Depression

[Freakles]

Hi, lm New to this so sorry.

I've suffered all my life with this and had ups and downs, but right now it's feeling different.

I had a rough upbringing and lots of different trauma in my life.

For the last 10 years I've been suffering with an invisible illness called fibromyalgia, so I'm in chronic pain everyday. I also have osteoarthritis in my lower spine and other parts of my body.

The last few weeks I'm struggling to put on this front that I always do, to act like life is great, but it's not. I'm lost, lonely and very emotional. I have a great supportive family. I just can't explain how I feel. 

How do I get myself out of this, never been so bad. I just want to shut myself away and not face it 

Please help with any advise.

Thanks you for reading.

BTW have been on regular meds for this.

[Bob_22]

Hi Freakles,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the forums. No need to be sorry, this is what we are hear for - to listen. It sounds like you have suffered a lot with various illnesses and pains. Actually, chronic pain is a big risk factor for mood disorders like depression and anxiety. You can learn more about it from this fact sheet here: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/resources/bl0124-chronic-physical-illness-and-depr... 

In terms of how you're feeling it may be worth checking in with someone close to you if not a professional. Here is a simple mental health test/check in you can do on the beyond blue website which will make some recommendations based on your answers. 🙂 https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/mental-health-check-in-k10 

I would recommend talking to any of your specialists for your physical conditions about how you've been feeling and they can refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist also. I hope this helps a bit and please keep us updated.

Bob

[geoff]

Hello Freakles, suffering from these everyday is not something anyone would want to have, because being in constant pain does create depression of any type and to pretend that all is OK is not an easy feat, because you simply can't do what's expected from you, and the more you try the worse you may feel later on that night.

With osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia the pain must be awful for you and if the medication isn't working then perhaps it needs to be changed by your doctor or another doctor if you decide to do this.

I know the new medication I take for these has helped me more than the previous drug I was taking.

Trying to explain to your family does become difficult, because they don't want to know every day so you are left alone suffering by yourself, can I suggest you ask about any new medication, and I'm sory I can't mention it due to the rules of the site.

Geoff.

Life Member.