As always with blogs that start part way through someone’s story, it can be tricky to make sure all the important details are covered! As I think you’ll have realised from the title and first few posts, this blog is about my physical and mental training in endurance activities for both fitness and mental health reasons.
About three years ago I went through something of a rough patch following moving to a new city, buying a house, splitting up with my husband and eventually divorcing, living with a neurotic collie dog and studying for a PhD. In retrospect I’m amazed I kept it together as long as I did…but when things went wrong they really crashed! By that stage I was over focused on work and productivity, only taking time out to walk my dogs but not really relaxing or enjoying the activity. I’ve had ongoing musculo-skeletal and knee problems since I was about 9 years old, and the resulting headaches and sciatic pain were particularly bad. It was months since I had been for a swim or enjoyed getting out on my bike, I was tired, over weight and very unfit!
During my time away from work I spent some weeks with my folks back in Scotland. There were very little demands on me apart from walking the dogs in beautiful surroundings, and as I started to put myself back together I decided I wanted to take up running. The idea really was to find some kind of activity that I could do with my two border collies, since they can’t come to the gym with me, and I prefer to be outdoors. Walking is great but never does much to improve my overall fitness levels. Thanks to a book voucher from my lovely auntie Ei I invested in Running for Beginners by the people who produce Zest magazine. It has a basic walk/run plan designed to get you to the 5k stage with the minimum of pain. I’d also seen adverts for CaniX and Canicross running with your dogs which sounded like a brilliant goal.
Some time later that year (2009) I was at the stage of running regularly if slowly with my collies, swimming for fun and biking in and out of work regularly. I had completed my first Race for Life 5K and my first CaniX 5k with my two collies. A dear friend of mine (who completed the Ironman UK in 2009) suggested that since I was already doing most of the distances, I should try a sprint distance triathlon…just to boost my confidence. That was the Beverley triathlon (August 2009) and I am so grateful to her for the idea!
During the very rough patch I was on a fairly high dose of antidepressants, which had the unwanted side effect of heartburn and reflux to the stage where I couldn’t have anything in the morning before I exercised including water, couldn’t eat or drink during exercise and was keeping the manufacturers of Bisodol in business! We dropped the dosage, and I ended up taking Omeprazole as well to control the acid levels. This left me with a fair bit of discomfort and the need to schedule eating and exercise carefully, but it was doable. I had also been experiencing a lot of cramping while I ran which seemed to be linked to a badly fitted Mirena coil – removal was painful but made a big difference.
Flash forward to the end of 2010. As I mentioned a mixture of old patterns, injuries and lack of time contributed to being less active regularly and the reflux seemed to be getting worse, so higher levels of omeprazole. By December 2010 I was experiencing another episode of depression so went back up to a higher level of the citalopram. I had also been given beta-blockers as a prophylaxis for ongoing migraines…my body had a lot to deal with! By February it was clear that it was very difficult to exercise, I had no real interest in it and the post-nasal drip and violent reflux combined with the beta-blockers didn’t help much. Stopping the beta-blockers was useful, and after another month we decided to try an alternative anti-depressant (Prozac or fluoxetine). This made an enormous difference to my ability to exercise, so much so I signed up for a sprint distance triathlon in May! Unfortunately it also resulted in rather unpleasant GI symptoms and frequent bathroom trips, so this medication was not going to be a long-term option. At this stage I was still intending to follow the recommended guidance on taking anti-depressants; continue maintenance doses at the previously effective level for up to one year before careful withdrawal.
The third attempt to find a suitable medication led to trying Sertraline (Zoloft or Lustral). Its fair to say that the changeover was more challenging, and within a couple of days the familiar side effect profile started to show. This time there was the added fun of Akathisia meaning incredibly restless/twitchy limbs beyond anything I had previously experienced. After a further meeting with my very patient GP we have now decided to come off all the anti-depressants for a few weeks to try and let my body settle down properly. To be honest I’m pretty excited about being medication free and happy that my GP is the one to suggest it. That one month where I could go for a run in the evening was a real eye-opener and I look forward to that kind of flexibility in my schedule.
I am absolutely not against the sensible use of appropriate medication, but its increasingly important for me to be able to balance my mental and physical health. Hopefully returning to exercise along with support from my GP and my amazing counsellor will be a positive experience, and I know I couldn’t have made it this far without the incredible understanding of my partner.
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