A short guide to side effects of antedepressant drugs and how to handle them.. Harvard Special Health Letter.

Published: July, 2017

Antidepressant medications can be a godsend for people struggling with the dark mantle of depression. Yet like all drugs, they can cause side effects, which is why it's important to be aware of any changes in your body when you begin any new medication.

If you have any uncomfortable or worrisome antidepressant side effects, tell your doctor immediately. But for many of the mildly distressing side effects, a few simple steps may help. Here are some suggestions for managing side effects of antidepressants.

Dry mouth. Drink a lot of water, chew sugarless gum, and brush your teeth frequently.

Constipation. Eat whole grains, bran cereal, prunes, and hearty servings of fruits and vegetables. Drink plenty of water.

Trouble urinating. If you have difficulty starting urination, your doctor may be able to adjust your medication to relieve this problem.

Dizziness. Sudden changes in position can lead to a sharp drop in blood pressure that causes dizziness. To counter this effect, move slowly when you rise from a chair or get out of bed. Also, drink plenty of fluids.

Daytime drowsiness. This problem usually occurs at the beginning of treatment and may not last long. In some cases, it may help to take medication at bedtime, but ask your doctor about this first. If you feel drowsy, don't drive or use heavy or dangerous equipment.

Trouble sleeping. Sleep often improves after a few weeks, but sometimes a mild sleep aid or a switch to another medication is necessary.

Nausea. Often, nausea disappears within a few weeks. It may help to take the drug shortly after a substantial meal.

Agitation. You might feel uncomfortably nervous or restless after you start taking a drug. Jittery feelings may pass wit

Sexual difficulties. Sometimes sexual problems are transient or not related to the drug. Talk with your doctor about sexual problems that persist for more than a few weeks.

If any antidepressant side effects continue to bother you, your doctor may change your dose, shift the time of day that you take the medication, or split the daily dose into smaller amounts to be taken over the course of the day. Or he or she may recommend combining the drug with another one, switching to a different drug, or replacing drugs with therapy or other forms of treatment. Take all medications as directed, and don't stop taking them abruptly without talking to your doctor first. You can read more about depression and its treatment in the Harvard Special Health Report,

:

 

• Share this page to Facebook
• Share this page to Twitter
• Share this page to Google Plus
• Email this page

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/antidepressant-side-effects-feeling-better-but-not-quite-right?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GB20171011-Depression&utm_id=6603

This is published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan- To purchase a brand new signed copy of Broken Minds, please go to  Heartfelt Counseling Ministries website. http://heartfeltmin.org/resources.html.

 For a personal look at side effects of antidepressants,  see Robyn and Steve Bloem's book,Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It.

To live by the day is the way to be cheerful.!

“I believe that contentment depends very much upon taking right views of things. There is what is called the short view. To live by the day is the way to be cheerful.  If you try to live by the month you will bring home a month's troubles to eat up a day's meat.  God has not constructed His people to live by the month: their souls, like their bodies, are fashioned to live by the day.  His supplies, His promises, the very prayers He puts into our mouths, all deals with days: “Give us this day our daily bread." “As your days so shall your strength be.” 











 “Live by the day, then, and you will be content “Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia, (1984) Volume 5, from the sermon A Vile Weed and a Fair Flower, pp 345,346.

Do you need counseling?

We are a non-profit organization who seeks to help those who want and need help. .  We also operate on a sliding scale. In regards to counseling Christians who have a mental illness, Steve uses his clinical training, Biblical wisdom and own experiences, when he counsel others. Steve counsels by phone, by Skype, and in person. Steve will help you get a good psychiatrist if you need one. Steve Bloem has been there, he has suffered from mental illness for over thirty years. Please see 

our web site, http://www.heartfeltmin.org/index.html

What does persecution and the BTK serial murderer have in common?

Oct. 05, 2017 | China
Pray for Families Affected by the Closing of a Christian School

 http://www.icommittopray.com/request/1618/christian-school-students/








It was said of the horrible serial killer, who was known as BTK (Bind,Torture and Kill) that he was sub-human    Obviously this killer was guided by the devil to do awful, horrible things to men, women, and children. No one expected the normal looking man who worked for the city of Wichita, Kansas to be the monster that he really was. He was finally caught because he thought that he and the police had  an understanding. So they put an ad in the paper saying that they would not trace him, if he sent information by way of a CD. He did so, and he was trapped by his own ego.

China and many other countries  may look "good," if you see pictures of "normal life." . But the land which was evangelized  by the great Hudson Taylor has many true born again Christians who are bound, tortured and killed.
It was John Owen who said that Satan had two policies, one is his craftiness and is depicted as the serpent.  The other is a dragon and lion, which connotes his rage against the true believers in Christ, who are scattered across the nations, in every generation.
Your prayers are needed and even commanded. If you would like to learn how to communicate with these heroes, and or would like more specific prayer requests, please do a google search for Voice of Martyrs and then go to Prisoner Alert.

Please go to our website, heartfeltmin.org

Our son, Brant who went through horrible depression, after reading a biography of  a great soldier who was bound, tortured   and spared, said; "His torture  describes  what I felt when I was depressed."
If you would like a signed copy of our book, please contact us through our web site.  Thanks Steve Bloem

Do you ever think nobody cares for you?

 

Christ our Advocate, Intercessor and High Priest.

I  John 2:2 – 

 The Holy Spirit intercedes within us and Christ is interceding for us.  The Holy Spirit is within us, building us up in Christ, teaching us and guiding us and showing us what to do and what not to do.  And there the Lord Himself is making intercession for us and on our behalf, representing us always to the Father.  It is a glorious and sublime conception. Is there anything that can be more comforting and more consoling than to know at this very moment, and always, the Lord of Glory is concerned about you, is watching over you and is concerned about your interests and is there representing you?  We are frail and we are weak and we fall and fail, but we have an advocate with the Father.  Therefore, when you begin, at the suggestion of Satan, that you cannot turn back to God and face Him, remember, beloved friend, you are not alone.  I agree with you; I know the sensation but too well, the feeling that I have no right to approach God, but remember that you have an Advocate and He is there to represent you.

(David Martyn Lloyd Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in I John, Volume 2 (1993) by Elisabeth           Catherwood and Anne Desmond, Cambridge: Crossway Books, p.38, 39).

…We have an advocate, says John with the Father. Now that word “with” is a most important little word; “with” means face to face with.  It does not mean that He now and again enters in and is allowed to represent us, but rather that He is always there. And it means that He is always, as it were, looking into the face of the Father.  We have a suggestion here of the great doctrine of the Trinity, the three persons yet one substance.  He is face to face with God, not having, as it were, to make an application to God to plead for us to the Father; He is always looking into the eyes of the Father.  What a wonderful idea, that the One who represents us is always there in there in that absolute intimacy with God. (Ibid 39).

 

 Are you struggling and don't know which way to turn. Please give us a call at Heartfelt Counseling Ministries,  Steve and Robyn make a great team and will travel to your place if  needed. If you would like to know more about what e can do for you.

heartfeltmin.org/what-we-do.html