Originally Posted by Gazelle

Joe,

Asking for some anxiety meds is probably a good thing at this point. If you feel like I felt during my almost year long "event," you're really, really frustrated AND depressed. All you see is yourself getting worse with no sign of it letting up. I know feeling like that all too well. It's a sucky feeling.

You don't want others to "pity" you. You want to be left alone but you don't. You want people to understand, but they don't. But most of all, you want someone who loves you to just pick you up and take you somewhere where you can be you again and feel normal. You get , scared, , sarcastic, , hopeful, , and all of it's exhausting.

I felt like I'd never come out of it. But I did. Slowly...... very, very slowly. Don't be afraid to go talk to a psychologist or psychologist. It CAN help you through it. If you do, see if you can't go to someone who works with rehab patients. Even a neuropsychologist would be great as they understand the effect of this stuff on your head, heart, and body.

Sounds trite, but hang in there. And that's not meant to be trite. It's easy to lose hope when you're feeling so cruddy. Find ONE good thing every day that makes you happy--a beautiful sunset, a bird singing, someone's kind words, something on tv, a piece of music, a passage in a book--just ONE good thing and write it down. Doesn't have to be long, just get it down somewhere. Then look at it when you start to feel awful again.

Sure, you're going to go, "Oh boy, what do I care about that stupid sunset anyway." occasionally. But you know what? It WILL bring back a vivid memory of that thing and maybe, just maybe, it'll make you smile. If so, there's part of a battle that's won. You had ONE good moment that day where you weren't thinking about your body and your future.

Hang in there, Joe. One day at a time. (Another sucky phrase, BTW, but it's so dang true even if we can't realize it all the time.)

The one thing that got me through feeling awful for so long were my friends on an MS board. They kept me sane, made me laugh, and understood.

Yeah, we got your back!

Good luck with the decision about meds.