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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
I feel so exhausted all the time. I get up in the mornings and even getting out of bed takes effort. Brushing my teeth takes effort. Showering takes effort. Getting dressed takes effort. But I do it anyway.
How do some people manage to go through life so energetically and effortlessly?
I just feel constantly drained and exhausted. Not depressed though.
I am not on any meds at the moment. Zoloft actually seems to make things worse for me.
I would try Provigil if I could afford it, but alas, my insurance is a bit iffy about paying for it plus my doctor has hinted back at my hints for Provigil that she won't go the route of stimulants. Of Ritalin I'm too scared I'll become addicted. I have an addictive personality. I just know I would become an addict if I were to take a drug with abuse potential. That is why I don't drink either.
So my question is, how do I energize and enthuse and motivate myself?
Posted by annierose on December 16, 2007, at 8:18:10
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
have your tried exercise? not only is it a mood booster, it elevates your energy level.
but your symptoms are those of depression. depression is not always treated with medication. so you can be depressed but a doctor may or may not prescribe meds based on a host of factors.
Posted by rskontos on December 16, 2007, at 12:12:15
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
Jamal if I could answer that for you I would and do it too. I have the same symptoms and cant for the life of me figure out why. I too don't think it is depression but then my brain is messed up so what do i know. I can't even type in the same case all the time.
I use to have the energy WTF did it go. Heck if I know. It is like a plug was pulled and it all drained out. I am only on topamax for seizure they now say I dont have so I need to taper off of it and for headaches but they are worse than ever. So again WTF am I taking it for.
I am only posting to tell you hang in there cause u aren't alone
if it helps to have company you are in good company. that is probably crap from me and I am sorry but that is all I can say.I do though keep trying and putting one foot in front of the other. therapy helps I think.
Are you in therapy?
Do you have a p-doc?
Hang in there I think it will get better. I have better days than others. I do think this time of year is worse.
rsk
Posted by Phillipa on December 16, 2007, at 13:17:59
In reply to Re: Life is such a drag » Jamal Spelling, posted by rskontos on December 16, 2007, at 12:12:15
Huh???? Me too. I don't think it's depression either anxiety makes me tired and then no energy. When I ride my bike at night it keeps me alive and today the wind is 40miles an hour how will I do it in the dark? And I have to almost didn't make it last night as it rained and we don't get rain at all here this year. Phillipa I need a reflective vest. So far I just ride in the dark fast as I can but I don't want to want to be able to relax but can't. Phillipa
Posted by Sigismund on December 16, 2007, at 15:30:13
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
I think people in this situation are just not optimally well, likely as not.
I would like to be able to offer helpful hints, but any I have have not been hugely helpful to me.
Once you lose vitality it is kinda difficult to get it back.
You know it could be anything.
Like in those TV shows: your house could be poisoning you.
What else? There's lots of possibilities.
Posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 16:08:17
In reply to Re: Life is such a drag, posted by Sigismund on December 16, 2007, at 15:30:13
> Once you lose vitality it is kinda difficult to get it back.
Well that's a relief to hear.
Posted by sunnydays on December 16, 2007, at 18:06:47
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
Well, the best advice I have is to try to find things you like to do... but obviously that is the problem. Try new activities, new hobbies. Plan something for yourself every day that you like doing, even a little thing like drinking hot chocolate. Find a good book to read. Exercise is supposed to help (and does, when I can make myself do it). Watch a funny movie. Go out and be around people (easier said than done I know).
Those are my ideas. Other than that, I don't know. I kind of know what you're talking about though. I don't know how I will handle a full-time job because I get completely exhausted so easily. And it shouldn't be anything medical. Sometimes for me it's that there's so much going on in my head, so many emotions that are so intense, that I think it physically drains me.
Good luck,
sunnydays
Posted by Phillipa on December 16, 2007, at 18:43:35
In reply to Re: Life is such a drag » Jamal Spelling, posted by sunnydays on December 16, 2007, at 18:06:47
And I think you're right as the pdoc I do see says it's stress and anxiety making me so tired. Phillipa
Posted by antigua3 on December 17, 2007, at 6:32:16
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
Hello, I don't think I've posted to you before.
Yes, I know how you feel, and have been there many times. My bed is my favorite place to be, not only because I can hide, but sleep is an escape.
Please check with your doctor to make sure nothing else is going on--like anemia perhaps. That was my problem for a very long time and I didn't know it. I just thought my depression was getting worse and worse.
Just a thought. I'm sorry you are suffering. It sure isn't any fun.
antigua
Posted by Bodhisattva on December 17, 2007, at 9:44:03
In reply to Re: Life is such a drag, posted by antigua3 on December 17, 2007, at 6:32:16
Everything is so shiny and beautiful to begin with. Everywhere so many new colors, seeming to flow forth from the world around us. We even marvel and play in the dirt beneath our feet.
But then time does it's thing. Like bleach, washing over it all. Making everything dull and bland. The sharp livid color and sound we were once so immersed in, now barely registers with our senses. The rare instance that we are once again enthralled are fleeting. What we once had, now most definitely gone. Yet our hunger for it remains, and we search it out endlessly.
Maybe it's different for the rest of you, but I know the source of my depression is always that the rich flavor of the world has degraded to the flavor of paper. The only thing that remains new, and unknown. Always unique in each encounter, is people. I've found that when I'm feeling the worst, those are the times that I cannot be alone. I've been locked in my own head for too long, and the drapes are dreadful. I'm F*CK*NG stir crazy, and it sound to me like you share my affliction. I don't know who put me in here, to never let me out. But they deserve a swift boot to the brain-pan.
Posted by Poet on December 17, 2007, at 11:17:55
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
Hi Jamal Spelling,
I am really depressed right now and everything is in slow motion. What I am trying to do is set really small goals: send Christmas cards. I set that goal on Friday, and finished addressing them Sunday night, but I did it. It was only nine cards and that shouldn't take three days, but I did it and they got mailed this morning.
Think of something small to start with.
I agree life is a drag.
Poet
Posted by seldomseen on December 17, 2007, at 13:18:14
In reply to Life is such a drag, posted by Jamal Spelling on December 16, 2007, at 6:48:33
Well, when you get the dead weight feeling to life, the first thing to do is be sure (as others have suggested) that you don't have something physically wrong that can be treated. Anemia, mono, thyroid etc... Having a sleep study is not a bad idea. Get that ruled out.
If all that comes out normal, I do have some suggestions, some concrete, some kind of pie in the sky. I don't have this all figured out yet myself, but I can say for sure that Life should not feel this way.
1. Make sure you have a reason to get out of bed/brush your teeth/get showered.Although you may not feel like doing this at all, sometimes you just have to force yourself to start something new or look at something old in a new way. THis may take some trial and error, some success and some failure. But you have to keep at it.
2. Watch how you are thinking.
I may get a lot of flack for this, but a negative attitude can weigh you down like a ton of bricks. Make a list of the things that you are grateful for, the people that have helped you, the foods you love, whatever. Just keep something positive in the forefront of your mind.
3. Don't be afraid to really shuffle things up a bit.
Your life may need a major overhaul. It takes guts to do it, but you only get one shot at this life. It's worth taking a few chances I think.
Like I said, I don't have this all figured out and I am no motivational speaker. Believe me, I have my "Life sucks" moments as well.
Sometimes just taking some sort of action, and then building on that momentum really helps.
Good luck.
Seldom.
Posted by lovelorn on December 17, 2007, at 17:32:01
In reply to Re: Life is such a drag » antigua3, posted by Bodhisattva on December 17, 2007, at 9:44:03
>Maybe it's different for the rest of you, but I know the source of my depression is always that the rich flavor of the world has degraded to the flavor of paper.
I tend to see it as a loss of beauty - that is the source of depression for me.
This is the end of the thread.
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