Black dog gang

Thank you - diolch yn fawr Annie

The use of stimulants and tranquillisers in the 70s here in Wales wasn’t limited to people with anxiety issues. Several relatives were given amphetamines because they worked 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. My mother was given sackful of Valium, when a GP cut her off in around 2001 it was a big big shock to her system.

Even I in London in about 1979 was advised to loose post natal acquired weight and was prescribed amphetamines. I only took them for 3 days. I found myself vacuuming at 2 am. Luckily I mentioned it to a medic at work and they asked me to bring the tablet bottle in. I think his words were ‘They ‘ve put you on speed, ditch them’.

I did.

hello all xx not much to say today..i,ve been at work since 10am. home now. I think i am going to start gardening. I know nothing and i have shocking arthritis but i was thinking of growing fruit and veg...easy ones that i will use. need hubby to move all the stones off the patch which is actually quite long and already has a rhubarb bush ...might even convince him to let me have 2 chickens...he is currently dead against it

One poster endured it, I am sure she will reply when she posts allassinsane , bullying causes much harm doesn’t it?

Does anyone here have anxiety caused by bullying in the workplace.

OurKid we do think ‘I should manage without medication’, yet people with physical problems don’t .

Did the ativane, Librium , Valium and sonyril which is a barbiturate in the late 60’s and 70’s , never, ever again, for me it was because I witnessed a horrific disaster, had post natal depression and then the death of my husband,

Wise not to stop Prozac without medical supervision, now we hear of withdrawal from pain killers !

Tennis is great isn’t it, love seeing the brilliant players of yesteryear.

Sorry Mr O has hurt his back. I love gardening but damn arthritic hands and dislocated knee joint is stopping me doing much, plus the agoraphobia. Our local MIND has a gardening project , an allotment and work in the National Park to help people with depression and anxiety, it really is therapeutic,

Glad you are glad you discovered this thread, we all welcome new posters x

Sparkle sorry Friday was a not good day , and learning of your experience with your therapist was so cheering,

Hair and lunch tomorrow? Go for it *Sparkle, you certaintly deserve it x

Anniebach I was only 'thinking' of coming of my medication (Prozac) because I've been on it for so long. Had a review with my GP and she has no problem with me being on it. I guess it's just me feeling as if I 'ought' to manage without it, even though I know that's silly. If she thinks otherwise, then I think I will just stay on it, or at least have a chat with her first.

I took Ativan (a tranquilliser) back in the 1980s for post-natal depression and had horrendous withdrawal symptoms. I can remember not being able to walk along our hallway without holding on to the wall and never want to go through that again. Everyone says Prozac doesn't have the same effect, but still ... I'm not going to do anything for a while yet anyway and certainly not without medical advice - don't worry.

Meanwhile, I've just spent the morning digging the garden (Mr OurKid has hurt his back so it's down to me) which I absolutely love doing - it's true (for me at least) that gardening is therapeutic.

It's raining now, but I've just found out that there's Wimbledon tennis on BBC 1 all afternoon - a celebration of the new roof on Court No. 1. It's not at all competitive, just a celebration and very lighthearted, so it has made my afternoon. An unexpected treat.

It's good to hear that you are going to be able to see your Granddaughter today. I have just one grandchild - a boy, aged 5, who we were meant to be seeing yesterday, but Mr OurKid's back meant a postponement till next weekend.

I am so glad I discovered this thread and took a look out of curiosity. I sometimes find GN a mixed blessing, but this thread makes me realise its benefits. I guess it's down to engaging with those threads which we feel drawn to and ignoring those we don't!

Have a lovely afternoon. x

Hello everyone hiya Annie lovely to hear you have had your lovely visitor.

A bit down on Friday, but today it has lifted as I am looking forward to having my hair done and a change of scenery tomorrow.

I had a lovely therapist in a city I lived in. It was easier to find one with a sliding scale where there are many. I saw her for 6 years. When I had cancer and was ill and then recovering for 3 years, she stopped charging me. What a wonderful kind woman. I was virtually penniless for those 3 years but with my faith somehow pulled through.

Anyway, hair tomorrow lunch in M&S! Positively almost exciting.

I hope all you ladies have a more comfortable week with at least one thing to lighten the moment.

Joce she certainly brightened my morning, she is swatting the rest of today, exam tomorrow.

I don’t know of anyone in the public eye who has spoken out more about mental health than Alastair, when he was working with Neil .kinnock they were in Scotland, Alastair had a breakdown. His brother Donald who died about 2 years ago
was schizophrenic.

He is an ambassador for several mental health charities including MIND. And he is an honoury fellow of The Royal
College of Physciatrists for his work in breaking down the stigma of mental illness.

So he certainly knows what it is to live with The Black Dog

The Alastair Campbell programme sounds interesting Annie, hope I can remember to watch it.. hope you have had a good day with your granddaughter Annie .

nonnie he was with the NHS, the speed of an appointment would have been arranged by the BBC. The train journey, I think, was a visual as well as a verbal way of explaining- the thought then the feeling.

I couldn’t get counselling for the agoraphobia because I couldn’t get to the NHS mental health centre , grrrrr, if I could have got there I wouldn’t be struggling with agoraphobia would I ?

I am having therapy, a charity is paying for it, it has to be FaceTime because I could couldn’t go to her therapy rooms.

Annie was he really NHS? How did she get an appointment and how come she got a professor? We would all be lucky to get someone with minimum training after waiting a year.

Just checked all BBC2 channels, Alastair Cambell on Tuesday BBC2 9.00pm for all parts of the country.

Tonight Prince William is on BBC 1 , 10 30pm ,discussing men’s mental health problems with footballers .

Tuesday night, Alastair Cambell discusses depression and if new treatments can make a difference, this will I think be most interesting, I know Alastair Cambell, he has battled with depression for yesrs, he has always spoken openly about it.

BBC2, 9.00pm, best check the area where you live , the time I quote is BBC2 Wales,

Good morning friends x

OurKid I agree about the counsellor and the one hour train journey and he was NHS.

I have reactive depression and anxiety, so I do have personal
experience of medication on and off over many years .

All medication if stopped abruptly has withdrawal symptoms and in my experience all medication has side effects when first prescribed.

When tranquilizers were dished out in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s so many people were caught in addiction, then the ssri’s replaced tranquilizers, same problem with withdrawal but not as severe as tranquilizer withdrawal.

May I ask why you are thinking of coming off your medication? If you decide to please do so with your GP’s support.

nanny perhaps write down how you are feeling on a bad day and take that with you to the doc? My brain empties as soon as I go in the surgery.

Welcome moggie & allas

moggie it took me a couple of days to pluck up the courage to watch but it didn't make me worse when I did. I felt that she was nowhere near suffering as some of us are and that a lot of it was put on for the camera. Don't think she is living in the same world as us and probably doesn't understand what we go through. I mean that in the nicest possible way because if you haven't been there how can you understand. Plan to watch the others when I feel up to it. How many are there?

I saw the Nadia programme, with a weather eye on whether it upset me too much. It didn't, thankfully, but I was also concerned at their portrayal of counselling - I just can't see a counsellor accompanying anyone on an hour long train journey! Other than that I did think he was very good, reminding me of a counsellor I saw once when I was going through a particularly bad patch.

Anniebach - well I 'think' the medication has helped, though of course it may just be a placebo effect. Frankly I don't mind whether it is or not, just as long as I feel ok-ish. Having said that, I do toy with the idea of coming off it, after 7 years, but as I am on the very lowest dose it would be difficult to reduce it. I spoke to my GP about taking it on alternate days and she said that was a very bad idea, as I would go through a mini-withdrawal each off day, then go through the 'getting used to it' feeling, which I remember well, each on day. Hmmmm ... I wonder what others have done??

That's reminded me, didn't they say on that Nadia programme that it would take her 2 weeks to feel an effect? I agree with that, but they didn't mention the initial side effects for those two weeks while the body gets used to it. I still remember that and it was awful.

Have a good day everyone. It's sunny, which even for those who stay indoors, makes everything seem a little brighter, doesn't it?

Aww annie that's great xxxx

Hi to all our new friends welcome.. I have health anxiety...I love this friendly forum..
Annie so excited for you, you must be so happy I am happy for you. You will have a fabulous day hopefully
Goodnight sleep well sending hugs to all ?

I am thrilled, my younger granddaughter had her car back on Friday evening and she will be with me tomorrow, how I have missed her, 3 weeks, and elder granddaughter face timed , she is coming up from Cornwall in June, haven’t seen her since January, use to see her every day when she was in school and several times a week when at university.

moggiek you must have been in such a dark place, ECT in your 20’s, but it helped you and that’s the important thing, and I have much admiration for you , you fought back and so young , I hope you are proud of yourself x

Hi Annie. It was first prescribed in '75 when I was 16. I was diagnosed with depression, but now it would be classified as anxiety. Did pretty well until I was 22, when the depression did arrive. It was bloody grim, and ECT was given as a last resort, as I was suicidal. I have to say, it worked like a charm. Since then, apart from the occasional dip, I've remained pretty well.

allassinsane. Annie please.

I must say I am known to misspell names, if I do forgive me,
I called our friend nonnie - ‘ninnie’today, one of my really ‘oops sorry’ clangers

moggiek amatrip in your teens ? I was precribed it in the late 60’s and again in the mid 70’s, you must have been in a bad place my love, were you in your teens when you had ECT? I am not being nosey and please ignore any questions you don’t want to answer. The 70’s were grim for me too.

We do have light moments on this thread too , but I can assure you there is much understanding and support .

It’s usually quiet at weekends, posters have families visiting etc . You will meet all x

Thanks AnnieBach. x