How are you feeling?

[Pip]

Yes the voluntary work has been partly to do with the church we're members of and the local one.  The lunch clubs I have been helping with are held on church premises but are also technically an outreach projects.  A number of churches do lunch clubs but so do other organisations and it is easier to get involved in church ones.  These were going on until the last Friday before Christmas Day but there were other outreach things we were doing and extra services.  With these things we are reaching out to people who don't go to church but without ramming our faith doen anybody's throats.  It's more to do with helping communities feeling like friendly ones so it is easier for people to ask for help when they need it.  The local church runs a food parcel service and over the past year there has been an increase of people asking for help not just for food.

I am feeling rough today as I didn't sleep well which is depression related. 

[ParsnipPierre]

Gosh you do a lot of voluntary work I take my hat off to you.  The Queen should be taking notes and putting you on next years honours list!  It's people like you that keep communities going especially the elderly.  There are too many people who are lonely so something as simple as lunch clubs can really help.  My grandma goes to a couple of those in her town and she loves it so you are making a difference.  Hope you managed to get through the day with you feeling rough from not sleeping.  Hopefully you can get a better night's sleep tonight.  If you have any night nurse that always knocks me out or Nytol, advantages of working in pharmacy, you know all the tricks   I felt rough in a hangover sense today cos I really struggled last night so I had quite a bit to drink to try black things out but just made the day harder.  I still feel not at all myself and vulnerable at the moment.  Hope you have a good New Year's Eve and all the best.
PP

[Pip]

Even though I'm tired the day hasn't been too bad.  We took a walk into town mid morning which was quite pleasant as there weren't that many people about.  We got a bus back though as we were both feeling tired.  Our neighbour has gone a way for a few days so he ad popped in first thing to ask us to get his bin out Thursday.  For the rest of the day I've been doing a bit of catching up with online friends on Facebook, some friends are pre Facebook days but they live down south so it's a good way to stay in touch, and keeping an eye on our other forums.  This evening I will be reading a book I got for Christmas as it's about three Irish Catholic priests who have compiled CDs and it's about them growing up in Northern Ireland right through to the present and how they came to release CDs.     

[niz]

Have been off work for Christmas holidays and go back this Monday coming, I'm so fed up really don't want to go back to work and fed up with family life, just want out, just want to be on my own and enjoy my own space. Trouble is if I don't work then I don't get paid so therefore cant live. I am so tired all the time and just feel I don't rest. Nothing to look forward to this coming year apart from the same old dreary life.
The outlook for me this year is very bleak, unfortunately and I do not want to go through another year like the last

[ParsnipPierre]

Hey Niz,
Sorry to hear about how difficult things are for you.  What job is it you do?  I like you dislike my job, I find it is the root cause for my depression.  I spend all week hating work and wanting to be at home and then when it is the weekend, I want to be at work.  It forces me to get up each day and interact with other people where as if I had to choice then I would isolate and withdraw myself.  Like you I need to work for the money so going on the sick is not an option.  Could you not look for something new and interesting to challenge you.  Are you married or have children?  I have nothing to focus on this year and getting through it does feel like a tall order.  Have you not got any holidays planned or just one thing you can focus on to help?  With me I just need to learn to tolerate this misery and just plod through the days trying to hope.
Hey Pip, how are you at the minute?  Have you managed to get a couple of good night's of sleep?  How was your New Year?
PP

[niz]

Hi, I am/was a vehicle tech but then took on role as service manager for a new callenge, although I can do the job fine I am just really bored of it. I am married with 2 children, I dont own my own house it is rented from my boss. I am the only income for our family as my wife has tried looking for work but just has no luck. I am just getting very tired from being nagged at home and not getting anywhere in life. I dont see a wage it just pays bills and like most I dont get paid if I'm not in work, I feel very trapped and helpless.

[Pip]

I'm still tired and have an appointment with the doctor at 9.20 Saturday which shocked me.  I was asked if I wanted an urgent or non urgent appointment so I said non urgent as I want to discuss my pain relief and how depressed I am.  I didn't even realize until today that our surgery is open on Saturdays for normal appointments.

New Year's eve I went to bed about 11.30 pm but was woken up about midnight due to loud fireworks.  It took me a while to get back to sleep then it was for short periods as I was over tied and in pain.  Last night I went to bed about 10.30 pm but we got a few phone calls from a friend so hubby and friend kept me awake talking  .  Eventually I did get to sleep which was a bit better than the night before although not great.

I get pins and needles every day either in my fingers, right foot or down my right leg.  I'm not getting much rest from back pain during the night and during the day I get pain intermittently in my hands, knees and back and the length I suffer with it depends on how much I'm moving around.

Last year was a bad year for depression which I know is affecting my sleep.  Being severely depressed also has a knock on effect with pain as well which means amitriptyline isn't working for me so it's a vicious circle and it's making me very irritable.

[JC]

Hi Pip

Sorry to hear you are feeling so depressed and unwell at the moment, I hope you get the support you need from your GP to help you feel better.

PP and Niz

Sorry to hear that you too are havig a difficult time. I did not look forward to Christmas and I am glad it is all over but, like you, don't look forward to another year of the work-home-work drudge.

Let's hope that 2014 is a better year for all of us.

[ParsnipPierre]

Good luck at the doctors in the morning Pip.  You must have a great GP surgery for them to open Saturdays, that is very rare in the GP world but least you can have a longer appointment and discuss everything you want to.  Sorry to hear you are very depressed at the moment.  Hopefully when your church groups and functions get up and running they will help you feel better.  Was the phone call from your friend that guy you were having problems with a few weeks back.  The one that kept coming round and calling your house? 
It sounds really bad the pain you are having to put up with.  Do the doctors know what condition it is and what has caused it.  Amitriptyline is a good all round drug, as it used to be used as an anti depressant but now tends to be just for pain.  In my job I have seen doses up to 150mg a day so if it isn't working then perhaps your doc could increase it to feel the benefit.  Hope you get on ok.
Cheers JC and all the best for you this year.
PP

[Pip]

My appointment this morning was productive.  I now have sertraline for depression and know it will about two weeks before I benefit from it.  The doctor has prescribed gabapentin to help with pain relief.  I stopped paracetamol as I was getting 100 tablets at a time and kept forgetting to get repeats but it wasn't making much a difference anyway so I told her that.

The pain I have is because osteoarthritis although I also have curvature of the spine as well.  I've been very accident prone over the years so that has contributed to getting arthritis in my right ankle.  I also got knocked over on a pedestrian crossing about 24 years ago and the worst injury was breaking my right wrist.  I got told then I was likely to develop arthritis them.  In 2010 I had x-rays taken off my chest, hands, back and right hip which confirmed I did.  Last year I had my right ankle x-rayed and that showed up osteoarthritis. I have it in both hands, right wrist, right hip and lower back, knees and ankle as already mentioned.  The doctor could tell just by looking at my hands due to the nodules on my finger joints and my hands are a bit swollen anyway.  I take Amitriptyline (50mg), Naproxen amd Tramadol as well for pain relief.

No, it wasn't our neighbour making the phone calls  it was another friend but as he is on his own I could understand why he was ringing particularly as he suffers with depression.

[ParsnipPierre]

Hey Pip,
Glad the doctor acknowledged how you are currently feeling both pain wise and mentally.  Sertraline seems to be more
common than citalopram these days, I find at work.  I have a friend on sertraline and they are doing ok. 
Sounds like you have a variety of good pain relief prescribed what with tramadol and naproxen as an anti-inflammatory.  Alongside the Gabapentin that should help a lot.  I have always been accident prone like yourself but luckily not yet have I had any osteoarthritis symptoms.  There wasn't a month gone by that I didn't sprain or break something.  How are you feeling today?  Least you could be there for your friend, as it meant a lot to him I bet!
PP

[Pip]

Yesterday was a good day for me despite drowsiness which I'm used to as we were able to relax.  Our neighbour cooked dinner for us so I got a break from that.  Today is going to be another quiet day apart from being taken out for lunch which will probably be at Morrison's with another friend.  He is a sweet old man who insist's on taking us out occasionally as we have helped him out with different things such as his new laptop as he was clueless how to set it up.  It was a challenge for me  as it's Windows 8 so my first time setting up a laptop or pc with it on.  It was easy to set up then my husband put some programs on it and set it up so it would be easier for our friend to operate. 

[ParsnipPierre]

Sounds like you have had a very productive day Pip.  Least you had chance to relax, which will have helped with your pain levels am sure.  Sounds like you have a good neighbour, which I guess we all take good neighbours for granted.  When my dad had his heart attack every one of our neighbour's couldn't help enough, so we were truly grateful.  I've just recently bought myself a laptop, which has Windows 8 but luckily our home computer is Windows 7 so it isn't much different.   Computers are so mind boggling, I'm glad I don't work with them everyday.  How are you finding the sertraline?
PP

[Pip]

So far no side effects with sertraline as such asI tend to get drowsy anyway during the day because of other meds.  Shopping this morning was easier today as I wasn't feeling so anxious in Asda.  We kept bumping into a couple we know from church so that slowed us up a bit therefore took longer.

How are you feeling? 

[ParsnipPierre]

I'm pleased to hear you have had a better day and things weren't as tough for you.  Well done on ASDA cos I struggle with it.  I can't deal with so many people that obstruct me in what I am doing and where I am going.  At the gym at the moment it is way too busy for me and all these people scare me, as it is too much for me to handle.  I have certain pieces of equipment I use and I follow a strict routine so if my routine is disrupted it brings my anxiety out. 
PP