Do you alway's feel this way or is it just when the one you love is gone? If I was you I would try and find a hobby that keeps you busy and happy. Like mine is taking picyures and taking my son to the park and thing's like that. I did once try depression pill's but they made me feel worse than I did before. What are you taking to help with the HS?

As of late even when he was home i still feel this way. Although i know him being gone has probably made it worst. i just got antibiotics that as in the past didn't work for me. My doc is trying silver nitrate again. My groin area seem to respond well to it and i havn't had a problem with it. It is jus mu bum that i am havin alot a problems with and does seem to be responding to any thing i have tried.

I too suffer from depression and quite often from sever anxiety.

Each person is different and the disease, and how it effects us is different too. Some people find solace in everyday activities and healthy relationships; others can't even get out of bed in the morning.

I've suffered with depression on and off for the past 20 years. Bad flareups of the HS seem to bring on my depression and I experience anxiety when my family and friends go about planning things in advance. I can't stand a trip, or fancy dinner cause I just don't know how my body will react and if I will get a flareup.

On a recent trip to my doctor we started working on a program for dealing with minor depression. It's an alternative to medication and it's free (here in Canada at least). It's called Bounceback. You can check out the website at www.bouncebackbc.ca. Maybe ask your doctor about it. It might be worth trying.

Good luck!

Some of the things I do to battle my depression are:
1. I turn my stereo on to my favorite music (be sure to have UPBEAT songs..you sure dont need any crying in my beer tunes right now!LOL) and sing along..even if I dont feel like singing at first, I usually feel better after I have done a few songs..and believe me my voice sucks! but it still helps.
2. I burn (or use my candle warmer) some wonderful candles, their smell seems to help me somehow, not quite sure how but it does relax me.
3. I also like to get into a hot bubble bath with a book, the warm water heps ease the pain and the book takes me to places I will never get the chance to see and can transform me into someone I will never be able to be.
4. I also enjoy my computer and will chat with friends or play games to occupy my mind.

5. I also try to remeber to dress in bright colors and have my curtains open to allow sunshine in to help life my black hole depression. Even stepping outside for a few minutes a day helps.

Hi! I read your post and WOW i have the very same ordeal! Planted in the bed the pain is SO bad i cry and cry till i make myself sicker. Then, all the wining i do with family members, then, they see me when the inflamation is tolerable so it appears that im making a mountain out of a moe hill! Like you said, they think your faking it! I had a real rough go last night, every single sinus track was draining like CRAZY and burning/itching to the point of where i think i could commit myself to a nut farm! In fact, i didnt sleep a wink last night! Just could not sleep even though i take klonopen for anxiety, my usual dose didnt do the trick last night! When im flared real bad, it literally shows on my face, i have a REAL hard time smiling and everyone is always telling me to smile once in a while!! God if they only knew huh? I dont think they realize what we go through just trying to put clothes on/off, getting in/out bathtub ect..AND any trips such as to the beach with grandkids is so horrible for me cuz i cant do the things i would like to do. I constantly have to tell them, im sick! They hear it all the time from me cuz i dont want them to think i dont love them! IT is SO hard on my grandkids! Grandma is always SICK! My middle age granddaughter 12, is the most compassionate one! The oldest 17 treats me like crap! The other 5 i really try to hide my feelings from him. One day, i was SO sick i went and sat outside on porch, and my grandson came out/sat next to me, and got all up in my face and asked me so sadly: Do you love me? OMG! That rips my heart out! I then have to tell him, son, im sick and i hurt and it makes it hard for me to smile sweety. He says ok grandma, i love you! This disease not only affects me, but affects my entire family! They see my severe mood swings and think im bipolar. But, it is from the 24/7 pain that drives me over the edge sometimes! My dad one time told me: I dont think you are crazy but you are weird! OMG! That hurt me SO bad! I already have emotional stress and very sensitive and he had to say that!! I dont think he realizes just how BAD that made me feel, and that was like 7 months ago and i still dwell on every single day! Yeh! I am weird, cuz the anxiety i have is overwhelming, so, i get to where i talk to much and repeat same subjects CUZ i cant focus cuz i am constantly distracted from the pain/drainage! I wish there was a good anti-depressant i could take! I tried zoloft, no help, and others over the years, I even tried Cymbalta, it seemed to help somewhat. I am thinking about getting back on it again. Anyone try Cymbalta? What about that Pristiq Is it any good/better than Cymbalta? Tried Welbutrin to and crap, it made me spacy and flat feeling and all i could do was lay on the couch! It is like my mind is scrambled eggs! To much stress , to long..takes a tole on me. I used to be an outgoing person, loved to plant flowers, tidy up my yard, i used to draw alot and enter my art in the fairs, i used to love riding horses! You name it! Now, the very thought of any task like that is depressing! WOW, i miss the good ole days! I've been dealing with a hardcore 5 year run with HS, the worst EVER in 30 years. I had surgery in my right armpit over 3 years ago and to this day it has not healed! My derm sent me back to the plastic surgeon for a skin graft consult, and the surgeon told me it was not a good idea, he didnt recommend it. According to my derm, his statement was: its NO big deal! Well, my surgeon disagreed! So, i ended up on Remicade for 1 year and it didnt do a thing except cause a fungal infection in my fingernails. My derm said no more Remicade for it clearly wasnt helping, so i stopped! Dont have to tell me twice! That stuff was horrible! Now he wants me to try Humira!!! Im like yeh right, its obvious it messed up my immune system, for i NEVER had fungal problems until Remicade! And furthermore, it clearly made my HS go completely NUTS! I had active infection when they started me on it, in fact, at the ER, i had a culture done on the inside of groind/private parts and it came back mrsa! The derm ignored it and told me "oh its just a bunch of dumb bacteria! I could not believe she said that! Here is something weird, like 20 years ago i seen a lady doctor at a clinic for HS (at the time it was only in the peri-anal area. She told me that my immune system needed a boost and gave me a shot of gammaglobulin? She told me, you will feel pretty good for about 3 days after the shot, and she was right! I had fantastic energy. That doctor moved away! I wish i could find her! I liked her theory better, boost the immune system, not suppress it! My new doctors at this huge clinic, i have not told them yet about this injection, but, im going to! That clinic makes appts way to far apart for me, like every 2-3 months. I used to go to doctors every 3 weeks like clock work! Now this HS has spread into my armpits as of 5 years ago, and they got the size of golfball abscesses ending me in the ER to have "brutal" I&D!! They dont give enough morphine, not by a long shot! Years ago, when i had private insurance, they would always sedate me b4 they cut! Now, i have to BEG & cry for them to give me morphine, so they can stick that HUGE needle in the abscess to numb it, lidocaine does NOT work, not one bit! In fact, i have had I&D b4 and told my doctor NO lidocaine shots please, just cut it open! And i know for fact, by having it done without or with lidocaine, it is the same intense pain. Those dang shots do not work on necrotic tissue! Shoot, a nurse told me that in the ER. Man oh man! Why is it that there is not enough studies done on this horrid disease? I feel for every single person that suffers with this, cuz im in the same boat as you all are! Well, hoping for a better day Oh Lord please!

I'm not on an antidepressant but a mood stabilizer called invega man its made a world of difference hardly ever have those 'break downs' any more and its keeping me very functional!

Dus