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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Health question |
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| truthfulbro23 |
| 07/22/02 at 21:05:23 |
| ASA everyone, I'm a new member on this site and have to say that it's pretty interesting. I'm glad that there is a forum for this type of stuff for muslims. Well, where do I start? I'll keep it brief. A few months ago I started waking up everynight at about the same time. I could not go to bed after that. As time progressed, I started developing neck, shoulder, leg pains. I also could not think clearly. I began having a weird tingling and numbness in my hands. I went to the doctors and had everything checked only to have them say that they could find nothing. My blood work came back negative as well. I am 32 years of age and am at the prime of my life. I feel like I am losing my life and feel hopeless. I pray everyday and give sadaqa constantly. What should I do? I will continue praying for sure. The medicine the doctors gave me were anti-deoressants and told me it was all in my head. Anyway, that's about it. Allah-hafiz, From one struggling brotha in California, Mohammad |
| Re: Health question |
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| siddiqui |
| 07/22/02 at 23:26:38 |
| [slm] Dear brother may allah grant you best of healths ameen, I hope you are not to stressed out or worry too much about work, etc one needs to relax and put all his faith in Allah swt Pray regularly , read the quraan , listen to it and make a lot of dua If you have a muslim community start getting active with it or help out in the mosque take up a new support or hobby do take your anti depressants regularly and please have another opinion (second)with a different counsellor/psychologist/psychiatrist you need to confide in him whats troubling you I know its easier said than done but please have faith in Allah swt Insha Allah you will be okie sonn and if you need to talk further you can IM me |
| 07/23/02 at 01:15:04 |
| siddiqui |
| Re: Health question |
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| Adi28 |
| 07/23/02 at 00:20:22 |
salaams Dear brother Mohammad im sorry to hear of your troubles...and i serioulsy think that you have illness...and should go to another doctor like siddiqui suggested..also i think that maybe you should try one of those health sites..where all you have to do is type in your symptoms and they give you all the possible illnesses you have...but inshallah you will get better and we'll all make dua for that you return to normal health phiscally and menatally. ps; i hope i didn't scare you :) salaams Adilah |
| Re: Health question |
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| Anjaalaa |
| 07/23/02 at 02:22:51 |
| Asalamu'alaikum Brother, I have had the same symptoms as you have described and was told the same thing from my Dr. as well! I do believe that it is stress related and that a lack of sleep will contribute to the symptoms. I was also told to take the Anti depressants and was told to believe that it was also All in my head, Subhan'Allah! I am under a lot of stress so I do believe that may have some thing to do with it! I did not take the medicine by the way, I do take something for sleep , that also helps me relax more. I found that this helps me a lot. Insha'Allaah I hope that I could have been some help to you. I feel the tingling and numbess all the time it hasn't went away yet and my symptoms began about 1 year ago. I went to a few different Doctors to double check and they all came up with the same thing Anxiety, panic disorder. I believe that you can help yourself more with reading Qur'an and relaxing , rather than the Anti depressants, I believe they may not be a real good choice, but we are all different so I'm not really sure for you. Perhaps you should get a second opinion? Insha'Allah I hope things work out for you! wa'alaikum salaam! Anjala |
| Re: Health question |
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| truthfulbro23 |
| 07/23/02 at 14:18:20 |
| Thanks for the feedback, I will pray as much as I can. The medications (anti-depressants) are things I don't take. These cause so many other side effects. I also was layed-off two months ago. To make matters worse, the girl that I wanted to marry left me after a long time. She is now with someone else. Everything is crashing down hard. I have never felt this much pain. I mean I don't think I can make it. I pray everyday but I see no relief. I guess this is a test from Allah (swt) for sure. Mohammad |
| Re: Health question |
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| Ruqayyah |
| 07/23/02 at 19:05:54 |
| [slm] my struggling brother in islam, First off, welcome to the jannah board! Inshallah i think you will find this to be a peaceful and beautiful place to visit and become a part of, as I have over the last several months. Everyone here mashallah is very kind and helpful and even though sometimes many people may not respond, so many people do read the postings and make dua for whoever is in need of it. I know this because, I am often one of those people! That said, I wanted to see if i could help. I just started a family practice elective this week and I've gotten to meet a lot of people, quite a a few who come in with some or all of the symptoms you've been describing. It sounds like the last few months have been especially difficult ones for you. The financial stress of not having a job on top of the emotional stress of having someone you love leave you is enough to make anyone crumble. That's a lot to take in. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of stigma attached to different illnesses such as anxiety and depression which are legitimate problems that so many people have to deal with. Please don't underestimate the beneficial effects of anti-depressants. I would agree with your doctor that they will be able to help you get your mind in order so that you can make responsible and wise decisions instead of hasty ones based on emotion. However, the only way they will help, is if you take them regularly because they can take up to a few weeks to have some effect on the chemicals in your brain. You mentioned that you had experienced side effects with the medication you were given. You may want to contact the doctor and see if there is another medication you could take that has fewer side effects. Since you do have a lot "on your plate" so to speak, I think it may be a good idea to see a counselor who would be able to give you the time you need to talk about what has happened in your life. They may also be able to give you career advice if you need that too. There's nothing wrong with seeing someone to talk about your problems. Many people have already suggested praying and making dua and reading Qur'an which is excellent advice. Never underestimate the power of dua, as sister Kathy's signature (as quoted from bro Jaihoon) states, "Wait for some more time... Allah is not deaf or blind. He surely knows the warmth of every teardrop shed in the nightly hours." Some other quotes from the Qur'an / Hadith that have helped me : "and (truly pious are) they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and in times of peril. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing." 2:177 "the Prophet [saw] said: Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask fo Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah..." -Tirmidhi There's also a link [url=http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/madina/YaBB.pl?board=madrasa;action=display;num=1025852085]here[/url] to other discussions that sister Barr answered beautifully. I will make dua for you brother. There is a dua at the end of surah baqara that goes something like this: "Our Lord, lay not on us a burden like that which you laid on those before us. Our Lord, lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear." I think everything is a test from Allah and we always have a choice: to give up or to keep the faith and to keep hope in your heart and to struggle. take care, [wlm] Ruqayyah |
| Re: Health question |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 07/23/02 at 19:32:18 |
| I hope this doesnt sound dumb, but maybe you need to get out of town. When things get tough, i go camping. Since you are in california, i will tell you of my favorite place. It is in tuolumne meadows in the upper part of yosemite. You camp at 8,500 feet and when the sun sets the stars are incredible and there is a beautiful stream that runs through the campsite. Just a suggestion. |
| Re: Health question |
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| mwishka |
| 07/23/02 at 21:33:06 |
| brother mohammad, i am so sorry things are so rough for you now. i hope that your health will improve and the circumstances of the rest of your life along with it. you have gotten quite a bit of advice already, and many wonderful suggestions! but i have a few things to add... 1. with all of the things you are having to deal with at the same time, it is not unnatural for one's body to react by going into a depressive state. many people take anti-depressants in just such situations, and the sooner you start taking them regularly, the sooner they will help you, and the sooner you will be able to stop taking them - as your whole situation improves. as i understand what the qur'an teaches about healing, a cure is available for every ill ---but that does not at all imply that doctors and medicine are not meant to be part of that cure. 2. if when you say that you were waking up at the same time every night and unable to go back to sleep you mean waking in the early morning (~2-4am), that is an absolutely classic symptom of the kind of depression which medicine can be very effective to alleviate. 3. when you say that you went to the doctor and had blood work done, but they found nothing, what did they check for? it is definitely possible that you may be having physical symptoms due to a high degree of stress or anxiety, but a general blood work up would not "find" the first two things i would think of with the symptoms you describe. i suggest that you go to either a neurologist - who can rule out many things by a physical exam, or a rheumatologist - who can check you for such things as Lyme disease or things which cause similar symptoms. (unless of course, there is NO lyme disease where you live.) 4. i'm making this a separate number because i think it's important. with my apologies to brother siddiqui, and to budding docs sis ruqayyah and sis shahida - and any other doctors hiding in the gloom - the most critical of all skills for doctors is the one you will find least prevalent, almost extremely rare: the skill to diagnose accurately, including knowing WHICH tests to use to assist in your diagnosis, rather than thinking it's the tests that do the diagnosing. for this reason, i think you should not be satisfied being told there is nothing wrong with you based on general bloodwork. 5. as sis ruqayyah mentioned, there are MILLIONS (hee hee ok, about 50) different antidepressants, and sometimes only ONE is the right one for a certain person -- see how important that ability to diagnose can be? in terms of medicine, a skilled doctor will not use you to test drugs, they will have only one or two educated guesses before solving your problems. brother mohammad, you have said that you are hopeless and that you cannot make it. no - there IS hope, and you CAN make it, but you must accept help. right now you need to accept the help that medicine can give you and you must ask for the help that god will lovingly give you. don't give up, and don't stop praying. friends keep telling me that something better will come for those things you lose that you thought you couldn't part with -- try to think of it that way, that, yes, this is a test, and yes, you will make it through, and yes, something good awaits you on the other side. mwishka |
| Re: Health question |
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| Anonymous |
| 07/30/02 at 13:19:53 |
| As Salaam Alaikum I too, am sorry that you are experiencing such hardship. Your trials sound a lot like mine! I am on antidepressants, as well. Since I had already been introduced to Al-Islam before being diagnosed with mental ailments, I became even more confused after being required to take medication. The first thing we want to tell ourselves in our defense is that ALLAH (SubHana Wa Ta'ala) is Sufficient. He is. However, keep in mind that the very fact that we have been made to become dependent upon these medicines may mean that we've probably had a lack of understanding of our Creator. Don't rush yourself. Give it time. Give the medication and any other treatment time, as long as it does not conflict with your religion. Make Du'a, study, and allow yourself time to come into a greater knowledge of Islam and ALLAH (SubHana Wa Ta'ala). And remember your iman. Time is a servant of ALLAH (SubHana Wa Ta'ala), not the other way around. Be Blessed. |
| Re: Health question |
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| Ameeraana |
| 08/01/02 at 00:56:22 |
| I am sorry about your recent troubles. I myself believe it was wrong of your doctor to give you anti-depressants. You have had two major things happen to you very recently and you need to let your emotions go through the healing stages. Yes, you will lose sleep, yes you will feel depressed, yes you will have times where you will break down and cry, and yes many more side-effects will come about because you are experiencing emotional pain as well. I personally believe the medication will hinder your healing process. I have been extremely depressed before when someone I loved left me. Then hearing he was with another made it worse. I felt like I was going to die. I had chest pains all the time. It was a pain that filled my whole chest every time I thought about him. I cried all the time too. I never thought I would ever be happy again. I had a few other problems going on then also, but I did get through it. It was a very trying time but it passed. I think ant-depressants are for people who have been depressed for many many months. Actually, I don't even know how long you have been feeling this way... Meditation to clear your mind may help a little also. Just lay in a quiet room or play some soft music and close your eyes and blank everything out and just lay like that for however long you need to. You don't have to think about anything, or imagine yourself somewhere like walking up a set of stairs with a door at the very top. Open that door and you are looking at a beautiful land filled with flowers and lush green grass and take a walk through the never-ending field filled with nothing but the sounds of birds and a light breeze (I know this sounds cheesy :P but it does work) or even if you want, you are in a valley with a river and take your shoes off and start walking in the river for a while. I usually come out of the meditation surrounded with the calmest feelings. |
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