About a year after Caleb was born almost 8 years ago, I was put on anti-depressants. All the stress of being a mother and school, and not being able to be a teenager got to me, I guess. I was put on Paxil, and it worked great, no mood swings or suicidal thoughts for years.
Lately, I'd find myself just out of it, not wanting to do anything, play with the kids or enjoy life. My joint pain had come back after getting back on Depo, and it was uncomfortably painful to sleep and play with the kids like I was used to. Mind you, I'm 22 years old.
So, I went to my doctor and told her what was up. I'm going through several tests to see if I have rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia. I researched both one day for hours to see which it could be, and I myself am leaning towards the fibromyalgia . I'm no doctor, so hopefully the tests can pinpoint something.
I've also switched to Cymbalta, which is for MAD-Manic Anxiety Disorder, depression, and can help with fibromyalgia pain. I'm hoping it works after I get used to taking it for my body pain. I've been taking it a week and seen no improvement in that as of yet. My knees lock up on me constantly, and I just hurt all day and night.
Since changing my medication, I've noticed that I zone out alot and am more relaxed. I'm not in a rush to keep the house clean, Allie's fits done bother me( as much), and I don't snap at the littlest thing that goes wrong. It seems to be helping me there at least.
On another note, I had my tooth pulled last week, and it's not feeling any different. I have this hard knot on my gumline that makes my whole jaw hurt. So, my dentist is going to take a look at it this afternoon. I still can't chew on that side of my mouth, and it's giving me tension-type headaches. I don't think it's an abscess, I've had one before and it wasn't as hard as this, and it's not draining or anything.
With the holidays, my life is so busy at the moment. This is like the first personal post I've written in about a month! Once I get my camera and video camera going again, I'll show how pretty all our decorations are. I want to take some videos of the awesome lights we've been seeing on our nightly drives. I love this time of year!
Prozac Parenting-Being a Mom with Depression
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13 Comments:
I'm sorry you are going through all of this. I hope you are feeling better soon. It must be tough, but you'll get it figured out.
Kimberly, I am so sorry to hear about your health. I can totally relate to the depression and fatigue, though. After my second child was born, I struggled with pain, headaches, fatigue and depression. I wrote it off as being post-pardom - as did my doctor. After months of frustrating tests, I was finally diagnosed (by my gynocologist) with a pituitary tumor. The depression is a side effect and sometimes it's unbearable (especially with 2 young kids!). I have been on Cymbalta for 1 year now and boy, what a difference it makes! It literally takes the edge off for me! The tumor is still growing and causing havoc in my body.
I will keep you in my thoughts and hopefully things will start feeling better soon! :)
I totally understand how you are feeling. I was put on prozac after baby #5 and I also have fibromyalgia. You have to learn to live with the pain, aerobic exercise helps but I really have to struggle through the pain.
Good luck!!
It's hard being a mom and being a mom with pain is even worse! I'm sorry you're going through all that. BUT - I do understand. I've been dealing with all of your symptom on and off for a while. Good luck with the new meds. I hope they help!
Is it possible the symptoms you are experiencing are a side effect of the Depo shot? I would google that and discuss it with your Dr if everything started after that point.
Good luck and I hope it is only temporary.
I hope you're feeling better soon! Big HUGS to you!!!
I am sorry you are feeling this way. I too can relate. I have been on Paxil for almost a year now and it has helped up until recently. I have started to become very lethargic and not want to do anything. I have increased my eating habits so much that I am never full. As a result my weight has sky rocketed and I feel like I am on a crash course. I wish you well in finding out the cause of the problems. I too wish a cause could be found!
I can relate to your problems, when I was a senior in college I was diagnosed with Fibromyalga, after a few years of meds I wanted to have a baby and I quit taking all the meds~ I am now feeling 100% better, I have a few weird flare up occasionally I also had postpartum depression after allmy 4kids, I am happy to say I am finally med free. Also have your throid checked , mine is just alittle bit off, but still daily take a pill for it. Thyroid can lead to alot of different problems.
Hope they figure out what you need and you feel better! sorry if theirs spelling mistakes it;s late and I am in the dark :)
I'm sorry you're going through this...but it's good to get it out and talk about it...and we are all here to listen when you need us.
I can relate to all the symptoms your going through and i know its not fun! i to was on paxil,cympalta,ect many different meds through the past 12yrs or so and nothing would help with my depression.i always felt like a dark cloud was weighing down on my shoulders.i didnt want to do anything and my energy was gone.finally just about a year ago my dr perscribed 'lamictal' for me.its like paxil or cymbaltica except id say its 10x better.sure i feel disoriented at times still but i can honestly say the depression is gone,no more crazy thoughts of not wanting to even exsist anymore.i think i tried every depression med there was.im no dr. but maybe you should look into lamictal its like a miracle med to me but of course all meds are different for everyone.if you ever need to vent or want more info about this please feel free to email me.good luck,i wish you well.
thanks,shannon
shannpf1977@yahoo.com
Hi Kimberly. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this, but know that you're not alone. I'll pray for you, and please feel free to email me anytime.
Sorry to hear about your health issues! I was on paxil, prozac, wellbutrin and now nothing (NO i was not on them all at once, LOL!)! Seems like the meds helped in the beginning then not at all. And, now that I am off of them, I feel sooo much better, which is weird! Oh, and I also tried out Celexa. So, I know your pain. Hugs and hoping that the Cymbalta works for you. I have heard great things about it!
If you think you have FM get ready to FIGHT and stand firm with doctors. My mom runs a clinic for the treatment of chronic pain with a group of rheumatologist and you wouldn't believe the number of people she's seen who went untreated for years because "many" doctors think FM and chronic pain are hoaxes and don't exsist. My mom even co-wrote a book on FM (I'm not going to post the title here b/c I don't want to appear to be trying to get sales) trying to spread the word that it is a legitimiate condition. I am 29 and I have had chronic pain (due to an injury) since I was 19 (ironic huh considering what my mom does!) I can tell you that I have had access (thanks to mom) to the world's best and leading treatments for chronic pain and I still suffer. Not every day thankgoodness but a few times a year I will have flare ups that will last anywhere from 4-5 days to 2-3 weeks. It's hell as I'm sure you know and it's depressing to hurt and no one believe you or be able to "see" where you hurt. I totally agree with a previous poster about getting your thyroid checked. The synthroid has really helped me feel better the past couple of years. If you ever need any info feel free to give me a shout.
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