Antidepressants - and reinvigorated interest in old hobby

[frugalnacho]

So that was pretty much me.  I was an avid guitar player for many years.  It was a daily hobby, and I even used to record songs to post on youtube.  Then I bought a house.  Then got married.  Then life just kept happening, and I slowly stopped doing a lot of things that used to bring me joy.  And the medical problems kept piling up.   As many of you already know from previous threads I've dealt with IBS and chronic headaches for my entire life.  I mostly medicate the headaches with excedrin, but the dr has been prescribing various things in an attempt to control them since they've ramped up to be a constant daily thing for the last couple of years.  The last thing he prescribed was nortriptyline, which is a tricyclic antidepressant, but apparently also often used to treat headaches.  I thought to myself "I'm not depressed! I don't need to be medicating with antidepressants".  Then I looked into it, and it does seem like it's prescribed to deal with chronic headaches, so I decided what have I got to lose?

I started taking it about a month ago, and so far there has been no change in my headaches.  Still get them daily.  But I have revived my passion for the guitar.  I busted out my old guitars and cleaned them up, restrung them, and set them back up to be in playable condition.  I've been playing them daily now for a couple of weeks and I am loving it.  I am having so much fun.  I am excited to get home and learn new songs, or relearn old songs that I used to know.  My set of songs I know how to play has diminished from hundreds of songs to just a handful, but surprisingly I'm able to go back and relearn many of those songs extremely easily.  I once again feel bonded to my guitars like they are an extension of my body.

I don't know how long it normally takes for those things to take effect, but surely it can't be a coincidence that a week after starting on antidepressants I have a sudden invigorated interest in guitar/music again.  In retrospect I think I was in a low grade depression and couldn't even notice it. 



That's pretty much how I feel, but replace scuba with guitar.  Why did I go to college, and work professional jobs for the past 14 years, and make a bunch of responsible financial decisions, and max my 401k, and pay off my mortgage, etc if I can't play guitar?  What am I working toward?

[Sibley]

I'm glad you're enjoying your music again. And hope the meds also help with the headaches.

[Morning Glory]

I'm happy for you that the medicine helped with something.

I just started on one last week for my seasonal depression that keeps getting worse every year. This year it manifested as anxiety and early-waking insomnia.  So far I'm sleeping better but not quite back to normal with my mood.

Interesting side effect is that for a while I was drinking 2-3 glasses of wine every night. Now I'm not wanting to drink alcohol at all any more, so maybe it was the anxiety causing those cravings.

I hope you find something that helps with the migraines too.

[SunnyDays]

If you find that in spite of feeling more interest in things, the medication doesn’t help your headaches, at least consider staying on antidepressants.  But the one you’re on is old and has more potential side effects than the newer SSRIs, so switching to them would be wise if you plan on longer term meds.  Meds generally take about 2 - 4 weeks to show an effect, but you certainly could be feeling better after a week, especially if your symptoms were mild to begin with.  Enjoy those guitars!

[Freedomin5]

Interesting side effect is that for a while I was drinking 2-3 glasses of wine every night. Now I'm not wanting to drink alcohol at all any more, so maybe it was the anxiety causing those cravings.

I hope you find something that helps with the migraines too.

Also interesting side effect — alcohol is a depressant. So then you get into a vicious cycle of drinking to calm down, and then the alcohol contributing to low mood. This is why you shouldn’t drink if you’re on antidepressants. Alcohol counteracts the effect of the medication. And also why you shouldn’t drink if you’re depressed. It just makes things worse.

[TheFrenchCat]

That's so wonderful!  I know that feeling you describe where your instrument feels like an extension of yourself, and it's the best.  I'm hoping to get back into my piano playing after the holidays.

It definitely sounds like it could be the meds, so I wouldn't encourage you to discontinue them.  Especially since you described having at least one symptom of depression before starting them. 

[2sk22]

Really glad to hear that the anti-depressants helped. For many years when working, hobbies were the only thing that kept me sane. Not being able to enjoy hobbies would be very sad.

[draco44]

That's fantastic that you are once again enjoying your hobbies and feeling better overall, even though the headaches are still there.

I am a guitar newbie who is also prone to headaches/migraines, though mine are less frequent than what you describe. I'd love to hear any strategies you have found for managing the conundrum (for me at least) of "want to play guitar, it makes me happy, but too much guitar seems to be correlated with increased likelihood of getting a headache."

To clarify, I only play acoustic at this point, so it's not like I have an amp cranked up to 11. It's more that I get the end of long day, and want to play guitar to raise my happiness, but really what I probably need is a nap. But to just go to bed without any decompression time playing guitar seems sad. I think it's a question of a physical/mental health balancing act, where guitar can be mood-boosting but still draining. I've been trying to get more into fingerpicking lately, so I have quieter options of guitar things to do, but am very new to it.

[HotTubes]

Guitar/migraine person here.  I just did the same thing, dusted off the guitars that I hadn't touched in a year or more, hoping that my fingers wouldn't hurt the next day.  I'm not as good as you if you're putting anything on the internet - just a strummer but its fun.

You have my sympathies for the migraines; I get perhaps 6-8 a year now and it's rough.  Only thing that helped me were triptans but I didn't like the side effects, so I suffer through with Excedrin, caffeine, water, darkness, and time.

Maybe one "positive" Covid side effect: more people playing guitar; a couple years ago you couldn't give away a used one and now you kind find new or used, at least in my area.

[Dollar Slice]

You have my sympathies for the migraines; I get perhaps 6-8 a year now and it's rough.  Only thing that helped me were triptans but I didn't like the side effects, so I suffer through with Excedrin, caffeine, water, darkness, and time.

You should talk to your doctor, there are some new abortive migraine drugs out in the last year or so, a totally different type of drug. I found that they give me about the same relief as triptans but without the awful side effects I had from all three triptans I tried. Right now you might be able to get them for cheap/free on a manufacturer coupon as they're so new. I've tried one called Ubrelvy and one called Nurtec and they both seem to work for me. Still takes a couple of hours to work; but I always felt like the triptans made it much worse before it got better, so I was afraid to take them if I was anywhere but home in bed.

[mozar]

You have my sympathies for the migraines; I get perhaps 6-8 a year now and it's rough.  Only thing that helped me were triptans but I didn't like the side effects, so I suffer through with Excedrin, caffeine, water, darkness, and time.

Sometimes migraines are caused by malnutrition so you could try juicing with celery juice just to rule that out. You can get a decent juicer for $100.

[guitar_stitch]

Possible effect of the medicine, possible placebo effect.  The mind is a terrifyingly strong component.

Either way, seize it and enjoy it.

BTW, guitar player with chronic digestive issues here too.  Ran the gamut of treatment options and multiple scopings before age 32 to find out that I have GERD and a hiatal hernia.  I was a pretty heavy drinker at one point, but now, I don't get much out of it.

[frugalnacho]

I did my fair share of drinking in my younger days, but alcohol tends to give me a headache so I've cut way back.  I do still enjoy having a few drinks maybe once a month or so, but I have to make sure to take excedrin ahead of time, and drink a full glass of water after each drink.  If I have too many, or drink for too long of a period it will lead to a bad headache.

It could be placebo effect, but that's a big coincidence that it happened right after starting new medication.  I basically lived and breathed guitar for years.  I had them mounted above my bed and would play every day.  It was my "thing".   What is frugalnacho up to? Probably playing guitar and writing music because he does that for hours each day.  I had been playing for about 16 years when I got married.  The song playing when my wife walked down the aisle was recorded by me. 

But then I slowly stopped playing as much.  A couple of my electric guitars fell into disrepair, and it eventually got to a point that I needed to take them in and have a luthier repair them and set them up for me, or I would have to dedicate the time to making them playable, but I just didn't have much time (or rather I just didn't prioritize making time for it).  I would still bring out my acoustic guitar every 3 or 4 weeks, but I wasn't actively learning any new songs or writing any music, just dicking around for an hour or so so that I didn't completely lose my touch for the guitar.  I bought a new electric guitar just days before the pandemic hit, and I played it everyday for several weeks, but then just kind of lost interest in it.

But my interest has been completely reinvigorated.  I adjusted my truss rods, put new springs and strings on my ibanez with a floating bridge and tuned it up, I replaced the malfunctioning electronics in my strat, I put a new nut on my strat.  I believe 3 of my guitars are in need of a fret dress, but I am scared about attempting to do that myself since I've never done it and I don't want to fuck up my babies.  They are old, and not high end models at all, but they have sentimental value to me so I want to keep them. 

I have no good place to play.  All our bedrooms are right next to each other on the second floor, so even playing with headphones on is too loud with a young child on the other side of the wall.  So I've been playing in the unfinished basement.  Storing the guitars in a spare bedroom, and bringing them down to the unfinished basement when I want to play.   Standing on cold concrete, and using a floor lamp for extra light.  Also have to use a space heater to keep my hands from freezing (basement stays about 55*F), but I don't want to leave it running all the time so I just point it at myself while I play. 

I am extremely motivated now to finish the basement so I can store my equipment down there, and also have a nice warm, well lit place to play.  Basement renovation time comes at the expense of guitar playing time though!  Wish I was FIRE.

[47%MMM]

Happy to hear you're doing better and back into your hobby!

However, I was disappointed when I opened the thread because I quickly read the headline and thought this was about antidepressants being an invigorating hobby. I guess I'll continue my search.

Best wishes!

[ender]

This makes me think that I should be back on antidepressants.

[HMman]

Glad to hear you're doing better. Placebo or not, getting back to an old hobby is fantastic! Any chance of dropping a SoundCloud link or similar if you get back into recording?

You have my sympathies for the migraines; I get perhaps 6-8 a year now and it's rough.  Only thing that helped me were triptans but I didn't like the side effects, so I suffer through with Excedrin, caffeine, water, darkness, and time.

Sometimes migraines are caused by malnutrition so you could try juicing with celery juice just to rule that out. You can get a decent juicer for $100.

I can't tell if this is serious or not. If Frugal Nacho was truly malnourished, $100 could buy a crapload of cheap vitamins, and those poor celery stalks wouldn't have to be brutalized. :P

[big_owl]

A few years ago I developed GAD and depression (and severe insomnia - just lying down on the couch would cause an anxiety attack, let alone trying to actually sleep).  I. Spent over a year trying over a dozen ADs, benzos, sleeping pills, atypicals like quetiapine, etc. My life sucked, I was getting 2-3 fitful hours of sleep a night and my days were miserable being anxious all day long.  Just tying my shoes stressed me out and I stopped doing all the hobbies I used to love.

Enter Cymbalta... It took 6mo to finally get to 70mg/day but all of a sudden the anxiety and depression were gone. It literally happened in an hour one day and it was like holy shit I'm back to my old self.

I too had fallen into the alcohol habit to help with anxiety and sleep. I now have no desire to drink at all.  In fact I haven't drank anything in months.

It also helped that I finally got to the root of what was causing the anxiety in conjunction with the Snri.

Insomnia persisted after the anxiety and depression lifted, I had to use drastic SRT to finally cure that.  Sleeping 6+hrs a night now!

[Morning Glory]

How are you doing, @frugalnacho ?

I'm feeling much better now after 2 weeks on an SSRI.  I seem to be more extraverted than I've been in a long time. Of course, with Covid I can't responsibly see anybody but I've been calling/texting friends who I have been neglecting.

  I don't know if I'm really an introvert or if my anxiety is what made social events exhausting.  I always opted out of things to the point that now I don't really have any close friends. To be fair, I did have some barriers like working unsocial hours then having little children.  When covid's over I might join my local running club or something.

So funny that money is one of the few things that I'm not anxious about. The market can drop 30% and I can just shrug it off and wait for it to go back up.

[frugalnacho]

Doing fine.  Still playing every day.  I really need to get some space cleared out to have a nice comfortable place to play though, and some space I can set up a desk and move the desktop computer to so I have access to a computer.  I like to play along with songs and it's so much easier to do with a computer instead of just my phone.  Plus I'd be able to make adjustments to my tone pedal easier, and also be able to record things.

My headaches used to turn into migraines several times a year, and it was totally incapacitating, but in the last couple years they rarely ramp up to migraine level.  It's just a constant low grade headache.  I doubt I'm malnourished.  Dr has never said anything, and I eat far more food than I should (including healthy things), so I'd be very surprised if I was lacking in anything. I think I'd rather deal with headaches than drink celery. 

[Glenstache]

I'm glad not only that you are feeling better, but that you seem to have figured out the correct medication early on. It took me well over a year to get mine dialed. Depression is insidious in how it just feels like a new normal and saps the joy out of everything. Having medications that get back to a "normal" baseline where things have joy again is so wonderful. Keep it up!

I recently discovered that I wish I had started playing bass a lot earlier. I had made a bass for a friend over the summer (one of my pandemic hobbies was learning how to build guitars) and discovered that I really liked playing it, so made one for myself. So fun to throw on a drum track and just get into a groove.

[frugalnacho]

[Glenstache]

Your meme game is on point.

[mm1970]

This is great.  In October, I started on an SNRI (a "mood stabilizer", as my eye doctor put it) because my moods swings from hormones were off the charts.  They did not mix well with my teenager going through puberty and they were amplified by COVID shit.

I am so fucking glad I did this.  My mom suffered from depression for at least a decade (started with menopause), and drank herself to death.  My brother started on an anti-depressant this year.

First few days were gnarly (side effects), but within a week the mood swings were GONE.  I am so much calmer.  Not only that, I am sleeping way better (I don't remember when I last had an Unisom, which was a nightly thing.)  I am no longer raging (to the same level, anyway) at work requirements and lack of raises (which may not be a good thing, ha!) I'm just a lot more zen.

The insert to the drug recommends strongly against alcohol (which use to eff up my sleep anyway), so I gave my wine shipments away for Christmas.  I don't miss it.

[big_owl]

This is great.  In October, I started on an SNRI (a "mood stabilizer", as my eye doctor put it) because my moods swings from hormones were off the charts.  They did not mix well with my teenager going through puberty and they were amplified by COVID shit.

I am so fucking glad I did this.  My mom suffered from depression for at least a decade (started with menopause), and drank herself to death.  My brother started on an anti-depressant this year.

First few days were gnarly (side effects), but within a week the mood swings were GONE.  I am so much calmer.  Not only that, I am sleeping way better (I don't remember when I last had an Unisom, which was a nightly thing.)  I am no longer raging (to the same level, anyway) at work requirements and lack of raises (which may not be a good thing, ha!) I'm just a lot more zen.

The insert to the drug recommends strongly against alcohol (which use to eff up my sleep anyway), so I gave my wine shipments away for Christmas.  I don't miss it.

Preach on, I found out the hard way on Cymbalta that one glass of wine was like two, two glasses was like four, and three glasses was like eight.

[Morning Glory]

My husband commented today that my handwriting is more legible than it used to be. I've been on lexapro for about a month now. Neater handwriting isn't in the list of side effects that we make the students memorize :).

The anxiety or lack of sleep could have made my writing shaky, I guess. Maybe I am just paying more attention to neatness now. I am paying more attention to my appearance and home also, and exercising more.

 I definitely have more energy but I still get episodes of depression where everything just seems pointless for about an hour. I still need the trazodone if I want to sleep through the night too.