Wednesday 15 August 2007

Difficult Days

Once again we are struggling to cope with change in medication. Slowly to reduce one antidepressant and then to start on the new. Withdrawal symptoms for two weeks. Increased anxiety and insomnia. Then another two weeks disruption while adjusting to the new medication. The main side effects of which appear to be stomach upset. We are told it should settle down within one or two weeks. While its been fine weather it's been easier to cope. The garden can be a great consolation. But it has been windy, chilly, wet and misty again. So the last two days have been mainly spent indoors. By the end of August we should know whether the new pills will be an improvement. My Man is not inclined to try any other medication change. He was inclined to drop all pills and 'cope' but the last three weeks have been so hard I think he's changing his mind about that.

We decided he should have a new nickname - 'Pilot Light' - as he never goes out. It was good to laugh with him again over the idiocy of life.

3Beautiful Things

  1. A surprise delivery of flowers - an unexpected gift from a sister
  2. A juicy sweet nectarine
  3. A long letter from a long standing friend - enjoyed over a leisurely pot of tea.

8 comments:

Jez Bell said...

Love the 3BTs - made me re-think after a day that I thought was pretty poor today. But my BTs cheered me up:
1 Big hug from my son this morning
2 Great long walk with the dog early evening when the sun was still shining
3 The smell of just laundered sheets which have been dried outside on the washing line

Penny Pincher said...

Hello Jez - Lovely - and I can just smell those sheets - oh bliss.

Anonymous said...

hi there, ed from constructyourself, thanks for the encouraging comments, its nice to know people are reading. I hope that the change of medication works out well.
I love the idea of the 3BTS so here goes;
1) Reading nice comments on blog
2) Being asked out for dinner
3) I new idea for a script.

Penny Pincher said...

Hi - Ed - glad you called in. Love the 3BTs - especially the first! They are a great help aren't they.

Mr Mans Wife said...

I can see these 3BT's are going to become a theme!

I hope the medication change works out well too. I know how unsettling it can be - for both of you.

My 3BT's: (in no particular order)
1. Touching emails and comments
2. A big squeezy cuddle with Mr Man
3. A newly aquired piece of art

Penny Pincher said...

Mr Man's Wife - (MMW) they all sound good to me.

Potty Mummy said...

My father has suffered from depression for - knowingly - about 27 years, and probably for much of his life before that. Life with him can be an emotional rollercoaster (sorry for the cliche). Whilst the darkest times are now some way behind us, I'm not sure that Dad will ever be 100% as he once was. Just when you think things are on a even keel, that the medication is working (and oh god, your comment about your man 'coping' without the pills brought back so many memories), something happens that reminds you he is not generally a happy man... (the power of understatement!)

It can be difficult for those who don't have direct experience of this condition, either themselves or in their family, to understand how it can blight the life not only of the person affected, but of their nearest and dearest.

My siblings and I have been able to move on through this - not past it, we are all affected to some extent, and of course are still very much involved in our parents lives - but every day I'm aware of how much my mother has to cope with. Yet she does - and I don't know how. Thanks for throwing some light on this for me.

Penny Pincher said...

Hello Potty Mummy - thanks for visiting and your comment. If your mother is like me - some days are easier than others. And of course, if yu have a fit of the blues yourself then you don't have a partner able to help lift your spirits - in fact if you end up going down they end up swooping ever lower! So I feel its up to me to keep cheerful to make sure we don't both end up 8-( and in a worse situation. but sometimes it's very hard. How your Mum coped for so long i can't imagine - especially with children but maybe having children around helped. I admire - I only been on this learning curve 6 years.