UK mental health helplines

 If you thought a summer lockdown was bad for people already struggling with mental health, a winter one may well be 10 times worse - with cold, dark nights and limited social contact / please keep a lookout for your family, friends and neighbours that are struggling.

The relapse and overdose rate has increased by 30% since March 2020. Mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression.

Shout is the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help.

Text: 85258

Samaritans -Provides confidential, non-judgemental emotional support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those that could lead to suicide. You can phone, email, write a letter or in most cases talk to someone face to face.

Telephone: 116 123 (24 hours a day, free to call)

Goldfinches on the garden feeders

 Our washing line snapped a few weeks back and seeing it was only ever used for the bird feeders Heather came up with an alternative location for them. Here are the birds trying the new feeders. Don’t worry about the washing we have a rotary clothes line so no washing was harmed in the making of this video 😊👍😂. It seems the birds love the new arrangement 🐦 🦅 🦢 

 

Solving puzzles on iPad

 Yesterday my wife Heather downloaded an App for puzzles and I chose a nice winter scene, the only problem was that she clicked 500 pieces. It took me around six hours to get the edges joined up. I came back to it today hand after an hour getting nowhere started it again in a 42 piece puzzle. And? I got it  done in minutes, so 42 piece puzzles are the future😊👍😂

Mental health problems matter

 I am the first to tell someone with mental health issues to seek help. I have been on antidepressants for years and if for any reason I don’t take them for a few days I can feel the darkness gathering.  I suffer from Multiple Sclerosis am captive to my wheelchair 🦼 or my bed and I can no loner stand so have to be hoisted from one to the other. I am catheterised and awaiting a stoma operation. Coping with all of that makes me depressed I am not saying that as a Top Trump it is just for those reading this to get a little background as to why I have needed antidepressants, if I entered a ‘bad health pissing competition’ I would be a long way from  Top Trump. But I know people will read I have been on antidepressants for years And think why does he need medication to cope.

There I go making excuses for suffering from depression, that’s crazy I will never meet you and you don’t know me from Adam. Yet I feel I need to justify myself to you🤔. All I want to say is if you are suffering there is no harm seeking help. Don’t bottle it all up or hit the bottle I can tell you it don’t help. The best thing to do is talk to someone and if that someone is a doctor 👩‍⚕️  👨‍⚕️ male or female all the better. They are trained in helping. I am not as you can tell from this post. I am just a well meaning old man who wants the best for you especially at the moment with Covid and another lockdown about to start. 

Catheter change

 It comes round with amazing rapidity, every four weeks. I cannot say it’s like clockwork but almost. I was due on Tuesday but no show same for Wednesday and Thursday. Friday meant a call to the nurses and yep I had been overlooked.😊 Late yesterday we got a call to say “be with you tomorrow “ and sure enough she turned up rang the door bell 🛎 and it didn’t work 🙁. She called from the car as she was already pushed for time could she fit me in on her way back. Goodness know why the door bell 🔔 didn’t want to work but Heather checked it and it was fine 😯! Well to cut a  long story short she came back about an hour later and all is fine. It’s been that sort of day. Nothing horrendous but lots of little things chipping away at our self confidence. 

Things like that wear a person down. With all the Covid crap it’s just knocking the corners off of the pair of us. I know we are all in this together but today has been hard. My multiple sclerosis hates stress and as a couple living under lockdown it has at times been stressful, today whilst trying to put some aftershave into the basket on our Tesco home delivery slot I managed to delete our order for next Friday. Sorting through that was stressful🤯. Still a very nice man on the helpline managed to get a delivery slot for us for a couple of days later so eventually calm was restored. It’s been like that all day nothing going right but causing maximum aggravation and both of us have suffered mentally. People up and down the country are suffering mental health problems in these unusual times. And I will always advise anyone suffering with any health problems to seek medical assistance and if you are feeling depressed or you feel ‘low’ contact your doctors surgery. In these strange times it can feel as the world 🌍 is against you but it is nothing personal it dislikes everyone at the moment. I take antidepressants everyday and maintain they are the best two tablets I take each day so if I can seek help anyone can.👍

Flu jab time

 The nurse came out a couple of days ago and stuck a needle into me, administering this years flu jab. Over and done in seconds it really is as easy as that, so if any of you out there are wondering about having your one just do it. 

It could stop you getting flu here is a link to help any one having doubts 

https://www.nursinginpractice.com/clinical/mythbuster-im-not-getting-the-flu-jab-it-gives-you-the-flu/

As I said just do it. No don’t think about it JUST DO IT

Purple leg bag syndrome Catheter Multiple Sclerosis

 I am still waiting for test results from the GP surgery on a urine sample but my urine bag has been different shades of purple for three weeks. I have been feeling awful and had several spells in bed last week including on my birthday 🙁. The urine stinks it changes the inside of the leg bag to purple but no one will confirm it is an infection. As the nurse said when she collected the sample “if it looks like an infection it smells like an infection then you can bet it is an infection “  I expect to get the results back and it to be clear.

 The urine sample results will never come back due to an error sending them 🤯 But after fifty minutes on hold to surgery the resulting conversation resulted in a GP prescribed antibiotics. So now hopefully we can get on the road to recovery 👍. My urine bag is very purple and very cruddy lots of sediment.  Two days of antibiotics and changed leg bag lo and behold no purple! Strange how I take antibiotics and it goes but the gp think no infection. 

Here is a link to BMJ article https://casereports.bmj.com/content/2018/bcr-2018-226395