I have this problem: I feel depressed in the mornings. On weekdays I wake up at 6:15am to be to work by 7:45am, and I just feel horrible. Not just tired, but actually hating life and feeling miserable. I take Lexapro and drink caffeine when I get up, but it doesn’t seem to help. I rarely feel better until 11am, and then I’m fine until the next morning. Sometimes I even wake up at like, 4am feeling wretched and can’t go back to sleep. To top it all off, it’s winter, and I’m going through a break up.
My doctor says that this is common with people who suffer from depression and it’s just something I have to deal with. However, I really want to feel better and find some sort of remedy. Does anyone else suffer from this phenomenon? What can be done to relieve this? Though I’m not usually into this kind of thing, I’d try an herbal or homeopathic remedy if it would help, or anything else within reason. I’d like to feel like myself all day long, not just after lunch.
I find that working out or running first thing in the AM really helps my mood and outlook. On some mornings it’s all I can do to drag myself to the gym, but I do it anyway because I know I’ll feel so much better afterwards.
Maybe you’re in a rut and need a change of schedule or routine?
If you don’t bathe before work, try it. I know it gets me going like nothing else. I know people who are after-work bathers, and I don’t know how I’d get going if that was my schedule.
Hmmm. I can’t humanly possibly get up earlier than I do now-- I can barely manage that. Maybe I could run around the yard with the dog a little more vigorously before I take my shower and see if that helps.
I wish to God I could change my schedule, but it’s dictated by work completely. Going to bed earlier doesn’t seem to help because I’m waking up at 4am regardless. Sigh.
Real exercise would probably help most, but when I was in Michigan (cold and depressing), I would start my mornings like this - stay in warm bed (this is important, nice and stress free) and stretch arms, legs, feet, neck, whatever feels good. Do it for a whole 5 minutes.
Just lie there all warm and happy and move your back, shoulders, etc, you’ll get the idea. It was very easy and actually helped me wake up better. I always follow up with a steaming hot shower. The morning showers are for steaming only. Do all real bathing, shaving, shampooing, etc. at night.
By the time I’m dressed, I felt somewhere between ok and good. I won’t say great, but ok was good enough.
Can you ask your doctor about the timing of taking your medication and/or a time-release antidepressant? Maybe you need to keep the level of the medicine more even in your system.
Also, based on how you described your doctor’s comments, he sounds like a general practitioner, not a mental health practitioner. A counselor should at least have some action steps for you to try, cognitive-behavior stuff, etc. It’s true not everything can be fixed, but that really doesn’t seem like it should be a doctor’s first response without having a few more valid suggestions. I’ve always read antidepressants work best combined with counseling.
A little thing that helps me is to minimize any decisions that might need to be made in the morning. Having my clothes picked out and ready, and if I’m going to bring lunch either knowing exactly what I’ll make or having it already packed helps. If I’m having a bad morning, I just get bogged down knowing I’ll make the wrong decision (the blue sweater? but what if the CEO hates blue? but the green one makes me look fat…) whatever I decide.
Also, are you getting any daylight? This time of year could aggravate seasonal affective disorder if you have that.
How about setting aside a little bit of time in the morning to do something you enjoy? Maybe get a light book you’d enjoy, and only read it for 10 minutes each morning? Some nice tea or a similar indulgence?
Another thing that helps me get going in the mornings (I get up between 5:20 and 5:40) is light. I have some bright lights near my bed, and when the alarm goes off I switch them on before hitting the snooze button. The light really makes getting out of bed easier.
I know how you feel. This time last year I was in exactly your position. I have medically diagnosed clinical depression, hate mornings in general, and have to wake up earlier than I would like because of school/work. (Well, not school anymore, but this time last year school). Plus I had just gone through a very painful breakup.
My key to feeling better was music. Loud music. Music that most people would find inappropriate at 7 am. I would wake up drag my ass to the shower get dressed and put on my headphones and blast, the violent femmes, early modest mouse, minor threat, the dead kennedy’s, Rage Against the Machine, whatever. The key for me was that it was upbeat, loud, and if I could scream along to it in the car even better.
Give it a shot, worst it can do is not make you feel better. Also, you will know immediately if this is working or not. I still use this method when I am having a rough morning, and if Miles Davis happens to pop up on my Ipod’s shuffle setting it will actually be painful. I love Miles, but I can’t take it at that hour. (This is a large reason why I stopped listening to the radio in the mornings, their song selections are too unpredictable.)
Would a regular light bulb work? Or should I get a full spectrum light, or a light box? A friend of mine has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and he suggested a light box. Anyone ever use one of those? They’re probably pretty expensive.
If you have a light you can move right next to your bed that you can easily turn on in the morning, it can’t hurt to give it a shot for a few days. If not, maybe just pick up a $10 halogen reading lamp or something. The “real” lights designed for therapy are expensive enough that it makes sense to give them a chance first.
One is a little bit of very dark chocolate (70% cocoa). Not very much, just enough to coat my mouth and get the endorphins running. Another is listening to the radio. I have to have a buzzing alarm because I can’t get any reception where I live, but I listen to the radio on the internet. It’s a tolerable morning radio show from back home that I always used to listen to in the mornings before school. That, and a morning game of sudoku to get my brain going help to ease the morning depression.
Really. I’m on Adderall for my ADD, and if I take it immediately upon waking up, I start to feel human within about an hour and a half.
And I think some of the people who have responded to this thread have no idea what the OP means by “morning blues.” It’s not just dragging ass or feeling like crap. It’s a whole 'nother level of hell.
Ya know, I’ve thought about what would help, and amphetamines have crossed my mind. I do not have ADD, though, and I’m not interested in trafficking in illegal drugs, tempting though it may be.
Yeah, it is hell. It’s really bad, until something clicks over and then I’m me again. I’m going to try taking the antidepressant at night instead of in the morning, and try the light in the face thing. Also, contacted my friend the herbalist for some ideas. Anyone else who has a suggestion, please chime in.
I don’t know your specifics, family to take care of before you go or whatever, but I don’t give myself time to think about it. I shower at night, set my alarm for 6 AM, get up, get dressed and out the door by 6:15. No time to really think about anything.
I get that 4 am thing too but usually it wears off within about a half hour for me. Sometimes I can even fall back asleep.
I tried everything really. I think it is a lot better when I exercise and eat healthy and avoid too much diet coke and junk food. I feel like I have to be very careful about everything to do with health to combat everything to do with depression and mood swings. I don’t take any antidepressants but I did for years. They really didn’t help me at all though. I never took lexapro. I don’t know anything about that one.
As far as the early morning thing, I always get out of bed and distract myself. I will look at the internet or have my oatmeal and I definitely turn on all the lights. Sometimes that makes me sleepy and I go sleep it off til normal getting up time. I don’t have it every day. Lately it’s only once or twice a month. If I can’t fall back asleep I just try to do things that don’t involve any thinking or reflecting and I leave the house earlier. Once I am out on the road with my Tim Horton’s hot chocolate I always feel more normal.
I don’t have any good advice. I hope you feel better though. I think you should try the chocolate idea. I keep not just the 70%, but the 85% cocoa chocolate in the fridge and I use it for medicinal purposes only. It’s the best. Headaches, bad mood, broken heart, etc. It’s too bitter to eat for fun but it makes me feel good.
You sound like you’re not willing to change your routine rather than can’t.
I came off effexor about 5 months ago after being on it for 4 years, and just before I came off it I was doing everything to justify not getting up half an hour earlier to go for a walk. I eventually bit the bullet and have thrown myself into exercising over the past 5 months which has helped me drop from about 114kgs down to 104kgs. It has also helped to such an extent mentally that I jst can’t explain it.
As for going to bed earlier and waking up at 4am, how long have you been giving going to bed early a shot? I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that a sleeping routine doesn’t develop over 1 or 2 nights.
And if any of that doesn’t motivate you, think about your dog and how much he/she would love to head out for a nice long walk before you’re gone for the day. Just knowing you’ve spent quality time with your dog before work I bet would also help with your state of mind.
I’ve been where you are now, and still am occasionally, so best of luck in whatever course you decide.
I’m sure that I was suffering from depression for the past couple years (never got checked though because “pilots don’t have mental disorders.” [just quoting myself…that’s what I used to tell people]. As I wasn’t suicidal…well, not enough to crash an airplane, I figured it’d be ok).
Anyway, mornings were the worst. Normally, I’d feel lousy until at least lunch. There were a couple things I noticed that helped me though.
First thing after getting up, I’d turn on the TV so there’d be background noise. Saved by the Bell was always on in the mornings. It didn’t take much concentration and it didn’t give me anything to be upset about.
The next thing that helped was eating. I usually skipped breakfast cause I never wanted to get up early enough so that I’d have time to eat. But after eating lunch, I usually felt much better. I’ve heard that malnutrition can contribute a lot to depression, so as hard as it might be, make sure you’re eating right.
Oh, also, on the days I had flying lessons, I tended to feel much better. So, find something you really, really enjoy doing and you’ll have a reason to want to wake up.
Get up so that you have no time extra time except exactly what you need to get to work.
Me, I’m up, brush my teeth, pack lunch, leave. Still, it’s tougher in the winter. Take that dog for an hour walk when you get home from work. Get out in the light.
Things I hated when waking up in the morning:
It’s cold.
It’s too quiet.
It’s dark.
My body aches.
So now I’ve switched to having the thermostat automatically crank up the heat 20 minutes before I wake up. I stretch a lot before I get out of bed. I turn on lots of lights. And I turn the TV on so my mind can focus on morning news instead of focusing on myself.
And I got myself a coffee habit. Not making it but buying some on the way to work. I’ve got addicted so now when I wake I have purpose to get up and out of the house, to get that coffee!
I keep not just the 70%, but the 85% cocoa chocolate in the fridge and I use it for medicinal purposes only. It’s the best. Headaches, bad mood, broken heart, etc. It’s too bitter to eat for fun but it makes me feel good.