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Safe Travels Can’t Dance.
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Polarbear you do realize you just described many American cities right? San Francisco is not just home to the homeless & streets filled with human waste......that sad situation is plaguing cities all over this country. Mine included.
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worriedinCali - I'm not surprised. The news is that people from other states move to California cities that are accommodating to homeless people. I should know. One of my own cousins lives in her car. She bought a car that was just long enough to fit a little mattress to sleep on. She tells me what cities are best to stay in and get free stuff.

I haven't heard other states having homeless problems but I guess any big cities probably do. New York comes to mind.
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Homelessness is becoming a real epidemic across the US. And your cousins tale doesn’t surprise me at all-there are cities in this wonderful state of California that cater to the homeless and provide lots of handouts, my city is the hub for the homeless in this county. In fact nearby cities send their homeless here via the bus! They give them a bus pass, I kid you not! We have tent cities popping up all over—off the 101 freeway, on overpasses, in green belts. There was even a “city” that had a “mayor” and an elaborate running water set up (stealing water either from the shopping center the “city” was behind or from nearby residents. My husband was part of the team that had to go in and shut them down and clear the “city” out. Apparently the cops were getting regular complaints from residents of this “city” LOL! Because the “mayor” was trying to charge them for the water, and the residents were always fighting with each other. Sad to say, it’s a way of life in this city. We have one particular area that is nothing but tents. A lot of the people are totally content living that way, there is a health center with showers and toilets in the center of it all. And a meal kitchen. The city has to pay for monthly cleanups because.....the homeless accumulate so much trash and leave drug paraphernia and human waste everywhere. The bleeding hearts think the clean ups are horrible! Can you believe it? The city has to give advanced warning and they don’t just throw peoples stuff away either, if you ignore the warning and leave your stuff there, it is collected and stored for like a month, for free, it’s not like they can’t get it back.... but apparently the bleeding hearts would rather see the trash and human waste continue to accumulate. Who cares about the public health hazard? It’s inhumane to clean their mess but not inhumane to let them live IN the mess. I don’t get it. We even had an entire city block taken over by RVs at one point. It’s really out of hand.

San Francisco is terrible, I don’t deny it. We are about 2 hours south of the city & spent a few days there for our 10 year wedding anniversary in 2017. We hadn’t been there in 5-6 years and I was appalled at what I saw. Homeless people all over union square, relieving themselves in public. Pee every where. The smell. My god the smell. Human urine and weed mixed together is quite unpleasant.

i fear the entire state will become just like SF and my city now that Newsome is in charge. He really did SF no favors.
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Worriedincali, Sounds like your in Nor Cal. What city 2 hours from?
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Just don't refer to the City as "Frisco"
you'll get your head bit off by the real San Franciscoans

an old tale from the Irish side of the family that had roots there was that after a wake all the men took the deceased on a cable car for his last ride 😆
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Worried, you might like (I'm not sure you'll like, but I hope you will!) "Homeless clamping" from The Day Today. Google it - it's on Twitter and YouTube, the usual.

Rough sleeping and homelessness have been a serious and intractable problem to my certain knowledge since the 80s but I agree that the organised camps have emerged as a new phase in it. Well - I say new. Nothing is ever really new, it's just that the locations (and the main causes) shift and then we notice.

My daughter lives in a culturally progressive city on the South Coast - it's run by Greens* (politically speaking, I mean) and prides itself on its civic inclusiveness. Recently there has been unrest because the drug addicts, alcoholics (not sure that's a real distinction, actually), former prisoners and neglected mentally ill people (ditto) have set up camp outside Waitrose, causing unheard-of inconvenience to exactly that section of the consumer society which finds it hardest to step over them. Clever placement!

Anyone got any suggestions about what to do? I'm sure Brighton & Hove Council would be very grateful.

* Correction: it is not run by Greens at the moment. The Labour party is in control of a minority administration - 20 Labour councillors, 19 Greens, 15 others.
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My poor brother is on my mind tonight. He suffered a brain aneurysm a couple of months ago and has been hospitalized ever since. A meeting was held at the hospital today and the outlook does not look good for him. He has not been able to swallow or speak above a whisper since this injury and the prognosis is that chances are low that he will ever get these abilities back. A long term care facility is in the future most likely.Diagnosed with Schizophrenia in his late teens, early twenties he has had a very difficult life. He was recently a crystal meth addict and was living in a halfway house previous to his aneurysm.

This diagnosis is devastating. All he has done the last three weeks is plead for food. He has tried swallowing water, mouth wash etc. which went straight to his lungs. He can't seem to grasp the danger he is putting himself in every time he tries to eat or drink anything. If the swallowing thing is permanent they would need to put him in a facility where he would need to be restrained so as not to aspirate when he tries to feed himself. He has always been a restless soul and I can't foresee him cooperating in that type of environment so what the future holds for him is bleak either way I look at it.

For those of you who do call yourself believers please send up some prayers for him.
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Hugs, Gershun, praying for you and your brother.
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Gershun, it's torment, I'm so sorry.

Where there's life there's hope, and where there's PEG feeding and skilled nursing and occupational therapists there is hope that your brother could, over time, actually end up in a better physical and mental condition than he's experienced for many years.

I don't mean to minimise how horrible this is while it lasts, but keep your chin up.

Plus, he's got you. That's not nothing. Hugs.
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Gershun,
I am sorry to hear about your brother. I will put you and your brother in my prayers.


Hugs!!
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Gershun (((((hugs))))) and prayers, What a rotten situation.
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I have my own doctor's appt. today and am seriously considering asking for an anti anxiety medication of some sort. I am feeling very fragile in my life right now and if I am going to have to be strong for my brother or even just myself I don't know how to do it.

Recently having stopped taking the SSRI I was on hasn't helped but I truly don't want to start taking another. All this emotion I've been feeling surrounding my brother and stuff I didn't deal with with my mom when she died is flooding back into my mind and I am having a really hard time dealing generally right now.

Any suggestions on what I could ask the doc to prescribe me short term?
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Hi Gershun My view of antidepressants is different. Depression seems to occur when there is an imbalance or lack of certain neurotransmitters- e.g. serotonin, nor epinephrine - for reasons of stress, genetic imbalances etc. For some people this is a life time thing and they need the supplementation that an antidepressant gives. It's like being low thyroid or lacking in insulin. When you go off it the lack shows up again. I can never go off thyroid meds as my thyroid doesn't produce enough. If you are having the same symptoms/problems that you had before going on antidepressants then, to me, you still need them. It is not a matter of them suppressing your pain, but of your neurons not having adequate transmitters to process the pain/emotions properly.

To me, again my opinion and experience, a short term anti-anxiety med is not a good solution as it does not deal with the underlying problem,

If I were you I would go back on the antidepressant for as long as you need it.

Big hugs. Sounds like you need lots if those.
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On my mind!!!

Today I saw someone who was/is very dear to me. We grew up together and did so much with each other. In fact, part of who I am is because of this person. However, as I was happy to say, "hello" they just blew me off! Hurt doesn't even explain how I feel.

About 2 yrs ago this person moved back and we hadn't seen eachother in years...so much time went by...but there we were. It was bitter sweet for them as myself! But today something was different and I do not know what it was...

Now, I fear that I might have did or said something that I did not mean too...did I offend this person? What did I do? Unfortunately, there has been times when I have said or did something and hurt someone's feelings without knowing it...this is part of myself I don't like, but I have been working on it! I am a work in progress!!

As I write this I can feel the tears building...oh...there goes my tears!!

I often have heard people say, "time changes nothing," but I have to disagree because time has change everything!

Maybe I am just emotional because my dad's death anniversary and his birthday is coming up! This is always a hard time for me. God I miss my dad and I miss my friend!

It has been along couple of days:(
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Enjoying a two week reprieve from my DH whose son in Cincinnati bought him a couple plane tickets to and from both with layovers in other cities, because why pay attention to the fact that he has dementia (probably stage 4 approaching 5 Alzheimer's), stage 4 cancer and heart disease, don't forget the bipolar and histrionics, and any day wandering could become a real issue. Why pay attention to the fact that he cannot navigate the computer task of buying his own ticket anymore and gives you our credit card information! His kids are just like him; rose-colored glasses believing what they want rather than what is.  ("He's just kinda quirky.") Anyway, my 94 year old father and I have enjoyed the peace in the house. Wow!!! We went out to eat and hear music Father's Day with some of my friends who were stunned at Dad's sharpness; pulls out his iphone X and shows them the books he wrote they can buy online, how he watches college baseball, softball, basketball, football on his phone, or ipad or imac.  (Can't do that with DH.) We can move through the house without being followed or stared down or asked what our current or future business is ..... he returns Monday, but let me not think about that. Enjoying the peace, and the wine.
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Gershun, I am on the lowest dosage of Xanax and it has been helpful to a point. I could kick myself for saying "no" years ago when I was first helping out my parents, and going on seven years and crashing/burning twice, I finally gave in to meds. The doctor said exercise is extremely helpful, but who had time for THAT?

I developed tremors from all the stress. Even though my folks had passed on two years ago, the stress/tremors remain :(

Talk therapy helped somewhat, just glad I found a therapist who had been there, done that with her own elderly parents, and who would also take Medicare.

One thing I noticed, I need to watch how much chocolate I eat during the day. It can cause me to stress out if I over do it. And here I thought chocolate was the cure all :)
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Gershun,
Don't ever take Clonazepam or Diazepam. Clonazepam is highly addictive and diazepam can make you feel more anxiety and it should help with sleep, but in time most pts will become dependant on it to sleep.

Most pts do will with Ativan however, Ativan has a 10 to 20 hr half-life which makes it nice because you won't need to take it everyday. But it doesn't help with sleep or depression. Xanax is ok, but can also be addictive. However, you can take 2mg, which you can cut into halves giving you 1mg. Xanax half life is 4 to 5 hrs for 2mg. Again Xanax can be addictive, but if you only take it once in awhile it can be safe. All these drugs are in the Benzodiazepines family! Which in itself can cause a pt to become depress!

However, if you need an anti-depression med SSRI is one of the better ones. Why do you want to get off SSRI if you don't mind me asking?!

Lexapo helps with depression and can help with anxiety. Also some pts do will on Prozac this being one of the oldest drug on the market!

I just hope you and your Dr has found something that works for you.

Like always please talk to your physician what is best for you!

Hugs!!
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FF,

We all thought chocolate was a cure all! LOL:)

Your stress tremors can be a side effect from the Xanax. It is not very common but it does happen with Xanax & other Benzodiazepines. Just a little information for you!
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Thanks to all who wished me well for my nervous jitters just prior to visiting Mom. Your good wishes and positive vibes worked! The visit went reasonably well and better than usual. I wonder if my prolonged absence made Mom's heart grow fonder? Is that possible for someone with dementia? No matter. I feel good.

A big thanks!!!
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Do I dare to hope that retirement accounts will continue to grow so I can retire before 65?
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Gershun does your doctor know that you stopped taking your SSRI? I hope you went about it carefully, did you?

Sending you a p.m.
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I will be enjoying a 'muscle relaxant' called champagne, he he, at my Aunt's 80th birthday tomorrow!
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Gershun, I just read back to your situation regarding your brother. I am so sorry you are both going through this. My sister also has Sz & this condition is just NOT FAIR. I feel for you & send my best thoughts your way.
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Diazepam can cause anxiety in some people and it if taken to long it can cause anxiety this is called "adverse effect." Clonazepam is stronger than Xanax and more people get addicted to Clonazepam. Xanax is spelled with a X not a Z.

It doesn't even matter because it is between Gershun and her Dr! And really all I care about is Gershun gets what she needs!

And as always I tell people they should talk to their Dr.
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Beatty many happy returns to your aunt! How lovely!

I hope she has a wonderful "relaxing" time too :)
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Thx all for your advice. So I went to my doc yesterday and this is what transpired.

He came in all jovial and asked how I was. I said awful. He said, but last time you were here everything was great. Uh, no...........last time I was here we talked about me withdrawing from Effexor and you prescribed Lyrica saying it acted much like Valium. Ah........no it did not. In fact it caused me to have stroke like symptoms which in turn led to a massive panic attack.

So, we discussed all things anti anxiety. I don't want to go back on an SSRI now cause I have just spent the last two months weaning myself off of the Effexor and don't want to go down that road again. At least not right now. We discussed CBD oil which I've tried and don't care for. I've tried the Ativan and it doesn't work for me. So he prescribed Clonazepam. I researched it online when I got home. I guess its also called Klonopin. Yes, I know it's addictive. He gave me 0.5 mg. I'm not planning on taking it except when my stress levels get to a feverish pitch. I truly don't want to be a pill junkie. I have a very non addictive personality so I don't foresee a problem. We'll see. I did take one last night and actually had a decent sleep for a change.

Now that you all know my pill diary I would like to say, please don't fight. We are all only human. Lets be supportive of one another. We can agree to disagree but lets not name call. We are all in this world just trying to get by. Let's all break into a rousing rendition of "We are the World" now. LOL

I love you guys. Thx for the support.
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Great news, Gershun! My mom's first geripsych switched mom from Xanax to Klonopin. Gentler, better.

She also explained to mom that taking a regular amount of it (we cut the .5 in half) kept the anxiety at bay and that she would actually take less if she used it like that, rather than as a rescue.

Of course, everyone's experience with these meds is different; I just wanted to pass on that bit of knowledge. (((((Hugs)))))).
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Twenty years ago, my cardiologist prescribed Klonopin 0.5 mg three times a day (every 8 hours) to help keep my heart rate regular and to keep my blood pressure within normal range. (I tend to have episodes of very, very low blood pressure followed by brief fainting spells).  Very effective for this problem--which is hereditary.  My paternal grandfather also had this problem with low blood pressure.

The Klonopin also helps with my long-standing anxiety and I have found that if I take the medication on a regular basis that I have LESS anxiety and rarely have an Anxiety Attack.   I have varied the dosage from 0.25mg to 1 mg depending on the stress (and blood pressure readings) that I was experiencing at a specific time in my life.  I did not have any problems when I decreased the dosage...that is my experience.  Your experience with Klonopin will be different. 

Each person reacts differently to medications and when you start a new medication, you might have to use "Trial-and-Error" to determine the Best Dosage that works for YOU. 

ONLY YOU can determine the proper time and amount of Klonopin for you and your situation.
{{{HUGS}}}
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On my mind
The sun and warm weather.
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