Getting support for stress

Hi,Thank you for reaching out to us in such a difficult time, we all know that looking after a loved one with this terrible disease can't be such a strain and unfortunately no one thinks how it can affect the carer with the stress and the emotions that it brings.

I would suggest that you seek help from your GP letting him know exactly how you feel and how caring for your mum is causing you stress and anxiety.

You are correct when you say that this forum is full of strong people and you also rank in that number and hopefully with our help we can stop the wheels falling off and help you tighten the nuts

We have a team of very friendly advisers who you can chat to and let it all out 7 days a week between 8 am and 8 pm they can be contacted on

0808 808 0000,

not only will listen to you and I repeat they will listen to you and be able to point you in the direction of some local support that might be of help to yourself you can also read about the MACMILLAN SUPPORT LINE here

They will probably direct you to

Macmillans Support in your local area

If you type in your postcode a list of support in your area will appear

We also recommend that you have a look at Maggies to see if they have centre near you they offer quite a lot of support to carers and hopefully you are near to one.

You might it beneficial to join our Carers only forum Group where you will meet a lot of friendly people in the same situation as yourself.

Another group you might want to look at is the Emotional support forum group

No matter which area of the Mac forums you find yourself you can be assured that you will be in the company of group of people who are very friendly and willing to share their experiences with you.

This is a safe place where you can come to have a chat when things are getting to you or to rant and rave or just generally let off steam, everyone will know and understand how you are feeling and will give you all the help, support and advice you need.

Please make time during each day to take yourself away from the stress and strain you are going through and have some me time, don't feel guilty or any remorse you can only continue to be strong for others if you have your own strength in place. Have a coffee with the girls, do a bit of retail therapy anything just to be YOU for a little while each day.

But do try and make the call to

0808 808 0000

this morning you have nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

Please keep in touch with any of the groups you want we are all here to support you when you need us.

Ian

By clicking on any of the green text above will open up new pages for you

Hi again, sorry had to make a few edits to my original post to make it a bit clearer.

My apologies for this.

Ian

Thank you . Sound advice and very helpful. Having people to talk to who want to help really does make a difference .

Hi KP,

Just wanted to say what a great help the telephone service was for me...

I lost my mom just over 2 years ago, after diagnosis she only had palliative care. I used to drive down to see her, and give my Step-dad some support for a couple of days at a time. When he then went into hospital I stayed full time to look after my mom... In retrospect I am glad of that extra time that I got to spend with her.

Anyhow... When I used to come back home I would fall apart, you know, after trying to be the brave daughter, but believe me... I was in pieces, my OH tried to support me the best he could, but he never quite got "it"... Best thing I ever did was to just pick up the phone and speak to these guys (actually the first time I phoned all I did was sob for the first 10 minutes).

They really do understand what you are going through, you don't have to try and explain anything. They gave me the little boost I needed to carry on (you know, the sort of little boost you'd get from talking to your Mom!...)

I'm logged back on to the community for some more support as I now await the prognosis for my step-dad, and boy I know there's going to be some more sobbing down the phone in the near future.

I also found it helpful to get my feelings out on the forum, there's a room on here just for venting!

You may hear people advising you to be kind to yourself..., took me a while, but I finally figured out about a year ago that for me that meant do what you need to do, not what you ought to do.

Take care xx