Welcome Paul!

Glad you found OCF, sorry you had to my friend!

I'll tell you, I "love" Seattle but to some it's not the best environment for a happy outlook! Now I lived in Seattle for 13 years, my wife was born and raised there and both of my children were born at the UW. I'm preparing to move back to that city this summer as I consider it home even though I was born and raised in Idaho.

When I first moved to Seattle in 1993 it took me almost two years to get acclimated to the weather, loved late spring until mid fall however once the rain season hit, I had issues. I found out very quickly why that city was renowned for it's coffee and alternative music (love em!). Here is a link to a really great article that describes why a large percentage of Seattle's population experiences Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD...really? clever).

http://vitamind3blog.com/2011/07/se...depression-vitamin-d-deficiency-seattle/

Now there are numerous possibilities as to why you are feeling depressed, your cancer experience among them but there are avenues to explore in treating it and moving forward.

Given your age (68) I'm betting right off the bat that you have a low testosterone read. Men begin to lose 1-2% testosterone production starting at the age of 40, after 28 years you can imagine about where your testosterone levels are. Add in the effects of stress, trauma from your cancer experience, medications (pain meds, anti depressants etc lower testosterone levels), diet and lack of exercise all greatly reduces testosterone in your body. Why is this important? Not only is depression a sign of low testosterone, there is a direct link between depression and low T

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/571098

As many of us survivors of Oral Cancer experience thyroid issues post treatment that may be a factor as well as indicated in this article from WebMD.

http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-the-thyroid-and-hormones

Now Cancer Related Fatigue (CRF) is also a real condition and many of us survivors suffer from it, even if our TSH levels, adrenals and testosterone levels are withing "normal" (whatever that means to you). I suffered from crushing fatigue post treatment, still experience it at times, and it really drug me down emotionally which is a hard thing to do if you know me. My first posts on these forums were looking for answers on how to address the issue and I continued to fight it even after I weened myself off all of the opiate pain medications (which are a big factor in depression and fatigue due to how they work).

I'm a reader and will dive into my issues looking for answers and found a few that helped me. Getting off the meds that drug me down (opiates, benzos, etc), getting counseling for PTSD (big culprit in depression), and of course my true saviors, diet and exercise.

Exercise has been shown to be as effective in treating depression as antidepressant prescription drugs (http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Exercise-and-Depression-report-excerpt.htm) and helps with every part of your health. I used diet and exercise to help combat both depression and CRF and am proud of how far I've come. In the beginning I used energy drinks etc to motivate me to work out, with 5 Hour Energy shots really helping me when I was feeling that "crushed" feeling. Now I no longer use it, but rely on good nutrition and some other supplements to keep fueling the engine so to speak.

I encourage you to talk to your Dr, get him involved and start work towards solutions. Counseling, diet, exercise, chemical assistance, really no stone should be left unexplored until you feel better. If this experience has taught us anything is that our time on this earth is far too short to let fatigue and depression hold us back.

Good luck to you Paul, we're here to help.

Kerri, you're amazing by the way my dear friend!


Eric