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Today was mental health day. Also sarcasm Monday, as I wore my Happy Bunny t-shirt that says, "crazy doesn't even begin to cover it." I figured Dr. Shah would appreciate the humor. (It turned out that every doctor I ran into also thought it was funny. I always get comments and giggles when I wear it.)
I had an appointment with Dr. Shah, my psychiatrist, at 1:30. It was at the main Harris Cty Hospital in the Psych Center. This meant a 30 minute drive from the house down to the medical center. FUN. I left really early (about 11:45) in order to get to the clinic by 12:30. Because the clinic seems to only employ people who are just as mentally deficient as the patients being seen, an hour cushion before your appointment time is necessary in order to make sure to get checked in before the appointment time. (The last time I was there, I stood in line waiting to check in for over an hour-and-a-half.) It pissed Dr. S off so much that I noticed that today the previous office person (who had a certain, very slow, very bitchy way of doing things that she wouldn't change no matter what) had been replaced. I asked, and Dr. S said that she was gone gone. Even though I had been able to check in with plenty of time to spare, I ended up waiting over an hour-and-a-half past my appointment time. It turned out that the Doc's previous patient had been a pain in the ass. I assured him that I wouldn't be. (He really likes me because I can have an intelligent discussion about my meds and moods with him, instead of him having to pull answers out of people and then prescribing meds without any discussion from the patient. I told him to wait until he sees my sister for the first time. If he thinks that he and I have good discussions, he'll be shocked dealing with her, since she's so incredibly smart and knows such a ridiculous amount about psychiatry for someone who isn't a psychiatrist.)
Anyway... We decided to add Cymbalta into my med cocktail. I've been horribly depressed lately, and my fibromyalgia has been just awful. SNRIs have been shown to help fibromyalgia pain. So I'm going to give it a shot. However, it does concern me a bit, as the times I've tried serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors before, I've ended up manic. Also, as I add in the SNRI, I have to back off on my Lexapro. This definitely is scary for me, as I have definitively proven that my brain does NOT work without the Lexapro molecule. (I've tried several other SSRI's, even Celexa which was the drug Lexapro came from, without success.) I told Dr S that I would try it, but at the first hint of hypomania, I'd stop and go back to my usual cocktail. Period.
In other news: Um... I need to do my due diligence and figure out who I want to vote for this election cycle. I do know who I want as governor here in Texas (Bill White - D), but really don't have a clue about anyone else. I see a bunch of web surfing in my future. Also need to find out what propositions are on my local ballot so I know how to vote for those, too. I R A GUD CITAZIN.
I'm still really into The Stand. Haven't gotten to the good v. evil part yet, just still in the section where the disease is spreading. My only complaint is that it's difficult occasionally to remember which character is who. I feel like I need to write myself a little cheat sheet of main characters and use it for a bookmark.
To close this post, an lolcat that reminds me so much of Max. (He loved spaghetti, but he would kill you in order to get at your blueberry muffin. Muffins were his crack.)
I had an appointment with Dr. Shah, my psychiatrist, at 1:30. It was at the main Harris Cty Hospital in the Psych Center. This meant a 30 minute drive from the house down to the medical center. FUN. I left really early (about 11:45) in order to get to the clinic by 12:30. Because the clinic seems to only employ people who are just as mentally deficient as the patients being seen, an hour cushion before your appointment time is necessary in order to make sure to get checked in before the appointment time. (The last time I was there, I stood in line waiting to check in for over an hour-and-a-half.) It pissed Dr. S off so much that I noticed that today the previous office person (who had a certain, very slow, very bitchy way of doing things that she wouldn't change no matter what) had been replaced. I asked, and Dr. S said that she was gone gone. Even though I had been able to check in with plenty of time to spare, I ended up waiting over an hour-and-a-half past my appointment time. It turned out that the Doc's previous patient had been a pain in the ass. I assured him that I wouldn't be. (He really likes me because I can have an intelligent discussion about my meds and moods with him, instead of him having to pull answers out of people and then prescribing meds without any discussion from the patient. I told him to wait until he sees my sister for the first time. If he thinks that he and I have good discussions, he'll be shocked dealing with her, since she's so incredibly smart and knows such a ridiculous amount about psychiatry for someone who isn't a psychiatrist.)
Anyway... We decided to add Cymbalta into my med cocktail. I've been horribly depressed lately, and my fibromyalgia has been just awful. SNRIs have been shown to help fibromyalgia pain. So I'm going to give it a shot. However, it does concern me a bit, as the times I've tried serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors before, I've ended up manic. Also, as I add in the SNRI, I have to back off on my Lexapro. This definitely is scary for me, as I have definitively proven that my brain does NOT work without the Lexapro molecule. (I've tried several other SSRI's, even Celexa which was the drug Lexapro came from, without success.) I told Dr S that I would try it, but at the first hint of hypomania, I'd stop and go back to my usual cocktail. Period.
In other news: Um... I need to do my due diligence and figure out who I want to vote for this election cycle. I do know who I want as governor here in Texas (Bill White - D), but really don't have a clue about anyone else. I see a bunch of web surfing in my future. Also need to find out what propositions are on my local ballot so I know how to vote for those, too. I R A GUD CITAZIN.
I'm still really into The Stand. Haven't gotten to the good v. evil part yet, just still in the section where the disease is spreading. My only complaint is that it's difficult occasionally to remember which character is who. I feel like I need to write myself a little cheat sheet of main characters and use it for a bookmark.
To close this post, an lolcat that reminds me so much of Max. (He loved spaghetti, but he would kill you in order to get at your blueberry muffin. Muffins were his crack.)