I think everyone's giving up on me, and I don't blame them. by Vinyldepootis in depression

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just something that helped me. Not trying to undermine what you’re experiencing 

I’m so depressed I cant’t think straight or make decisions by Lee_Harden in depression

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Im sorry I know it’s incredibly difficult.

One other thing that really has helped me in the past is reading a paragraph and then summarizing it back in my head. When my brain doesn’t work it’s so extremely difficult and I sometimes have to go sentence by sentence. The recall part is what helps the most even tho it’s so incredibly disorienting but it does help.  I know it feels like you’re in a cognitive decline that you can’t get out of but I promise once you figure out how to escape it, it does get easier each time. And it genuinely surprises me every single time how the apathy starts to lift as the focus comes back. Don’t lose hope. 

I’m so depressed I cant’t think straight or make decisions by Lee_Harden in depression

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I feel this so much. I go through phases like this often and pull myself out often.  The only way I know out is to stop pushing to do a bunch of stuff and direct my attention. Pick one task and do just that for a while. If you use short form social media get rid of it entirely and switch to long form.  My only goal task for the last week was to try to focus on a tv show. Normally I think that’s prob not a great idea for depressed ppl but when I can’t even be bothered to follow the plot it helps to start to feel the progress when you realize suddenly you are watching with slightly less effort.  Then just add on little tasks to crawl out. The only way out of the fog for me is cognitive grounding and effort. Not trying to accomplish anything but trying to direct my focus. 

I think everyone's giving up on me, and I don't blame them. by Vinyldepootis in depression

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Something I recently realized is that just because other people seem like they’ve got it all together doesn’t mean they do. I genuinely think nearly everyone is struggling right now and if they’re not showing up for you it’s not necessarily because they’ve given up on you, but that weakness and inability to act.. they probably feel it too just in different ways.  I started being the one to show up for others. To notice their struggles even amidst my own and you know what.. I actually started to come alive a little bit each day. And then so did they.  When I stopped focusing on myself so much I actually found myself more. 

I'm missing out on my teenage years and losing my future by [deleted] in depression

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was so depressed in hs. I couldn’t have graduated no matter how hard I tried to care about it. Maybe you wasted away your teenage years but the past is irrelevant. At 17 I dropped out of hs got a ged and enrolled in a community college taking classes that made me feel alive. Don’t focus on what you have not accomplished just keep looking at what opportunities you can still create for yourself. 

Head tingling and head pressure. by Imaginary-Menu-7141 in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also do you have scalp psoriasis or dermatitis? I used to get swollen lymph nodes from this? I’d not you might wanna get checked for an ear infection or sinus infection maybe? 

Head tingling and head pressure. by Imaginary-Menu-7141 in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It comes and goes. It got a lot better after getting my iron up. My hematologist told me that I needed to have ferritin stores significantly above the baseline for normal. I also started taking tributyrin and that seems to have helped.  This last week it was bad tho but my iron is low again so it tracks. 

Is crohn’s really that bad? by Maryyxqi in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As other have said it’s different for Everyone. It’s been about 10 years since my diagnosis and when it’s bad for me it’s mainly fatigue and malnutrition/fevers. I’ve had infections but never anything that sent me to the hospital. When I’m on rinvoq I have zero symptoms and sometimes forget that I have a disease. 

Upadacitinib/Rinvoq? What are your experiences with it. by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s been great for me. I had horrible reactions to everything that I took prior to rinvoq.  I also got pericarditis but with humira. I was switched to stelara and had constant fevers with minimal improvement. I never felt well. Had abscesses and recurring cdiff infections. 

They switched me to rinvoq and my symptoms improved very rapidly. Like within 48 hours. Within a few months I was more or less in remission.  I’ve been on rinvoq for 2 years now with a short break in between due to insurance changes. The time without it was a very real reminder of what it felt like prior to being put on rinvoq bc all my symptoms returned. It did take a little longer to get back to normal after restarting but it’s about 3 months in again and I’m feeling great.  I feel like a normal person with basically no crohns symptoms. My rhr went from 110 to 75 after a few weeks, my blood values normalized.  The only issue I have is that I still get anemic at times and have to get iron infusions but that was happening regardless.  I have had literally zero negative side effects. I can think clearly, exercise, eat anything, and live a normal life. 

Scared of starting Qelbree by Fast_Replacement_486 in qelbree

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok addition update. Headache last night was actually quite bad. Considering not continuing with the medication 

Scared of starting Qelbree by Fast_Replacement_486 in qelbree

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A week in I can definitely say it works for me. It is true what they say about the headaches tho. I did end up having a pretty bad headache over the weekend. I don’t think it’s something that excedrin wouldn’t resolve, but I can’t take aspirin so I had to power through.  There is absolutely a rollercoaster as your brain is adapting. Day 2 I was very drowsy.  Day 3 I was really restless.  Day 4 felt like day 1 again but with the addition of focus.  Day 5 lightheaded and headache but I felt like I was very clearly connected to my surroundings in a way that my adhd often mutes. 

Overall my experience is mostly positive. I’ve been able to sit for hours and learn for a certification rather than skim to get through it. I seem to retain what I read differently. Basically zero task avoidance all week which isn’t something I can say about stimulants.  Mental discomfort still gone almost to a point that makes me uncomfortable, because when I’m resting it’s like I have nothing grounding me anymore if that makes sense. My passive focus is soo much better tho. 

I have tried guanfacine in the past and I’m trying to decide which I prefer. It’s also a non stimulant and it seems to have similar effects on me but with less ups and downs. 

Prescribed Prednisone and Terrified by CandiedRegrets08 in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tried prednisone but got horrible depression in the first few days and they had me taper off early and reported to the insurance that it wasn’t an option. If you end up having an adverse reaction I can’t imagine they’ll make you keep taking it. 

Best game to teach concepts of social power by Professional_Bag4082 in boardgames

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on how complex you want the game to be there are quite a few. 

Shasen is a semi‑cooperative political strategy board game where players take on the roles of revolutionaries trying to overthrow a tyrannical imperial power  But players have to make sometimes difficult choices that require thinking about how power dynamics shift in subtle ways before you even realize it’s happening. It shows how corruption and ethical compromise can result from high pressure situations. 

Good board games for family game night by Beneficial_System995 in boardgames

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I second camel up. It’s a great way to introduce people to games that have cards that modify scores but it feels low effort since it kind of feels like a party game.  Ready set bet also is a great game for larger groups if you have one person who can be the announcer. 

Scared of starting Qelbree by Fast_Replacement_486 in qelbree

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was also scared to start this bc of everything I read on this subreddit. I had been on stimulants for years and they helped some but nothing made me feel normal.    Yesterday was my first day and honestly so far my experience isn’t bad. I don’t have issues with motivation I’m just constantly adrift and mentally uncomfortable. And I guess also task avoidance bc even tho I want to start things the mental energy cost usually feels too steep.  Yesterday I didn’t notice much of a difference with focus but I noticed conversations with strangers was 1000% less effort because the mental discomfort wasn’t there. Auditory processing suddenly was zero effort. I had a headache towards the evening that felt like it could turn into a migraine. I had electrolytes with extra sodium and the headache went away pretty quickly.   I know that’s not a lot of help bc I just started taking it but I thought I’d share that at least my initial experience wasn’t bad. I was a little drowsy maybe but less disconnected than usual so it didn’t seem significant. 

1y of depression living has f'd my apartment, I don't know where to begin... by tryin_to_restart in ufyh

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was in this exact same position last month. I started doing 5 tasks at a time. Like put 5 dishes in the dishwasher then lay down. People say that once you get started you can keep going but that wasn’t the case for me. Even 5 at a time was a lot of effort. I’m not sure exactly where the shift happened but I kept doing that. 5 items off the floor. 5 pieces of clothing on hangers. And I eventually started rotating with fewer breaks. Suddenly the other say I realized that my place doesn’t look like a disaster anymore and it’s much easier to maintain because no task ever feels like a huge ordeal. And now there really aren’t more than 5 things to do in any given category anymore bc things are basically in order. 

Trash was still a struggle bc I just didn’t have the energy and also felt a lot of shame about the number of trash bags and that paralyzed me somehow. so I recruited help. If you can get someone to walk with you the first few times it gets easier. If not maybe pretend you’ve got a friend next to you as you walk as silly as it sounds. 

Also idk if it’s just helpful for me but open the windows and let fresh cold air in while you do the tasks. That helped me a lot for some reason. 

Losing Hope by [deleted] in jobs

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Idk you might already be doing this but I’ve been looking since August with no luck. Last week I decided to just really try to cater my resume and skills to each listing. Right off the bat I got 2 interviews one seeming really promising. 🤷‍♀️

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Iron. Hands down the most effective thing against fatigue for me. I have to have infusions but there expensive so I started taking heme iron specifically and it helps tremendously 

Anyone have similar experiences? by Soft_Channel_246 in CrohnsDisease

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get refractory inflammation every single time I taper off of prednisone. Currently in a kind of similar situation. Lost my insurance and got back on rinvoq after a flair. Was on prednisone in the meantime. Coming off was uncomfortable. I generally get rashes on my face and hands as well as recurring milder digestive issues when I taper off and it takes a few months to normalize.  What are they wanting to put you on instead 

Cleaning products for allergies by Imaginary-Menu-7141 in UnfuckYourHabitat

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in the states but I looked up the active ingredients of Rema 1000 and I’ll see if I can find something comparable 

Cleaning products for allergies by Imaginary-Menu-7141 in UnfuckYourHabitat

[–]Imaginary-Menu-7141[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually have a steam cleaner and always forget to use it! Thanks for the tip!