Do I need an anti-depressant?

[bikingdad90]

@byegad I thought you were advocating suicide for a second until I realised your were referring to the noisy neighbours... still you have a bad sense of humour!

 

[Globalti]

The noisy neighbours might well eradicate themselves anyway, they are moving in from Blackburn with Darwen and when they turn up to party there can be 5 cars and 10 or more men and ill-behaved children running around shouting and squealing. Definitely no social distancing happening there.

 

[Soltydog]

Can you say more about the diet change salty? How did it change? Why do you think it helped?

I was a carb junkie & when in a 'down' state carbs do not help. I cut out all sweets, most carbs & alcohol for over 6 months. Ate salad for lunch rather than sandwiches, had no potatoes at meal time, just extra veg, no breakfast cereal, just wholemeal toast. It was tough at first, but took all the docs advice & it worked for me. Lost about 2 stone in 3months too which was a bonus
Sometimes as cyclist we are obsessed about carb loading, but I was overdoing it & it wasn't helping me mentally. When I did cut my crabs right down I still managed a 16 mile commute & 100 mile rides with no issues Nowadays on a 100 mile ride I eat a good breakfast, generally 2 slices of toast, bacon, eggs & mushrooms & can manage most of the ride on that. Usually get to around 80 miles before needing to refuel & a cereal bar is sometimes sufficient to see me home. It's probably not normal, but I seem to manage ok now without massive carb loadings 👍

 

[kingrollo]

I have been on mild anti d for years. No real side effects.
Recently I have tried OTC sleep medication kalms - which works very well - I was surprised.

However the best sleep I find is on a day where I have done a decent bike ride.

 

[rivers]

I take amitriptyline to help me sleep, just a low dose (10mg/night). I don't have many side effects while taking it (get a bit dizzy if I stand up too fast, but that's always happened). However, it does not have nice withdrawal symptoms. Even if I miss one dose, I have a killer migraine the next day.

 

[straas]

Is it the noise alone making you anxious or are there other things?

We've had noisy neighbours on and off and I found the anticipation of noise to be the most stressful bit. In my case it was more of an anxiety than a depression, though anxiety can make you pretty miserable too.

Strangely I'm absolutely fine with some noises, but get really really worked up about others.

 

[AuroraSaab]

Are things any better, OP? I would hesitate to take any antidepressant for something that is caused by a temporary problem like neighbour stress. They can have side effects, the physical effects of withdrawal can be hard, and I have had a few friends who became pychologically reliant on them and found them hard to give up even after the stress had passed.

There is lots of stuff available to help before trying antidepressants. There are meditation apps like Destressify and Headspace, lots of free cognitive therapy sites and worksheets eg NHS Beating the Blues, and loads of books like Stop Thinking Start Living by Richard Carlson. If you have Spotify there is lots of music on there for helping you sleep - I used it a lot if I'm feeling stressed.