Posts by restlesshound77

It could be anxiety or depression, but you should still check in with your doctor to rule out anything else.
Eat a solid breakfast—stick to whole grains with slow-burning carbs so your blood sugar doesn't crash on you. Generally speaking, just watch your diet; aim for high quality and make sure you're getting fresh fruits and veggies every day. How are your iron levels looking?
Either way, it’s worth seeing your physician to get some blood work done. Once you have those results, they can figure out the next steps.

There are days when I feel on top of the world and completely unstoppable. But then the rough patches hit—those moments where self-pity starts creeping in. It’s not even something I’m doing on purpose; it just bubbles up from somewhere deep inside, totally involuntary. When that happens, I feel pathetic. Just plain, miserable, and small. I lose sight of everything good about myself and the life I've built.
It feels like there's nothing left to hold onto. The sadness just settles in, and my confidence? Gone. 😎

I'm still mulling it over and analyzing everything, but nothing has really clicked yet.
The last time I showered was this past Friday 😁 and I'm just about to hop in the
shower now. We'll see how things shake out today.
By the way, Avène Cold cream is specifically formulated for dry, sensitive skin.

Why does my skin itch and sting whenever I apply moisturizer after a shower?

For about a month now—coincidentally the same amount of time I haven't been swimming or out in the sun, though I'm not sure if there's a connection—I've noticed that after I shower and dry off, applying lotion causes this stinging sensation on my outer upper arms and scattered elsewhere, like my back and legs.
Initially, I figured it was the after-sun lotion I was using last month (
it was an after-sun milk from RoC, but now I've switched to Avène Cold cream for
dry, sensitive skin), since the stinging happened right after putting it on.
Then I went to the drugstore and bought some Avène Cold cream—same result.
I even tried three different shower gels, but the reaction stayed the same.

If this is an allergy, what kind am I looking at? Atopic dermatitis?
Could it be a cold allergy (since the weather has finally cooled down here😕)?
Or maybe food? I've noticed some changes in my digestion lately, specifically harder stools with mucus.☕ My diet is mostly high-fiber: grains, seeds,
nuts, veggies, fruit, with moderate amounts of meat and eggs.
I also deal with sinusitis, so I usually have to clear out mucus in the morning.
🙂

I read somewhere that for people with allergy-prone skin, the stinging can actually happen right after applying moisturizer, even if the cream itself isn't the culprit.

What should I do?

Thanks, electricdriver78!
It’s a little scary right now, though—dealing with the nausea, headaches, and all that. 😲
My crisis was triggered by very specific things. And those triggers
don't exist anymore, because I spent that whole time slowly
working through them and getting my life in order.
I learned so much about myself, and I actually managed to tackle
the hardest part: changing who I am.

I don't think there's an antidepressant in the world that can save you from depression
unless you decide to step up, do the work, and put in the effort yourself.

I honestly don't know much about those specific medications.
One doctor put me on some sedatives that I took for about
6 weeks. They just slowed me down and made me sleepy; they were really only useful
for calming me down during a panic attack.
Then, another doctor told me I needed to stop taking them as soon as possible
so I could start an antidepressant to actually help.
After being on the antidepressant for 14 days, I was functioning well without the sedatives.
The panic attacks stopped, and my anxieties slowly faded, but
at the end of the day, you have to do the heavy lifting yourself. Those meds are just tools.

HealthFirst said:I took them quite heavily over a very short period. But just as quickly, I decided to stop using them altogether.
The thing is, I didn't feel right. They were slowing me down and making me drowsy. I felt sluggish and lazy...

Are you perhaps thinking of sedatives?
Sedatives can make you sleepy, exhausted, slow, or even mentally foggy...
An antidepressant works over the long haul. If you only took it for a short stint, it probably hasn't even kicked in yet—it usually takes about a month or two to actually start working.

I have an appointment coming up with my psychotherapist soon—
I’m planning on tapering off the antidepressant I've been on for the last 15 months. I'm feeling good, so I want to get off the meds.

Should I start by cutting them in half or taking a half dose daily?
How long does that process take? Or should I just stop altogether?

In all this time, I haven't used any sedatives (my therapist
told me things would "level out" shortly after
starting the antidepressants... and that’s exactly what happened. A little bit of the actual drug, a little bit
placebo 😉 ).
Every once in a while, I forget a dose or miss one, then I just pick back up
the next day.