r/EOOD

On days when I lift and then do CrossFit, I can easily spend 2+ hours at the gym, and my anxiety afterward is almost nonexistent. I feel calm, focused, tired in a good way, and much more like myself.

On days when I don’t train, the difference can honestly be night and day. My mind races more, I overthink everything, and I feel that anxious energy sitting there with nowhere to go. Sometimes I get so anxious I want to cry.

Obviously spending two hours in the gym every single day isn’t realistic, and I also don’t want exercise to become something I have to do just to feel okay.

I deal with ADHD and anxiety, and I’m pretty cautious about taking medication for either, so over the years I’ve had to find other ways to manage them.

For anyone who uses fitness as a big part of managing stress or anxiety, how do you maintain the benefits on rest days or days when you just don’t have time for a full workout?

What gives you the same mental benefit, or have you found other things that scratch that same itch?

I recently(May)have been diagnosed with mdd(major depressive disorder) and gad (generalized anxiety disorder). I got my blood results back and I have prediabetes ( 5.6) , so what would be the best exercise to do, how many minutes, and how many days?

Edit: so far I see the main thing consistency, I'll try to walk for 5 minutes and slowly increase the minutes as the days go by. Thank yall so much for the advice!! I've had multiple attempts to try and exercise but I would lose motivation quickly due to creating high expectations. I'll try to make a regimen and modify it based on how I'm feeling that day. As long as I get some movement in, that'll be a win in my book.

First post ever, here or anywhere on Reddit. I’ve lurked through Google searches for a while.

Quick background: I’ve dealt with long-term, treatment-resistant depression for years. It’s gotten a lot worse since my son was born 9 months ago. I don’t think he’s the cause, but the intensity of parenting definitely isn’t helping.

I’ve been a recreational runner for over a decade, and in the past, running was one of the few things that reliably helped. Even in bad patches, it gave me a real mental boost.

Lately something’s shifted. I’m still running, but instead of the usual lift, I get hit with intense dark thoughts almost as soon as I finish, and it lasts until I go to bed. I’m fuelling properly, not overtraining, nothing’s changed there.

Has anyone else had running flip from a coping tool to a trigger like this? Would genuinely appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through it.

38M with depression and epilepsy

My meds are dopakote 500 GM and Cipralex 20 MG, class 3 obese

(50KG+) Excess weight; for financial reasons, can't afford the gym

But I have some dumbbells at home and have some basic equipment at a park nearby, but I feel so self-conscious when I try to work out; I feel like eyes are on me,

Anyone have a weight problem and have had a bed-rotting problem lately? Any advice, a peer with similar experience, even a little?

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Hey everyone,

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and there's a good chance we'll be discussing starting an antidepressant.

I've also had a session with a psychologist, who is preparing a report for my doctor. I want to make sure I go into the appointment with a realistic understanding of the different options rather than just asking for a specific medication.

I've been dealing with this for years, and the main things I'm struggling with are:

Low motivation / difficulty initiating things

Mental exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed

Waking up irritated / easily frustrated

If something stressful happens, I can feel completely drained and sometimes feel like I need a full night's sleep to recover

Health anxiety, particularly anxiety about my heart

Racing thoughts / difficulty switching my brain off

I can still enjoy things once I actually get myself to do them. For example, I generally feel better once I'm at the gym.

I train regularly and don't want medication to destroy my motivation, competitiveness or training drive

I'm also very concerned about becoming emotionally flat, numb, sleepy or feeling like a different person

One thing I clarified with myself is that my physical energy isn't necessarily terrible. The bigger problem is mental motivation, initiation and feeling overwhelmed.

I'm basically looking for something that could help with anxiety + depression/low motivation, while allowing me to stay functional, energetic and emotionally engaged.

What I'm trying to understand

I'm particularly interested in people's experiences with:

SSRIs

Escitalopram (Lexapro)

Seems to have a reputation for being good for anxiety and health anxiety. I'm interested in whether people found it calming without becoming emotionally numb or unmotivated.

Sertraline (Zoloft)

Seems like a possible middle ground for anxiety + depression. Interested in energy, motivation, emotional blunting and whether it made anyone sleepy.

Fluoxetine (Prozac)

I've heard this can be more activating and less sedating than some SSRIs. Interested in whether it helped motivation without increasing anxiety.

SNRIs

Venlafaxine (Effexor)

This one interests me because of the depression + low-energy/low-motivation side. I'm wondering whether the norepinephrine component actually helped people feel more functional and driven.

My concern is that I already have health anxiety about my heart, so I'm wondering whether increased heart-rate awareness, sweating, jitteriness or feeling "wired" made that worse.

Duloxetine (Cymbalta)

Interested in how this compares with Effexor for energy, motivation, anxiety and emotional blunting.

Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)

Would love to hear how people found this compared with Effexor, particularly for motivation/energy versus anxiety.

Other antidepressants

Bupropion (Wellbutrin/Zyban)

This is probably the one I'm most curious about for motivation, energy, drive, anhedonia and emotional blunting.

However, I know it's more activating and can worsen anxiety for some people, which makes me unsure because of my health anxiety.

Vortioxetine (Trintellix)

Interested because I've heard people talk about cognitive symptoms, motivation and potentially less emotional blunting/sexual side effects.

Mirtazapine

I know this is generally more sedating and can increase appetite/weight, so it may be less suited to what I'm looking for, but I'd still like to hear experiences.

Agomelatine

If anyone has experience with it, I'd be interested in hearing about energy, sleep, anxiety and emotional effects.

My biggest priorities

If I had to rank them:

Reduce health anxiety / constant worry

Improve motivation and ability to initiate things

Don't make me sleepy

Don't make me emotionally numb or flat

Preserve gym motivation, competitiveness and training drive

Ideally don't make physical anxiety sensations/heart awareness worse

I'm not looking for a stimulant-like high or anything euphoric. I just don't want to go from feeling mentally stuck to feeling like I don't care about anything.

For people who've actually taken these medications:

Which one gave you the best balance of anxiety relief + motivation + emotional range?

And if you experienced emotional blunting, sleepiness, increased anxiety or loss of motivation, which medication and dose were you on, and did the problem improve with time or after switching?

I'm especially interested in real experiences rather than "X drug is objectively best." I know everyone's response is different and ultimately my doctor will decide what's appropriate.