Managing depression/anxiety without meds - what helped you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the things PPs have said... except I was too depressed and low energy to do any of them without meds. Good luck. Hope you feel better.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the things PPs have said... except I was too depressed and low energy to do any of them without meds. Good luck. Hope you feel better.

+1

Agree with it all. Zoloft has been amazing for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lot of good things here.

I got an Oura ring to help track my HRV (heart rate variability) and sleeping. I made some changes from that.

I stopped drinking when I could see what it did to my sleep and HRV.

I use box breathing if I find my self having bouts of anxiety, to help with the distancing aspect and bring my body back to normal.

We eat fish at least once weekly.

I no longer guilt myself for watching shows, it is a distraction.

I set time on the weekends to tidy- I use Alexa to help, I feel better when my visual space is less cluttered.

I limit to one cup of coffee in the morning and have a cup of non-caffeinated tea after lunch.

I try to have some kind of exercise daily. This has been really hard since it’s been so cold, so I do more housework, cleaning, cooking. I bought a kick bike that I loved using in the fall, and am excited to get back outside when I feel warm enough.

Definitely vitamin D, and I also have some magnesium with it (natural calm). I also try to incorporate way more vegetables in our days than I used to, beyond peas and corn.

Thanks for sharing. Do you literally mean that you take vitamin D and magnusium at the same time daily? I take vitamin d in the morning for energy (and perhaps Covid prevention) and magnesium before bed although I still wake up anxious almost every night. Is Natural Calm a powder?

[Anonymous]

Hard, really hard core exercise. You would think I would be in better shape physically when you take into account how often I lift, do HIIT and ride my peloton, but the mental benefits are worth enough.

I tried a few SSRIs and a benzo, yoga and meditatio and nothing worked. Consistent, hard exercise (where I basically exhaust myself) was the game changer I was looking for.

[Anonymous]

Acupuncture. Not doing it now because of Covid, but made a huge difference in anxiety. Vitamin D has also helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lot of good things here.

I got an Oura ring to help track my HRV (heart rate variability) and sleeping. I made some changes from that.

I stopped drinking when I could see what it did to my sleep and HRV.

I use box breathing if I find my self having bouts of anxiety, to help with the distancing aspect and bring my body back to normal.

We eat fish at least once weekly.

I no longer guilt myself for watching shows, it is a distraction.

I set time on the weekends to tidy- I use Alexa to help, I feel better when my visual space is less cluttered.

I limit to one cup of coffee in the morning and have a cup of non-caffeinated tea after lunch.

I try to have some kind of exercise daily. This has been really hard since it’s been so cold, so I do more housework, cleaning, cooking. I bought a kick bike that I loved using in the fall, and am excited to get back outside when I feel warm enough.

Definitely vitamin D, and I also have some magnesium with it (natural calm). I also try to incorporate way more vegetables in our days than I used to, beyond peas and corn.

I have an Oura ring and am curious what kinds of changes you made based on your HRV and sleep. Besides cutting alcohol.

[Anonymous]

I'm another who can't do it without meds (and even those don't work well, at least not right now, though they always have in the past). I exercise hard, drink tons of water, take vitamins, talk to friends, etc.

I still can't pull myself out these days.

[Anonymous]

I got bad anxiety after I stopped breastfeeding, so it must’ve been hormonal. Along with a short course of Xanax, the audiobook ‘Hope and Help for your Nerves’ (?) by Claire Weekes (sp?) helped me enormously.

[Anonymous]

Running, yoga, recognizing my anxious thoughts/catastrophizing. I can’t keep myself from overthinking and imagining the worst, but I am slowly training myself to let it pass. Realizing that I don’t always have to be happy and upbeat, that it’s okay to feel sad or anxious, and that the feelings will eventually pass. CBD oil has also helped me. It took me until my mid 40s to get to this place though. Over the years I have tried different ssris, but never found any meds that really worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. Can anyone else weigh in on diet and supplements? Personally don't drink and have increased exercise. Prob need to work on reducing caffeine and sleeping more. However, coffee is actually a bright spot in my day that I enjoy. I just wonder if it negatively affects mood regulation in the long run, somewhat similar to alcohol.

PP. I've tried cutting out caffeine at various times in life and it had absolutely no effect on anxiety/mood ( or my BP, or anything at all that caffeine supposedly causes).

For me, cutting down on caffeine helped some with anxiety (and probably more to the point with insomnia) - but like another PP said, having SOME caffeine seems pretty essential to making it through the day, too. It's a balance, for sure, in my experience.

One of the things that's helped me is just, when I feel a bout coming on, to remind myself I've been through it before and it passes eventually. My husband understands that I go through periods of depression and anxiety so being able to tell him what I am going through helps, too - and telling him what I need from him while it's happening.

I never thought about this being a coping behavior before, but I also have found myself a pretty low stress work situation. I need enough engagement (not to mention $) to stay involved in the world, but too big a job is impossible for me. For the brief period I was in BigLaw I thought I was going to lose my mind. Just, being at work so late on Tuesday - then the thought that I had to be back bright and early again in the morning on Wed. It was too relentless. Found the same when I made the mistake of taking a job in Congress, briefly. I need more quiet time, time to myself, time to walk my dog, time to watch TV. I just don't have the stamina for a *big* job. I really *need* that time to decompress.

This is such a helpful thread. DCUM can be a wonderful place.

[Anonymous]

PP that's helpful to me - I also am trying to teach myself to understand that these phases happen, they always pass, and this one will also. I'm interviewing for new jobs since my company went under and struggling with the 'needing to do something to feel useful' and 'what level should I go for that will be in line with my anxiety.' It's hard!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard, really hard core exercise. You would think I would be in better shape physically when you take into account how often I lift, do HIIT and ride my peloton, but the mental benefits are worth enough.

I tried a few SSRIs and a benzo, yoga and meditatio and nothing worked. Consistent, hard exercise (where I basically exhaust myself) was the game changer I was looking for.

Coming here to say the above, because it was hard for me to accept the quantity and quality of exercise that is actually required for the desired effect. 30 minutes of walking or a yoga class every day would be like being on life support. For most of my life I saw my dad get up at 5 a.m. to run and lift before he could function as a person, so I should have known.