DW Community Catch-up Thread
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Ange, You know I love meds- but lexapro is (from my understanding) a pretty tried and true anti-anxiety/antidepressant and instead of making you feel numb or tired, or not yourself, you just kind of have less intense reactions to things that would have stressed you out. It kind enables me to take a breath and think instead of immediately going to emergency mode.
I thought I was managing everything pretty well but I just saw a new psych and she pointed out a few times where my meds were not working. So she upped my lexapro, I’m no longer on Xanax (win!) and things seem to be going well. It’s been about 4 weeks.
I’m not doctor, but I can feel your stress. Hugs. It can feel so hard when you want to help someone, but you can only do so much. ❤️
Ange, can/is your husband taking medication for the blood pressure and cholesterol? I had high blood pressure beginning eight years ago when I was pregnant with Joanie. I put off medication for about four years even though it was really unsafe. My dr finally convinced me to go on it and that helped bring my stroke-level numbers BP down. But then I developed high-ish cholesterol last year and knew I needed to change my lifestyle.
For me, my stressor was parenting, and now that my kids are older, it’s way less stressful, and that’s been huge for my health. But in addition to that, I’ve made lifestyle changes that I have control over: I walk a super ton (14k+ steps a day); do 4-5 days of stength-training; limit alcohol to 4 drinks a week (um, except last week when I was on vacation and had two drinks a day…). Anyway, these changes helped lower my blood pressure so much that over a month ago, I went off my blood pressure medication. I still need to monitor it regularly and if it goes up and stays up consistently, I’ll need to consider medication again. but for now, I’m doing really well.
All this to say, it’s not a lost cause! getting health and managing stress is a commitment, but it’s super doable. And really worth it. I hope your husband is able to find the peace he needs to manage his health.
Unrelated, but since you all are DW regulars, I want to let you know that I have a site re-design/ overhaul coming up (right now scheduled for tomorrow night/ Monday morning EST). This re-design is years overdue and will bring the site into this decade, but it will look quite different and will work a little differently, too. I know change can be uncomfortable, and I also expect some glitches in the first few days as we work out kinks, so thank you in advance for being patient. I think you will find the new site will be much more user-friendly and the forums will be much less clunky. The developer and I will be monitoring things and keeping an eye open for issues and glitches, so if you experience any, feel free to send me an email and I will do my best to address each issue that may arise. thanks, guys!
Yay anon, glad the surgery went well and you’re on the mend. Also really cool about your grandma!!
And congrats on the site design Wendy.
Oooh, exciting, Wendy! Thanks everyone.
Also, I’ve been complaining about books not hooking me lately-
These two got me good.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow
Demon Copperhead
Can’t wait to see the new site.Wendy, he likely will go on BP meds when he does his next doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. That’s when he finds out if he’s diabetic also. Sadly he does heaps of exercise already, he’s buff as hell. His stress levels are just so high it’s not having any sort of positive effect except barely keeping him from a stress induced stroke or something.
I did not catch the notice over the weekend so I was quite surprised by the change. It looks great!
@Ange – it sounds foo-foo but I’m not kidding about Meditation to reduce stress: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858If he can’t get on meds due to duty, this could help until it’s possible.
Love the new look of the site. Still getting used to it.
I’m post-op healing. I have never had a surgery and I guess they are not so bad. I am very squeamish about blood and cannot watch surgical shows, etc. The first few days were kind of weird with a drain and all. I got that out yesterday.
I’m mourning my face. It sounds so vain, and it is, but I didn’t consider that I’d look different. It will take some time, but the nerve on the left side of my face was very involved with the cyst, so I am a little droopy. It’s hard to eat. It should be fine and feeling should come back soon and is already, but damn. The dr asked me to show him my bottom teeth yesterday and it was funny. I’m like Pop eye.
Thanks, you guys. It’s a work in progress! Basically, I had a new frame built and now I have to build out and continue designing. Expect many tweaks and changes in coming weeks as I learn how to use this new website theme. Thank you so much for your patience and support! This tech stuff is way out of my wheel house and the learning curve is always steeper than I’d like. But I’ll get there, and get the site how I want it to look and feel eventually.
The new site looks great!
I’m glad you’re on the mend, @Anonymousse! FWIW, I don’t think you’re vain to mourn a change in your appearance. It’s your face!!
