dysfunctional

Today's podcast guest, speaks with me about how living in a chaotic, dysfunctional household impacted her mental health and how she began to heal in her adult years.

Listen to today's episode to hear about Erika's journey with her physical and mental health and her relationship with her parents. I'm sure a lot of people will relate to this.

accordingtodes.com/94-2

#dysfunctional #dysfunctionalhousehold #ToxicMarriage #Toxic #ChildhoodAbuse #podcastepisode

I am a 53 year old wife and mother of 2 (boy, 21 and girl, 18). I was diagnosed with Bipolar Type 2 in 1995 and ADD in 2001. My husband was diagnosed with Clinical Depression in 2007. My son was diagnosed with ADHD in 2008, Anxiety Disorder/Clinical Depression in 2010, and Bipolar Type 2 in 2014. My daughter was diagnosed with Depression/Anxiety and PTSD in 2017. We each have our own meds, therapist, and medication manager (currently, our med managers are all in the same practice, which makes appointments, etc a lot easier).
Being in a family with multiple MDs has its perks. If one of us runs out of a prescription, we can borrow from another with the same medication until we get ours. We carpool to appointments. If one of us feels sick, someone else immediately asks, "Did you take your meds?"
It (obviously) also has it's pitfalls. You never know when you walk in a room what (and how many) moods you'll encounter. Juggling appointments, especially before the kids could drive, took planning. Dishes and laundry were dependent on at least one person being "up." The worst is the "contagious" factor: one person's prolonged depression pulling the rest of us down.
My family is pretty open about our diagnoses; we're blessed to have a circle of friends who accept us the way we are. I'd like to hope our frankness about mood disorders makes others feel less afraid of their own mental state (because we all know people who suffer silently). We've each had friends come to us with questions regarding depression, anxiety etc. The friends of my kids frequently come to us before talking to their parents because they know we'll understand (more than once, I have approached a mother to navigate that opening conversation).
WOW! Thanks for reading- I didn't realize I had so much to say! #Depression #BipolarDiorder #PTSD #Anxiety #ADHD #Bipolar2Disorder #SeasonalAffectiveDisorder #dysfunctional
#Family

Had an active day yesterday and extended myself too much - knew it at the time as had disc pain, did a few stretches and carried on. I was with someone so probably overcompensating and showing I could keep up was part of it. Must remember its okay to show my vulnerable side with others. Today lay down all day, applying heat and hemp ointment and taking magnesium. Starting to hurt over less of my body so hopefully a better day tomorrow.

While making a hot drink and finding the best spot to put my birthday flowers sent by my sister back in my native New Zealand I got the all clear from my covid test. Never been so happy to be fighting off a bug. Today I will be able to go out for a drive with my daughter in law and the temperature is warmer making it a 21degree Winters day. Feel blessed. 🎉👍🙋‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤺🎶💓

Yesterday I posted about a trauma I went through as a teenager and received wonderful support from my Mighty family. Later I started feeling generalised fear and had trouble sleeping. I listened to soothing music, told myself I was safe, got up and had a hot milk drink and a turkey sandwich and took the pressure off myself by snuggling up in the lounge and got a couple of hours sleep. Today I realised it is a throwback to what the reaction was in my childhood home when things were brought out in the open. There wasn't warm loving support from the adults, but blame, rage, violence to person or possessions, being punished for breaking the code of silence, being ridiculed, put down, ignored, and being excluded - in other words control until we complied with the family line - which was to be wantless and needless, an invisble member of the family. Today I am not prepared to be silent any longer and just writing this post is validating myself and releasing long controlled emotions tightly held. My stomach muscles are relaxing and I am ready to get up and face the day looking after my needs and doing things that make me happy. Time to switch off the news and crank up the music. 🎶🎶🎶

Prior to a stay in hospital had voiced my fears about not being given saline pre and post anaesethic and had both my specialist and my cardiologist write letters to that effect, but I still was uneasy whether I would be given them on the ward which would affect my POTS. I packed supplies of everything I might need to up my salt levels - hydration tablets, a salt shaker, jar of vegemite, and 2 small tins of tuna and cutlery. Glad I did as they kept putting off giving me a saline drip until it was too late as it was time to take me down to theatre. Downstairs I let them know and they started me on one but it wasn't enough. Back in the ward I felt queasy and asked for a bp reading. The student nurse said my bp was good but I told her 105/57 wasn't as my bp was falling so her senior came in and hooked me up to an iv. Glad I have a voice but so tired of this disconnection between ward care and specialist care.

Have spent over a year dealing with new gi symptoms - stomach pain, intolerance to anything fatty including much loved avocado and unexplained nausea, diarrhea and weightloss. Over time have gradually worked out what helps as well as what aggravates it. Still being tested to work out what is causing this. Today I was reading up on pancreatitis as Specialist yesterday is now testing me for it. Amazingly all the other blood test results add up to this being it. The correlation between pancreatitis and high triglycerides and diabetes is making things abundantly clear. All the foods I have eliminated from my diet because they gave me nausea and diarrhea are the ones they recommend to. I had gestational diabetes with my son and he was 4.5kg because of it and they warned me to exercise and follow a healthy diet to avoid the 50% risk of developing diabetes later on. I have reached 'later on' and am turning 65 shortly and only just keeping under the blood sugar threshold level for diabetes. Found out today that diabetes can cause pancreatitis and vice versa. It feels like the best birthday present ever to discover I am on the right track and just need to tweak my diet a bit more to improve my symptoms even more. Feels very validating especially when people in my life query why I can't eat something they're having. Hallelujah!

Appointment at gastro clinic revealed nothing wrong with my biopsy so now theyre testing my pancreatic cells. Still waiting for the result of blood tests to eliminate thyroid, adrenal, pituitary etc to come through. In the meantime have regained some of the weight I'd lost over the year due to gi problems, tho' still can't tolerate anything slightly fatty. Bought really lean beef which I made into a stew and skimmed the tiny amount of fat off it. Enjoyed eating meat again after not tolerating it for 6mths or so. Had a bit of effect on me but tolerable. Back to tofu and veg tomorrow. 9.50pm - already had an afternoon nap but now its bedtime.

i had a biopsy yesterday - Thursday- and had an appointment in 2 weeks time for the results along with the results of multiple blood tests. Today I was rung and asked to come in this Monday the 5th July. Feeling a little stressed wondering what's so important it can't wait. Because my Dad died of cancer and all his brothers had cancer as well as his mother - my grandmother I'm wondering if I've got it. I had a benign tumour in my adrenal gland 20 years ago and had the adrenal gland removed.The good thing is I only have to wait 3 days to find out and my son is coming with me. It's also my granddaughter's16th birthday so I hope that's a good omen,

#PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome

My son arrived back from doing a quote for a job down the coast in time to drive me home from hospital last night.Today I had big plans but the anaesethic is still making me weary so taking it quietly. Theres nothing like being cooped up in ac to make you long to be outside. Its fairly cool so wont stay outside long but enjoying lying down - just enough room in my narrow patio for my sunlounger next to my pots. The frangipani has lost most of its leaves - Winter - and the evergreen bush has spread its branches out underneath it so I can hold them feeling the last of the moisture from the early morning rain on its dark green leaves and shelter beneath its dappled sunlight. Its bliss!