G's Endocrinologist suggested a Mediterranean diet would be beneficial. It's not a 'diet' per se, but a lifestyle change and one we've begun to implement over the last couple of weeks with some success. The principle is (in basic form) that you consume alot of vegetables, fruit, complex carbs (breads, pasta) and a limited amount of chicken and fish, and a rare amount of red meat. We've decided to go for chicken once a week and fish once a week, and red meat once a month (if at all)....... and have been dining on veggie pasta dishes and similar. I haven't cut sugar out of my diet (should do!) as yet, but I am heading towards doing so.
I've also been going the gym 3 x per week... I did several weeks before Christmas and have returned since our trip to the UK...... and I'm definitely feeling more energy. I don't know if this is down to the change in diet or the gym or a combination of both. It could also be because I switched my Anti D medication (yes, back on the Zoloft unfortunately) to the morning instead of the evening...... I was falling asleep on my feet in the afternoons! I'm fed up to be back on it but a couple of weeks before Xmas I gave in to the fact that I felt absolutely bloody miserable and needed help. I am cross because I fought it so hard - I had successfully come off it months before moving and I had struggled through the hard part of the move, but the situation with the house dragged me down and I found myself into that 'no lust for life' situation again.... instead festering at home being pissed off with the world. So back to the medication it is...... Doc reckons 6 months. On the plus side I have felt considerably more positive since going back to it. Back to 'normal', so to speak.
Posted by katie at January 10, 2006 05:27 PMHey hun, its a hard one to get around. When i was on them (admittedly at first for an eating disorder - but then to get me thru the shit bit of fuckwits games) all i wanted was to get off them and feel normal. But, the way i think about it now is if you need them, then you need them. Its all about a chemical imbalance in your brain. Nothing that you can control, kind of like diabetes or a thyroid problem. Medication can 'sort' that out and its accepted - so why not apply the same principles to depression??
Matt is on then and has been for a year or so, if he doesn't take them for a few days he gets grumpy and tearful... when he is taking them he is fine. There is no shame, and you shouldn't beat yourself up for being back on them. You did brilliantly when you were off them to deal with the move and everything. But if you feel 'normal' on then stick with it!