A sincere thank you IBelieveInMe2

My oldest should be in STL by Thurs. My 2nd who is getting married had her fitting today and she is absolutely beautiful in that dress!!! It is becoming so real now. Can feel the anxiety starting wanting to be just right for her. Maybe that is where the need to drink is coming from. Just a guess...

Hi everyone, it hasn't been a great couple of days, I'm hoping today will be better, its started well so fingers crossed. I went for a small run today, I have become so unfit over the summer, what used to be an easy no sweat run now has me in pain and puffing and I HATE that I have let myself go to this extent.

Some good news though. We had been having problems with our mortgage and the bank were being really difficult to deal with, this summer they even had us in court trying to reposses the house but they have finally agreed a repayment plan that means we are free from all our legal woes. Its an affordable one too so we will be able to manage on what we are left with. My husband is delighted as am I but I feel pissed off too, why didn't they do this months ago instead of dragging us through so much stress and uncertainty.

Fiona W I hope you are feeling better today. I really loved the collage, they are beautiful, how do you make them?

Lilturtle hugs xx I have done that many times too, now I don't go shopping if I am in a funk or if I am I literally only bring enough money for the essentials. That's saved me a few times. Don't feel bad xx

Fool4fotos Congratulations on your upcoming family wedding, it must be a very emotional time for you. Don't worry, everything will work out right for her, enjoy the experience.

FleurdeLis Congrats on your achievement, not long until you are saying goodbye to the 170's

Worth the effort I am so sorry to hear about the death of your colleague, that must be hard, I hope you are okay. Well done on not giving into your sugar urges and doing something positive instead. I know if that had been me I would have binged.

I take geodon too Fiona. It frustrates me because it is so unpredictable in how fast it will work. Sometimes 2 hours, sometimes4-5 hours. Sometimes not at all. How much do you take and is it the generic?

aryastark I am glad you got your mortgage issue resolved. It is terrible living with that kind of stress.

I haven't been sleeping. I'm always more hungry when I don't get enough sleep, Anyone else notice that?

Trish— Have you tried taking the Geodon to help you sleep? I take two 40-mg capsules of the generic every night when I'm doing my pre-sleep wind-down: it really works for me. When I'm having lots of depression pain, I also take it as a prn. (as needed), any time of day. I know it takes a long time to come on board—for me it's like 45 minutes to an hour—but it's an effective anti-depressant as well as an antipsychotic. (I gotta have an antipsychotic for the bad depression pain.) I find it helps to make the Geodon come on faster if I lie down and meditate, or at least observe my breathing, while I'm waiting: that way you're primed to notice, and reinforce, its subtle emergence in your brain.

That's all I feel like saying. I'm still in bad shape with this depressive episode. But the one good thing about depression is, it does come to an end, sooner or later.

Hey everyone, I'm just popping in to say I am still around and will continue to contribute to the group. I've been very busy. I just started a long term project that I'm excited about but also very nervous.

I'm sorry to see those who are not doing well right now. I wish I could give you all a great big hug.

EDIT - Sorry, I kind of rambled here. It was a bit of a brain dump. I will try to be more active soon.

I'm starting to put a plan together for myself when I get back to the States. I'm going to need to really keep a hold of myself because leaving here and being long distance with my boyfriend again for a while is going to be very hard and I'm likely to get stronger flares of depression.

I've decided on a couple things to prioritize, but what I really need to work on is not feeling guilty for it. (I'm working on my guilt issues in therapy, but boy do they run deep...)

First is prioritizing what housework gets done when I'm sick. The kitchen is the most important part of the house for me. Waking up to a clean kitchen and a cup of tea sets a tone for my whole day. Plus it's a lot more likely I will want to make a proper meal if my kitchen is in order. In tandem with that, I need to slip back into a routine for my eating and stick to it. I'm going to have to force myself to set up an actual plan, because the habits that allowed me to not think about it anymore are gone.

And lastly, getting at least a little exercise is more important than other tasks. Yoga every morning, and some kind of dedicated period of movement during the day. If I'm too sick to do more than one thing in a day, exercise takes priority, because it's what maintains my activity level on good days.

I've tried all sorts of things with the geodon. With meals, snacks. Different times, etc. So far it is one of the best I have tried. It's just not perdictable.

Hi, I am new. Just found this forum today. Not sure if I belong here. I have bipolar disorder which is pretty well controlled with medication. I take a lot of meds: ability, seroquel, lexapro, lamictal, Wellbutrin. I think the antipsychotics contribute to my hunger and fatigue. I still get some periods of depression, I also have a lot of anxiety. At the moment my mood is fine. I had some bad lab results (glucose and lipids) and I haven't been able to talk to my doc about them. It is on my mind but I am trying not to dwell. I am hoping with diet and exercise it will improve. I am working with a doctor and dietician at a weight loss center. I have tried losing on my own but I haven't had much success. I am more optimistic this time.

Of course you belong here, Lori! Anyone who has mental health issues along with working on losing weight, or even just has ups and downs in mood that affect their weight loss journey, can find support and camaraderie on this thread. I, too, am bipolar, pretty well controlled on quite a cocktail of meds, and I hate the way the antipsychotic (I take Geodon) activates my sweet tooth.

I did something rather unusual today. Since I've had this recent flare-up of depression, my shrink has been pushing me more and more to go see this Qigong (chee-gong) practitioner he knows. So I did so.

It turned out that he was so personable and fascinating, I'm going back to see him on a weekly basis for a while. When I drew my little map of stages -1 through -7 of my depression, complete with the verbal labels I've made up for them, he got very excited. I could tell he was making all kinds of connections between what I've been able to observe about my internal energy flow in those various states, and the energy patterns he knows from Qigong. I think he has a lot to teach me, starting with some exercises in getting myself better grounded. Only time will tell if Qigong can help me be less depressed and on fewer medications, but his fee is quite reasonable, so what have I got to lose?

lorib64: to our group! You definitely belong here! Good to hear that your bipolar depression is well-controlled with meds. I am also bipolar and on a cocktail of meds: Abilify, Effexor, and Buspar (plus other meds for other health conditions). Most of the time, my depression is well-controlled, but I still have my moments. I, too, battle hunger, fatigue, and anxiety. Sorry you haven't been able to talk to your doc about your bad lab results. I hope you will get the chance to do that soon so that you can relieve your mind of it. I get yearly bloodwork to check glucose and lipids since I am also on Abilify. So maybe that med is causing the poor lab results. It will be interesting to hear what your doc has to say. Anyway, I am happy that you posted. Best of luck to you in your weight loss journey!

Thanks for the warm welcomes

Going to start shredding weight from tomorrow onwards, will start walking for 6-7 day (2-3 miles a day) than i will start running... Hoping positive outcomes. Now i am weighing 227 pounds and want to be 155 pounds, Lets see what is going to happen in 6-8 months.

Finger crossed

For those of you who follow my collages, I just made a new one: "to a land without blue". As always, if you click on the image, you'll get a larger version.

I'm having a good day. Any day when I both write a letter (did that this morning) and make a collage is a good day. =smile=

withuashish: Welcome to the group and best of luck to you with your weight loss plan. Do you suffer from depression and/or are you on meds? Just wondering because that is what this forum is about. Regardless, GOOD LUCK!

Fi: Cool collage! Glad you are having a good day!

We went on college visits today with our son. We had a scheduled visit to an Open House at the University of Dayton and drove through and ate on campus at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Dayton is currently his #1 choice for college, but he really liked the beautiful Miami campus. We will schedule a visit and tour there later. Food was not great today. I am sort of in "giving up" mode again and really need to get my act together or (with this low thyroid level) I will gain weight rapidly. I'll take maintaining over gaining any day! Days like today, when we are riding for long periods in the car, I feel like I am 80 years old when I go to stand up and walk after getting out of the car; I have aches and pains all over. I so want to feel younger! I so want to be in shape!!! Exercise has been good, but food choices have much room for improvement. I need to follow up my "wants" with behaviors that will get me there! Even if I can't lose weight until after seeing the endocrinologist in November, I want to be in the HABIT of healthy choices and hopefully the weight will come off in time.

Waving HELLO to everyone and wishing you well! Have a great week!

Hi Lori! I found seroquel made me eat almost nonstop and it raised my blood sugar. It is an evil drug but it does work for some people which is why I guess they prescribe it. It was a nightmare to come off of too but as soon as I was off I started dropping weight right away. I'm glad you are working with your doctor. I weigh the risks and benefits of medication now and for the most part will not take anything that has weight gain as a side effect.\


Love the collage Fi!!