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Sooo who’s working on Pfizer’s covid vaccine?
4/1 check-in and announcement!
I’m excited to announce that in conjunction to the “Gym Buddies Daily Check-In”, we will be making a new bowl call “Rest Day Buddies Daily Check-In” for you all to compare notes and strategies for how to take a breather from the gym. Follow link below to learn more: https://tinyurl.com/3yv8rvx8
Ok, now that it’s done, what’s your workout for today? 😅
Any books to recommend on mental strength?
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Thank you for making us feel less alone Walter ♥️

Additional Posts in Addiction & Sobriety
Acceptance is the answer.

Pause. Breathe. Proceed.
⏸ 🌬 ▶️
Daily Reflection 1/21

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I think there is a huge connection between addiction and mental health. It's important to work with your medical team to get your needs met. I eventually decided to start going to therapy when I realize that getting sober was only part of what was going on with me.
Rising Star
I was being treated for anxiety and depression before I got sober, had been taking Paxil since 2000. At the recommendation of my primary care physician, I started seeing a psychiatrist while sober and adjusted my meds - it had more to do with what was happening in my life, beyond getting sober. If you haven't tried therapy, start there, they usually can tell within a month or two if seeing a psychiatrist for medication is the proper route. Also, I may be wrong and biased based on my own diagnosis and treatment, but the most common meds prescribed are serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs. It's the serotonin levels that need regulating. It can be some trial and error to find effective drugs - in some ppl their neurons don't produce enough serotonin to regulate mood. In others, the amount produced is sufficient, but the receiving neurons take it up too fast creating the imbalance. They can't really test for what's going on, so they start with wait may work (which side of the equation), see if it has the right effect, if not, they try something else. A big part of it is lining up any potential side effects with how your depression manifests. If you can't sleep, then they want drugs that make you sleepy. If you don't eat, they avoid any drugs that suppress appetite. This is why I think it's important to work with a psychiatrist and not just your general doctor. I was taking 20 mg of Paxil/day, now I take 40 mg. I also take busperine for anxiety now, 10 mg 3 x a day. It helped me a lot. As did the getting sober, I was undermining the efficacy of my meds by drinking (alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant). Good luck.
Bowl Leader
I’m learning that stored/repressed grief can manifest as depression. And grief can obviously be losing a loved one, but also anything from grieving not having a normal childhood to grieving for the way we treated ourselves during our addiction to grieving the abandonment we experienced from those we relied on for love.
My approach has been to try everything at my disposal before considering meds, but that’s just me, and there are certainly people with chemical imbalances that require meds (especially for things like bipolar).
Bowl Leader
Dentsu, you’re 100% spot on. I definitely didn’t mean to imply that only bipolar would require medical intervention. No one should be taking medical advice from this or any other online forum. The beauty of sobriety is we get to understand what our brains and bodies are suffing from without being constantly intoxicated, and then we can take the appropriate action to get the outside help we need.
Pro
My experience was that my depression went away after I was sober a while. It didn't happen immediately, but all was well within the first year.
Alcohol does a number on our bodies and minds, I'd suggest you heal for a little while before fixing an issue that doesn't need fixing.
I've been sober 15 months. I think if it was just my body recovering from alcohol I wouldn't still be struggling like this.
OP I’m curious if you have seen any improvement in this given you’ve been sober 15 months? Or do you feel about the same? I’m asking because 15 months in I’d expect to see significant improvement and would just keep going. and if you haven’t seen any improvement then likely other issues at play. I’d check your diet and weight too and try to get into a balanced physical routine. Consider omega 3 and vitamin d possibly as well. Do some research on it. For me meds are a last resort I tried once and made me feel weird and uncomfortable but that was a long time ago and maybe the meds have improved
I take a lower dose of Cymbalta every day for depression and it really helps me. On days I don't take it by the end of the day I can tell that I forgot to take it because I can feel the difference.