I read this group on a daily basis. I sometimes post or reply. I am
67 yrs.

eating like you do on Thanksgiving. Over eating that puts you to
sleep. Every day. Twice a day.
After I started eating 3 or 4 small meals a day two things happened.

In other words.....Don't ever let yourself get TOO hungry and Don't
EVER let yourself get TOO full. And eat SLOWLY!! If you are a
diabetic see that after a few days your BG count doesn't start
leveling off. And in turn your bouts of deep depression will all of
the sudden not be so deep. And your self esteem will improve.

Now a word on exercise. I believe the most harmful phrase ever uttered
concerning exercise is ......"No pain No gain." That might be true

If you are a
diabetic

I read this group on a daily basis. I sometimes post or reply. I am
67 yrs. Old, on Zoloft and anti-anxiety drug. Have been for about 10
yrs. I have learned from this group that I have a milder case of
clinical depression than most of you. None the less, when I read your
posts and replies I know where you are coming from. I have experienced
just about every symptom that you have. I have felt the hopelessness.
The frustration, the anxiety.

I also am diabetic. Border line and not to the point of needing
medication. I think we all have our own ways of trying to deal with
depression. Booze, drugs, eating etc. My way was over eating. Over
eating like you do on Thanksgiving. Over eating that puts you to
sleep. Every day. Twice a day.

This of course can be deadly for a diabetic. During a routine visit to
a doctor I had my blood tested. My blood sugar level came in way to
high. The doc read the riot act to me. Said you gotta control this
eating habit or else. Said to start checking my blood 4 or 5 times a
day. Said to eat 4 or 5 very small meals a day instead of two very
large ones.

So, what does this have to do with depression? All I can tell you is
this. This is what worked for me. Maybe it will work for you.
That's up to you. The past couple of years I have had peaks and
valleys depression wise. A lot of the time I would go from feeling
basically normal to depressed 2 or 3 times in one day. I attributed
this to ineffective medications. In this time period I was over eating
to the max as a defense against the depression.

After I started eating 3 or 4 small meals a day two things happened.
First my blood sugar count started leveling out and dropping. AND, the
peaks and valleys of my depression disappeared. This is what I have
come to believe. Whether you are diabetic or not, what you eat, how
often you eat, and how you eat WILL affect your mood swings.

Whether you eat to little or too much or not space your meals properly
Will cause fluctuations in blood sugar count and that in turn will
affect your mood. Keeping in mind that I am not a doctor, I think
this is worth a try. If you are deeply depressed and lose your
appetite eat a little something anyway. Force yourself to. If you
over eat cut back the amount you eat but eat more often. If you wake
at six in the morning and are not hungry, eat a little something
anyway.

In other words.....Don't ever let yourself get TOO hungry and Don't
EVER let yourself get TOO full. And eat SLOWLY!! If you are a
diabetic see that after a few days your BG count doesn't start
leveling off. And in turn your bouts of deep depression will all of
the sudden not be so deep. And your self esteem will improve.

Now a word on exercise. I believe the most harmful phrase ever uttered
concerning exercise is ......"No pain No gain." That might be true
if you are training to be a body builder, but not to ordinary people.
I feel that if you push yourself to hard you will have excessive pain
the next day and exercising will become an ordeal. You will begin to
dread the thought of having to exercise. And what happens?? In a very
short period of time you stop doing it.

This is what works for me. I do a very small amount of exercise each
day. When I start tiring or feeling some pain I stop. Next day the
same thing. After a short period of time I have found that I can do a
little more exercising each day and still not get tired or feel pain.
I NEVER let exercising become an ordeal.

So that's it.......If you want to try it fine. If not, that's fine
to. I can only tell you once again......THIS HAS WORKED FOR ME AND I
FEEL GREAT!!!

Eddie