I've been on Straterra for 8 days to help me with concentration, impulse control, school work, managing distractions, etc.
I stopped sleeping on day 2. It's not a stimulant so it's not supposed to affect me that way.
My heart started racing in my chest on day 5.
I was so hyped up I felt shaky on day 7. And I still hadn't had good sleep in 2 weeks.
So I filled the Ambien prescription I'd been avoiding and took it last night. The half pill of Ambien helped me sleep like I usually do: up 4 or 5 times in one night but only for 5 minutes or so.
Today I had a short temper and a headache but there were also clouds, wind, and rain (all of which affect my moods and head) so that's not proof of anything. I've also been unable to concentrate.
Not to worry, though--I'm on the intro-pack to Straterra so I'll take a bigger dose tomorrow. I predict I will be hyped up again. So I'll take a full Ambien. So I'll loose concentration. ...so I 'll be glad when the Straterra dose is upped again...
You have got to be kidding me.
Showing posts with label Drugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drugs. Show all posts
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Ritalin in October
I took Ritalin for 30 days before being moved to a different medication. Or rather, I took half doses for 3 days in a row and was ready to crawl out of my skin. But it takes a while to get used to any medication, right?
So I took 1 or 2 days off and tried again. Again, by 12pm on day 3 I was a jitter bug. I wanted to take it regularly to give it a fair chance. My distractibility was way down--a huge plus. But my impulse and hyperactivity both jumped, as did my general anxiety. Concentration doesn't mean a whole lot if sitting still is physically painful or I have to walk for 2 hours after doing any amount of school work.
In short, I did much better in school (earning an A- in Sociology was frighteningly easy) but couldn't enjoy it because I was anxious, jumpy, and had impulsively made (and eaten) chocolate chip cookie dough enough times to cause acne and bloat me right out of the skinny jeans I'd spent the summer working myself back into.
The RN at the Neurology office was very frustrated to hear this pattern continued for the entire month. "It only works if you take it regularly."
I guess I was supposed to take the sleeping pills regularly too, huh? She covered her face and breathed slowly for a minute. But the sleeping pills were a similar story--I'd take them for a couple nights and then I'd stop sleeping through the night. Some nights I'd wake up for hours at a time. It just didn't seem worth it.
She moved me to straterra and ambien. The straterra has been a nightmare and I've put off the ambien until tonight. I'll write about that tomorrow.
So I took 1 or 2 days off and tried again. Again, by 12pm on day 3 I was a jitter bug. I wanted to take it regularly to give it a fair chance. My distractibility was way down--a huge plus. But my impulse and hyperactivity both jumped, as did my general anxiety. Concentration doesn't mean a whole lot if sitting still is physically painful or I have to walk for 2 hours after doing any amount of school work.
In short, I did much better in school (earning an A- in Sociology was frighteningly easy) but couldn't enjoy it because I was anxious, jumpy, and had impulsively made (and eaten) chocolate chip cookie dough enough times to cause acne and bloat me right out of the skinny jeans I'd spent the summer working myself back into.
The RN at the Neurology office was very frustrated to hear this pattern continued for the entire month. "It only works if you take it regularly."
I guess I was supposed to take the sleeping pills regularly too, huh? She covered her face and breathed slowly for a minute. But the sleeping pills were a similar story--I'd take them for a couple nights and then I'd stop sleeping through the night. Some nights I'd wake up for hours at a time. It just didn't seem worth it.
She moved me to straterra and ambien. The straterra has been a nightmare and I've put off the ambien until tonight. I'll write about that tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Neurology #2
3 weeks ago, I returned to Dr. Cellphone's office ready to eat someone, anyone (everyone!) if I had to. I had a bulleted list of points to make while dishing out some emotional whiplash to the cellphone talking, misogynistic, assumption making, fat-hating idiot.
As it turned out, I didn't see the Dr. Instead, I saw the RN. She spent a few moments reading through my file--my medical history, the notes I'd given them about my life, and the ADHD test and "sleep" study results. The longer she took to get the whole picture, the less angry I felt.
Not less upset, mind you. I just wasn't in the mood to eat anyone alive any more.
She started with, "Your test results would indicate you have ADHD." I cried.
The RN paused a moment and then moved away from the Dr. Seat into the other Patient Seat and said, "Tell me what's going on."
I cried more.
And as I continued to cry, I told her how Dr. Nomanners threw it out there that I need to weigh 110 pounds, sleep 3 hours more than I already try to, and exercise "more" than who even knows what because 1) I work out with my sister regularly and 2) I weighed this much when I played rugby, swam, and rode my bike to work. I told her how he accused my husband of not doing enough, like he should be up until 12am with the baby and then up again at 5:30am because Baby's, well, a baby.
By then I had stopped crying and I was able to move seamlessly into the fact that, beyond the general waste of investing in a bad doctor, I can't invest in all of these tests and trying out different medications because there is a very real possibility that we're going to lose our health insurance by 2011.
And, just for good measure, I threw in the strange sidenote Dr. Insane had about "restless leg syndrome" because, honestly, what do you expect a woman to do when her entire body and her brain pulse with the need to move but the only socially acceptable action during conversation is a small leg movement or two?
The RN listened carefully. She nodded, she empathized. She started with, "I think you have ADHD. We can start you on Ritalin because it's the cheapest without health insurance. If you lose your insurance I can change the appointment codes and space them farther apart. You can afford this. You can do it."
And she ended with "You're beautiful."
In the middle were minor details like, Dr. Whatshisface is some amazing neurologist and he's respected all over the world for his amazing inventions. The real point of all this was 1) she'll talk to him about saying stupid things to patients (again) and 2) he's so damned busy with all of this other not-me stuff that I won't be seeing him again, anyway. And she mentioned, "I'm not excusing him. It's unacceptable. Have you ever heard of a genius with no social skills?"
So long story short, I've been on Ritalin for 3 weeks. I was also given a pill to help me fall asleep but, as the time stamp for this post will show, I haven't been taking it regularly. My head feels like it's sloshing around 1/2 the time and I don't like that.
I'm not fond of the Ritalin, either. I have amazing concentration abilities but I can also feel myself moving 1 bagillion miles a minute (inside and out).
Follow-up appointment at the end of the week and health insurance prospects have improved somewhat. We'll see what happens.
As it turned out, I didn't see the Dr. Instead, I saw the RN. She spent a few moments reading through my file--my medical history, the notes I'd given them about my life, and the ADHD test and "sleep" study results. The longer she took to get the whole picture, the less angry I felt.
Not less upset, mind you. I just wasn't in the mood to eat anyone alive any more.
She started with, "Your test results would indicate you have ADHD." I cried.
The RN paused a moment and then moved away from the Dr. Seat into the other Patient Seat and said, "Tell me what's going on."
I cried more.
And as I continued to cry, I told her how Dr. Nomanners threw it out there that I need to weigh 110 pounds, sleep 3 hours more than I already try to, and exercise "more" than who even knows what because 1) I work out with my sister regularly and 2) I weighed this much when I played rugby, swam, and rode my bike to work. I told her how he accused my husband of not doing enough, like he should be up until 12am with the baby and then up again at 5:30am because Baby's, well, a baby.
By then I had stopped crying and I was able to move seamlessly into the fact that, beyond the general waste of investing in a bad doctor, I can't invest in all of these tests and trying out different medications because there is a very real possibility that we're going to lose our health insurance by 2011.
And, just for good measure, I threw in the strange sidenote Dr. Insane had about "restless leg syndrome" because, honestly, what do you expect a woman to do when her entire body and her brain pulse with the need to move but the only socially acceptable action during conversation is a small leg movement or two?
The RN listened carefully. She nodded, she empathized. She started with, "I think you have ADHD. We can start you on Ritalin because it's the cheapest without health insurance. If you lose your insurance I can change the appointment codes and space them farther apart. You can afford this. You can do it."
And she ended with "You're beautiful."
In the middle were minor details like, Dr. Whatshisface is some amazing neurologist and he's respected all over the world for his amazing inventions. The real point of all this was 1) she'll talk to him about saying stupid things to patients (again) and 2) he's so damned busy with all of this other not-me stuff that I won't be seeing him again, anyway. And she mentioned, "I'm not excusing him. It's unacceptable. Have you ever heard of a genius with no social skills?"
So long story short, I've been on Ritalin for 3 weeks. I was also given a pill to help me fall asleep but, as the time stamp for this post will show, I haven't been taking it regularly. My head feels like it's sloshing around 1/2 the time and I don't like that.
I'm not fond of the Ritalin, either. I have amazing concentration abilities but I can also feel myself moving 1 bagillion miles a minute (inside and out).
Follow-up appointment at the end of the week and health insurance prospects have improved somewhat. We'll see what happens.
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