Yes, pretty much. Anti depressants may help with the bad temper. For many of my friends on tx, lexapro or some other antid helped. But you have to find the right one for you. They are not the solution, but they do help while on tx. Make yourself eat breakfast and small meals throughout the day. It'll help. Also, I have to take protonix for my stomach. It helps reduce some of that burning stomach feeling. I still get it but it's not as constant anymore. Try to stay active by walking or excercising and get enough rest also. I know sometimes you can't sleep, but when you can try to get some extra hours.

I would add to BillW's good advice by saying DRINK LOTS OF WATER! Everyone I know who has gone through tx (and the docs, too) say it helps with the side effects. And another good anti-depressant is the one that I'm on--Celexa (generic name, citalopram). Keep us posted on your progress.

Add lots of soluble fibre to your diet. If your bowels work better, so does your brain.

If you don't know what these are here is a list of soluble fibre foods we eat every day.

You may need more than that, I don't know. But adding the right kind of fibre to your diet will certainly help towards feeling a little better. I know it helped me.

Good luck brave soldier.
Sheart

OH SHUT UP!!! lol
mood swings are also part of the disease and are just exacerbated by tx. once you understand that you can begin to laugh at your bad moods. my middle name is 'grouchy' at the moment. lol......... my poor family go through hell at times, but i have taught them well and they understand that i dont really mean it. i do try to control it, but sometimes to no avail. hang in there hon, learn and educate those you live with and there will be more understanding all round.
stay positive my friend and keep smiling
x

yes, djharg. all to the norm for tx. i am lucky my wife didn't slit my throat.

you are not going insane. it is the tx. ride it out as best you can.

djharg,

i just read your journal entries. i know some in treatment can go to work and workout and really have not as bad a time as others.

in my case i thought that if i moved around a bit or took a walk it would help me out. all it did was make me worse. you really have to pace yourself. if you really feel like crap don't push yourself to the limit. acknoledge it for what it is(the tx side effects) and let it go.

not to jinx you, but you may have some of these side effects well after treatment. i'm saying that just for you to be aware that it is a possibility, not to scare you.

we have similar problems with both drugs and alcohol. i belong to an alcohol forum too. seek out as much help as you need during this trying time.
joe

ps, nice dog you ahve there too

oh yes,I take zanax,barb

I feel so bad for you. Yes this is normal with tx. The first four months were the worst for me. Unbeknownst to me, I had become clinically depressed. I was so sick, never got out of bed, hardly ate a thing other than drinking Ensure drink supplements. My doctor put me on anti-depressants, gave me meds for the stomach, and I slowly began to feel somewhat better. I have one week of tx left to do. It is awful, but if I had to do it over again....I would. Doc told me to stay away from people who annoy me because tx makes one get irritated 1,000 X worse than normal. Like I said earlier, my neighbors black cat would make the sign of the cross when I drove past their home! My family have been through hell too. They tell me what a beast I was on certain days, and they all avoid me when it's obvious that I'm in "one of those moods". I have even snapped at complete strangers in public places! I almost got myself killed by a carload of people over road rage!! It can make you do crazy things. It's very important to keep yourself in check with anti-depressants. I am not a hateful person at all. I am myself again thanks to Lexapro. Another thing I already mentioned, is to be sure to be upright for at least 30 mins after taking meds. Always take with food too. If you lay down too soon meds will stay in esophagal area and burn holes into your esophagus causing ulcers. If you take without food, it will cause stomach ulcers. I feel your pain. It will get better. Hang in there. Fight this dragon to the death! I'll say a prayer for you. Cathie