Mental & Emotional Health

After reading that title I wasn’t sure if I wanted to proceed with it but, I believe I will.  You see, tomorrow is my  8 week post-op from having surgery for my broken leg.  And, for the last 2 weeks I’ve still been in a cast after surgery but in the last 2 days, I’ve been testing the walking and I do believe I am ready to get out of the cast.

Originally I figured he would tell me that I could quit sleeping in it and not wear the cast at home but to continue to wear it if I am going to be walking much.  And, he very well tell me that.  And, if he does, I will but I really feel confident that I may be done with the cast for good.  It’s only been 5.5 months, don’t you think it’s about time?

And that my friends…has me in high spirits.  The whole idea of digging out the right shoe to all the shoes I’ve been wearing these last 5.5 months is daunting.  I may never find the mate.  But, all I can think about is how awesome it is going to be to go to Blogher without  cast.  To retrieve my own food and drinks and play with my kids.  I can promise you, if I am given the green light, I am going to start my EASports Interactive Challenge and I am going to take my kids to the pool next week for some splashing and fun.

I am truly amazed at how much better I feel just thinking about what might come to fruition with my broken – non-broken leg..  I just want to squeal with delight and I can already see that my move is improving. 

P.S. It doesn’t help that I have been in touch with the likes of Andy Baldwin and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Twitter.  Absolutely awesome!

You know, socially, I am a butterfly. I hate sitting in one spot.  I hate not being with the crowd.  I hate not knowing the conversation across the room.  I hate not thinking up a reason to just meander over to a group and invite myself into a conversation.

But, as long as I have this cast on my foot, my wings are clipped.  or glued together or something.  Today was my boy’s baseball end of the season party.  I got out of the truck, parked myself and sat until then I hobbled to the pool, watched my kids and hobbled back to a car with no air conditioning. 

Apparently the belt does something whacky and this is the 2nd one in a year.  So, we will see.  All I know is I can’t make it without my air conditioner…and my socializing.  I want to socialize.  I want to get out there.  That’s what makes me happy.

I wrote blogs, I belong to forums and groups because I like to communicate, I like people and that’s what makes me happy.  And, this was the first time I was going to get to attend blogging conference (and I have gone to a few) but doggone it, I’ve been hop-a-long Cassidy at every one.  And, airports aren’t real thrilled with those big bulky boots any more than I am.

I had high hopes of going to Blogher in July without a cast or a boot…but it doesn’t appear that this is going to happen.  Sounds wonderful eh?

So, like I was saying, I am in a serious funk.  My foot is certainly not cooperating and as it is right now I am most likely going to be going to Blogher with the biggest ugliest accessory known to man. 

Wait, no, not a wheel chair but I am telling you,if you think there is anything fashionable about that big ugly gray boot?  Then you are NUTS.

So, with that, I complain.  I am sitting at a state park in the pavillion with one of the coaches while the rest of the adults along with the kids are all gone to the water. That would be the water that I cannot get in and enjoy because I am bound to this freakin’ chair.   I know I could look at the positive side of things and figure at least I don’t have to clean or cook or keep up with these kids.

But, as we near June 22nd, we will be approaching five months in a couple of days and dadblameit, I am sick of this doggone cast.  I am absolutely ready to get a hacksaw and start cutting. 

No lie, I tried to stretch last night and got it in a crooked position in the cast and it wouldn’t straighten up.  I basically had to just do my best and go to sleep and let it relax.  So, with that….I got up this morning and it really wasn’t as bad this morning. 

It hurt pretty bad today but I was on and off it quite a bit, hauling my big ol’ backside around with a walker and crutches and a big ugly cast.  People were commenting on the great color of it…you know, I started with pink.  It was happy happy and was suppose to help make me happy.

My next one was purple, dark purple and it didn’t do much for my mood either.  Now, neon orange…it’s a beauty but it clashed with my nail polish.  Plus, it was getting chipped and definitely needs to be repainted…..but…being without free time, I jut removed the old polish on the toes I could get to and left it on the ones I couldn’t……making me feet look really ugly.

You can darn well bet that no matter how I get to Blogher and what I am wearing on my left leg, my nails will look better…much much better.

My mood lately has been a tough one to nail down.  My leg is still hurting.  I’m tired of wearing a cast.  I’m tired of being waited on hand and foot.  Yes, at one point that sounds all good but after so long, you just want to be able to do for yourself.  I don’t want to have to ask someone to go into the kitchen and get me a drink when I could do it myself.

Well, I could go, but that requires me trying to figure out how to get back to the family room and sit down.  So, I pull out the good ol’ plastic bags and I load it up with the items I want.  That is getting old as well. 

Now, add to that the fact that my children know that I am semi-debilitated.  If they are in harms way, then I can get to them because if my kids are hurting, I will crawl to them if I have to.  But, because they know I can’t get to them to keep them from scaling the pantry shelves or whacking one another in the head,

So, we left with but one alternative and that is my mom watches the boys a lot.  Now, my mom’s parenting style might not be found in any textbook, well if it is under the parts where it discussing lack of discipline.section. 

It’s hard being confined and I go to the doctor on Thursday to see just what the deal is.  I suspect yet another cast but maybe the walking boot…maybe the walking boot..

For those of you out there who rarely step foot in a doctors office, this post is not for you.  I mean, really, even if you only go for the yearly check up and a flu shot, this post is not for you.  So, who is it for? 

This post is for those of us who suffer from all kinds of quirky little things like thyroid disease, diabetes, mental illness…you know, all those simple things that doctors know exactly how to treat.  Bah…they know nothing if you ask me.

I’m a firm believer in the fact that the patient’s symptoms should diagnose a problem and then blood work can help detail the medication, if any, is needed.  I’m having a hard time convincing most of my thyroid doctors of this though as for some reason, they all seem to think that the fact that I am .2 inside the normal range, but even on the low end, I should be fine. 

“No reason to increase your medication, your levels are fine.”  I hear it over and over yet I still have 90% of the symptoms of thyroid disorder.  And please, don’t get me started on the family history.  Father, grandmother, aunt, cousin and that’s just to name a few who have suffered from thyroid issues. 

As for the relationship between the thyroid and anxiety and depression, I suggest you consult this site, good stuff right here, good stuff.

I saw my good doctor this past week and he basically asks, “How is your mood?”  I answer, “bout like always” and he says, “see you in a month”.  Yea, I know…crazy.  I didn’t even need scripts this time so I’m not sure why in the heck I even went..but I did because he told me to come back….

In the meantime, I’ve been checking out some good reads…no really, I actually got to meet Jen Lancaster in person and the proof is below…so don’t go calling me on it…that’s her…and me…and I swear, just reading her books may cause me to laugh off at least 10 pounds….and that’s 10 pounds a book…..she is a riot! 

And, it helps my mood…so much for prozac, right?

And, not only was she a panelist, she gave the keynote speech and it was so great. So, what you need to do is keep up as I read each of her books…because I bought all three and she autographed them for me. She then spent time with me later that evening when she declared that my life was “a country and western song just waiting to break out”……… Her books are

Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist’s Quest To Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass LookBig, Or Why Pie is Not The Answer ,

Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl’s Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? and

Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

and I have them ready to read, right now. And, as I finished them, I’m going to kindly going to give one away. Not mine of course because she autographed mine, to me, but…I’ll get you one…….but you have to keep up and know when I have finished reading them. So, don’t forget.

I’ve talked about this quite a bit lately but the pain that one is in can determine their over-all outlook.  For me, the chronic pain in my back is enough to cause me to have a bad disposition every now and again.  But, sitting in the neurologists office for 5.5 hours yesterday reminds me that maybe it doesn’t hurt near as bad as I think it does. 

I mean, right now I have a broken foot.  I needed to be somewhere with my foot elevated, not sitting in a doggone waiting room for hours on end.  I didn’t carry my laptop because they don’t have open wireless but I did carry a couple of books.  And, I read one of the books almost completely.  I looked at a few magazines and I chatted with a few people to waste part of the day.

Finally, in a room and more waiting begins.  The nurse asks me a jillion and one questions and then leaves.  She returns to ask me a couple billion more and then the doctor comes in.  He spends about 6 minutes max with me and he is gone. 

I’m going to assume you all have already figured out that I will not be going back to see this doctor.  That’s 2 visits with him and an average of 5 hours each visit…nope, not happening…talk about needing some emotional stability at the doctors office, how about needing some after you leave?

Listen, I don’t mean to keep talking about myself here but no one is giving me anything else to buzz about, so again today, you get me.  As I’ve written already, I’m changing my medication (not necessarily I but we meaning the doctor and I) from Cymbalta which toted a hefty $60 co-pay to Prozac which is only $15.  It seemed like common sense.

I’ve been on Cymbalta for several years now and I hated to rock the boat.  We were just flowing along so nicely.  But, monetarily, $60 is just a lot of money when you consider the costs of other drugs that we require around here. 

So, Cymbalta is out, Prozac is in.  Prozac was the first anti-depressant I ever took and when I started it, I don’t recall any side-effects.  For instance, when my husband first started his anti-depressant medication (Lexapro), he had plenty of side effects which eased up as the week wore on.  But, when I started Prozac, I don’t remember any such issues.

But, now, switching from one to the other has kept me down.  I’m dizzy, I’m lethargic, and I’m a little grumpy.  Not as grumpy as I once was without medication, but the change over has been difficult.  I just hope it works out for the best and I haven’t wasted this week for naught. 

Stay tuned and we shall see…

No one likes to hear the words "mental health" when they visit the doctor.  We all like to think that we are fine just like we are.  I spoke to a friend this weekend who indicated that her son used the same therapist/psychiatrist that I use.  She finished it off with "but don’t tell him, he will have a fit".  See, it’s folks like him who haven’t come to grips with the fact that chemical imbalances are normal.  Diabetes, thyroid hormone just to name a few are diseases that people would never put off treating, yet when you say the worlds "mental health", you lose a lot of people.

Some people are so afraid of hearing the words "depression" and "anti-depressants that they just simply don’t talk about their problems at all.  There in lies the problems.  You know, if you won’t admit you need help by even talking in confidence with a friend, then you are most likely not even willing to admit that a chemical imbalance exists.

I spend a big part of nearly everyday reading blogs of women who are either pregnant or just gave birth and their hormones are raging.  Another group of women that I chat with and read their blogs are women who find themselves at home with kids, working for home (weather it is job that has a signature and paycheck or if it is the job of 100% raising children, it’s work, don’t demean that, please) and their hormones are causing mood fluctuations and they have to find a way to cope.  

Some women, like me, realize that my body isn’t perfect.  I truly believe that God gave man the ability to learn so that doctors would exist to help patients like me.  So, give them an opportunity to do that, help you.  If you need help. you are doing no one any favors by ignoring it.  Go now, go look deep into yourself and decide if you think you are ignoring a very critical part of your health…your mental health.

I am a sleeper.  I’ve always been a sleeper.  I make jokes with people about it because it is quite spectacular to see just how much I can sleep. I once had a roommate that wouldn’t leave me alone about joining her and her friends for movies and pizza or just drinking beer and watching ball games.  I never could make her understand, I enjoyed sleeping.  I finally telling her that I wasn’t really sleeping, I was meditating.  I swear, for me, it was just as healing as meditation.

I’ve made jokes over the years about how the life in my dreams is better than the one in reality so why not sleep when I get a chance.  People simply dismissed it as depression and medicated me.  As you may or may not know, most anti-depressants may have a sleepy effect.  So, that wasn’t always a great idea.

For some one who could sleep as much as I could, I had problems going to sleep and then, I’d wake all during the night.  It was ridiculous.  For many years I took over the counter sleep aids, then I graduated to prescription medications.  The problem remained.  I’ve tried a variety of the popular sleep medications on the market, prescription and non-prescription.  The anxiety I have though was much stronger than the any sleep aid out there. 

Ambien made me hallucinate.  And, I tried it several times over a five year span and I would always return to the same hallucination.  It really was nutty.  So, doctors would keep playing with sleep inducing drugs.  But, as I’ve told you several times, I found a doctor who specializes in chronic pain as well as mood disorders, emotional disorders, etc.  He really has been great for me.

He is the person who convinced me to go to the Sleep Clinic.  I do indeed have sleep apena.  And, I don’t take a sleep-aid to go to sleep, I take a very strong dose of a drug used to treat bi-polar disease.  I am not bi-polar, but I do have such a high strung personality that it takes a drug that strong to settle me into sleep.  The first night at the sleep clinic, even with the drug I normally take, I never entered the deepest zone of sleep.  The technicians were in awe.  He jokingly said that I also managed to run about 10 miles.

I returned to the clinic with doctors orders for a sleep apnea machine.  That night I entered the deepest zone of sleep approximately 45 minutes before time for me to get up.  However, I wasn’t waking 15 or 16 times an hour from sleep apnea and I managed to run a much shorter distance.  Success?

By most folks standards that would probably not be success.  I mean, I still have to take a drug that is made to treat a completely different illness in order to go to sleep, I have to sleep with the aid of a CP machine and I take a medication to curb the restless leg syndrome.  But, in my world, the fact that I make into a deep sleep every night means I rest more than I ever have before.  The legs remain still and it doesn’t take me hours upon hours to go to sleep.  (I remember having insomnia as early as age 8).

So, if any of this sounds familiar to you, please find yourself a good doctor, and a sleep clinic and get yourself taken care of.  I still love to take a nap.  I can be wide awake and plowing through my day and if someone suggest we quieten down and nap, I’m all over it.  I simply love to sleep.

The best I can tell, I was born to be a sleeper and my job is to dream.  As of late, I’ve been dreaming pretty doggone big too.  So, it can’t be all bad now can it?

This is totally an anonymous example.  I can’t and won’t reveal any sources.  I’m just curious if anyone out there that is reading has seen such habits, felt such insecurities and has any idea how to go about helping someone in this situation.

Ok, we are talking about an 18 year old kid.  I’m going to call him Joey but obviously that is not his real name.  He lives with his mother who I am calling Carol, again, not her real name.  Joey’s father is not in the picture but there is an older brother but he too lives several states away.  Here’s the story.

Joey graduated from high school and wanted to go to college.  Because of his situation, not only did he not have help getting help getting into college, preparing paperwork for grants and loans, he didn’t have transportation to get to and from college either.  This kid leaves where there is no public transportation. 

As a side note, I’ve seen many situations like this and if the proper channels are doing their job, the kid ends up in college, with monetary help and someone who lives close by that doesn’t mind giving the kid a ride.  That simply didn’t happen in this case. 

Now, the kid is disappointed about not going to college.  That much is known for sure.  The kid is also binging and purging.  He is taking laxatives when he can and everyone around him is watching this from behind the scenes wondering who and when someone should intervene. 

Carol contacted a doctor who specialized in these behaviors but was told that he would prefer Joey see a doctor that specialized in teenagers because he felt that Joey’s situation was more out of control than he was comfortable dealing with. He also mentioned to the mother than many times when a young boy this age had issues with binging and purging, he was also struggling with his identity.  Indeed the child did say he thought he might be homosexual and was spending time with a man 20 years older than him that was a known homosexual.

Carol made the appointment with the doctors which just happened to be in a town an hour and half a way, Joey cut his wrists.  He was carried to the emergency room where the doctor sent him to the only hospital that would take him sense he was a medicaid (All-Kids actually) patient.

Joey was only kept for 3 days and the doctors declared that nothing was wrong with him.  He was sent home. 

Fast forward a few weeks and he was acting odd again.  His mother wasn’t home for a few days but when she returned, he had been serious beaten up.  Joey wouldn’t tell his mother anything but indicated that the man he had been with that was much older was the one responsible. 

Carol called the man, he had proof that he wasn’t even in town that weekend.  So Carol set about trying to figure out who was responsible.  Joey continued to blame the older man and then put a guilt trip on Carol for believing someone besides him.

Mom tightened the ropes on the child’s freedom by not allowing him to drive her car and such.  He worked with his uncle some doing hard labor work and seemed to be getting along much better.  No one seem to catch him binging and purging and he wasn’t allowed any freedom to roam so the situation seemed to be somewhat in better control.

I just got notice that Joey once again slit his wrists and had to have 5 stitches on inside and 9 staples on the outside.  He is now in a  hospital in a different place and has been for the last 24 + hours. 

My question is this:  Why are doctor’s ignoring what Carol is telling them about Joey?  Why aren’t they taking action?  Can’t they see he is having problems?  Did he have to take this drastic measure in order to kept help?

I am interested to see if anyone has any suggestions.

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I take a particular anti-depressant known as Cymbalta.  It has really  helped me and I know that with it and the small dose of Welbutrin, I am a stable, happy person.  I’ll try to keep this short but if you’ve read here long, you know my fingers get diarrhea pretty often and just keep pecking away. 

Anyway, what I was trying to say was this, our insurance carrier made some changes to our coverage and not only were we not notified, it was as if someone slapped me in the face when I went to get my Cymbalta prescription filled. 

I take a fairly high dose of this medication and because of that we have had to have prior authorization from the insurance.  I had the authorization for 120 mg a day through last February.  It took until May for the doctor’s office and the insurance company to get it together to issue another authorization. 

But, even when I went to get the medication filled in July, it was not taken care of like it should have been.  So, I took a copy of the letter from the insurance company to the pharmacy.  The pharmacist was one of my best buddies in high school.and she called the insurance company and got the prescription and authorization  straight. 

Now, in the interim, my doctor would give me enough samples of the cymbalta so that I didn’t have to buy them out right.  At first the insurance company was going to let me have 60 capsules but only if I paid  2 $35 co-pays.  That’s when the doctor started giving me a 30 day supply and I would fill my prescription for the other 30 at 30 bucks a month.

Then, one day it was $35 for the co-pay.  And then, then the bottom fell out because when I picked the medication up last week, the lady said, $60.  I almost flipped my lid.  I paid it because what else was I suppose to do on a Saturday.  I was just planning to call the pharmacists and ask her about it. 

By the time I got around to calling her, she had already called my insurance company (it is good to have friends) and they informed her that I did indeed have an authorization for 60 pills (which is what I got for the 60 bucks) but that my co-pay for non-formulary drugs had gone up to $60.

I did flip when the words came out of her mouth.  I almost lost control of myself.  That’s freakin’ ridiculous ya’ll.  I know the medication is expensive.  I know I’m lucky to even have insurance when many people who need anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs do not.  I know I am lucky that my husbands employer pays the entire premium for us.  I know. 

But, regardless of who it is paying the 60 bucks, someone insured or someone who is having to fork out the entire amount, the price of medication is ridiculous.

So, when I go back for my visit, which is sometime around the end of September, I fully intend to ask that he change my mediation (although it has taken 4 years of tweaking to get it just right) because honestly, $60 is just not going to happen. 

Are you insured? 

If not, do you pay out of pocket?

If you are insured, are your co-pays decent and predictable?

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I’m not sure where I’m going with this.  I’m just going to wander into it.  We bought a daycare in May of 2007.  I had never been able to work a full 40 hour work week because of my health.  The depression, the anxiety, the laziness.  No, it wasn’t really laziness, it really was depression.

When we bought the daycare though, I became the person that had to do it all and do it all right.  I am a control freak, I have OCD and I get depressed and anxious when things are not going according to my plan.

And, with that, I have to tell you that very little that has happened since May of 2007 has happened in the manner in which I planned.  We sold the daycare a few weeks ago but had already closed it in July. 

My health was going down hill and fast.  I found I had a thyroid disorder and diabetes.  I wasn’t doing anything to keep my diabetes in check so that, along with the state of affairs at the daycare, had put me in a serious funk.  I thought it was ONLY a serious funk. 

As it turned out, I had caught mono somehow and before it was all said and done, I was in the hospital.  I’m still not over the mono.  I had a relapse as late as last week.  My doctor says that with my other health issues and my tendency to become depressed, I would probably see symptoms of mono into the winter. 

My doctor really seems to be watching  me close and trying to do his best to see that I don’t fall over the edge.  He is a great doctor and I just wish everyone could have a doc like him. 

And, so with that, we are headed for a vacation.  There wasn’t one person that knew us that had any doubts that we needed and deserved a vacation.  Not one person! 

We’ve been gone since 9 AM this morning.  I woke up at 3 AM and couldn’t sleep.  I just stayed up.  For me, at 3:20 PM, 12 hours later, I’m nearing the end of my schedule for the day.  Yet, we’ve got at least half of the trip left ahead of us. 

We left this morning in time to stop by the great super store and pick up a few odds and ends as well as get Wayne a haircut.  By the time we got gas, made it to our favorite restaurant, ate lunch and got back on the road, it was almost 2 PM.

With that said, I haven’t relaxed yet.  We are going to be on vacation at the beach until next Friday and I’m hoping that by the time we lay our sleepy heads down tonight I start to get that feeling that you are suppose to get with vacations.  I don’t know if I even know what that feeling is but I sure hope I get it…and soon!

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So, you know way more about me than a lot of people I know in real life.  But, as one would guess, you are probably wondering if I am just a clown that has had many mental and emotional issues and I’m going to try to urge you to go get medicated.  That is simply not the case.  I do believe that medication has its place and we will explore that more in depth later, but for now, I’m just going to give you a few credentials.

My personal thoughts on  my own mental and emotional health are that without the interventions of modern medication and later some therapy, I would not have been able to accomplish much.  So, with that, I’m sure you are wondering just what it is that I’ve done that makes me think I can write a blog here and help anyone.

For starters, did you read the two part introduction.  That alone should tell you that I’ve been the mental and emotional health genre for half of my life.  I was 19 when my father died and that depressive cycle began.  I will be 40 in a couple of weeks.  But, if you read those, you know, I suffered well before the age of 19, it was just then it became apparent to everyone because they could see the issues on the outside.

So, what did I do with myself?  I did what my father always dreamed of, I graduated with a Bachelors degree.  That was in 1991, in physical education.  I used that to teach physical education two and a half years.  My dad tried to tell me not to be a teacher.  I don’t think he knew that I was simply not going to be good at it, (which I wasn’t), he just wanted me to choose a career that wasn’t so difficult to endure (and it is very difficult). 

Either way, I graduated.  I also had a minor in chemistry so I was able to teach Earth and Life Science on year and again, it was awful and I wasn’t very good at it.   Later I taught Pre-K and…again, it was a horrible experience and I wasn’t very good at it in the first place. 

I let my certificate expire and thus was unable to teach after 2001.  In 2005, I decided I should try teaching again, I was older, my temperament was different and maybe…just maybe…

That’s when I realized my certificate had expired.  So, that meant I had to return to school.  So, why  not get my Masters in something that I could use outside the school system or inside if I chose.  I taught Biology while I was in school and just as before, I hated it and I was not good at it either. 

I got my Masters in Counseling last winter while I was busy running my own daycare.  It came in handy and even though it is not my nature to brag, I was able to pick employees strong points as far as what age they would be best working with.  At first they would balk on me, but later, people came to realize that I had a little education and I was good at reading people.

Personalities come easy for me it seems.  I can talk to someone for a short time and tell you way more about them than most of them know themselves.  No, I’m not psychic, I learned a little when I pursued that last degree and it is paying off for me now.

I knew my husband had ADD (attention deficit disorder).  It was very apparent to me.  He had suffered his entire life but didn’t grow up in a home with educated parents who knew what to look for.  I got him an appointment, they did the intake, they gave him a couple of written tests and then the doctor spent about 45 minutes with him.  Diagnosis?  ADD.  I knew it, I’d lived with him too long not to know it.  I knew the symptoms and with my husband, they were terribly obvious.

In recent months I came to realize that my husband was depressed.  Again, he didn’t see what I saw.  I had the education (and I don’t mean that in a smart-alec way, I mean, I read the books, I listened to my professors and I learned so much from them) and I knew that he was depressed.  I encouraged him to tell our psychiatrist that treats his ADD.  He didn’t.  I mentioned it at one of my visits but only briefly and only in the manner in which it was affecting our marriage.  I asked my husband the next month if he would please tell the doctor how he felt.  He said yes, but he didn’t do it.  The next month he suggested I come with him.  I did but the doctor talked to him alone.  My husband managed to pull off the ol’ "it’s just the stress of this one project at work and when it is over, I’ll be fine.).

Not only was I mad at this point, I was ready to do something drastic.  His behavior was affecting our marriage and especially affected his parenting skills.  So, at my next appointment with the doc, I asked if we could come together.  He said if it was ok with my husband, then of course it was ok with him.  We went together.  They gave him a depression test. 

I don’t know much about the depression test because I didn’t see it so I don’t know which test they gave him. However, after the doctor looked at it, he said, "you definitely appear to be depressed, a score of anything above 8 on this test would mean you might benefit from medication and therapy and you (meaning my husband) scored a 24"

Ok, see, I’ve been around the block.  I’ve had the emotional problems, I’ve had the mental fatigue, I’ve dealt with the problems and I’ve been trained to recognize them. 

So, with that, I give you my credentials.  Do you trust me yet?

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I was diagnosed with Mono over 2 months ago.  Most everyone knows the generally symptoms.  The enlarged spleen, the liver issues, the swollen glands and the fatigue.  But, the one symptom that no one tells you about is the one that works on you causing mental fatigue and causing you to be an emotional wreck. 

I would find myself asking what day it was and what time it was about every 2 or 3 hours.  My mom was getting very upset when I would ask her day after day, hour after hour, the same questions.  I couldn’t keep up with what time to take kids to school, pick them up from school, and never mind trying to keep up with when bills were due to be paid.

So, I’m going to give you a few Mono facts from WebMd

because most people are clueless.  And, this is certainly one of those illnesses that people say affects adults in a much more serious manner than it does children.  If you suspect you have mono (it is noticed mostly by the fact that the glands in the back of your neck are swollen, not just the ones under your chin.  I had glands down my shoulders that were swollen as well.), check these symptoms and go get checked immediately.  Mono is terribly contagious so do your part to keep it contained in your home.

1.  It is also known as the Epstein-Barr Virus

2.  Mono can be spread through contact with saliva, mucus from the nose and throat, and sometimes tears. Because the virus can be spread through kissing, it has earned the nickname the "kissing disease." If you have mono, you can avoid passing the virus to others by not kissing anyone and by not sharing things like glasses, eating utensils, or toothbrushes.

3.  The most common symptoms of mono are a high fever, a severe sore throat, swollen glands and tonsils, and weakness and fatigue. Symptoms usually start 4 to 6 weeks after you are exposed to the virus.

4.  Mono can cause the spleen to swell. Severe pain in the upper left part of your belly may mean that your spleen has burst. This is an emergency.

5.  Your doctor will ask you questions about your symptoms and examine you. You may also need blood tests to check for signs of mono (monospot test) and the Epstein-Barr virus. Blood tests can also help rule out other causes of your symptoms.

6.  Usually only self-care is needed for mono.

• Get plenty of rest. You may need bed rest, which could keep you away from school or work for a little while.
• Gargle with salt water or use throat lozenges to soothe your sore throat.
• Take acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil) to reduce fever and relieve a sore throat and headaches.
• Avoid contact sports and heavy lifting. Your spleen may be enlarged, and impact or straining could cause it to burst.

For me, the mental fatigue and the emotional outbursts were far and away the worst problems that I experienced.  But, now you are more educated about it than I ever was so you know what to look for.

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