Hi Bobd,

The medication will start to kick in within a couple of weeks and Redser is right about getting out for a walk, even if it's to your backyard or the stoop. We have a swing in our back yard that we would sit in to watch the progress of our neighbor's tree blooming last spring. I think that tree became symbolic for Jack, he kept telling me he was coming back too - and he has. You hang in there and go find a good tree to look at.

Regards JoAnne

Hi Bobd,
Depression can sometimes be much more scary than cancer, at least this is how I experienced when I was severely depressed after finishing all treatment and when my doctors told me that I was in remission. I didn't have the energy to do anything at all and couldn't sleep long even after taking sleeping pills. I have written quite a number of posts about my depression experience and you can search them here. It is important that you take the anti-depressants and be patient because they won't take the effect until after 2 to 3 weeks. After that if you don't see any improvement, you must consult your psychiatrist for further treatment. It is good that you can ventilate your grivances here because many people here have gone through what you are going through at this stage. I had to take anti-depressants for 18 months until my psychiatrist felt happy with my improvement. So be patient and don't worry.

Karen

Bob - things will get better - keep picturing that. And keep moving even if it's just getting out of bed and bending over. Somebody on the OCF site said that it's harder for depression to hit a moving target. When I was going through divorce and REALLY depressed, a friend of mine came over, got me out of my house and over to hers, handed me a shovel and got me to help her shovel a big pile of mushroom mulch (filled with horse droppings) that she had just gotten for her garden. It really helped, and I still have fond memories of that day, shoveling poop with my friend, Heidi.