Ups and Downs Thread February 2017
 

Hi all, and welcome to the February 2017 Ups and Downs support thread.

This is group for those who need support, as a place vent and share your life comings and goings. Please join us, and keep us company.

Hi all, I tried to set up the new thread for February, but I'm afraid I missed out "February" in the title, and it's not letting me sort it.... This is why I don't start threads!

I'm going to respond to gingerkibble and nerdbling in this months thread, so we don't lose the response.

nerdbling, I hope you found our thread alright. How are you getting on? I am sorry to hear you're struggling with your depression at the moment, I hope things will ease a bit as we come out of the winter months. Hope you're keeping well!

Hi GingerKibble, welcome to the thread! I am sorry to hear you lost your job, it's hard not to turn to food at times like this. It would be great if instead of comfort eating we wanted to comfort exercise, huh? Hope you are keeping well!

Hi to everyone else! I'm still not at a point of posting about myself, I will update you soon enough.

Originally Posted by nerdbling:
Hello everyone. I hope everyone's new year has started off good. Mine has been ok nothing major for good or for bad. I struggle deeply with depression and anxiety. I have been diagnosed with bipolar mainly struggling with the depression side. Although the Mania does show its ugly face from time to time. The anxiety makes day to day life very hard but I manage. But getting up every day does seem to be more of a struggle than I feel it should be. It wears me down and definitely affects my eating habits and ambition to get up and get moving. I hope everyone is doing well.

Hi nerdbling (cute name :D ) :welcome: to our thread. I am sorry to hear that you struggle so badly with depression and anxiety . And I hear you about not wanting to get up in the morning. Please feel free to talk about whatever you want here :)

Originally Posted by GingerKibble:
Hey there guys! Hope no one minds me joining up here. Had depression and generalised anxiety disorder for about 5 years now and what with me being made redundant from a job I loved recently, I've found comfort in food. It's nice to know I'm not alone with this.

I hope everyone is doing amazingly well!

H GingerKibble (that's a cute name too! ) and also :welcome: to our thread! Ugh sorry about losing the job you loved!! that is really a shame. Gosh yes we all find comfort in food don't we. Hope to get to know you better :)

Coop - thank you for realizing we needed a February thread! :) and for your nice welcomes to the newbies also. Hope you're okay :hug:

Lisa - you have been tackling so much lately no wonder you feel a little overwhelmed! I hope you can justifiably take pride in realizing all you've accomplished so far.

Kathleen Hi!!! and thank you for your kind words of admiration for Eddie the dog also :D He is Lab, German Shepherd, and Rottweiler, and we think he has the best characteristics of all three :D then of course we are biased! Whenever I have to step over him in the hallway (that is many times a day :D ) I always bend down and pet him and tell him what a good boy he is, what a good-looking doggy, etc. But NOW i have been telling him that my 3FC friends have said he is BEYOND ADORABLE and SOOO HANDSOME :D and he just loves it!

Hi Monica! and Snapple! and anyone else reading .

Well my friends, I had my appointment with the cataract surgeon yesterday. Yes, I have made the appointment dates...March 29 for the first eye, then mid-April for the second one. However, a new unpleasant surprise!! He told me he found evidence of a disease, Fuch's Syndrome (what the fuch, lol) and in the l-o-n-g run and worst case scenario, pain; corneal transplants, or blindness! Just great :devil: I am trying so hard NOT to freak out about this..I had a previous eye doctor tell me for 10 years that she was worried my enlarged optic nerve was gonna lead to glaucoma and it hasn't..so there :devil: I am going to TRY to make even more healthy choices to do all I can to MAKE this dumb body be well all over ! Oh and I have to have a pre-op physical next month, that means being weighed, haven't weighed myself in over a year so that is no fun! :devil:

Lisa you never ever bore us! I love reading about what is happening with all of us, and you should be patting yourself on the back for all the huge decisions and work you have done for yourself! :carrot:

and thank you so much for your kind and supportive words to me, you are right, I will just focus (ahah focus with my ill eyes :D ) on the scheduled surgeries and take it one step at a time.

I am doing pretty good on working on my 'thankfulness' on lots of things, even if I don't want to go to work, I am thankful I have a job, thankful my car works to transport me there, thankful I am in good health (other than the eye issue)

Right now , even though I dislike winter so much I am thankful it isn't snowing at the moment :devil: and there is some weak sun shining .

I don't want to work out but I am going to do a short cardio with light weights before getting ready for work.

hello to all and please post if you can! :)

Originally Posted by VermontMom:
Lisa you never ever bore us! I love reading about what is happening with all of us, and you should be patting yourself on the back for all the huge decisions and work you have done for yourself! :carrot:

and thank you so much for your kind and supportive words to me, you are right, I will just focus (ahah focus with my ill eyes :D ) on the scheduled surgeries and take it one step at a time.

I am doing pretty good on working on my 'thankfulness' on lots of things, even if I don't want to go to work, I am thankful I have a job, thankful my car works to transport me there, thankful I am in good health (other than the eye issue)

Right now , even though I dislike winter so much I am thankful it isn't snowing at the moment :devil: and there is some weak sun shining .

I don't want to work out but I am going to do a short cardio with light weights before getting ready for work.

hello to all and please post if you can! :)

Hi ladies, I hope you all are well. I am watching the Super Bowl, Atlanta is playing so good. Doesn't look like the Patriots are going to be able to come back.
I've been laying on teh couch so comfortable for the entire first half of the game. I'm trying to take it easy, I have a big day tomorrow. I actually caught a cold but feel much better today. I'm bouncing back. I am very lucky that I don't get sick very often.


Holly, I know it will be hard not to freak out about your eyes and what might or might not happen. Just concentrate, if you can, on your surgeries. Just think about how wonderful it will be to see better.
Whatever happens, I wholly feel you will be fine, we will ALWAYS be here for you.

Thankfulness is very important. I am so damn grateful that things seem to be going my way after years and years of struggling and being so sick. I really think that if you are grateful for what you have when times are tough, God really hears your spirit. I know he heard mine. Sorry, if any of you ladies aren't religious or spiritual. I don't want to offend anyone.

VermontMom - I hope you're okay and everything goes well! My step mom was told she may get glaucoma 15 years ago. She's still waiting for it!

lisaloveshearts - Good luck with the move!

So, in terms of jobs, I have found a new one, but it won't start for a few weeks and is zero-hours so swings and roundabouts.

But, on the plus side, the zoo I was made redundant from is looking for volunteers with their bird section and, as I happen to be friends with the supervisor (and may be dating a bird keeper), I am guaranteed a spot! I just have to let them know when I'm ready to start! Hoping tomorrow but I've got to get rid of this nasty head cold before then.

Hello everyone,

Holly, you might want to consider a second opinion. Mass. Eye and Ear is the top place in New England; you might want to research and decide whether to give them a call. If that is too inconvenient, I would suggest a second opinion in your area.

Yes, I was in corporate law for 30 years; I wanted to be a defense attorney, but after studying some cases and realizing I would be defending guilty people 95% of the time, I switched to corporate law. But, for fun, I would take weird cases pro bono - like the coffee shop workers. I once represented a woman whose wedding dress was a mess because of the person who did alterations; that was a dramatic one! The bride was a large woman, and needed a size 24; they only had a 22 and 26, and the store convinced her to buy the 26 and they would alter it so you could not tell the difference. And, this was a very exclusive shop. Not only did they butcher the dress; they charged her $450 for the alterations, after stating (but not writing ) they would do it for free.

Eddie is adorable!

Kathleen, I hope things are settled for you. Stress and tension are tough to deal with.

Jessika, I am sorry to hear about your mother. It is a very difficult part of life.

Lisa, congratulations on your quick action! I hope you are very happy in your house.

Hello to everyone else.

Monica

Guys, I'm sorry for not posting much recently, I felt a little inappropriate with Jessica's news. I know everything will be much rawer than for me, but I had mentioned I was having a tough time, and thought I should go into it a bit more. Last week was the second anniversary of my mum's death, it was a horrible week. I took some time to visit my dad at the weekend, and to visit her grave while I was there.

The thing is, my dad seems to have met someone new, and I'm finding it hard to come to terms with. They have been together for about a year, but we were only told the truth at Christmas, when my sister asked him. While visiting my dad to pay my respects to my mum, the new lady invited herself through, which made a tough weekend tougher.

Unfortunately the whole thing had me really upset, I barely slept for 3 nights with anxiety. I ended up having a huge rant to my OH about how my dad has treated us through the years, which was very insensitive given he lost his dad 6 months ago.

On top of this, my OH's Gran has been having difficulty with her memory - up to now, it has been quite minor things, but we had a bigger incident at the weekend. We are not sure if it's just an age thing (she's 88), and she did lose her son not long ago, but we're worried it's the start of a more serious problem. We live 2 hours away, which makes things difficult. I really hope she'll be alright.

Hello everyone I guess I answered my own question when I looked and saw this thread I didn't realize there was a new one for each month. That is pretty cool I hope everyone is doing ok

Coop I am sorry to hear about what is going on with your family, I know changes are never easy to begin with then you add emotion to them and they turn into a whole different beast.

I really thank you guys for being so open and I feel like this is a place I am come to and talk and not be judged or looked at funny. When people hear about depression they are just like yeah yeah ur sad all the time what ever. Then when they hear bi-polar they think you are absolutely crazy. The sterotypes really annoy me. And it makes it hard to talk about to anyone about it. Then the anxiety on top of it is just sometimes an incredible weight to handle and I would rather not deal with it and I know I have alway hidden or eaten my feelings for most all of my life. But I want to be healthy and feel better physically. The mental health I guess with just take time to sort out and work through, sometimes I don't think it will ever get "better" But I know I have control over my physical health and that is why i am working so hard and looking for the support to keep my head up and to keep on keeping on. I really hope everyone will pull through their struggles and be able to have a good year. If anyone has any questions they want to ask please feel free.. Thanks

Update
 

Hello everyone. Thank you so much. It's been really rough. I'm glad I have you all here. Love you guys :hug:

We had her celebration of life gathering on Jan 28th, and are going to spread her ashes on the weekend of Feb 24th. I miss her dearly, and continue to struggle quite a bit :(

I've set up appointments to see my therapist weekly, I've been doing a lot of journaling, reading a daily grief recovery meditation book, I see my psychiatrist soon, etc. I have definitely struggled, though, with depressive and hypomanic episodes, anxiety and OCD stuff (I have Bipolar2 Disorder, GAD & OCD, and a couple of other diagnoses...) :dizzy:

My sleep is all messed up, for the first 11 days after her passing I was only sleeping approximately 3 hours a night, and I kind of went off my rocker a bit. My sleep is bouncing around now, for a couple of nights I'll get solid 6-8 hours of sleep, then it's back to just a few, and then back again :mad:

My wife has been very supportive, but it's also been hard on that front bc I'm an introvert and she's an extrovert, and we deal/cope with things in very different manners on that respect. Plus, considering I was the only child, everything is falling on me (all the red-tape stuff, which believe it or not is a lot, especially for someone who in her life didn't have much. I'm actually having to go to probate court soon, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.) :cry:

I'm also very much struggling at work... I am a counselor, actually, by profession, and it's not the work it self that I'm struggling with - it's just keeping up in general :dizzy:

Lastly, my eating has been out of control for the last 2 weeks. Prior to my mom dying, I had broken out of my weight loss plateau and lost 6 pounds on Weight Watchers... Then she passed away, and I've been binge eating for 2 weeks. I'm frustrated and disappointed with that.

Anyway, I wanted to stop by and give an update. Thank you all again for all of your love and support. I'll be back soon :grouphug:

Jessica it's really good to see you! It's nice to see you're getting on with things. I really like the idea of the celebration of life ceremony, it's a lovely way to say goodbye.

I know my eating and sleep were awful for months after my mum passed, it's pretty standard - you're either a comfort eater or a comfort faster! You'll get there. Having to deal with courts for probate is tough!

If you're into this sort of thing, Rescue Remedy really helped calm me through some of my darker times. You might find it helpful.

lisa I'm guessing your sans internet for a while, but I really hope your move went well!

holly what difficult news from the eye specialist! I agree with Monica that a second opinion might be worthwhile. By the way, I loved the photos of Eddie! He looks like a big softie!

monica I've been listening to a lot of stories about defence law recently, I'm thinking you were right to stick to corporate law! I do find the whole profession fascinating, but a lot of responsibility. The pro bono cases sound like a good way to break the work up.

Nerdbling glad you found the new thread! I hope you can keep stopping by, and things can get a little easier for you, even if you never get truly better.


My OH had a Celiac test before Christmas, but was told his tests came back normal. He went to the doctors about something else today, and his doctor just happened to relook at his test results - it turns out he actually tested positive for Celiacs disease. Can't believe they told him otherwise! It's going to be a huge overhaul for us. Most of the foods he has to cut out are unhealthy though, so I guess there is a silver lining somewhere in there...

Originally Posted by lisaloveshearts:
I just wanted to tell you all that tomorrow is moving day. I did get a very good estimate on the move so I am thankful for that. I've decided to move all my boxes into the new house. There won't be a lot of room but I want to go through all the boxes and separate my stuff from Jennifer's. The tv and twin mattress are being delivered on Thursday. My couch and ottoman, not for another 10 days or so. I just want access to all my boxes. I have an idea where to put all my scrapbooking stuff.


That's about it for now. I miss all you ladies, Holly, Kathleen, Coop, Monica and all you new members. Have a great Monday and I'll post again soon.

Lisa I hope so much that Moving Day went smoothly! Are your fur babies getting adjusted? (and you?) thinking of you!

Originally Posted by GingerKibble:
VermontMom - I hope you're okay and everything goes well! My step mom was told she may get glaucoma 15 years ago. She's still waiting for it!

lisaloveshearts - Good luck with the move!

So, in terms of jobs, I have found a new one, but it won't start for a few weeks and is zero-hours so swings and roundabouts.

But, on the plus side, the zoo I was made redundant from is looking for volunteers with their bird section and, as I happen to be friends with the supervisor (and may be dating a bird keeper), I am guaranteed a spot! I just have to let them know when I'm ready to start! Hoping tomorrow but I've got to get rid of this nasty head cold before then.

Hi GingerKibble hey thank you about your stepmom still waiting (not impatiently :D ) for the doctor's crummy news :D I hope your head cold is gone and yay for the good news about the volunteering spot!

Originally Posted by EasySpirit:
Hello everyone,

Holly, you might want to consider a second opinion. Mass. Eye and Ear is the top place in New England; you might want to research and decide whether to give them a call. If that is too inconvenient, I would suggest a second opinion in your area.

Yes, I was in corporate law for 30 years; I wanted to be a defense attorney, but after studying some cases and realizing I would be defending guilty people 95% of the time, I switched to corporate law. But, for fun, I would take weird cases pro bono - like the coffee shop workers. I once represented a woman whose wedding dress was a mess because of the person who did alterations; that was a dramatic one! The bride was a large woman, and needed a size 24; they only had a 22 and 26, and the store convinced her to buy the 26 and they would alter it so you could not tell the difference. And, this was a very exclusive shop. Not only did they butcher the dress; they charged her $450 for the alterations, after stating (but not writing ) they would do it for free.

Eddie is adorable!

Kathleen, I hope things are settled for you. Stress and tension are tough to deal with.

Jessika, I am sorry to hear about your mother. It is a very difficult part of life.

Lisa, congratulations on your quick action! I hope you are very happy in your house.

Hello to everyone else.

Monica

Hi Monica ! I do very much value your opinion..but I have gone ahead to solidify with the plans. I just have to deal with the limited options in this area and hope for the best :)

thanks for sharing the bride story! you have really interesting anecdotes, I'd love to hear more.

I hope things are good with you Monica, how is your winter? we've been getting alot of snow, ugh. At least it's good exercise :D

My keyboard isn't workng. Need to get something else. Typng hard.

Originally Posted by Coop27:
Guys, I'm sorry for not posting much recently, I felt a little inappropriate with Jessica's news. I know everything will be much rawer than for me, but I had mentioned I was having a tough time, and thought I should go into it a bit more. Last week was the second anniversary of my mum's death, it was a horrible week. I took some time to visit my dad at the weekend, and to visit her grave while I was there.

The thing is, my dad seems to have met someone new, and I'm finding it hard to come to terms with. They have been together for about a year, but we were only told the truth at Christmas, when my sister asked him. While visiting my dad to pay my respects to my mum, the new lady invited herself through, which made a tough weekend tougher.

Unfortunately the whole thing had me really upset, I barely slept for 3 nights with anxiety. I ended up having a huge rant to my OH about how my dad has treated us through the years, which was very insensitive given he lost his dad 6 months ago.

On top of this, my OH's Gran has been having difficulty with her memory - up to now, it has been quite minor things, but we had a bigger incident at the weekend. We are not sure if it's just an age thing (she's 88), and she did lose her son not long ago, but we're worried it's the start of a more serious problem. We live 2 hours away, which makes things difficult. I really hope she'll be alright.

Coop, you are SO considerate that you 'held back' with your own personal grief, because you didn't want to appear inconsiderate concerning Jessika's grief over her mother. blessing to you!! However YES I would also be very upset if my dad met someone after only a year. It's a really difficult situation because everyone should have the right to be happy but it doesn't make you happy :( I guess you just have to honor your mum's memory and keep loving her and nothing will take from that.

Originally Posted by nerdbling:
Hello everyone I guess I answered my own question when I looked and saw this thread I didn't realize there was a new one for each month. That is pretty cool I hope everyone is doing ok

Coop I am sorry to hear about what is going on with your family, I know changes are never easy to begin with then you add emotion to them and they turn into a whole different beast.

I really thank you guys for being so open and I feel like this is a place I am come to and talk and not be judged or looked at funny. When people hear about depression they are just like yeah yeah ur sad all the time what ever. Then when they hear bi-polar they think you are absolutely crazy. The sterotypes really annoy me. And it makes it hard to talk about to anyone about it. Then the anxiety on top of it is just sometimes an incredible weight to handle and I would rather not deal with it and I know I have alway hidden or eaten my feelings for most all of my life. But I want to be healthy and feel better physically. The mental health I guess with just take time to sort out and work through, sometimes I don't think it will ever get "better" But I know I have control over my physical health and that is why i am working so hard and looking for the support to keep my head up and to keep on keeping on. I really hope everyone will pull through their struggles and be able to have a good year. If anyone has any questions they want to ask please feel free.. Thanks

Nerdbling - oh ABSOLUTELY you can talk about anything to us and there is unconditional support here. You make a ton of sense that you see that you have control over your physical health and good for you for working hard on that!!

Originally Posted by JesikaBeth:
Hello everyone. Thank you so much. It's been really rough. I'm glad I have you all here. Love you guys :hug:

We had her celebration of life gathering on Jan 28th, and are going to spread her ashes on the weekend of Feb 24th. I miss her dearly, and continue to struggle quite a bit :(

I've set up appointments to see my therapist weekly, I've been doing a lot of journaling, reading a daily grief recovery meditation book, I see my psychiatrist soon, etc. I have definitely struggled, though, with depressive and hypomanic episodes, anxiety and OCD stuff (I have Bipolar2 Disorder, GAD & OCD, and a couple of other diagnoses...) :dizzy:

My sleep is all messed up, for the first 11 days after her passing I was only sleeping approximately 3 hours a night, and I kind of went off my rocker a bit. My sleep is bouncing around now, for a couple of nights I'll get solid 6-8 hours of sleep, then it's back to just a few, and then back again :mad:

My wife has been very supportive, but it's also been hard on that front bc I'm an introvert and she's an extrovert, and we deal/cope with things in very different manners on that respect. Plus, considering I was the only child, everything is falling on me (all the red-tape stuff, which believe it or not is a lot, especially for someone who in her life didn't have much. I'm actually having to go to probate court soon, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.) :cry:

I'm also very much struggling at work... I am a counselor, actually, by profession, and it's not the work it self that I'm struggling with - it's just keeping up in general :dizzy:

Lastly, my eating has been out of control for the last 2 weeks. Prior to my mom dying, I had broken out of my weight loss plateau and lost 6 pounds on Weight Watchers... Then she passed away, and I've been binge eating for 2 weeks. I'm frustrated and disappointed with that.

Anyway, I wanted to stop by and give an update. Thank you all again for all of your love and support. I'll be back soon :grouphug:

JesikaBeth, oh gosh honey you are having such a tough time now :( Losing your Mom is SO hard. it will be affecting everything in your life for a while unfortunately. There WILL be a time in the future when you are able to look back and be glad you got through it though it doesn't seem like it now. I hear you about the difficulty of introvert/extrovert and discussing your feelings. And oh gosh the red tape aspect of handling someone's passing is adding insult to injury, sometimes. You WILL get through it. you will :hug:

* the best advice i got from someone, regarding having to take care of my dad's estate, was to request MANY certified copies of the death certificate, if you haven't already done so. *

Originally Posted by lisaloveshearts:
My keyboard isn't workng. Need to get something else. Typng hard.

good to hear from you Lisa! :) :hug: good luck with your keyboard!

Originally Posted by VermontMom:
good to hear from you Lisa! :) :hug: good luck with your keyboard!

Gng to wal-mart tomorrow.

I just have to pat myself on my back and tell you about taking care of our driveway today!! we had snow, then it rained, then ice pellets on top..it hardened down to the ground and it was almost 4 inches of almost frozen slush/snow. I couldn't just shovel it..had to chop it with a pointy-type metal shovel, then remove it with a snow shovel..I went outside at 9:45 and finished at noon. I don't know what we are going to do when I am in my 80's, lol, but I am proud of being able to do it now!

We have had some super busy weekends at work, as the average working slob I have to say it sucks that you get paid the same to be frantically busy and efficiently taking care of customers, as when it is slow. But then I guess it's nice to be paid for when it's slow time. See I am being 'glass half full' :devil:

Yesterday at work, I made the decision to close the store an hour early, it was approaching 5 pm and it was snowing, and it's hard enough for me to see at night when it's clear, let alone wet or snowy. I left a note for the boss saying I owed him an hour. I don't think he will try to chastise me, he lets other employees get away with all kinds of crap, I am usually a model employee :rofl: and I have enough dirt on him to bring down the whole organization :devil: bur I must say it was sooo good to drive home before it got dark. Come on Spring!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by VermontMom:
good to hear from you Lisa! :) :hug: good luck with your keyboard!

Hi holly, I am using Jennifer little HP until I can get a new laptop. My Mac is toast. I cannot even type on it anymore.


I am so tired tonight, I can't quite yawning.

How are you feeling, Holly? I hope you are good. Have you been exercising? I know you usually do several times a week. Just remember you are lovely just the way you are. :)

Originally Posted by VermontMom:
Lisa I hope so much that Moving Day went smoothly! Are your fur babies getting adjusted? (and you?) thinking of you!

Moving day went fine, Holly. It was tiring and i'm glad it's done.

I am not living in my new place yet. Probably the last week of the month, I'll move in.

Jennifer is going on vacation the 19th-26th and I have to baby sit her fur babies. There is no reason for me to move out before that happens.

Originally Posted by Coop27:
lisa I'm guessing your sans internet for a while, but I really hope your move went well!

holly what difficult news from the eye specialist! I agree with Monica that a second opinion might be worthwhile. By the way, I loved the photos of Eddie! He looks like a big softie!

monica I've been listening to a lot of stories about defence law recently, I'm thinking you were right to stick to corporate law! I do find the whole profession fascinating, but a lot of responsibility. The pro bono cases sound like a good way to break the work up.

Nerdbling glad you found the new thread! I hope you can keep stopping by, and things can get a little easier for you, even if you never get truly better.


My OH had a Celiac test before Christmas, but was told his tests came back normal. He went to the doctors about something else today, and his doctor just happened to relook at his test results - it turns out he actually tested positive for Celiacs disease. Can't believe they told him otherwise! It's going to be a huge overhaul for us. Most of the foods he has to cut out are unhealthy though, so I guess there is a silver lining somewhere in there...

I'm still here, Coop. Had to borrow Jennifer's little laptop. Mine is no good now. I can't even type on it.

I am so sorry about your OH having celiac. I don't know much about it though. What does it do to a person?

Originally Posted by JesikaBeth:
Hello everyone. Thank you so much. It's been really rough. I'm glad I have you all here. Love you guys :hug:

We had her celebration of life gathering on Jan 28th, and are going to spread her ashes on the weekend of Feb 24th. I miss her dearly, and continue to struggle quite a bit :(

I've set up appointments to see my therapist weekly, I've been doing a lot of journaling, reading a daily grief recovery meditation book, I see my psychiatrist soon, etc. I have definitely struggled, though, with depressive and hypomanic episodes, anxiety and OCD stuff (I have Bipolar2 Disorder, GAD & OCD, and a couple of other diagnoses...) :dizzy:

My sleep is all messed up, for the first 11 days after her passing I was only sleeping approximately 3 hours a night, and I kind of went off my rocker a bit. My sleep is bouncing around now, for a couple of nights I'll get solid 6-8 hours of sleep, then it's back to just a few, and then back again :mad:

My wife has been very supportive, but it's also been hard on that front bc I'm an introvert and she's an extrovert, and we deal/cope with things in very different manners on that respect. Plus, considering I was the only child, everything is falling on me (all the red-tape stuff, which believe it or not is a lot, especially for someone who in her life didn't have much. I'm actually having to go to probate court soon, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.) :cry:

I'm also very much struggling at work... I am a counselor, actually, by profession, and it's not the work it self that I'm struggling with - it's just keeping up in general :dizzy:

Lastly, my eating has been out of control for the last 2 weeks. Prior to my mom dying, I had broken out of my weight loss plateau and lost 6 pounds on Weight Watchers... Then she passed away, and I've been binge eating for 2 weeks. I'm frustrated and disappointed with that.

Anyway, I wanted to stop by and give an update. Thank you all again for all of your love and support. I'll be back soon :grouphug:

Jesika, just keep taking care of yourself and be gentle with yourself. It sounds like you are, just keep it up. You are still raw from this loss. Give yourself time to heal and it may take a while.

i miss my mom very much. Time has enabled me to realize that as much as I love and miss her, she is not in pain anymore. I would never in a million years want her to live in pain. She did not take very good care of herself, she was very stubborn and did not go to the Dr as much as she should have. I love her so much but she was a difficult woman. Once she got something in her mind, good luck changing it. It will be a year in March, that she passed.


I can think of her now without crying. Therapy has done me a world of good. It's still sad but I know I was so lucky to get spend time with her and I know she loved me to the moon and back.

Just continue to do things for yourself, take care of yourself and post here as much as you need to. :)

Originally Posted by EasySpirit:
Hello everyone,

Holly, you might want to consider a second opinion. Mass. Eye and Ear is the top place in New England; you might want to research and decide whether to give them a call. If that is too inconvenient, I would suggest a second opinion in your area.

Yes, I was in corporate law for 30 years; I wanted to be a defense attorney, but after studying some cases and realizing I would be defending guilty people 95% of the time, I switched to corporate law. But, for fun, I would take weird cases pro bono - like the coffee shop workers. I once represented a woman whose wedding dress was a mess because of the person who did alterations; that was a dramatic one! The bride was a large woman, and needed a size 24; they only had a 22 and 26, and the store convinced her to buy the 26 and they would alter it so you could not tell the difference. And, this was a very exclusive shop. Not only did they butcher the dress; they charged her $450 for the alterations, after stating (but not writing ) they would do it for free.

Eddie is adorable!

Kathleen, I hope things are settled for you. Stress and tension are tough to deal with.

Jessika, I am sorry to hear about your mother. It is a very difficult part of life.

Lisa, congratulations on your quick action! I hope you are very happy in your house.

Hello to everyone else.

Monica

Monica, thank you so much. Once I get all moved it, I think I'll really like it. :)

Originally Posted by lisaloveshearts:
I'm still here, Coop. Had to borrow Jennifer's little laptop. Mine is no good now. I can't even type on it.

I am so sorry about your OH having celiac. I don't know much about it though. What does it do to a person?

It's a gluten intolerance - kinda like an allergy, but it's not an allergy it's a big sensitivity. You have to avoid cross contamination (so things like our toaster will have to be binned because it's had gluten breads in it). It's going to make it really difficult for us - we can't have anything with flour in it anymore, we can't eat out unless they're gluten free either, and if we go to a friend's for dinner, we'll have to ask them to sterilise their kitchen... It's a real pain.

It's not as dangerous as a nut allergy, but it causes intestinal problems if you have even a drop of gluten. If you carry on eating gluten then it turns into a bigger problem with time.

I just keep thinking about all the things we can't eat anymore, because we can't have any gluten in the house, and I'll have to avoid it when we're out to be considerate to my OH too. We can't have Cake, most chocolates, pizza, pasta, Chinese food, some Indian foods, cookies, pringles, gravy, burger buns... On the one hand, almost everything that has to go is pretty bad for us, but it just sucks.

Coop, I basically follow a gluten-free diet, although I do not have Celiac disease. A couple of summers ago I ran into a casual friend at the beach, and she looked great- absolutely glowing and younger than she had looked in years, and I commented. Her teenage daughter had been diagnosed, and the entire family went gluten-free. This woman told me she was sleeping better, her dry skin had disappeared, she had lost weight, felt healthier, etc. , so I decided to try it. I think it is the reason I have gotten back down to a size 8. I have oatmeal and fruit, cold cereal and fruit or egg on gluten-free bread or a corn tortilla for breakfast; soups or salads or tortillas for lunch, and a normal dinner. My snacks are ice cream, yogurt, fruit, chocolate, nuts...and gluten-free goodies. The peanut butter cookies - peanut butter, sugar, and egg - are addictive!

Most stores have gluten free bread, pasta and sweets. Bob's Red Mill has a number of gluten free items. You need to be careful about the calorie content of some items.....their brownie mix is delicious, but high in calorie. You might want to buy a gluten-free cookbook or check out some gluten-free websites.

I think you will come to enjoy a gluten-free lifestyle and will be surprised at how many products most stores now carry.

Good luck with it.


Hello to everyone else - We had a wild blizzard yesterday - I was prepared with flashlights in every room, the heat cranked up and both fireplaces on, but my street never lost power. Whoo Hoo ! ! We have underground wiring on the street, but the main road leading to us is tree-covered, and we frequently lose power from there.

Thanks Monica, it's nice to read that you had some great health improvements from going gluten free! At least we have that to look forward to :) My mum also chose to go gluten free while I lived at home, and so I tried a lot of the foods, some good and some really awful! There is a much better selection now though, it's one of the benefits of gluten free becoming so popular. Cross contamination will be the biggest issue really...


Oh goodness guys, sometimes I think life can't hit the people around me with anything more, and then yesterday my sister texted to advise she's had a biopsy taken to check for cervical cancer after some tests showed abnormalities. It will be 4-8 weeks for her test results to come back - is it just me or is that a horrible length of time to have to stress about things? I'm sure it's nothing, but it will be a while before we know for sure.

Originally Posted by Coop27:
Thanks Monica, it's nice to read that you had some great health improvements from going gluten free! At least we have that to look forward to :) My mum also chose to go gluten free while I lived at home, and so I tried a lot of the foods, some good and some really awful! There is a much better selection now though, it's one of the benefits of gluten free becoming so popular. Cross contamination will be the biggest issue really...


Oh goodness guys, sometimes I think life can't hit the people around me with anything more, and then yesterday my sister texted to advise she's had a biopsy taken to check for cervical cancer after some tests showed abnormalities. It will be 4-8 weeks for her test results to come back - is it just me or is that a horrible length of time to have to stress about things? I'm sure it's nothing, but it will be a while before we know for sure.

:( Yes 4 to 8 weeks is a horribly long time to have to wait! our BEST wishes and hopes for no problems for your sister, Coop! :hug:
Also it must have been a shock when the OH's doctor told him that the previous diagnosis was not correct and that he does indeed have celiac. I hope you are able to work your way through this new way of living and hope it has good benefits :)

Originally Posted by EasySpirit:
Hello to everyone else - We had a wild blizzard yesterday - I was prepared with flashlights in every room, the heat cranked up and both fireplaces on, but my street never lost power. Whoo Hoo ! ! We have underground wiring on the street, but the main road leading to us is tree-covered, and we frequently lose power from there.

good for you for being prepared but glad you didn't lose power! Does it take about a day to 'recover' from a big snow storm there, as it does here?

for the past week, my only exercise has been shoveling :p

Originally Posted by lisaloveshearts:
Moving day went fine, Holly. It was tiring and i'm glad it's done.

I am not living in my new place yet. Probably the last week of the month, I'll move in.

Jennifer is going on vacation the 19th-26th and I have to baby sit her fur babies. There is no reason for me to move out before that happens.

Yes, that makes sense, no need to move out til the last week of the month.

Lisa, I've slacked off my regular exercising, because I've been busy in the mornings doing stupid shoveling :devil: I'm glad I can do it but I sure don't want to. Well, it's not really that bad, though we haven't had any huge dumps of snow yet, but we will tomorrow afternoon/into Monday if the reports are right, 8" to 12". I'll try to post a pic of our driveway to show what my exercise has been :D

Hi everyone,
I'm just coming back to this site after being absent for a little while. I've dealt with depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. I'm only 22, but I definitely feel like it has taken a lot of experiences away from me (being too anxious to be around people, wanting to stay in bed rather than go out, not wanting to spend time with family).
I've been especially depressed the past few days. I graduated from college last May and decided to move back in with my parents as I figure out graduate school/jobs/internships while I work a couple part time jobs to save up money. I've lived on my own for the past four years (incuding summers), and am very independent, so it's been really hard for me to be here, despite the luxuries of a gym membership, no rent or bills, and free food. I just feel very lost and lonely, and it's hard finding people I can reach out to when I'm low.

I haven't been eating much because of depression, but I know that this will mean when I bounce back to being happy/energetic, I will want to binge.

I look forward to getting to know all of you!

I'm new to this thread. I'm dealing with PTSD, severe anxiety (with agoraphobic tendencies), and depression. I'm a major binge eater to the point where food is one of the only motivators I have that will get me to leave my apartment. I usually only leave for groceries (which always results in a breakdown afterwards) and appointments. I've been working hard to use exercise to tamper my nervous energy but it's hard because I use the workout room in our apartment building. It's probably less than 100 yards from my apartment but some days I have a really hard time going. I sometimes fear that other people will be in there. It's the worst on the weekends. On weekdays most people either work or they have children to watch so it's usually empty. I have an amazing husband who's really supportive, especially because I can't work anymore.

Hi!
 

Hello!

We are in the middle of more crazy weather, and I am afraid it will be a February like 2015.

Holly, it takes at least a day for things to get back to normal on the Cape after a storm - we usually get heavy snow because of the ocean, and it is hard to move around. We don't have as much equipment as most towns - it seems for years we would get no storms or one, two at the most; that has changed in the past few years. I agree with Kathleen about your diagnosis; it sounds like worst case scenario, and a second opinion might help.

Coop, I understand how you feel about your father. He is lonely and needs someone in his life; that is testimony to your mother as he is trying to replace what he had. In time, you might come to be relieved he has someone in his life. A close friend of mine's stepfather started dating a neighbor the week after her mother passed away - she was furious, as were her stepsisters. But, now she is relieved. It has been four years, he has had surgeries and other issues that this neighbor is dealing with - not my friend or her stepsisters (his biological kids.) Now, they all say, thank goodness for her, or we would be stuck with him! I am sure that is not how you feel about your dad, but you might be very glad at some point that he has someone.

Kathleen, it sounds like your son is better off at home where you can monitor his meds. It sounded like he was not comfortable in the dorm after starting second semester. Hopefully he will continue in school and continue on his meds. You and he are in my prayers. I know it is not easy to deal with.

Going gluten-free is easy for me, but since I do not have Celiac disease, I do not have to worry about cross contamination or eating a slice of cake at a party, etc. There are plenty of substitutes you can use. One of the brownie recipes I make has a can of black beans, canned pumpkin and applesauce - they are delicious. The flourless chocolate cake is like a piece of fudge! Decadent!

I read the book Wheat Belly - and I can sum it up for you....... The wheat that is now produced is nothing like that in the Bible; in the 1960s, as part of the way to survive the Cold War, we started supplying Russia and other countries with wheat. To do that, we had to genetically alter the wheat to produce a larger amount at a faster rate. The new wheat is what is responsible for the high number of Celiac cases.

Lisa, is your house empty and sold now? What is new with your mother's house? Has your sister considered buying the rest of you out? She could use her share of the inheritance as her down-payment.

Jessika, the first year or two is very hard after you lose your mother. My mother stroked out, totally unexpectedly, right before the holidays - she was combing her hair to go out to lunch and said she had the worst headache she had ever had - the first holidays were a blur for all of us; the second was when we realized she was gone. It is a tough, but natural, part of life.

Hello and Welcome to our new members.

Going to keep this short. Big day tomorrow, heading to town to sign a paper for the closing. Then I'm headed to the new place to go through boxes and try to get the directv up and running.


Great news!!!! The old house closing is next Tuesday. I am so so excited and incredibly blessed.


Hello to all the new ladies joining the thread. We are so happy you found us. :)

Monica, mom's house is not on the market yet. I've given up hoping. No, my sister is moving out of the house whenever it is sold.

Kathleen, just so excited to move in but I have to be patient. In the mean time, there is a lot I can work on until the last week of the month gets here.

Much love to you all. I'll post again soon. :)