Depression anxiety MSers..MS= Mutiple Symptoms, what brings you out of a deep funk? An emotional preparedness kit....

[jackiesj]

We are a mixture of emotions especially when diagnosed with illness and the multiple health issues which can come along.How do you deal emotionally?I do love the JUST DO IT ATTITUDE but.....you sometimes just cant wish away chemical imbalances and I want others to know I support them in their dark days as well.It is ok not to like MS(hate) .Depression anxiety etc are real.What are some things that help YOU> Music, prayer is my go to...

[CynthiaS]

I think and write about what I am grateful for and usually it helps bring me back to center.

[CalfeeChick CommunityAmbassador]

Right now my sweet jackiesj I am praying for my own mental strength to snap me out of my 3 month funk. I think I need to make an appt with my pastor/friend or spend time with his mother, whom I admire very, very much. I need to get my husband to talk with someone,, I know he is worried, afraid of the future and has trouble even talking with me about it.. I always have hope, but sometimes it just scares me too😥😥

MS Sucks!!! 😕🙃😕🙃😕🙃😓😓

[Allen5280]

Hi jackiesj , try and do both music and prayer myself. Sometimes i need chocolate and peanut butter too. 😁 but seriously I sometimes wonder if I even really have a chemical imbalance, at my onset of MS the first doctor my primary care physician sent me to was a psychiatrist. My primary care has been giving me anti anxiety meds that were not doing the trick. Then on to the psychiatric care and trying to treat anxiety and depression were failing miserably. All the antidepressants prescribed had the opposite effect in me. Also at that time some physical manofistations started making their appearance as well so the psychiatrist referred me to neurologist. This is over a span of about 8 months. Well 6 months awaiting a neuro appointment to come available. Then my first mri, the neuro said im reffering you for a secind oppinion because werenot quite sure whats going on. Your brain looks as though it's that of a 70 year old man that has had a severe stroke, with no signs of stroke whatsoever. So im sending you to OU medical neurology. A few months later July 24th 2014, I had my clinical diagnosis of MS. I think that A lot of my depression stems from (still) trying to cope with life as i now know it. Before, what we now know as my possible first onset of MS in 2008, I didn't even have a primary care physician. I only ever saw a doctor for my pilots medical. I hardly ever was sick above a common cold. I knew the emergency rooms far better than doctors offices. For I was an adrenaline junkie. Fast cars, boat, motorcycle, planes.... etc.... lol. I was getting scraped up often, due to slightly risky choices... lol I know, a lot of others called them stupid... but hey, it's who I was. I was the guy that when snorkeling off the blue hole in Belize, when the sharks showed up, looking around everyone else, other than the guide, were climbing back into the boat. He was smiling at me and I looked back seeing everyone else was already aboard and he said to me... "do you want to go catch one and bring it back to the boat"? I responded... with a giddy giggle... thinking oh this is gonna be the best fishing trip... ever!, "oh yeah"!... After we had our masks in the water checking out the situation, "which one you thinking?" He asked... "the biggest one " I replied. He smiled and said, "just checking, but I already knew what you would say". What can I say, other than kindred spirits! Yes, one could argue that they were only nurse sharks, however, in the open water, one can't forget they are still on the top ten most dangerous. Seeing as how they are slow moving and we were doing exactly what I wouldn't recommend. Their bites are not usually fatal but in some cases, due to their vice like bite, they have had to be removed by emergency personnel because they wouldn't let go. Something I wouldn't advise but it was still fun. Got those adrenal glands pumping for sure! So when I had to give up my Career, my Jeep, my Harley, my home, my dog, my cat, my fishing equipment, my guitars, my hummingbird sanctuary..... I watched everything slowly slipping from my grasp, MS was taking it all, my ability to run, walk, talk think... well, everything I had worked so hard for.... everything i loved to do... everything that meant anything to me.... I am doing better now, however how could someone not be angry, bitter, hateful, resentful .... depressed. The stages I went through them all. When I got some mobility back, ability to drive walk and talk I learned what gratitude was all over again. Acceptance made things a bit easier to bear, finding my new normal is still to this day a challenge to say the least but I am at least happy with it. According to the team's of doctors that have been involved, I shouldn't be walking or talking... So today I'm grateful for my blessings. It may be lonely but I'm still independent and it's slowly getting better a little most days. At times I have to remind myself of how good I have it vs what the doctors have told me it should be. I still miss my adrenaline rushes... but I have found ways to cope. Still working on it and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a long process of ups and downs.

Thoughts and prayers,

Allen

[pamgarner in reply to Allen5280]

You said it all! Just trying to stay glued together, good days and bad days,I wonder which it is going to be everyday.Ms takes your gratitude to a different level.Ms has many life lessons, patience, humility,thankfulness,sympathy,hope and etc. Many life blessing to you and all of us .what a way to learn them!

[CynthiaS in reply to Allen5280]

Wow!!! Thought I was wild and daring. At first I was missing everything and frustrated I couldn't go NOW!! Remembering all my extreme adventures. Four years later I'm so glad I did everything I've done. Like Royce says, one day the MS bus will stop God willing; cure will arrive. Blessings Cynthia

[KC0808 in reply to Allen5280]

Allen I believe you mentioned "chocolate" oh baby that's my emergency go to for a moment of bliss yep I still remember what bliss is for that moment when the stress, anxiety, the feeling of loneliness and being worthless, angry and so damn Frustrated......take a bite of chocolate for a moment of bliss. Chocolate and music together and I'm feeling really good.

Take Good Care of You

(Don't forget chocolate)

KC

[Jazzyinco]

Hi Jacjies, Yes Prayet w/ my hubby always helps alot & staying happy & positive & +my great diet chnge. Helps alot too! ❤💖💜💙💛😻👍🙏😍😁Much Prayers for U & Blessings too---Jazzyinco

[goatgal]

jackiesj Yesterday, despite a bright sun, I didn't want to get up. I wanted to stay in bed and howl. When I feel this way, long practice has taught me to force* myself through routines because movement helps lift my mood. So, I fed the dogs and the hens, checked on the garden, made myself dress and clean up the kitchen...then I made the 30+ mile trip to the market so I would be around active people, and by the time I was home again about 3, the fog of sadness had lifted. For me, someone living alone in the country, the trick seems to be making myself engage with the animals or people. This doesn't work when the black cloud of regret and self disgust descends for days, but for the times when it is fleeting, it often helps me pull out before I sink too low. * Force is the word here because I have to make myself move. It is a slow process because e.g. when I lay out each item to wear, it is not automatic, but interrupted by long pauses while I think of what I am doing and what I must do next. At these times, I am stuck and struggle to be freed.

[CalfeeChick CommunityAmbassador in reply to goatgal]

I agree that getting out of the house seems to perk me up. I have friends at the library, and some thrift stores that I love to check out! I do take a day of now and then and just zone out. Stay in bed, or what I call putz around the house doing little chores or making lists of the things I should be doing.. Kitty and I enjoy watching National Geographic channel together😽😽💖💖

[Fancy1959]

Jackiesj, what an awesome post! It should be extremely helpful to many people in this chat room because even if we don't talk about it everything you said is so very true. If anyone in this chat room denies getting in the funk once in awhile I would find it hard to believe due to the very nature of this monster that we fight.

I try to keep a very positive attitude. When I start feeling down and I'm having issues I keep repeating to myself how lucky I am to have MS. How lucky I am.....

Sometimes it becomes hard to remember that we are lucky to have this monster. I'm here some twenty years into fighting this chronic illness. How many other chronic illnesses and severe illnesses like cancer, Alzheimer's, COPD, and others can the people affected by them say they are still fighting it in still here 20 years after being diagnosed? Not many, although cancer deaths are way down when the cancers are caught early.

To sum it up I always think of my glass half-full instead of half-empty. I know I have a future, and it is up to me to make the most of it. It might not have been the future that I saw for myself even 5 years ago but I still have a future. I will see my son's marry and will enjoy my future grandchildren. I will get to travel to Atlanta to see my daughter and to enjoy her beautiful home into gorgeous children, my first grandchildren whenever possible. Do I feel lucky? You bet. I'll look forward to the advances and the nude dmts that will be hitting the market in the next 5 to 10 years. I pray constantly that in the future this Beast will be conquered and my future will change for the better physically. Again with my glass half full I stay positive and I have faith that is Monster will be contained and some of the severe side effects I suffer from will be reversed, at least to some degree! Fancy1959.

[CalfeeChick CommunityAmbassador in reply to Fancy1959]

Absolutely, staying positive and being grateful for all the good things in your life and the great memories of good times.

[Linda3579 in reply to Fancy1959]

Great reminders Fancy! Thank you🙏 Linda

[kdali]

I've had deep funks with relapses and I feel like it was part of being sick more than just being depressed or angry. I didn't realize it had happened until long after I had recovered. It certainly wasn't how I normally am. I guess now I watch myself more closely for clues that it's coming, but I've had zero cognitive issues this time around 🤷‍♀️

[jackiesj]

Many helpful ideas and as lists grow I do to, thanks to you al!