Hey, everyone...
Dec. 12th, 2012 10:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerSo, yeah, I'm still reading, and thinking about you, and caring about you, and trying to remember to write in here more often.
But I'm also struggling with depression and other health issues right now. I think I'm on the mend... I found that my generic Wellbutrin sucked, and I'm using a different method of taking it, and I think it's helping, but the generic XL form seemed to make some things worse.
Interestingly, there was a news story that one brand of the generic XL form was recalled because it didn't meet the correct criteria for bioavailability (i.e.: it didn't release the medication steadily over 24 hours). There are two things aggravating about this - I'd been on a generic formulation of the XL form before, and it didn't work for me - I'd just forgotten. The other thing that's aggravating is, this is one of those things that's well known among people who are depressed and follow forums on the internet... but it wasn't enough to trigger a quicker review.
If it had been a pain killer, and people swore up and down it didn't relieve pain as well, well, people would listen. But since it was "just" an antidepressant... well, how do you know if it's the drug, or the progression of the problem? Then again - that's all the more reason to be more careful about these things, right? If you say your generic time release drug is just as good as the brand name, you can't have it release at a completely different rate, precisely because it's that much harder to track any problems the different release rate causes!
Ah well.
I also went to see a physical therapist about my hip. She said I might need a new one.
No, seriously... a guy who's running 3 miles, four or 5 times a week, and walking the remaining days might need a new hip.
See, she asked if it felt like my leg was out of socket. I said well, it's weird - my left leg is so turned out, my left foot comes down so funny, it *does* kind of feel that way, but, of course, if *that* was a problem, I'd have more serious problems than this, right?
She'd already figured out that my left hip was jutting up and forward; she figured that the reason this was happening was a tear in the gunk inside my hip socket. An MRI would be a good idea, she said. I finally asked the prognosis of this torn-gunk in my hip socket - there's nothing good; the bone's probably worn away, the gunk doesn't grow back (except when it does, and doctors don't study *that* because what is there to study?), blah blah blah, maybe eventual hip replacement. Oh, I don't want an MRI based upon ludicrously idiotic guesses? Well, here are two tiny exercises that won't damage my hideously injured hip, we have to let it *heal*, and *DO NOT RUN*.
I ran every day for the next four days; do I think I have a hip problem? No. I cancelled each of my two appointments, and didn't make another.
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kightp had some psoas muscle problems, and I tried some of the stretches she was doing - they helped. I kept doing the other stretches I was doing that seemed to help. I kept doing the balance exercises that illustrate the problem, figuring that if I kept strengthening the right muscles, it'll help.
I'm not well - but I'm a lot better, and I feel like I'm getting well. My gait is normalizing (which means I have achy legs from using different muscles), and I can sit up straighter for longer. My left butt seems to lay on chairs closer to the way my right one does. All the little things that feel wrong seem to be feeling more right.
I think I've had one time where a physical therapist actually helped me - patellar tendonitis. Each and every other time, it seemed like they completely misunderstood the problem, had me doing things that didn't help all that much, and then slapped on a TENS unit and an ice pack that didn't do a damn bit of good. Maybe it's me - maybe I talk too much to them; maybe I geek out too much. But I think I'm one for four when it comes to effective physical therapy, which isn't very heartening.
But I am on the mend, I think my depression is lifting, and I think I have fixes for some of my other things.
So - enough babble for tonight. Tomorrow - tomorrow I'm going to beg for help finding a present for a teenaged girl (my niece).
Here's hoping life is treating you all well!
But I'm also struggling with depression and other health issues right now. I think I'm on the mend... I found that my generic Wellbutrin sucked, and I'm using a different method of taking it, and I think it's helping, but the generic XL form seemed to make some things worse.
Interestingly, there was a news story that one brand of the generic XL form was recalled because it didn't meet the correct criteria for bioavailability (i.e.: it didn't release the medication steadily over 24 hours). There are two things aggravating about this - I'd been on a generic formulation of the XL form before, and it didn't work for me - I'd just forgotten. The other thing that's aggravating is, this is one of those things that's well known among people who are depressed and follow forums on the internet... but it wasn't enough to trigger a quicker review.
If it had been a pain killer, and people swore up and down it didn't relieve pain as well, well, people would listen. But since it was "just" an antidepressant... well, how do you know if it's the drug, or the progression of the problem? Then again - that's all the more reason to be more careful about these things, right? If you say your generic time release drug is just as good as the brand name, you can't have it release at a completely different rate, precisely because it's that much harder to track any problems the different release rate causes!
Ah well.
I also went to see a physical therapist about my hip. She said I might need a new one.
No, seriously... a guy who's running 3 miles, four or 5 times a week, and walking the remaining days might need a new hip.
See, she asked if it felt like my leg was out of socket. I said well, it's weird - my left leg is so turned out, my left foot comes down so funny, it *does* kind of feel that way, but, of course, if *that* was a problem, I'd have more serious problems than this, right?
She'd already figured out that my left hip was jutting up and forward; she figured that the reason this was happening was a tear in the gunk inside my hip socket. An MRI would be a good idea, she said. I finally asked the prognosis of this torn-gunk in my hip socket - there's nothing good; the bone's probably worn away, the gunk doesn't grow back (except when it does, and doctors don't study *that* because what is there to study?), blah blah blah, maybe eventual hip replacement. Oh, I don't want an MRI based upon ludicrously idiotic guesses? Well, here are two tiny exercises that won't damage my hideously injured hip, we have to let it *heal*, and *DO NOT RUN*.
I ran every day for the next four days; do I think I have a hip problem? No. I cancelled each of my two appointments, and didn't make another.
kightp had some psoas muscle problems, and I tried some of the stretches she was doing - they helped. I kept doing the other stretches I was doing that seemed to help. I kept doing the balance exercises that illustrate the problem, figuring that if I kept strengthening the right muscles, it'll help. I'm not well - but I'm a lot better, and I feel like I'm getting well. My gait is normalizing (which means I have achy legs from using different muscles), and I can sit up straighter for longer. My left butt seems to lay on chairs closer to the way my right one does. All the little things that feel wrong seem to be feeling more right.
I think I've had one time where a physical therapist actually helped me - patellar tendonitis. Each and every other time, it seemed like they completely misunderstood the problem, had me doing things that didn't help all that much, and then slapped on a TENS unit and an ice pack that didn't do a damn bit of good. Maybe it's me - maybe I talk too much to them; maybe I geek out too much. But I think I'm one for four when it comes to effective physical therapy, which isn't very heartening.
But I am on the mend, I think my depression is lifting, and I think I have fixes for some of my other things.
So - enough babble for tonight. Tomorrow - tomorrow I'm going to beg for help finding a present for a teenaged girl (my niece).
Here's hoping life is treating you all well!
