shooting down my leg to my toes, and also from my other hip, which I knew was a bit knackered, but is now making its presence felt as the physio has gingered it up. If I had still been feeling very depressed I think I might have despaired.

The surgeon says he cannot understand the source of my pain as the x-rays are fine - but I can tell him the source of the pain - it is my femoral nerve which has presumably been stretched/ bruised or whatever by the surgery. What I need to know is how to get rid of it! I am seeing the physio on Weds and will give her the third degree as to what I might be able to do about it.

As I am sitting here with the laptop, my shin feels as if someone is chucking boiling water down it.

Good news Mishap. Keep going in the right direction

Very pleased for you Mishap Make the most of the good days and if you have a bad one, remember them and tell yourself they will return. You are doing so well.

Pompa Hope you are feeling better too.

I read through all of your thread last night, Mishap, and what an awful time you've been having. I do so hope that things are on the up for you now. Very gradual, but steady progress, hopefully.

Mishap you are a real trooper, well done!
I'm really pleased for you; six weeks or so since your OP, fingers crossed steady progress continues x

Mishap If you feel particularly bad in the morning and get better during the day have you thought about a SAD light?

First proper outing yesterday evening - a friend took me to a concert and I coped and thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me feel as though I had returned to the real world for a bit. I have to hope it will last and I will be able to progress from here.

This morning 2 friends came round to sing with me; and my DD and boys have been here after school bearing a yummy chicken stew for us all.

I am nervous of hoping for too much from all this, as I have been knocked back before, but even a few moments of normality is to be treasured. Fingers crossed.

Well done mishap - go girl!! to celebrate

Big (((hugs))) pompa! to cheer you up!