Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Your Handiwork

9 January, 2012 by 1 Comment

Has anyone tried Laughter Aerobics, my first tip to a happier you? (Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Laughter Aerobics) Well, here’s my next tip to a happier you: 

Work with your hands…“Handiwork.”
I realize this really doesn’t make much sense, but it is another thing we can do that will naturally increase the serotonin in our brain. When we do repetitive, coordinating movement with our hands, the amount of serotonin in our brain will increase. The ideas are limitless–scrap booking, knitting, origami, playing guitar, pottery, jewelry making, carpentry–after all, Jesus was a carpenter.
Here’s why: 

Handiwork increases contentment~When you are working with your hands doing something that requires a little thought (but not stressful thought), your mind doesn’t have time to worry about the past or the future, but instead settles on the thoughts of the moment you are in helping you be content. 
Handiwork decreases pain~As a pharmacist, I’ve seen patient after patient who suffers from depression also be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. When serotonin is low, your threshold to pain is low. Any repetitive movement you do with your hands has been shown to directly increase the levels of serotonin in your brain, not only increasing your mood, but also increasing your threshold to pain. Also, pain is perceived in your brain. Your brain cannot concentrate on two things at the same time, so when you’re concentrating on what you’re doing with your hands, your brain literally cannot interpret pain signals and your pain will decrease. 
Handiwork may help overcome addiction~Have you ever known someone who has a knitting or crochet project in their hands every time they sit down to relax–every time their mind might be idle? Often these hobbies like knitting, crochet, or cross-stitching become addictive. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. Through research (and through my own learned personal experiences) it has been found that the tendency toward addiction has a genetic component. Being “addicted” to knitting may work to keep another addiction from surfacing. And in turn, addiction to knitting might help someone overcome another addiction by keeping that idle mind occupied so whatever addiction is will not be at the forefront of his or her mind. 
Handiwork increases productivity~Someone who is depressed typically lives in a hopeless state. They have a hard time setting goals, because they truly cannot motivate themselves enough to accomplish them. They feel unproductive and worthless. Picking up and easy “handiwork” hobby like knitting can be such an easy thing to do to begin to transform a depressed mind into one that wants to learn, set goals, and even do something for someone else. When I was so sick, in and out of the hospital, someone knitted me a prayer blanket. As she made the blanket, she prayed over it, blessing her and me both! 
Handiwork helps you relax~Remember I taught you about the hormone, cortisol, in the Laughter Aerobics Post? Well, it comes into play here as well. When you work with your hands in any movement that is repetitive and requires a little coordination, it causes relaxation and your cortisol level decreases, therefore allowing your serotonin levels to increase, therefore creating a happier you! 



Get those hands busy!


From my heart,

Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Brain Functions, Handling Stress, How to be Happy, Making Changes, Overcoming Addiction, Tips to a Happier You Tagged With: , ,

Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Laughter Aerobics

2 January, 2012 by 10 Comments
As a pharmacist, a patient, and a child of God who’s had to be “parented” quite a lot over the last eight years, I have learned many practical solutions to insomnia, depression, anxiety, and addiction. I’ve also learned that these four issues often go hand in hand, and are directly related to the chemicals in our brain. The pharmacist in me sought a medical solution–pills. And as most of you know, pills just made things worse.
Throughout this year, I’m going to share small, easy changes you can make in your life that will make for a happier you. All of these tidbits of information are based in both scientific fact and scripture. Medicine and faith really can walk hand in hand when God is your first and foremost physician. I’ll try to keep it simple as far as the “sciency” stuff goes, but a little knowledge about the brain really helps understand why these solutions work.
Most of you have probably heard about the hormone we have called serotonin, right? It’s that almighty chemical the media flooded us with information about when Prozac was first introduced. There is another hormone in your brain called cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that really kicks in we we are under high stress, afraid, in a hurry, etc. It’s the one that helps us with our “fight or flight” mechanism. Remember that term from high school biology? Well, these two hormones do not coexist well. When Cortisol is high, like when you are worried or stressed, Serotonin is low. And vice versa. 
I’m here to tell you that you don’t need Prozac or one of it’s relatives to help. There are numerous small changes you can make in your lifestyle that have been clinically proven to increase the serotonin levels in your brain. 
Today I want to tell you about laughter aerobics. “What?” Yes, laughter aerobics. This has got to be one of the silliest things I’d ever heard of, but it really exists. Laughter aerobics is a class where people basically sit in a circle and one person is appointed to begin laughing. Fake, real, goofy…it doesn’t matter. They just have to laugh. In turn, everyone else starts laughing too. The great thing is, you don’t have to go to an aerobics class! In the evening, after your work day is complete, do some laughter aerobics with your family. Your kids will think you’re nuts, but that’s all part of the fun! I promise you will end your day with a happy note, your cortisol levels will decrease, your serotonin levels will increase, and as a bonus, you will sleep better.
To top it off, science is not the only confirmation that laughter will make you happier. Read the prescription verse for today. From this verse comes the quote we’ve all heard, “laughter is the best medicine.” 
So tonight, begin your new year by making this small change. Spend just five minutes with your family playing laugh aerobics. I promise you won’t regret it and what do you have to lose?
From my heart, 
Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Brain Functions, Handling Stress, How to be Happy, Making Changes, Tips to a Happier You Tagged With: , , ,

Where Medicine Meets Faith

18 November, 2011 by 4 Comments
Today on “Dr. Oz,” he had Joel Osteen as his guest. The title of this segment was “Where medicine ends and faith begins.” If you’re reading this blog, you probably know God gave me a miracle after years of failed medical attempts at healing. This particular subject holds a spot very close to my heart! 
I was excited to see such a mainstream show confront such a controversial topic, but honestly, I was left disappointed. The main message resulting from the interview was there is power in prayer. I wholeheartedly agree! But as came through in the show today, Joel Osteen is a “feel good” preacher. He believes in happiness and prosperity, and that anyone who believes and has enough faith can achieve just that. What I did not hear on the show today was the will of God. God has a plan. He is in control. For his children, God has promises that he will bestow, but not mentioned by Rev. Osteen today was that we may not see those promises until we reach Heaven. 
I realize this was a secular show, and I’m sure Dr. Oz had the network guiding him in what he could and could not say, but I was disappointed that the subject “when everything fails” didn’t come up. So if we die, do we assume that neither faith nor medicine worked? No. This brings me to one of my favorite quotes by Max Lucado: 
“The ultimate aim of healing is not just a healthy body but a greater kingdom. If God’s aim is to grant perfect health to all his children, he has failed, because no one enjoys perfect health, and everyone dies. But if God’s aim is to expand the boundaries of his kingdom, then he has succeeded. For every time he heals, a thousand sermons are preached.”
And to that I add this…even when he does not heal us while we are here on earth, he completely heals us when we die. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)


Even in death, God has a plan. The experience of losing someone often leads other to Christ.

Prayer is important–essential actually to our spiritual walk. But God already has all the answers, doesn’t he? God has already promised us that he has a plan and a purpose for us…a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29/11). When we pray, he restores us. Praying helps us to remember that he is God and he has us in his hands. It helps us to fight the evil influences this world has over us and have faith in him. Prayer doesn’t help God be a better God, but it helps us to be better children.
I have blogged on this subject several times, and I think as Christians, it is vital that we live on this earth with an eternal perspective. Yes, what we do here is important because while we are on earth, we are laying up our treasures in Heaven. What are those treasures? People—the people that will be in eternity beside us. I’m attaching links here of the other blog posts I have on this subject:

Life is Good, Eternity is Better
In Sickness and in Health

It all boils down to your heart. Only God truly knows your heart. He alone knows your faith, your love, your struggles, and your trust in him.
I love the PRAYER acronym on today’s prescription. I will leave you with the scripture that supports it’s meaning. 
P ~ praise ~ Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
R ~ repent ~ If my people … will humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear their prayer… (2 Chronicles 7:14)
A ~ ask ~ Ask, and it will be given you . . . knock, and the door will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7)
Y ~ yield ~ …your will be done…(Matthew 6:10) and …not what I want but what you want. (Matthew 26:39)
E ~ expect results ~  …approach the throne of grace with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16)
R ~ return often ~ The prayer of faith will save the sick. (James 5:15)


I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject! 

From my heart,

Celeste






Filed Under: Beating Depression, Chronic Illness, Fighting Your Fears, God's Pharmacy, Have an Eternal Perspective, How to be Happy, Living in Faith, Living with Purpose, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , ,

Shredding away my past…

6 October, 2011 by 2 Comments

Although it’s fall, I spent the week spring-cleaning…

Yesterday, I spent the morning shredding 4 years worth of insurance statements. Since my seizures have disappeared, I’ve been on the search for new insurance and decided it was time to get rid of all paperwork for claims that have been closed. I really did not expect to take a journey back in time while I was shredding! 

As I picked up pages to put in the shredder, I caught words here and there…ambulance, emergency, x-ray, fracture, prescription, …and they did not bring back good memories. Dates tied random words to the place and situation in which the seizures occurred. For seven years my memory was really fuzzy from the seizures and medications, but yesterday, my memory was crystal clear. Several of my seizures happened in public places like Wal-Mart, The Glazing Pot, and Gray Court Pharmacy. You’d have thought Wal-Mart was on fire when I had them there. All because of a seizure, I got two fire trucks, and police car, and an ambulance.  I had one in Park City, Utah while we were on vacation, so of course sirens screamed all the way to the hotel, where lots of people took notice. Trevor and I were alone in the hotel room and he handled it all! One of my seizures happened at home while I was alone with Miranda and Marlee. They were in the bath at the time, and Miranda found me about twenty minutes later with our Great Danes hovering over me. There was a puddle of blood about two feet wide under my head from breaking my nose. It’s truly a blessing I don’t actually remember the seizure and seeing people react to them; I want no memory of my children’s faces in the aftermath. But I do remember the events after I regained consciousness, which usually took about an hour. They are NOT good memories. 

I let seizures define me for seven years. I felt like a victim. I let the depression that went with each seizure build on the one before, driving me further and further into the hole of isolation I’d dug for myself. That was not God’s plan. He wanted me to turn to Him. He wanted me to see His strength in my weakness. 

I finished shredding all four years worth of statements (three garbage bags full). Four miserable years of my past represented in those garbage bags, shredded beyond recognition. No more reminders and a new insurance plan in the works. 
My past is past. It is gone. I cannot and will not go back. I wish I’d realized sooner that it was only God who could heal me and maybe I wouldn’t have turned to so many other ways to “fix” myself. But now, God has wiped it away, as far as the east is from the west, and He didn’t even have to use a shredder! He just wanted me to turn to Him. 
From my heart,

Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Freedom in Christ, How to be Happy, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , , ,

Mustard Seed Miracles~My One Year Anniversary

25 September, 2011 by 1 Comment

Today required two prescriptions. The thing is, they seem to interact with one another. As a pharmacist, I always do my best to warn patients about interactions between their prescriptions, but this interaction is a tough one. You see, one year ago today, God healed me completely from migraine headaches, grand mal seizures, and severe depression. He healed me from the addiction of constantly chasing anything and everything for a cure. He showed me that even though Satan had a hold of my brain, he (God) was stronger…I only had to allow him to be. That’s where the interaction comes in…


Matthew 17:20 instructs us to have faith just as much as a grain of mustard seed, and we can move mountains. Yet John 4:48 tells us, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” How can those two exist at the same time? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is believing in the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Yet unless we see we won’t believe? So how do we get that mustard seed of faith?

For the seven years I suffered, prayed, and pleaded with God for an answer, but I was really depending on myself, on science, or on whatever else came my way. I jumped on every bandwagon that passed by with both feet, only to have my feet swept out from under me again…literally. The grand mal seizures took care of that. I was a Christian. I was saved. I fully believed that if I died I would go to Heaven. So why did I rely on science, nutrition, acupuncture, ‘hocus pocus,’ or whatever to fix me?

‘Faith the size of a mustard seed’…wow. ‘Unless you see you will not believe’…hmmm. God divinely inspired those who wrote the books of the Bible. They wrote about what they saw, and there are so many miracles in the Bible. But they happened such a long time ago. What about now?

I believe miracles happen every day. I think that we all know someone who says they have experienced a miracle, and I believe they have. They just didn’t happen to be divinely inspired by God to write in what would be the greatest book ever written.

I’d like to think that I had faith as much as a grain of mustard seed, but it sure was a long seven years to grow that mustard seed! I knew of miracles in the Bible that I learned growing up, but somehow, since these were recorded in the Bible, they must have been more “miraculous” than the miracles I’ve heard in my lifetime. They weren’t. They just happen to be the ones that are recorded in the Bible. We see those “signs and wonders” every day. So why do we not believe? Or if we say we believe, do we really, truly, down deep believe? I think that’s the “interaction” I experienced between these two prescription verses most of my life. I believed in my head, I just don’t think I believed in my heart. I “knew” Jesus in my head, but I didn’t “feel” him in my heart, at least no to the extent he wanted me to.

So today, being the one-year anniversary of my very own miracle, I can tell you 100% for sure that miracles do happen. The change in me that happened from going to bed on Friday night September 24th to Saturday morning, September 25th, was nothing short of a miracle. I knew it. I felt it. I felt Jesus deep inside me, more than I could even imagine was possible. My family, who had to live with me every day for those seven years, will be the first to tell you it was nothing short of a miracle! (My hubby says it was his miracle, not mine =o)

I wish I had a prescription to give out for a miracle. Wouldn’t that be easy? But I don’t, at least not exactly. I certainly could never compare myself to those God appointed to record what is written in they bible, but I am working hard to learn to write for him. I pray that those who may not have seen quite enough ‘signs and wonders’ to have the ‘faith of a grain of mustard seed’ might gain a little more faith in the wonder-fullness of my miracle.

Thank you Jesus!
From my heart,

Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Freedom in Christ, Miracles Do Happen, Overcoming Addiction, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , ,

Dr. God

7 September, 2011 by 1 Comment
 


     We have always heard God referred to as “father,” but how often do we really think of him as our father? Our daddy? It’s hard because he is not tangible. We cannot touch or hug him. But when he created us, he gave us the ability to have faith. We just have to tap into it. With faith, we can use our imagination to imagine him sitting on the sofa with us talking; sitting at the kitchen table while we do read our Bible; wrapping his arms around us when we are hurting. All we have to do is take the step to go there.
     Now let’s take it a step further. God is our father, and he wants us to talk to him and get to know him just as we would our earthly father. But he is also the great physician. Our great physician. So why do we rely so heavily on doctors and medicine to help us? I’ve quoted this before, but it definitely bears repeating:
     “If God’s aim is to grant perfect health to all his children, he has failed, because no one enjoys perfect health, and everyone dies. But if God’s aim is to expand the boundaries of his kingdom, then he has succeeded. For every time he heals, a thousand sermons are preached.”~Max Lucado
     When I had my first seizure, it was a total shock. It came completely out of nowhere. Here was my thought process: “What in the world happened to my brain and why? How am I possibly going to keep from driving for 6 months with three kids? Well, maybe somehow this is God’s way of protecting me from an accident or something.” Then, after a few months I thought, “You know, David and I have gotten to spend much more time together since I haven’t been able to drive. It’s really been good for us.” I was looking for what God was teaching me. But then, after I had the second seizure when I broke my nose and ended up with sinus surgery, my focus shifted. Rather than rely on God and look for what he was teaching me, I began to try to figure out how I could fix myself. The ‘sciency’ pharmacist in me began to search for a cure. That’s when the snowball turned into an avalanche, and for seven years I was lost…searching…in all the wrong places. 
     As a child, we need our daddy to “make me feel better.” As adults, whether our dads are still with us or not, we must rely on our heavenly father to make us feel better. Well, God is not only our father, but also the great physician. We can rely on him for comfort in times of need, but we can also rely on him for healing. He WILL heal us if we accept, love, and get to know him personally. But here’s the catch: God has so much good stuff in store for us, but it may not be here on this earth. He has perfect health for us, but it may not be here on this earth. We will have to endure tough stuff while we live in this world. He tells us in John 16:33: In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. He will heal us, but it may be through death and entrance into heaven. 
      We think of our lifetime as lasting forever, because our human brains cannot comprehend eternity. But in reality, the span of time we spend here on earth is like a drop in the ocean compared to eternity. The sooner we can focus on the bigger picture, accept what we have here do what God wants us to with it, the sooner we can find peace, contentment, and happiness in our life here because we know it’s in preparation for bigger things to come. I’m not saying to just accept bad things as your fate in life…we just can’t have a victim mentality. I’m just saying if we take what God has given us, and look for ways to use our life for him, we will find peace and will be rewarded abundantly. 
      So let’s rely on God, our heavenly father, our great physician, to lead and guide us through whatever we are going through. Use his words to find comfort and healing. Imagine his loving arms around you and his peace flowing over you. I have Marlee imagine Jesus wrapping his arms around her every night when she is in bed saying her prayers. Please don’t roll your eyes…I know, it might seem silly to some. But if you can just do what he says when he tells us to “Be still and know that I am God,” the intangible will actually become tangible…real. If you are still enough and quiet enough, you can feel him. 
     “Be still…”
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Filed Under: Beating Depression, Brain Functions, Chronic Illness, God's Pharmacy, Living in Faith, Overcoming Addiction, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , ,

What I learned from Rudy Giuliani…

6 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago, David and I went to a big motivation seminar held in downtown Greenville. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Rudy Giuliani spoke about something that’s
fascinating and frustrating to me these days…the “almighty” internet. 
With the invention of the internet, we have “knowledge” at our fingertips and it travels faster than we are capable of dealing with. Computer knowledge is necessary to live in this century. It’s here, and it’s here to stay. The problem is, however, that we have stopped thinking for ourselves. We are becoming a manipulated society. 
One of the problems I have with this computer generation is how we are becoming so accustomed to immediate gratification. With health issues, it is frustrating because as patients, we punch in our symptoms on the keyboard and the computer generates a list of possibilities. Within an hour or so, we have diagnosed ourselves! Let me give you an example of a pharmacist “friend” of mine…
She was seven months pregnant, had an eight-year-old and four-year-old also, and a husband who happened to be out of town. After work, she went to retrieve her children, and her mom commented about a “bump” on her forehead. She had thought it was just a weird zit! In a panic, her mom said, “You call the dermatologist in the morning and you tell him you have to be seen immediately! That looks exactly like what Nita’s daughter had and it was melanoma!” 
Well, since she was a pharmacist, she knew to just look it up on the computer and she would see it was nothing. SO…after getting the kids to bed, she finally sat down at the computer around midnight. By 1:00 a.m. she was convinced that she was dying of melanoma and would be leaving her husband with three kids to raise alone. That made for one long, sleepless night. 
Anybody had a similar experience? I’m sure you’ve realized that that “friend” was me. As a pharmacist, I should have known better! The sad thing is I have gone to the computer more than once for my need for immediate gratification, and more than once I’ve come to the wrong conclusion.
To keep us thinking for ourselves and not relying on Sir Google, Mr. Giuliani suggested five things we must do to keep our minds active and maintain our ability to think independently:
1) Read books–have a basis to make your own decisions. Don’t just read other people’s opinions about what they’ve read. 
2) Listen–to other people. Seek advice from people you look up to and believe in. You can become a leader by learning from other successful people. 
3) Take notes–never stop writing. Write your thoughts, goals, lists…keep the parts of your mind active that make you an individual.
4) Take five minutes every day to just STOP–relax, pray, stop your world for a few minutes.
5) Most importantly, we must care and love other people. The computer tends to isolate and disconnect us from people. Sure we have Facebook and email, and they are great ways to communicate. But they don’t allow us to see the heart of people or minister to their needs. 
Coming from the person in charge of NYC when the twin towers were hit on 9/11/2001, I wanted to listen.  The Rudy Giuliani I watched handle that chaos and tragedy obviously had standards and values in place that helped him. While he relied on computers and statistics to help New York recover from that tragedy, it was his willingness to listen to people one on one and his compassion for them that made the difference in those months after September 2001. He prayed and asked God’s guidance in knowing the right steps to take. He relied on his heavenly father for wisdom and instruction. While it was one of the toughest times our country has endured, I consider Rudy Giuliani a man of great character and principal, and someone to learn from. 
I thought his “five things” were very interesting. I find myself doing all of those things these days, though I would have never put them together in a list on thinking independently. I realized, though, that during my seven years of depression, I didn’t want to do any of those things. I didn’t want to read books to because I just wanted to mindlessly watch television so I didn’t have to think about my world. I got to a point where I didn’t want to seek advice of others because I was convinced it was hopeless. I never thought writing things down would help me, although I’d been told to try it more than once. I prayed, but it was selfish prayer. I was too busy being self-absorbed in my own pity party to worry about anyone else long enough to actually do something that required effort. 
I wonder now how much sooner I could have overcome the depression if I had made the items on this list a priority? Hmmm…
From my heart, 
Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Handling Stress, How to be Happy, Living in Faith, Making Changes, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In Sickness and In Health

11 August, 2011 by 4 Comments


Now I have read this verse before I’m sure, but never has it jumped out at me as it did today when I was reading. Not only is God telling us that his word is all we need for our soul and spirit, but our joints? marrow? thoughts? heart? I looked up a commentary on this verse, and basically it’s pointing out that if we know the word of God, we have no excuses. God is able to search out all of us…right down to the differences between what we believe in our heart vs. our mind. I couldn’t help but see it even more literally. God’s word is alive and well, and can pierce into every system in our body. So shouldn’t all christians then experience perfect health if they claim the word of God? NO. This brings me to a quote from Max Lucado…”

“If God’s aim is to grant perfect health to all his children, he has
failed, because no one enjoys perfect health, and everyone dies.
But if God’s aim is to expand the boundaries of his kingdom, then
he has succeeded. For every time he heals, a thousand sermons are
preached.”

In sickness, in health, in happy times, in depression, in faith, in anger, in life, in death…God  is using us. God loves us. God is preparing us for our next purpose. God has eternity waiting for us. 


When struggling with a health issue, it is so easy in our nation to get on the computer, try to diagnose ourselves, and then put our diagnosis together with a drug we saw advertised on television, and the chase begins: the chase to find the right physician to listen to you, the chase to try and try again to find the right drug to fix you. We want to be fixed. Now. We don’t want to dig into God’s word and see what he might be trying to teach us, or even someone close to us.  


If you are battling any type of health problem, here’s the thing: you may be healed, or you may not. You may have a life long struggle ahead of you. BUT…if you continue to pursue God and seek out what his purpose is for your life, you can find happiness and peace in him. I firmly believe that if your desire to have a close, intimate relationship with God is greater than your desire to have perfect health, you will find peace. Seek your answer in God’s words to you, his child, in the most complete instruction manual ever written, the Bible. God’s answer for you may not be to grant you perfect health, but if you allow his words to penetrate your heart and soul, and let him to use you in whatever condition you’re in, you will begin to see things from more of an “eternal” perspective. My daddy used to love to tell me to “plan like you will die tomorrow, but live like you will live forever.” I thought he was talking about money, but now I see he had a deeper, more eternal, perspective. 


I have a friend whose husband recently died after a battle with cancer. He had so many people praying for him during his battle…praying for a miracle. At his funeral, I will never forget what my friend said as she hugged me standing beside his casket. 


“We got our miracle.”  


What a testament! Even in her fresh state of grief, she knew through his illness, family members came to Christ who might not have otherwise, and that her husband is now in Heaven with Jesus…completely and eternally healed. 


If you know my story, you know that God completely healed me and my purpose on earth is not yet finished. Through my healing, I pray that “a thousand sermons will be preached” (or written), but for others, it’s through sickness and death that healing takes place, and a thousand sermons are still preached. 


God is in control of it all. God knows our hearts. Embrace him in sickness and in health, and whatever purpose God has for your life will be fulfilled. 


From my heart, 
Celeste




Filed Under: Beating Depression, Chronic Illness, Fighting Your Fears, Have an Eternal Perspective Tagged With: , ,

America on Drugs

4 August, 2011 by 3 Comments

Bear with me here guys, this is a long post, and this comes from years of being a pharmacist and the personal experience of being a patient…but for anyone on an antidepressant or other “brain” drug, you need to read this:


Your Brain on Drugs…no, I won’t be showing you a picture of a fried egg, though I must say it’s a great analogy! We know street drugs fry your brain, that’s a no-brainer! (Sorry =o)
I’m talking about prescription drugs…and not just the “controlled” ones. I’m talking about all of the psychotropic drugs prescribed in the United States today. As a pharmacist, it has made me crazy to see this huge increase in my years in this industry. As a patient, I fell right into the trap. Let me give you just a few statistics from reputable sources to put it in perspective for you…


A study was done by the American Medical Association from 1988 to 1994, during which time the visits to a physician for depression increased from 10.99 million in 1988 to 20.43 million in 1994. Visits for stimulant drugs increased from .57 million to 2.86 million. In a much more recent study, the Centers for Disease Control the percentage of people who use five or more prescriptions drugs increased by 70% in the last 10 years. It’s obvious to me that this increase is largely due to the increase in psychotropic prescription visits. 


Our society is in danger. Real danger. Christians and non-Christians alike. Many physicians  are prescribing narcotics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and other miscellaneous psychotropic drugs like candy, and do not realize the true danger they are putting their patients in. Different doctors and different pharmacies lead the way to missed information and drug interactions. Doctors cannot possibly keep up with all of the drug interactions possible between the thousands of prescription drugs on the market today. Even as a pharmacist, I ended up with a potentially life threatening drug interaction that my doctor(s) and pharmacist missed. I had not been working in pharmacy during the time Cymbalta was approved and put on pharmacy shelves, and due to an interaction with my migraine prescription medication, I ended up in a state for 24 hours where I did not know what was real and what wasn’t. I didn’t know if this world was real, or if I was dead or alive. At one point, I did not know David was my husband. Marlee was laying next to me in the bed and I actually asked David if she was dead. It was the scariest night of my entire life. I know this sounds crazy, and even when I was in the midst of it I felt sure that I would wake up in a straight jacket staring at four white walls!  


When my reality began to become more clear, due to my pharmacy training I knew what happened. I immediately began researching the medications I had taken, and quickly discovered I’d experienced serotonin syndrome. Now I must say should have known the possibility of this interaction, but in this case, my brain was, well, sick. Seizures, migraine, depression, and medication did not leave me in the mind to catch these things…my doctor and pharmacist should have caught it. I know that when my prescription was filled, the pharmacist was required to manually override a drug interaction possibility, which means they just overrode it by habit, without really looking, or just neglected to mention it. Last summer,in a total of approximately eight days working as a relief pharmacist, I called doctors on four separate occasions to warn them of this exact same interaction. All four times the prescriptions were changed. 


This incident is just one of millions that happen daily. While there are definitely patients that require psychotropic drug therapy, these drugs are widely overused. I’m not sure why doctors feel so much more comfortable prescribing these drugs now than in the past, but where therapy was once first course of treatment, doctors now tend to give the drug first, to “dial things down” before therapy is started. Once the patient gets the prescription, they do not want to follow up with expensive therapy. Our society of immediate gratification and prescription drug advertising on every venue possible lead us to the “quick fix.” After all, “Depression Hurts, Cymbalta can help.” Right? 


Due to the depression I experienced during my years of seizures, my doctors kept trying to get me to take an antidepressant. I finally conceded and began taking Cymbalta. If I wasn’t miserable before, I sure was then! After about a month on the Cymbalta, I felt horrible and was still depressed, so I decided I would wean off of it. Ha! Now that was a joke. The “non-addictive, harmless” antidepressant was everything but. I know you have all seen the commercial for Cymbalta, but in my research I stumbled across a youtube video that really makes the point.  It is a little on the extreme side, but only a little. 


Depression hurts, Cymbalta hurts more


Before I conclude, let me just say this…there is certainly a need and a place for antidepressants. We have just come to rely on the quick fix of drugs way too much. If you happen to be on Cymbalta and doing well, Yay! For me, many of the side effects of Cymbalta were front and center. As patients, we have just become too trusting:


First,we trust our doctors to know everything we need to know. No one can know everything. 


Second, we expect our pharmacists not to be too busy to counsel us every aspect of the drug, but they can’t control the 15 people waiting on prescriptions at once (and I can assure you, the chain pharmacies push the limit on the number of prescriptions allowed per pharmacist), nor can they control the hurry we are in to get out of the pharmacy.


Third, we trust the FDA not to put anything on the market that could harm us. It is sad we cannot depend on our government to keep our best interests at heart, but unfortunately, the almighty dollar often takes priority.


And yet, we are not trusting enough in God. We don’t believe and trust that God is all that we need. I know I used the verse on this prescription in another post, but it says so much. When God created the earth, and created man to inhabit the earth, he gave us everything we’d ever need. With so much emphasis placed on the synthetic psychotropic drugs available today, we lose our focus. We need to think simply and eternally at the same time. More talking, more prayer, more God. Put God at the head of your medical team, and let him lead you in the very best way to restore your mind…for eternity. 


From my heart, 
Celeste

I 

Filed Under: Beating Depression, God's Pharmacy, Living in Faith, Managing Prescription Drugs, Overcoming Addiction Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,