Depression Rescue

by Al Short

Many women enter into menopause at different times of their life. Some experience a few of the symptoms while others can have more.

Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling is most likely the most common sensation but, Irregular heart beat, irritability, mood swings, sudden tears, difficulty sleeping, irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, phantom periods, shorter cycles and longer cycles often occur.

One of the most troubling symptoms is Loss of libido. However it is not limited to a drop in desire but also a dry vagina, crashing fatigue, anxiety, feelings of dread, apprehension, depression, difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion,  memory lapses, incontinence upon sneezing, or laughing.

Women have also report having Itchy, crawly skin aching, sore joints, muscles, breast tenderness, headaches, gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence,  nausea,  bloating, increase in allergies weight gain, hair loss, but with an increase in facial hair. Many have experienced dizziness, light-headedness, tingling in the extremities, gum problems, increased bleeding, burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor.

One of the biggest problems of menopause is Osteoporosis (porous bones).

A select few have noticed changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier. Tinnitus: ringing in ears, ‘whooshing,’ buzzing etc.   Reason For Symptoms

Hot flashes are due to the hypothalamic response to declining ovarian estrogen production. The declining estrogen state induces hypophysiotropic neurons in the arcuate nucleas of the hypothalamus to release gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in a pulsatile fashion, which in turn stimulates release of luteinizing hormone (LH). Extremely high pulses of LH occur during the period of declining estrogen production. The LH has vasodilatory effects, which leads to flushing. Loss of libido for some women the loss is so great that they actually find sex repulsive, in much the same way as they felt before puberty. What hormones give, loss of hormones can take away. Aching sore joints may include such problems as carpal tunnel syndrome. Depression different from other depression, the inability to cope is overwhelming. There is a feeling of loss of self. Hormone therapy ameliorates the depression dramatically. Weight gain often around the waist and thighs, resulting in ‘the disappearing waistline’. Tingling in extremities can also be a symptom of B-12 deficiency, diabetes, alterations in the flexibility of blood vessels, or a depletion of potassium or calcium  Tinnitus is one of those physical conditions that seems to manifest in some women at the same time as menopause. It can be associated with health conditions such as hypothyroidism and heart disease, and is a known side-effect of many medications, including aspirin (salicylates) and Prozac.

SOME OF THE  SYMPTOMS MAY ALSO BE SIGNS OF THE FOLLOWING: *hypothyroidism *diabetes *depression with another etiology other medical conditions

About the Author
Al Short: WorldClassNutrition is a leader in discout nutrition supplements with the largest selection of diet pills, creatine products, protein powders, and bodybuilding supplements.  Find more information on the products you are searching for at http://www.worldclassnutrition.com .  If interested in Femestra go to http://www.femestra.com .
Copyright © 2009 Al Short

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Tags: depression, menopause, osteoporosis

Before he started losing his hearing, Steve was an outgoing young man with a promising life ahead of him. He had several close friends he enjoyed spending time with, he visited with family regularly and cherished spending time with his nieces and nephews. His career and social life was also thriving. Steve was an IT specialist in line for a promotion, he was active in his community, and participated in charitable events throughout the year – but this all changed as Steve’s hearing deteriorated.

During this gradual hearing loss, which eventually left Steve partially deaf in both ears, Steve started sleeping more than usual. He began to lose weight because he lost his appetite. Steve became restless and irritable, which impacted his personal relationships as well as his career. He began to experience chronic headaches, which made him more irritated. Although Steve’s hearing loss was not the only thing responsible for his reduced quality of life, his hearing loss was a  primary factor because it added to his depression.

Although Steve suffered from hearing loss at a relatively early age, many older adults endure hearing loss which is often accompanied by depression. In one study conducted by the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation, 15% of participants over the age of 65 reported feelings of depression. These feelings are often linked to health concerns which include the onset of hearing loss.

Depression is a disease which affects many people each year. Symptoms such as feeling sad, fatigue, loss of appetite, irritability and even chronic health problems such as headaches or GI issues are just some of the indications of depression. It is not uncommon for depression or even aggression to accompany hearing loss at any age. This is because those suffering from hearing loss tend to feel overwhelmed and helpless. Also, they do not know how to cope with their hearing loss and may even be resistant to devices such as hearing aids.

Fortunately there are steps you can take to combat depression  accompanying hearing loss. These steps include accepting the condition, joining support groups, using Learning and Communication Enhancement (LACE), and consulting with a medical professional about getting digital hearing aids.

The first step to overcoming depression associated with hearing loss is to learn to accept the condition. This is critical because it will help you become more proactive in healing yourself. Although you might not be able to reverse your hearing loss, you can take steps to avoid feeling helpless. Simply defining the problem and learning about alternatives for communicating will help you realize all hope is not lost. You can still live a full life even with a hearing loss.

The best way to overcome depression related to hearing loss is with hearing aids.  The technology available in today’s hearing aids enables them to perform better than ever before.  And they are so small, no one will even know your wearing one!

Joining support groups can also be very beneficial. Meeting with others who share similar obstacles can help you feel empowered. It’s so helpful just to be able to talk about your feelings with others who truly understand the problem. Your friends and family may try to be supportive but unless they are also dealing with a hearing loss they cannot fully understand how hearing loss really affects your life.

Listening and communication enhancement (LACE) was developed by leading audiologists at the University of California at San Francisco to improve listening and communication skills in those who are suffering from hearing loss. LACE is an interactive computerized training program designed to assist those suffering from hearing loss by helping them to adapt strategies for compensating when their current level of hearing is inadequate. This program has been shown to increase the listening and communication skills of users by 40%. A program like this can really help you cope better with your hearing loss , especially when used in conjunction with a hearing aid.  When you regain your life through better hearing it can really help lessen feelings of depression.

Finally, if you’re still battling depression it may be a good idea to consult a medical professional for treatment for depression. It is important to remember depression is a disease and it will not go away on its own. A medical professional can assess your symptoms to help you to combat depression and get back to enjoying life.

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Hearing Loss can be devestating and extremely depressing.  This is where the professionals at AidRight Hearing Aids can help.  Make an investment in your hearing today by calling us 877-777-1710 or visit our website at http://www.aidright.com

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Tags: depression, hearing loss, LACE, Learning and Communication Enhancement

People, who catch cold, can recover quicker, and in some cases even prevent catching cold in the first place, as long as they help their bodies to improve its immunity. There are some well-known ways to improve your self-defense system and there are some surprising ways that are less obvious to us. For example, when you inhale a cold virus, it inflames your nasal passages. The inflammation process causes the body to release chemicals, which include histamine. When you have a weak immune system, you are at a higher risk of catching a cold or a virus. Your immune system is responsible for helping you fight off infections; therefore, when your immune system is weak it cannot function properly.

Sleep apnea can have severe effects on your health and has been linked to such problems as heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes. Obstructive sleep apnea involves repeated pauses in breathing that occur when the muscles relax during sleep, causing soft tissue in the back of the throat to collapse and block the upper airway.  A number of clinical trials have shown regular exercise to be strongly linked to heightened immunity, with the emphasis on regular.

If you stay inactive, this body temperature pattern will lead to poor sleep, which will prevent you from sleeping deeply. Approaching stress management from a wellness lifestyle approach can give you “money in the bank” when it comes to preventing stress, it can give you the energy you need to handle stress when it happens. The following components are part of a wellness lifestyle approach. The authors suggested that restoring sleep is an important preventative measure and critical component of medical therapy. These findings are underlined by a number of studies, the latest reported in the previous volume of the Sleep Bulletin, demonstrating that adequate sleep is associated with a decreased mortality risk in the general population.

They’re not gaining anything, but are losing a huge amount of their health, you can see it in their social interactions, their ability to learn and think clearly. Sleep is one of the keys to a successful diet and a healthy lifestyle. Other public health hazards, such as poor nutrition, smoking, excess alcohol and lack of exercise is the subject of endless research. On the contrary, little research has been done on the subject of sleep.

- Stage 1 is light sleep. You’ve probably experienced this during boring classes in school. Your body is barely asleep, your eyes move slightly, and you’re easily awakened, usually with a startled “jump.” During this stage, you’ll often have dream-like visuals.
- Stage 2 is when the eye movements stop and your brain waves begin to slow down.
- Stage 3 begins deep sleep, as very slow brain waves, called delta waves, take over the more rapid brain waves, called sleep spindles.
- Stage 4 is a deep state where all muscle movements stop. It’s hard to be awakened during this state, and when you are, you’re often in a groggy, disoriented condition.
- Stage 5 is called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. In this stage, your breathing becomes shallow, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your eyes jerk rapidly in all directions, and you have your wildest dreams.
- We sleep in cycles wherein all five stages are completed in around one-and-a-half to two hours. As the cycles increase, we spend less time in deep sleep and more in stages 1, 2, and REM.

Stage three and four, deep sleep, being the health sleep where the brain and heart slow to a resting phase and this stage takes up 50% of sleeping time. Dreaming takes place during stage five with waking off and on. Millions of people suffer with some form of insomnia, resulting in fatigue, lack of mental alertness, and weakened physical and mental health. It also contributes to both minor and major injury accidents.

Physically active people catch fewer colds and other upper respiratory infections, but more exercise isn’t always better. Therefore that makes us vulnerable to diseases from colds to cancer, flu to heart disease. Some studies found that taking vitamin C (about 600 milligrams/day) for three weeks before an ultra marathon reduced post race cold symptoms, yet others have found that vitamin C supplementation made no difference. Getting frequent colds can be a sign of over training or overtaxing your body. Cold and flu viruses are spread by airborne particles, so when you cough, sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue instead of your hands, if possible. When this happens, you can expect to feel weak and run down. To be susceptible to colds and the flu and more likely to be affected by disease, when your immune system is not functioning well, germs can easily penetrate the body and wreak havoc on your organs.

Many natural ways are available in order to boost your immune system. Some of the important tips to boost your immune system are given here. Immune-boosting foods include organically grown fruits and vegetables, wholegrain, beans and other legumes, natural oils such as expelled-pressed olive oil, hemp oil, walnut oil, flax oil and coconut butter. Brazil nuts, a rich source of selenium, are particularly good for the immune system. First, the immune system manufactures antibodies, which identify and fend off invaders. Also, your immune system has a built-in memory, it remembers how it defended your body against those past invaders, and it stands ready to do it again. Adequate restful sleep helps to restore our bodies and refresh our minds. During deep sleep, our bodies release potent immune-enhancing substances that strengthen immune function.

Everyone needs to work at resetting your body clock naturally.

On average, college students today are going to bed 1-2 hours later and sleeping 1-1.6 hours less than they did a generation ago. As a result, sleep complaints and depression have increased dramatically among college students and doctors have discovered that sleeping for nine or more hours a night is not necessarily beneficial, either.

About the Author
Another fine article by Chuck Arnone in regards to our day to day health and your immune system.

http://www.immune-system-healthy.com

&

http://www.provitaminliquid.com

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Tags: cold virus, depression, health, immune system, sleep

By Mary Betz

Migraine triggers and other causes of headaches can come from many sources. So often we are looking for just one thing that causes migraines and headaches when in reality it is a combination of many factors. The most frequent cause of headaches in general is stress, but all too often mood plays a large role.

Quite frankly, until you are able to recognize and accept this, you might not have much success in getting these headaches under control. The effects of lifestyle on headaches cannot be underestimated.

Depression and anxiety can greatly affect your headache profile and are recognized by headache experts as a migraine trigger. Now wait!! Before you dismiss the idea, up to 85% of all chronic pain sufferers have depression and/or anxiety to SOME degree. It’s almost like the chicken and the egg, which came first?

Pain and depression impact each other; the more pain, the more depressed you feel and then that makes the pain worse. If you have a headache, doesn’t crying or being upset make it worse? This is the anxiety fueling the headache. Along the same vein, if you have headaches or migraines on a regular basis, are missing school, work and family outings, you are bound to feel a bit depressed.

Too many times this is one of the most difficult concepts for people to get their minds to accept; that they may have some degree of depression which makes the pain more chronic and more severe. Don’t be too hard on yourself! The receptors and pathways for headache are similar and sometime the same as anxiety receptors in the brain.  Without getting in to a medical lecture when they are all firing off you have a headache and are anxious. One basically fuels the other.

Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in Headaches

Just like treating the headache itself, it is important to realize that treating mood is multi-factorial. Counseling with a good psychologist is invaluable. The rule of thumb when getting counseling is to give it at least three visits to see if you and the counselor “mesh” so to speak. Not all patient/provider relationships are perfect.

Counseling will allow you to dump some of the stress, in addition to learning how to develop good coping skills for future life stressors. Try too, to develop a good social structure. Even if you can’t participate in activities that your friends may do (sports), you can still invite people to your place for a get together once a month or so.  Regular human social contact is a form of support and can help stave off depression.  In fact, more than 6 million women experience depression each year in the USA.

Many people disregard the recommendation to take medication for mood in the presence of headaches.  So many times people make this mistake and think there is something wrong with them if they accept the fact that they are anxious or depressed. Even MILD depression can make headaches worse. Many of todays medications can treat BOTH mood and headaches.

SSRI’s: This group of drugs are seratonin re-uptake inhibitors (what??). Seratonin is one of the natural “happy drugs” in the brain, but is taken up by nerve endings and recycled, so to speak. By slowing this process, you have more of it in the way you need it and feel happier. Side effects include weight gain, odd dreaming, mild episodic vertigo and rarely some of them can cause headaches to be worse. Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa, Prozac and Paxil are all in this class. Paxil and Lexapro are excellent if you have more anxiety. If you are over the age of 60, you may need to start at a lower dose than normal.

TCA’S: Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) are an older class of drugs that are NOT first line for depression. I mention them here because they are used in the treatment of headaches and can reduce headache pain.

CYMBALTA: Cymbalta is a drug that functions with two effects. Part of the drug is an SSRI but most of the drug functions on another pathway called norepinephrine. The end result is another brain chemical is boosted and you feel happier. It also has and effect of calming back pain in some patients.

Treatment of [http://www.headache-adviser.com/migraine-triggers.html]depression that is fueled by migraine involves treating not only the migraine but the also the mood. Until both sides of the problem are addressed, progress may be slow.

Mary K. Betz, MS RPA-C is a practicing Physician Assistant in neurology who specializes in headache medicine. For more information visit http://www.headache-adviser.com

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Tags: chronic pain, depression, headache, migraine, mood disorder

By Susan P Denny

When a person is suffering from depression, they are not weak, lazy or wallowing in self pity.

Depression is a real illness and if left untreated, can become very serious. Depression is believed to be associated with a chemical imbalance in the central parts of the brain.

As a fellow sufferer, I know how low you feel as a person, and having family or friends telling you that you’ll get over it, certainly doesn’t help. It took me a long time to feel “normal” again, but I have conquered it.

If a member of your family or a friend is a sufferer of this illness, the best thing you can do for them is to let them know that you understand what they’re going through, and that you’re there to give them support whenever they need it. The only way to recover is with proper treatment and having a support team around you.

I don’t know how I would have coped without my family being there for me. Sometimes you just need a hug, or someone to listen to how you’re feeling. Don’t be afraid to ask your loved one if you can help, as it’s sometimes hard for the depression sufferer to ask for it.

Once the symptoms are under control, you can play an integral part in helping the sufferer regain their self confidence. Go with them on excursions outside the home and encourage them to live their life as they did before the onset of depression.

You can help more than you think.

Susan Denny has been happily married for 38 years, has 4 adult children (all married) and 6 grandchildren. She has many years experience with families and relationships and has been involved in the Self Development industry for nearly 20 years, starting with one-on- one training with Bob Proctor in 1990. She has since attended many seminars hosted by world renowned Gurus in the Self Development and Internet Marketing areas.
Go to: http://healthwealthequalshappiness.com for more information, tips and ideas.

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Tags: depression, self confidence, suffering from depression