**The Mental Health Thread**

13oots2 said:
Big night for me, have hardly been out of my flat in 20 years, certainly not to a local lounge bar, tonight is men's mental wellbeing group and have psyched and been psyched up by good friends to go.

Have also sorted things out with my best friend who happens to be female and finally went for blood tests after 16 years. Last time my liver was in a bad way, and I was grossly overweight, all the tests came back normal, and I feel in a much better place than 6 weeks ago.

I thought my life was lost just a short while back and now at the ripe old age of 57 want to start enjoying life again, there is always hope and light at the end of the tunnel.I've b
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I've been trying to get to a local Andy's club meeting for weeks, but I don't really have anyone to go with. Thus I lack the impetus to actually go.
I always just seem to find ways to toss it off and not really do anything meaningful.

I've been off work for a few weeks now, and do feel a bit better, I feel l like I need to change jobs as I can foresee being back to square one in no time when I go back.
 
marinersfan said:
I've been trying to get to a local Andy's club meeting for weeks, but I don't really have anyone to go with.
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Going there is a huge step in itself, so no shame in having not managed to take that step yet.

Not sure why you think you need someone to go with, as it's very much a "you" thing, not about anyone else.

It might not work for you, but until you go you won't know. I'm glad I made the move to do it - it's nice to have a regular weekly thing where there are people who want to listen to how I am feeling.

My local group is also now trying to organise some "outside of man club" days, so that we can just do some social things together as a group of friends, e.g. bowling, pub, or food together, just so that we all have other things to look forward to doing (as most of us are in similar boat with limited social lives etc)
 
Armageus said:
Going there is a huge step in itself, so no shame in having not managed to take that step yet.

Not sure why you think you need someone to go with, as it's very much a "you" thing, not about anyone else.

It might not work for you, but until you go you won't know. I'm glad I made the move to do it - it's nice to have a regular weekly thing where there are people who want to listen to how I am feeling.

My local group is also now trying to organise some "outside of man club" days, so that we can just do some social things together as a group of friends, e.g. bowling, pub, or food together, just so that we all have other things to look forward to doing (as most of us are in similar boat with limited social lives etc)
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Because currently, anything left to me doesn't get done. Especially anything outside of my comfort zone.
I've never been overly confident, but currently, I'm definitely not.
 
Seen my psychiatrist last week he's pleased with how I'm getting on. Is anyone having trouble sourcing their meds? I'm prescribed two meds, 1 I can get hold of no problem but the other, an ADHD med, it's a lottery whether I can get it or not. Every month I have to ring around pharmacies in the hope they it in stiock, I never go to the same pharmacy each month because none of them have reliable stock, I've had to travel upto 70 miles just to get meds. 1 of these days the way it's going I think I'm going to find I just can't get any meds anywhere, dread that day.
 
how do you go to another pharmacy?

mine always go to my nominated pharmacy digitally and I don't think it's possible to go another like in the good old days with a paper prescript.

your nominated pharmacy can print it out?
 
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arknor said:
how do you go to another pharmacy?

mine always go to my nominated pharmacy digitally and I don't think it's possible to go another like in the good old days with a paper prescript.

your nominated pharmacy can print it out?
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Up until today my ADHD script and my other script always went to my local pharmacy, but for months now the pharmacy have given me a paper script for the ADHD med so I could go elsewhere to source it as they can't get it. But today my ADHD script was just a barcode in my My NHS app which I took to a pharmacy when I found out by phoning around they had stock.
 
Tykey said:
But today my ADHD script was just a barcode in my My NHS app
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oh that's cool

I've noticed whenever I've had an NHS letter on the same day I've always had another letter to the occupier advertising some "north east pharmacy" that's apparently working with or approved by the NHS....

Seems like someone is trying to kill off local pharmacies, I've had about 4 letters in the last month and it's happened every time.
 
arknor said:
oh that's cool

I've noticed whenever I've had an NHS letter on the same day I've always had another letter to the occupier advertising some "north east pharmacy" that's apparently working with or approved by the NHS....

Seems like someone is trying to kill off local pharmacies, I've had about 4 letters in the last month and it's happened every time.
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I hope they don't kill them off, it's really handy having 1 only a couple of hundred metres away.
 
arknor said:
how do you go to another pharmacy?

mine always go to my nominated pharmacy digitally and I don't think it's possible to go another like in the good old days with a paper prescript.

your nominated pharmacy can print it out?
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Ask for an ETP barcode that you can present at any pharmacy, and they can retrieve your prescription from the 'spine' (i.e. the cloud)
 
The meeting was a great step for me, discovered I could still hold an articulate conversation, did have quite bad hand tremors to start, even went into the main lounge area after and had meal and soft drink.

Since then, have been pushing my boundaries and comfort zone a bit more and have walked into town several times this week. Last Saturday wandered in to get phone fixed and buy some nice cheese from the local deli, found myself in a shop that I never thought possible years ago.

Been thinking about it for years and finally went in for my appointment today, at the ripe old age of 57 have rediscovered a little of my rebellious youth and had a body piercing. Am really proud of myself, with positive encouragement from friends, to start living a little again
 
13oots2 said:
The meeting was a great step for me, discovered I could still hold an articulate conversation, did have quite bad hand tremors to start, even went into the main lounge area after and had meal and soft drink.

Since then, have been pushing my boundaries and comfort zone a bit more and have walked into town several times this week. Last Saturday wandered in to get phone fixed and buy some nice cheese from the local deli, found myself in a shop that I never thought possible years ago.

Been thinking about it for years and finally went in for my appointment today, at the ripe old age of 57 have rediscovered a little of my rebellious youth and had a body piercing. Am really proud of myself, with positive encouragement from friends, to start living a little again
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That is awesome! I'm happy to hear things are going in the right direction for you. I should probably take some inspiration from you and go out more myself.
 
Sertraline seems to have robbed me of my ability to unload.

after only 3 days of taking them, been on them for a full week now, apparently even if you stop taking them it's not garunteed to revese that...


Jaw muscles feel tense fairly often, biting my cheek without realising.
Itchy sensations are amplified and constant.

Feels like I have thrush down below even though I don.t under my finger nails itch 24/7.
toes the same.

I don't tnink I ever had side effects from medication before...


Got an appointment with my doctor on the 4th to see how I'm getting on with them, and honestly doesn't seem worth it if those symptoms are going to persist the whole time... doctor knows I self H'ed but gives me tablets with a common side affect that makes you itch as hell......

Also get to see the counsellor at my GP practice at the end of the month.
 
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I'm surprised they put you on sertraline if they know you have autism.

It's well documented that SSRIs have little to no effect on the type of depression that often accompanies the condition. Mainly because it's usually caused by isolation and the inability to connect with others, which a drug won't fix.
 
Ayahuasca said:
I'm surprised they put you on sertraline if they know you have autism.
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google suggests they are given to people with autism.


What is the idea behind using SSRI therapy for autistic people?​

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates sleep, mood and emotions. Lack of serotonin has been linked to a range of conditions including anxiety and OCD.

SSRIs can be used to regulate serotonin. Changing the balance of serotonin seems to help brain cells send and receive chemical messages.

SSRIs are an effective treatment for anxiety, which is common among autistic people.

Also, autistic people have some characteristics similar to those of people with OCD, including repetitive behaviour, special interests and a preference for routines. SSRIs are effective for treating OCD, so researchers believe that they might also improve similar characteristics in autistic people.
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But, yea I'd agree with you a drug won't fix me and I see other websites saying they don't work on autistic people much anyway...

don't see the point in talking to a counsellor either tbh


I think Ima just stop taking the tablets, I'll drop to 25mg a day until I see the GP and tell him I don't want to take anything


also see "One of the widely-reported side effects of SSRIs is 'blunting', where patients report feeling emotionally dull and no longer finding things as pleasurable as they used to"
sounds really good in autistic people
 
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arknor said:
google suggests they are given to people with autism.
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Yeah, I'm aware that some GPs do go down that route, but their success rate with neurotypical people is low and it's even lower with those who are neurodivergent.

Unfortunately, autism is still not very well understood and we're miles behind in this country in terms of diagnosing people in good time, let alone having any kind of effective treatments to try and reduce some of the symptoms that make life difficult.
 
Crazy I never noticed this thread before. Time to start following it.

My current struggle is a job hunt taking forever, society seems not interested in my contribution despite being very experienced. Spending lots of time searching, applying, speaking to recruiters, and occasional interviews - but it never leads anywhere and so gets harder every week to keep doing it.
 
13oots2 said:
I have my 2 shots booked for the 14th, had the misfortune of having 3 mini strokes 19 years ago.
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Sorry to hear that. Better be safe than sorry though!
throwaway4372 said:
Crazy I never noticed this thread before. Time to start following it.

My current struggle is a job hunt taking forever, society seems not interested in my contribution despite being very experienced. Spending lots of time searching, applying, speaking to recruiters, and occasional interviews - but it never leads anywhere and so gets harder every week to keep doing it.
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That sounds painful. I wish you all the best! My strategy is to spend my free time learning new things. Not for a job exactly but it shows you are commited to self improvement which can only be a good thing.
 
All my weird symptoms from Sertaline disappeared almost as fast as they started as soon as I stopped taking it.
I think it took 3 days for them to appear, lasted over a week hoping they would go away, before finally stopping taking them.
all symptoms dissipated within about 5 days.

Itchy under finger nail 24/7
Itchy head of penis 24/7 /inability to fire rounds
Jaw muscle tremors/tension

I think the GP thought I had an infection or something as he wanted to look at my fingers I had bitten the nails right back on every finger.... totally side effects of the meds though.

First time I've ever had any side effects from any meds

Completely killed my ability to sleep it seems... for the last 3-4 days.

GP prescribed me Mirtazapine but I think I'll wait a few days until I feel more normal before starting on it.
 
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