Depression........Its real

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Yeah ok - thanks for the replies. It would be really interesting to know what works for whom, ie.. makes folks feel better, relieve the symptoms.

Can I ask; if you (talking to those who suffer) were at the worst of an attack or depressive time, what is the one thing that you'd respond to? Is it your partner, kids, doctor, physical pain, warmth, writing, sleep, walking etc? What is the one thing - if anything - that makes you feel better?

Cheers - Mike
 
Um....nothing really.....sometimes maybe alcohol but that was only short lived...
 
I have found my anxiety levels have dropped a lot since giving up caffeine. I read that some people with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) can recover by eliminating caffeine. Worth a try.
 
Yeah..but GAD maybe just one part of depression. I don't drink coffee anymore ( after working as a contractor in hospitals and all they had was International Roast )but i have heard that.
 
Crazy stuff caffeine, I go back and forwards with it a lot. Used to be at least 5-6 standard cups per day (including energy drinks) but now I limit myself to 1 every couple of days.

Has helped calm me down a fair bit.
 
I saw a lady today - sleep problems & classic anxiety symptoms. I always ask - do you drink coffee? Answer - only about 12 cups a day ......... 2.5 heaped teaspoons a cup and chased with about a 1lt of coke over the day.......
Hmmmm.....
Cheers
BBB
 
I have also stopped drinking coffee except for the odd cup on the weekend.

I have never had an energy drink. Never even tasted one as i dont believe the principle of them is good. I am teaching my kids they are poison.

I believe that most of the issues related to anxiety these days come form too much cafeine because it is cumulative in your system. It builds up and stays there.
 
Tony said:
I have also stopped drinking coffee except for the odd cup on the weekend.

I have never had an energy drink. Never even tasted one as i dont believe the principle of them is good. I am teaching my kids they are poison.

I believe that most of the issues related to anxiety these days come form too much cafeine because it is cumulative in your system. It builds up and stays there.
really? Cumulative? Ive got a gp appointment today so ill ask and report back. If it is ill def have to cut back just for good health principles. Enwrgy drinks are rubbish. Caffine is only slightly more than coffee and full of sugar.
 
Our work used to get Monster cans delivered by the carton (3 cartons a month) and they used to be a regular drink during the day.

I was turned off them after a friend had a carton in his garage which he left for a few months and the liquid actually ate through the bottom of the cans and obviously emptied all over his garage but the scary thing is what it did to the cans themselves. Imagine what it would be doing to your insides!
 
tricache said:
Our work used to get Monster cans delivered by the carton (3 cartons a month) and they used to be a regular drink during the day.

I was turned off them after a friend had a carton in his garage which he left for a few months and the liquid actually ate through the bottom of the cans and obviously emptied all over his garage but the scary thing is what it did to the cans themselves. Imagine what it would be doing to your insides!
coke isnt any better. U literally can clean rust off metal with it. Ive tried it myself. So acidic. Im not convinced about the monster story though. Ive got 2 cabs of monster sitting in my outside rooom for over 8 months and the cans are fine. I also cant see those cans being passed for safety reasons. Id say he had somwthing else that corroded the can like salt or something.
 
citymorgue2 said:
really? Cumulative? Ive got a gp appointment today so ill ask and report back. If it is ill def have to cut back just for good health principles. Enwrgy drinks are rubbish. Caffine is only slightly more than coffee and full of sugar.
I am no expert but it's what i was told by a friend who lives and breathes this stuff.

Would be good to get a doctors thoughts as well.

Coke......... that crap is nasty. I used to work where they make the caramel colour for it. They cook sugar and water at about 250 degc and add amonia and hydrocloric acid till its pH is about 2.4
 
MVZOOM said:
Yeah ok - thanks for the replies. It would be really interesting to know what works for whom, ie.. makes folks feel better, relieve the symptoms.

Can I ask; if you (talking to those who suffer) were at the worst of an attack or depressive time, what is the one thing that you'd respond to? Is it your partner, kids, doctor, physical pain, warmth, writing, sleep, walking etc? What is the one thing - if anything - that makes you feel better?

Cheers - Mike
I have always resorted to alcahol....... which is what i am trying to change.

If anything, contact with family and close friends. Conversation and knowing that your not alone in the world.

A hug from my kids always works too :)
 
Just need to point out something.

Depression is a complex beast.

One thing I would never do is read the net and think that medication doesn by Joe Blow is what I need. Unfortunately it spent work like that. Some meds can make it worse and that is dangerous.

There was an earlier post made regarding missing posts. I am glad that the mods ate doing their job
 
Tony said:
I have also stopped drinking coffee except for the odd cup on the weekend.

I have never had an energy drink. Never even tasted one as i dont believe the principle of them is good. I am teaching my kids they are poison.

I believe that most of the issues related to anxiety these days come form too much cafeine because it is cumulative in your system. It builds up and stays there.
Caffine does NOT build up in your system like mercury or lead. It is processed and removed by the liver (much like alcohol). If caffine remained in your system permenantly it wouldn't take too many coffees to kill you.


From our good friend Wikipedia:

"Caffeine from coffee or other beverages is absorbed by the small intestine within 45 minutes of ingestion and then distributed throughout all tissues of the body.[122] Peak blood concentration is reached within one hour.[123] It is eliminated by first-order kinetics.[124] Caffeine can also be absorbed rectally, evidenced by the formulation of suppositories of ergotamine tartrate and caffeine (for the relief of migraine)[125] and chlorobutanol and caffeine (for the treatment of hyperemesis).[126]
The biological half-life of caffeine – the time required for the body to eliminate one-half of the total amount of caffeine – varies widely among individuals according to such factors as age, liver function, pregnancy, some concurrent medications, and the level of enzymes in the liver needed for caffeine metabolism. It can also be significantly altered by drugs or hormonal states. In healthy adults, caffeine's half-life has been measured with a range of results. Some measures get 4.9 hours,[127] and others are at around 6 hours.[128] Heavy cigarette smokers show a decrease in half-life of 30–50%, oral contraceptives can double it, and pregnancy can raise it even more, to as much as 15 hours during the last trimester. In newborn infants the half-life can be 80 hours or more; however it drops very rapidly with age, possibly to less than the adult value by the age of 6 months.[32] The antidepressant fluvoxamine (Luvox) reduces the clearance of caffeine by more than 90%, and prolongs its elimination half-life more than tenfold; from 4.9 hours to 56 hours.[127]

Caffeine is metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P450 oxidase enzyme system, in particular, by the CYP1A2 isozyme, into three dimethylxanthines,[129] each of which has its own effects on the body:
Each of these metabolites is further metabolized and then excreted in the urine. Caffeine can accumulate in individuals with severe liver disease, increasing its half-life.[130]
Some quinolone antibiotics exert an inhibitory effect on CYP1A2, thereby reducing clearance of caffeine and thus increasing blood levels.[131]"




I do find it interesting however, Luvox can increase the half-life of caffine up to 10x (that can not be healthy).
 
Some antidepredants are processed in the liver which lead to problems.
 
Ducatiboy stu said:
Some antidepredants are processed in the liver which lead to problems.
Everything you ingest is processed by the liver, quite a few drugs can mess with how it processes non-food organic compunds (like I mentioned above). But either way, caffine will eventually leave your system. I am not suggesting that you should not cut back if you are on an antidepressant (or other drug) that decreases your liver's ability to process caffine. Booze however, is processed by a different mechanism (alcohol dehydrogenase) than caffine (cytochrome p450) by the liver.
 
Granted that the liver processes most 'drugs' but one must be carefull on the the interweb thingy.
 
I have started gold prospecting. I travel out to Meekatharra, Cue and Mt Magnet fortnightly (for you eastern state leaches ;) , it's gold country). I know nothing about geology. The internet is a great tool to delve into this and I have with gusto. I have been to 3 minesites to login and say I'm prospecting on their turf. I have met three geologists (rock lickers is the technical term). All of my wiki/internet knowledge is worth about three seconds of experience, period. I accept this - internet knowledge is not experience. I am not a geo .....

To the blokes, and there are many, who have depression/anxiety/ptsd or any other mental health issue, internet knowledge has its place but is no substitute for real world knowledge and experience. If you have a GP you trust, listen to them, if you don't trust them find another. To the 'no medication' crew, do the six years and sit in the chair and make the call, it is life and death stuff. It is our job and we deal with this all day everyday. When you lose a client or family member - the world is a different place.

I am yet to meet a family that is not touched by mental health problems. I have worked as a psych for 17 yrs.
In conclusion - read the book - The Happiness Trap by Dr Russ Harris. This is the advice from your resident Geo..... so bloody do it.
Cheers
BBB

Edit - This is the internet, therefore PM me and I will be happy to put my name to this and you can check my credentials on APRHA.... Not I'm not a 12 year old girl ..... ;)
 
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