<b>Vampy</b> I can see exactly how depression and Cf could be related. I was lucky enough to have a pretty normal childhood, but Cf was always in the background. I don't think it made me an outcast, but more determined to fit in - and not always in a good way - so when my friends were smoking cigarettes, so was I - stuff like that. There was NO WAY I was going to let Cf make me different - and though I don't think that resulted in depression for me, it certainly has shaped my life mentally - I still struggle with not telling people I have Cf and not wanting to look any different - I still usually hide my enzymes when i take them in front of people (not my family, but others)...so i think the childhood you described most definitely could contribute to your feelings now and I hope you'll take steps to rectify that (personally, I would advocate counseling over meds, but that's just my opinion).
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jdprecious</b> as a mom of a CFer, I can totally see where anxiety would come into play - I have a ton of anxiety as a mom as it is - there is so much to worry about - and to top it off with a disease like Cf - oy! Hang in there, i think you'll see how "normal" many of us were able to grow up (normal being a relative term)
<b>Haleysmom90</b> I did a lot of the similar things that your daughter did as a teenager and well into my twenties - but i was much healtheir Cf-wise than she sounds. I can totally understand, as a mom, how you feel that at least she is living a somewhat "normal" adolescence, but I hope you'll stay vigilant to get her on the right path so that she can continue to live on into adulthood.
I can now say that I am sure plenty of my lung damage was done from smoking pot - and while I am not the least bit upset about the youth that I had, I can look back now and see how lucky I was to get out pretty unscathed. A lot of the poeple I hung out with at that time were not so lucky - and none of them had CF on top of it all. I know a lot of my drinking and drug use was an unconscious way to fit in. I chose the friends I did separately from CF, but when we all started getting into pot and stuff (we were "hippies") I knew I shouldn't smoke, but chose to do so anyway because I didn't want to not smoke because of CF, if that makes sense? Like I might have chosen not to smoke pot because I didn't like it (but I did - I do, I just don't now), but I wasn't going to let Cf be the reason I didn't do it. *Sigh*
My parents knew, I am sure, and while I am glad they didn't press the issue, they did constantly remind me of how important it was to keep my health up - and those little voices always stayed in the back of my mind, thankfully.
