Maybe it's PMS (at least today), but this has been going on for a few weeks now.

I wasn't sure where to post this, so I settled on here. This may end up being long, so I apologize.

I do not work but I am going to school online. Back in November/December I was doing ok, had a lot of stress with my parents coming into town and then dh's parent's coming in the following day, and I had a paper to write and dh was working and attending classes himself for an accelerated MBA program.

After that craziness, I was starting to get into a daily routine, but I had panic attacks almost daily. Not so much internal fear, but racing thoughts, dizziness and heart palpitations, in other words, the physical symptoms of panic attack. I was taking adderall ir 7.5 2x a day and no ssri's. (I had taken ssri's before but stopped in case adhd was the cause of anxiety symptoms). I was having no problems doing the chores I needed to do and doing my classwork.

The week before Xmas, dh was laid off. That threw my daily routine out the window because he was home all the time. It's hard to do noisy tasks (dishes, house cleaning) when someone is trying to concentrate and study, not to mention trying to find another job. Plus I had a three week break from school so it was easier to take the time off and relax for a little while.

Almost a month ago, I started on lexapro to take care of the anxiety. The lex made me sluggish and tired, so I started halving the dose and taking it at night. Now no panic attacks, but still able to concentrate and do the things I need to do.

Lately I just feel stuck. I was exercising almost daily after the adderall (now xr 15mg), even after dh was laid off. Now the thought of getting on the treadmill fills me with dread. The weather has not been great around here for the last several weeks (cold, rain, snow, wind, clouds) so it's even less appealing to go outside. I know we're supposed to get "green time" and "sunshine time" but it's difficult when it's miserable out and there's no sun...

I've been spending all my mornings lately playing around on the computer, facebook, solitare games, crosswords, sudokus... Which I did before, but only for about an hour. It just seems so hard to get up and go anymore. I hate school right now, but I only have the 2 classes this quarter and 2 more next quarter to take and then I'm done with my program. I'm just trying to get through it at this point. I have to force myself to sit down and study, and I usually can't get into it until thurs/friday (everything for the week is due on sundays).

Has anyone else been this stuck before? I don't know if it's the lex, the winter, or the fact that dh is home all the time now. I liked it when he was out of the house. It was nice for about 10 hours to not have to be cognizant of someone else's presence. I just don't know how to get unstuck right now.

any suggestions???

I am stuck. Online courses are my demise. I am failing out of my 2nd master's program because I cannot pass online classes. Usually an A student. It's hard. I'm not sure that I can pull myself out of it either. I have never passed an online course. So, if you do it, it's a huge and glorious and wonderful thing. Please know that you have accomplished something that is very hard for me. And I admire you greatly.

I don't know if this will help the sense of being stuck. My partner is out of work right now too. I am accustomed to having the home office to myself to work and now he's in it. Periodically, I have to tell him to take a drive or something or I won't get anything done.

Your core issue could easily be weather related. I'm in snow country too and have had about all the cold, dreary, snowy days that I can stand. Normally, I would just go for a walk when I hit a block. That is really hard to do when the high for the day is -6. Unfortunately, I haven't found a good answer yet.

Thanks you guys. I think it is a case of the mid-winter blues, coupled with lack of alone time now that dh is home all day. Looking back, I tend to get down around February/March until the days get longer and the weather gets warmer.

I would love to see some snow!! At least it would make the outside more pretty! Right now the ground is all brown and the trees are bare. I'm in Virginia so snow is a pretty big deal when we get it (as in schools shut down with 1/2 inch on the roads!). This year has been pretty snowless so far. Today we actually have blue sky and sun, but it's still not tempting me to venture out.

I would love to just curl up under the blankets and sleep all day, but between my guilty conscious and needing to get some classwork done, it's not possible.

Any other suggestions welcome.

maybe you could try getting YOURSELF out of the house regularly. Just a change of scene might help to lift your spirits.
I also HATE it when DH is home for too long. Even if he is in another room I cannot get anything done.

Can you take your laptop to the library or even a coffee shop to study.....and then reward yourself with a coffee and people watching (or a book you want to read)......

btw......my routine is stuck too.....and I an finding it really hard to motivate myself too - this weather sucks!

also I am a big fan of Flylady www.flylady.net (http://www.flylady.net)

have you tried a timer? The Flylady idea is to set the timer and do something for 15 minutes and then STOP. Because it is only 15 minutes and you can stop i is easier to actually do something. Sometimes even 15 minutess too much and I will only do 5 minutes.
Just doing something and seeing the diffence can really help me.....

also make sure that you a breaking down what you have to do into small concrete manageable chunks. Instead of just "study".....the goal is to "summarize 2 pages of chapter 1" for example.

Instead of "clean the house"......say "pick up for 15 minutes"

I have the cure for all you guys in snow/sleat/ and freezing weather........................................... .......COME STAY WITH ME IN HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry had to rub it in...but, if you ever come to O'ahu you definitly have a free tour guide!

I have been exercising regularly for a year now and I find it helps to have variety. I also get the winter blahs (stop rubbing it in angelmom808!) and find exercise is great for that. I also HATE the gym, I don't like the idea of people looking at me while I work out, so I do it at home. I like videos such as Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, 10 Minute Trainer, you know, all those ones that are always on t.v. They are a lot of fun so I actually look forward to working out.

I agree that getting out of the house yourself is helpful. When two people are at home together for a long time, frustration tends to mount.

As for the online courses...I find that I work best in the morning so I worked on them as soon as I got up. I could stay focused for longer this way because I was fresh. Plus, I had a study buddy who called me everyday to make sure I was doing the work. I think that helped the most. But definitely think of the time of day when you have the most energy and plan to do as much as you can then. When you start to burn out, stop and take a break. Reward yourself before getting back to work.