Church weakness

[billcu1]

I do have acid reflex. I take 2 Zantac 200MG (I believe) a day for it. When I take that and the mental meds I do not burn. Cut down the mental meds. Buspar was cut in half for me. And my lungs burn. When I get established more on it since they increased it again. I will get over that burning.

Does it feel like it’s in your lungs? Both sides? If I take a warm shower in the summer it can burn like fire. And it can just suddenly stop.

Bill

 

[Lisa_Lavadores]

I have only had burning (in my throat, not my lungs) on a few occasions. We may not have the same thing.

I have always had a ball of mucus in my throat - definitely since I was a teenager. What has worked best for me is not prescription drugs but to drink a lot of room-temperature, flat Diet 7up.

I have also reconciled myself to the fact that sometimes my goal is not to keep things down. I listen to my body. If I’m craving dairy products, it’s time for me to reconcile myself to the pain-in-the-neck process of expelling mucus. (Dairy aggravates the acid reflux for me and makes it easier to eject mucus from my body; since I’ve paid attention to that, I have less of a clog in my throat and a much better singing voice!).

I don’t know if you can relate to any of that. Stress does not affect everyone the same way.

Have any anxiety/depression meds ever given you relief? Have you tried more than one kind? Have you had any self-medicating experiences (if they’re not too personal)?

Over the course of 40 years, I’ve had many self-medicating experiences (even before the term was around!) and tried a handful of different prescriptions. I think the main problem with finding something that works is that when one is in the throes of the illness, it is very difficult to understand where the problem lies or how to convey it to another.

That, of course, is compounded by the fact that, even when the problem is known, people’s bodies react differently to medication.

There is an idea, I think, that “X” drug is supposed to solve “Y” problem, and if it doesn’t, the patient is doing something wrong. Just what the patient needs, lol - a false guilt trip!

If you want to discuss specifics of what medicine has/hasn’t done for you, maybe our two emotionally crippled heads can cut to the chase faster than a doctor who wants to help but has a lot of trouble understanding the specific problem.

I’ll tell you my conclusions for my own case: Depression was not my main problem. The depression mostly sprang from the anxiety. What I needed more than anything else was to relax every part of my mind and body. I did not need medicine that would pep me up. I needed medicine that would calm me down.

This was an extremely difficult revelation to accept because I wasn’t doing anything. I was a slug. To the outside world and to my own mind, the last thing I needed was to relax. And yet it was true. I was a clenched ball of humanity, and until I was able to relax, I was too tightly wound to move.

On a practical note, before finding medication that worked, the best tool I had was watching comedies. Laughing relaxes the body and lifts the spirit.

 

[HelenRose]

I have for some reason been the weakest I’ve ever been since being in the Church. I have lost desire to go once a week. Desire for penance I know something’s wrong. Should I start with the Hail Mary or device mercy prayer? Something to bring me closer to make a desire for going to Mass.

Get involved with one of the many necessary ministries. Become a home bound Eucharist minister, work in a soup kitchen, offer to work on the Church grounds, offer to wash dishes when there is a community dinner, take advantage of classes that may be offered, drive elderly people to church, sit in on RCIA classes to renew your knowledge, offer to help clean the church, if you don’t sing: offer to organize the music, become a greeter at the door, do something, do anything for Christ. There are so many hands needed to run a church, offer yours.

 

[billcu1]

I have only had burning (in my throat, not my lungs) on a few occasions. We may not have the same thing.

I have always had a ball of mucus in my throat - definitely since I was a teenager. What has worked best for me is not prescription drugs but to drink a lot of room-temperature, flat Diet 7up.

I have also reconciled myself to the fact that sometimes my goal is not to keep things down. I listen to my body. If I’m craving dairy products, it’s time for me to reconcile myself to the pain-in-the-neck process of expelling mucus. (Dairy aggravates the acid reflux for me and makes it easier to eject mucus from my body; since I’ve paid attention to that, I have less of a clog in my throat and a much better singing voice!).

I don’t know if you can relate to any of that. Stress does not affect everyone the same way.

Have any anxiety/depression meds ever given you relief? Have you tried more than one kind? Have you had any self-medicating experiences (if they’re not too personal)?

Over the course of 40 years, I’ve had many self-medicating experiences (even before the term was around!) and tried a handful of different prescriptions. I think the main problem with finding something that works is that when one is in the throes of the illness, it is very difficult to understand where the problem lies or how to convey it to another.

That, of course, is compounded by the fact that, even when the problem is known, people’s bodies react differently to medication.

There is an idea, I think, that “X” drug is supposed to solve “Y” problem, and if it doesn’t, the patient is doing something wrong. Just what the patient needs, lol - a false guilt trip!

If you want to discuss specifics of what medicine has/hasn’t done for you, maybe our two emotionally crippled heads can cut to the chase faster than a doctor who wants to help but has a lot of trouble understanding the specific problem.

I’ll tell you my conclusions for my own case: Depression was not my main problem. The depression mostly sprang from the anxiety. What I needed more than anything else was to relax every part of my mind and body. I did not need medicine that would pep me up. I needed medicine that would calm me down.

This was an extremely difficult revelation to accept because I wasn’t doing anything. I was a slug. To the outside world and to my own mind, the last thing I needed was to relax. And yet it was true. I was a clenched ball of humanity, and until I was able to relax, I was too tightly wound to move.

On a practical note, before finding medication that worked, the best tool I had was watching comedies. Laughing relaxes the body and lifts the spirit.

I’ve taken and I am on many meds. And yes they keep me going. If I wasn’t on them I would not be able to stand the pain. Anxiety and depression usually go together. I could look at DSM-IV-TR or DSM-V and look at specifics but it’s so politically motivated I do not trust it. Paxil helps my anxiety a lot and buspar is needed too.

I’ve heard people say CBT helps a lot. I can’t find anyone here that does it. I do drink a lot of Soda and that hurts. I feel better staying away. But it will not get rid of the problem.

 

[Lisa_Lavadores]

I second the part about ministries.

But pick one that’s realistic. In the early days of my recovery, the best I could do was appoint myself High Holy Director of Bathroom Detail - which merely meant that every time I left the church bathroom, it would be cleaner than when I entered. It may sound like a small thing, but I approached the ministry with all the love I had.

I’m glad to hear that meds are helping, but it sounds like you have an awful lot of side effects and that the level of help could be improved.

Can you identify what “moods” or “blocking of moods” the meds provide which prove most helpful to you?

 

[billcu1]

I second the part about ministries.

But pick one that’s realistic. In the early days of my recovery, the best I could do was appoint myself High Holy Director of Bathroom Detail - which merely meant that every time I left the church bathroom, it would be cleaner than when I entered. It may sound like a small thing, but I approached the ministry with all the love I had.

I’m glad to hear that meds are helping, but it sounds like you have an awful lot of side effects and that the level of help could be improved.

Can you identify what “moods” or “blocking of moods” the meds provide which prove most helpful to you?

Not mad all the time. Not feeling bad or depressed all the time. Actually feel like doing something. And not ready to fall asleep all the time.

 

[peter26]

I third the part about getting involved in the church. There is something everyone can do! Just go and ask your priest what needs to be done. That’s what I did, and I was told we could do with more altar servers, thurifers, lectors, intercessors. I’ve got the time, so I’m going to help out with whatever needs doing whenever. If you can’t do something so public, there are other options. At my parish, the church gets cleaned after Friday Mass. So people come along for Mass, then set to it! How about handing people hymn books as they come into the church. Or counting up the collection money.

 

[fred_conty]

For whatever it’s worth, meds can cause heartburn (old term for reflux). It did for me, and when I quit using certain meds, the heartburn lessened and is gradually leaving me. It also caused a dry throat and a dry cough quit a lot. And now all that is almost gone too.

Check the side effects of the drugs to see if any of them include these discomforts.

 

[Lisa_Lavadores]

I do have acid reflex. I take 2 Zantac 200MG (I believe) a day for it. When I take that and the mental meds I do not burn. Cut down the mental meds. Buspar was cut in half for me. And my lungs burn. When I get established more on it since they increased it again. I will get over that burning.

Why were your meds cut? Have you told the doctor that the burning returned when the meds were cut?

Also, we may be using different terms for the same thing. You refer to lungs and I refer to throat, but when I say “throat,” I extend the term down my windpipe to my sternum. Is that what you’re calling “lungs”? If so, you might want to consider what I said about expelling mucus when you’re able. Once I started doing that, the burning decreased.

I’m sorry the soda burns when you drink it. Have you tried it flat and room temperature? I cannot drink bubbly soda, but flat soda is more helpful than water. Lol, I usually have a couple of full cans of opened soda on my kitchen counter.

Besides meds, are you getting talk therapy or do you have a support group?

Of course, spiritual counseling would be wonderful, but I found that the priests in my parish were much too overworked to see me regularly, and without a regular relationship, one has to re-present the situation every visit and there’s never time for any depth of conversation.

Btw, what is Buspar for? Depression or anxiety?