Couch 91 - Forget the small change

I haven't had any luck with antidepressants. I'm trying to figure out what to do now. I need *something* because I don't think I can keep going at this intensity.

Hello couch. It's Thursday, yippee. The week is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is a severe weather make-up day, since we had no bad weather this school year it's a day off. Next week is Spring Break. Oh, and today is report card day, can't wait to see the 1st Grader's progress or the lack thereof.

Does anyone on the couch wear makeup? I haven't for YEARS due to breakouts and now I have so many wrinkles that I'm scared it might make me look even more like a hag. Something about how it seems to settle into the "fine lines" (or in my case deep crevices!!) makes me stay far far away. BUT. . .these days I'm seeing a lot of new product reviews and I'm starting to think I might be able to pull off maybe a tiny hint of tinted moisturizer and concealer. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I like Physicians Formula. I have sensitive skin and they make like paraben free make up and my skin doesn't break out.

If you want to go with a tinted moisturizer, bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream - is the best. It's water on the outside instead of the pigment first so it helps heal and hydrate your skin as well. For concealer I would suggest the maybelline fit me is a fantastic line with a very comparable duplicate for most high end creamy concealers.

I know a ton, too much, about makeup so let me know of you have any other questions or want more recommendations! ☺

I have been struggling more than usual for the last few weeks. Generally, these days, I get down for a bit, and then get back out of the pit. [the pit of despair] This particular sojourn to the pit has lasted for about two weeks. Had some physical therapy yesterday that involved letting another woman touch me and I have been physically ill since. I wish I were not a crazy person.

Have you tried natural remedies? Essential oils, reflexology and the like? Some people swear by them...

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Lamictal monotherapy has been the best thing out of all I tried... And it's not even an antidepressant!

There is really only one side effect of any consequence. It is rare.. And you'll know right away. It has just worked beautifully for me.

I don't do natural remedies. My depression is so bad that the placebo effect that one gets from them doesn't work on me. Essential oils smell pretty for relaxing and that's about all I use them for.

While we don't know if it was THE side effect (since docs are super cautious with this one), the side effect I got had me at the "DO NOT TAKE IT EVER AGAIN" level because of where and how it happened. I can't risk it per my doctor.

I don't think natural remedies only work because of the placebo effect - certainly no more than the drugs created by the drug overlord companies.
I don't care if someone doesn't want to try them, but they are no less real than the plastic stuff put out by the chemists. I have used them to quite good effect - not for depression but for physical things like infection (raw honey) and so forth as well as a specific ptsd situation (sacral cranial energy work). And I swear by acupuncture.

I have gotten decent results from acupuncture in the past.

I don't think pharmaceutical companies are the end all, be all, but I have enough scientists as friends to know that they're doing actual research. And if someone wants to do alt med that's cool. But I prefer to see studies first, that's just me. It's probably why I feel so iffy about antidepressants - so much vagueness! :P

And I don't knock the placebo effect. I think it's useful. The human brain is pretty amazing.

One of my favorite books on the issue is "Do You Believe in Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine" by Dr. Paul Offit. He does a pretty awesome overview of medicine over the last 200 years as well as how certain myths (like the power of Vitamin C) have entered into our cultural mainstream.

I'm developing a cream egg addiction, help

I think it is a bit off to consider all alternative medicine as placebo effect.
I trust centuries of people not dying from everything without scientists more than I do drug companies. I don't trust drug companies or their alleged studies and scientists - if you do - then fine.

LOL Well sure, the human race lasted, but we did die from *a lot*. I mean, smallpox for crying out loud! Just sayin'

Like I said, I don't begrudge anyone their alt med and I'll mostly shrug about it until they decide their essential oil is somehow better than insulin (my grandmother did this and it killed her, so I'm also highly skeptical of alt med for that reason).

I trust the scientific method and scientific consensus. Again, that's just me.

No. Not just you. Really not.

Re serotonin hypothesis and depression - I knew it was never really proven, but it wasn't until I met my pdoc/T that I found out exactly how much of a myth it is. It is something he feels quite strongly about so he can talk about it at length, if asked about it. (He prescribes antidepressants - he's prescribed some to me - but he avoids SSRIs. They appear to work for some people though nobody actually knows why, but in his world, the possible side effects are not worth it, especially since the "serotonin effect" is nonsense. The problematic side effects thing is one point where I do not find his point of view defensible at all, though. (That being said, SSRIs have never helped me, and the medication he has prescribed for me and which I am currently on is not a SSRI.))

No, I get it. It's one of the reasons I find ADs so problematic. I haven't had any luck with them and I'm wary of them for a lot of reasons. I think they're worth a shot on some level and there are studies but I do find our science with regards to them very questionable on many levels. My issue with alt med is that there is relatively little in terms of rigorous testing. So while psychiatric meds have a lot to be desired, I find things like essential oils even moreso.

And again - I'm not a scientist and this isn't my area of expertise. If it helps, then I would say do it. I have no problem with that. I have to be honest that I have a heavy bias against it because of family history and so that probably makes it more difficult for me to find value in it.

Hugs to all. I am almost over my depression so there is hope. It hard to see it at the time.
Also what is the next chapter in Stopdog's Culinary Adventures. After the sausages i mean

Just about all antidepressants throw me into a mania.

Ssris are my friend. Prozac. 35 mg. Not 30, not 40. 35 is just right. 30 is not enough. 40 makes my head feel cold. When tf is somebody gonna figure out why?? I think a lot of people are NOT being helped by prozac because of this dosage issue. They dont make 35 mg. While you know it kills me to admit i am not unique, i have tried this dosage adjustment more than once and i keep coming back to the same thing.

The times I have been the appellate atty for plaintiffs against drug companies has made me quite skeptical of the drugs and awful side effects and their bogus studies. But if some of it helps some people - it is okay with me. I just don't think science and drug companies are as reliable as we might wish.

Two forms of depression found - SWI swissinfo.ch

Apparently this may be an issue of two different types of depression where different types of AD's will help depending on the neurotransmitter involved (overly-simplified version).

Fair enough. I don't think pharmaceutical companies have our best interests at heart or are altruistic, I just know that pretty much nothing is regulating the alt med industry :-/

Kind of which devil do you choose in my mind.

You know what they call alternative medicine that has been validated in clinical trials? "Medicine". That is all there is to it, that is the difference. Some alternative medicine is effective, of course (and some of it can by definition never be effective). There is a huge span in what is included in that umbrella definition. (I know that you know all this. I am not quite sober, I guess, so I'm too verbose.)

I admit I trust the pot grower, bee keeper, and chinese herbalist I know more than I trust any drug company. And if those don't help me, at least I know they are not going to kill me in themselves from undisclosed and horrifying side effects.
I also admit I end up taking antibiotics for sinus infections every couple of years when they don't eventually clear up on their own. But I have found that stuff mostly does clear up on its own and the stuff that doesn't - well for me -death is not the worst option out there - so I am willing to take my chances.

Speaking of which - how are your dear sinuses? Any boogies to write home about? (i keep hoping!)