Tag: Depression

Muddling along

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Disability4 Comments

There’s really not that much to update, but I’ll try and tell you all what’s going on.

I added to our complaint about how I was treated in the hospital, I was upset when that wrote me back saying they couldn’t fine my original complaint. At least they wrote me back, perhaps I’m now in touch with people who can make a difference. It’s upsetting that I had to say I felt my disability was ignored before I got the attention of someone. Yes I am considering writing to the States Disability board who enforces the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) We are now in the process of writing our a letter that will be sent to the hospital and Medicare. I haven’t contacted the state about my disability being ignored before now is because Medicare often takes care of that. We will then be sending the letters by registered mail so we get a signature that it was received

This has been incredibly hard on me since I do not remember a lot of my hospital stay. I don’t remember the first time I was going to be discharged before I was ready to be. However, I do remember the next day when I was forced to be discharged before we knew how the opioid they had just given me would react with me.

Forgive me if I’m not saying all of this with the proper grammar, I’m still incredibly upset about it all. The email I received stating they had no record of my original complaint has been a huge trigger. I need to get all of this resolved. I’m trying very hard to be a good advocate for myself. People do not understand how very hard that can be.

I have felt that my migraines have been less intense. About once or twice a week I had one that is untreatable no matter how much medication I throw at it. But I’m having Yellow days most of the time. (explanation of the traffic light system for rating migraines can be found here) That’s a huge difference. I don’t know if it’s because of the reintroduction of Botox, the nerve blocks, or the increase in medications. Which ever it is, I’ll take it. I just hope it gets better and better, all Yellow and Red days is simply unbearable.

I’m having some huge cravings for sweets, I don’t normally have that. It’s weird and it’s bothering me… it freaks me out to gain weight after I lost so much. I’m trying hard to eat as healthy as I can, but it’s even harder when I’m not able to cook for myself, and I’m tasting things differently. Foods I normally love just taste weird. That can be a side effect of one of my meds, but it’s crazy that my oatmeal and butternut squash taste odd. Why can’t sweets and fried foods takes weird? I really try not to eat either of those, but lately I’m not succeeding all the time. I’m also much more constipated than before, I can’t help but this is also a side effect.

We’ve had a lot of unexpected expenses lately. Plumbing issues, needing to replace the AC in the casita. I sure am glad we have an emergency fund, but it will push back being able to get the yard landscaped, and replacing doors and blinds. That makes me a little sad, but it won’t be put off forever, and we can still get some of it done. (crossing fingers)

I should close now, my head is ramping up and I’m almost finished with this Spravato treatment.

Hope all are good out there. I’m not getting email notification when most blogs post so I need to take the time to check on you all.

Hope you are having a spooky season.

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Ketamine – hope for my migraine

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Migraines7 Comments

I have hope.

I’m going inpatient to have ketamine treatment for my refractory chronic migraine in the near future, just waiting on insurance approval. It takes longer for me to get approval because I have two insurances. (private from hubby’s work and Medicare). Luckily after approval this hospital trip shouldn’t cost much if anything. I’m so very lucky to have this, it breaks my hears so many do not have insurance, it is inexcusable for people in this country to go without needed healthcare. But that is not what I’m here for today.

If you have been following my blog for a while you know that I am already using Spravato (esketamine) for medication resistant depression. Here’s an interesting article about that: https://mindbody-therapeutics.com/whats-the-difference-between-ketamine-and-esketamine/

You can read about Ketamine use for refractory migraine in this Healthline article.. and here is a post written by a person who had Ketamine treatment for her refractory chronic migraine. Headache Camp 2. It’s a very good read.

I don’t really have much more to say right now. Head is pounding and I need to rest my eyes.

As soon as I get my treatment I’ll write more about it.

Please know you are all in my heart, even if I’m not in contact as much as I’d like.

Christmas + Chronic Illness + COVID = X

On By WendyIn Christmas, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain6 Comments

After being told, erroneously, that this would be my father-in-law’s last Christmas we decided to brave things and try to create as many memories with him as possible. That included having family gatherings.

We all got together for Thanksgiving, during which I found out that 3 people in that group are not vaccinated. I tried to be as careful as I could, but I felt the whole day was irresponsible, and scary.

Now we know that what’s wrong with Dad’s heart will most likely not shorten his life span, we aren’t feeling the need to get us all together again. At first I thought we still should, after all he’s 84, who knows….who knows about any of us really. But now I’m thinking, do we want our memories to be about all of us having COVID? I don’t think so.

I just got back from my physical and my doctor told me that we need to celebrate the best we can, and still be cautious. He told me to stay away from unvaccinated people, especially indoors. The hospitals here are at near capacity. It’s bad.

So a family Christmas is out this year, and I’m okay with that.

I saw a show the other day where a child was trying to share what Christmas meant to an alien. (Dreamworks Home For the Holidays on Netflix) As the story went on the alien tried to share his joy with his fellow aliens, but they didn’t get it and they were really just making a big mess. (much like all the garbage created by Christmas now) Finally the girl realized, Christmas isn’t about all the things, or family, or gatherings, or any of that….Christmas is a feeling. It’s the feeling of magic, kindness, giving, love, joy…..it’s the feeling of having goodness you can believe in.

I like that.

There are so many celebrations this time of year, I kind of put them all under the umbrella of Christmas, it seems others do too.

I want to send glad tidings to you all, no matter how you celebrate the holidays…or don’t, that’s okay too.

Have the best celebrations you can, while still being careful out there.

This year, we’ll do much the same as we always do.

Rainbow lights strung on a wall in a tree shape, with a star on top.

We have our unconventional tree, that includes everyone. (that’s why it has a rainbow glow) We will still watch It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve while eating Chinese take-out. Still putting together our Peanuts Christmas puzzle and build our various Lego Christmas things (train, tree, Santa….). That should keep us busy! Maybe I’ll even make cookies!

When you are celebrating the holidays remember, it’s not about getting together with family, the gatherings, or any of the preconceived notions that have been pushed down our throats. (Could there possibly be any more romantic Christmas shows?) The holidays are about the feelings. They are about caring for each other, those you know and those you don’t. It’s about giving, not receiving…but I admit receiving that magic is pretty darn special. Let the magic shine in you. The other day while S was working I closed myself off in the studio, played Christmas music and sang at the top of my lungs! I worked on little art projects and just had a magical day, all by myself. It was actually the most magical feeling. Unfortunately I think I’ll have Christmas music stuck in my head until July! Oy Vey!

Please remember that everyone is going through something we don’t see, be kind, reach out if needed.

The holidays is a time when so many are lonely, and depressed. They can’t feel the magic, they can only see how they are left out of it all. Some are sick, poor, or simply alone. If you are feeling this way, please reach out. If you notice anyone feeling this way, or suspect it, reach out. Sometimes simply letting someone know you care and they aren’t alone is enough to help them through this tough time.

Merry Christmas to all!! And to all a Good Night!!

**Little Mini-Me update….the migraine is still here. I had my physical yesterday and my bloodwork looks great! My BP is great! I still hate having High BP disorder in my records, but oh well, at least it seems to be down now….maybe. I saw the retina specialist last week and he said my BP had to have spiked sometime since I saw him last because the vein leaked again. I noticed my vision was worse, but thought it was just that it wasn’t going to get better, not that it was actually worse…that didn’t make much sense did it? So I got another shot in my eye, I’m seeing better! Hope it stays that way, I go back in a few months. I saw the dentist this week, it had been a while…before lockdown….things weren’t horrible, but not as great as I would have liked. I need to see a TMJ specialist because I’m grinding my teeth and she thinks it might be contributing to my migraines. I also have a Tilt Table test set up for the 28th, this is at the clinic in Phoenix. I realize this is a stream of information, I hope it makes sense. Oh, found out yesterday that my therapist is retiring in March. I’m sad about that. I feel like I’m losing a good friend.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness23 Comments

So late last night I wrote this long post detailing everything (well most things) that have been happening lately, I decided that most people really don’t want/need to read all those details so let me just sum it all up. (if you are really interested I left the detailed post at the end)

Stuart was laid off yesterday because of lost revenue due to COVID-19. It came as a huge shock and I’m still processing it all. I know we’ll be okay, we are in this together and that’s all that counts.

The beginning of last month we cut my SPRAVATO (esketamine) from twice a week to once a week and I did not do well, both the depression and the migraines came back full force. It has not been a good month. This week we went back to twice a week, let’s hope I see improvement soon. More about this later.

About a week ago I was stung by a scorpion while sitting in my living room. I didn’t have to go to the ER or anything like that. I’m fine. I just hurt like hell, and I still have this spot on my leg that feels kind of weird when I scratch it, but it’s getting better every day.

I had a severe allergic reaction a couple of days ago to something, I don’t know what. My doctor thinks it was a combination of things. Simply put I have had too many allergens bombard me at once, so it wasn’t just one thing, therefore it probably won’t happen again. But if it does I have lots of Benadryl and my EpiPen.

So that’s the series of unfortunate events that have been happening in my life. It really hasn’t been all bad, but this post has gotten way too long! I’ll post more soon, I hope, and tell you all happier things. Like, we got added a new member to our family!! We rescued a kitty. I’ll tell you all about Brody and more soon!

Brody, his first night home.

If you’d like to read more details here they are, this is the post I wrote last night….if you read it, you can tell I was not in the best frame of mind. I hope you’ve had a better month.

It’s 1:33am and I’m sitting here in tears, today, um yesterday, the most recent and the worst of the latest in a string of pretty crappy events happened and I’m not taking this last one very well. Stuart was laid off. We were finally affected by the backlash from COVID-19. It came as a huge shock. There was a big layoff in his company right when they started the work-from-home phase, we felt it was a knee jerk reaction at the time. We don’t know what to think now. There is no rhyme or reason as to who they chose to lay off. The company he works for isn’t really losing any business. They are a huge irrigation company for large golf courses, agriculture….they do supply Disneyland, but I don’t think they stopped watering their grass just because they’re closed, and that is just a small fraction of their business (all over the world). The only thing they are having trouble with is getting parts in from overseas.His team is down to 3 people! They can’t do all the work and no one knows how to do the things Stuart does. They just shot themselves in the foot.

I’m freaking out. It’s not the money, not really. We have money saved, unemployment is higher right now, he got a little severance package, and we have my small disability income and Medicare, however he was laid off before and was out of work for almost a year, I do not want to go through that again. It totally depleted out savings I finally felt like I could have nice things, now I feel like I have to scrimp and save every penny. I had a house keeper coming in once a month to help me out, I can’t do that now. We had plans for the house and yard, not any more…. I’m heartbroken. I’m shattered.

Now for at least some of the other things that have happened over the last few weeks. We cut my SPRAVATO (esketamine) treatments down from twice a week to once a week and I crashed hard. The depression came back in a huge black wave. It has been suffocating. With the depression, came the migraines, and the increased dizziness and vertigo. The good news, we increased it back to twice a week this week, hopefully I’ll be feeling better soon. But I really do not want to be tied to this stuff twice a week, that takes two days out of my life every week. That isn’t really feasible. I could never even go out of town, and when Stuart gets a new job I don’t think they will be too pleased that he has to take 2 days a week to take me to these appointments.

Next, I was stung by a scorpion. Stuart lived in the desert for many years and never even saw a scorpion, I live here less than 2 years and get stung by one while sitting in my chair watching TV. The irony, you gotta laugh. I had no idea what had happened, I only had this very intense nerve pain in my leg. I yelped in pain and told Stuart, then I noticed that there was a red spot on my leg, and he got me a Benadryl and ice real quick. Because of his quick thinking (we thought it was a spider bite) it didn’t swell at all. It hurt so bad that night I barely slept. For two days it hurt and felt numb at the same time. This was over a week ago and still if I scratch in that place it feels funny, kind of tingly, but it’s getting better. Oh, Stuart found the scorpion the next day, dead. When I looked up the symptoms it was dead on for a scorpion sting.

Day before yesterday I had a pretty severe allergy attack. I was just sitting in my living room and my throat started to close up. Stuart was just in the next room but it closed to fast I couldn’t call out. I took a Benadryl fast, and started looking for my inhaler, which was hard to find simply because I was getting confused. I finally took about 3 Benadryl and used my inhaler so many times I just don’t know. I’m just glad I didn’t have to use my Epi Pen or go to the ER. It did happen again that night, but I got the Benadryl in faster and it ended faster, then yesterday I took Benadry every 4 hours and I was fine. Today I’ve itched a lot. My doctor (I had a telehealth visit with my migraine doctor yesterday and I had to tell her because I had taken my migraine shot the night before the attack) she said it could be a high load of allergens. The allergy count is very high here right now, and then the scorpion, add in a powerful medication, and we got a cat…the combination could have caused it, but one on it’s own probably wouldn’t. So I’m okay there.

I told my neighbor, who has become a very good friend, that she must think I’m a calamity of horrors. I was so touched by what she said, “No, I think you are a beautiful young lady with the most positive outlook I have ever seen” She will never know how much I needed to hear that.

My Normalcy During Pandemic 2020

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness8 Comments
A Roadrunner, Quail, and Hare have all come to visit me recently. Their world hasn’t changed at all.

I’m so incredibly lucky, my life really hasn’t changed all that much during this craziness, yet, it has.

We’re lucky, no one close to us have lost their jobs or anything like that. It really breaks my heart for all who have and continue to each day. I don’t have anyone close to me who is on the front-lines treating people, I’m so very thankful to these amazing people. I really don’t think I’ll know just how much this has really affected my life until it’s all over and we find out what businesses have survived and things like that. I’m desperately worried for these people. I’m helping all I can, ordering from local sites online, buying gift cards…, but will it be enough?

For me personally, I don’t normally go many places during the week, to doctor appointments, that’s about it. Well that was about it until recently. Recently I started getting more involved in my neighborhood; I was going to Women’s Coffee on Tuesdays and a Women’s Empowerment Journaling/Discussion Group on Thursdays. On the weekend we’d cram in everything else, grocery shopping, seeing dad, entertainment…ANYTHING else! Of course, all of this changes if I’m not feeling well, so things change a lot. I guess that’s why I don’t feel that things have changed all that much, because I’m used to things being canceled. I’m used to staying home, I’m used to not being able to do things I’d like to do, so that part of things isn’t really that stressful for me. But it’s different when you have to do these things and when you are forced to do them.

Truthfully, things really haven’t changed that much though.

I have still been going in for my SPRAVATO treatments twice a week, I start once a week this week. And it has been amazing! First let me assure everyone that we are extremely cautious. I’m the first patient seen, the room is completely sterilized, I only see one person, and they never touch me. Now for the results, as I’ve told you before, my depression is gone! I do feel sadness, but it’s not the same. Sadness is situational and it feels different, oh so different. I never knew just how different it felt. What I haven’t shared is how different my migraines are! I had TWELVE migraine free days last month!! And so far I’ve had 9 free this month! Did I say AMAZING?? Understatement huh? So, let’s cross our fingers it stays this way now that I’m going down to once a week.

I still see some of my neighborhood friends, just from a distance. We have “6 foot plus” patio visits. A couple of us will meet on our patios sitting 6 feet plus apart and just visit for an hour or two. It’s so nice to have a little bit of normalcy in this craziness. I admit I’m upset that as soon as I start feeling well enough to get involved and make new friends I’m sidelined by something that has nothing to do with me, but it is forcing me to take it slower, and that might be a good thing.

Stuart working from home seems weird. Even though he did it for seven years, I was really sick then, now that I’m not as sick, and I got used to him not being here, it’s harder having him around all the time. Well, not hard really, just weird, but it is kind of nice too. Now that he has finally gotten off the dining room table and has his office set up it’s much nicer! Plus, he doesn’t have to add in travel time to go to or from work!

I’m trying to spend more time in my studio, but I haven’t found that I’m actually creating more, I’m just hanging out in there. I’m enjoying that a lot though. I go in there and sort through emails and organize stuff and think of things I want to do and plan things…..But actually paint or anything, yeah, I haven’t done much of anything. I don’t know why. I’ll get there. It’s been a while.

Yes, our weekends are different. However, we are still seeing dad if we can. We take him his groceries on Sunday. (Stuart shops for groceries during the week, not on the weekend, that’s just crazy. He says there are still so many people there with no masks or anything just leisurely shopping. WTH?) We also take him lunch or dinner and spend some time with him. We are the only people he sees. We eat with him way on one end of the table and us on the other. It’s quite funny trying to maneuver the house and stay 6 feet apart, but we do a pretty good job. When we were there yesterday he finally talked a little about Margaret’s death and Stuart’s mom’s death, he doesn’t show his emotions normally and doesn’t talk about those kinds of things, I was very pleased to hear him talk about it. It has to be so hard on him. I’m so glad we are able to see him, at least a little, now. He wouldn’t allow us to come see him for a long time, he’d only allow Stuart to come drop off his groceries. It really takes a load off my mind to be able to see and talk to him.

We are trying to do some walking around the neighborhood. I’m trying to do a bit of yoga and more meditation. We put stuffed animals in our windows for the kids to see, and I put a painting in the window just to share prettiness. A lot of people in my neighborhood are doing the same. We are also doing sidewalk art. I haven’t gotten mine done yet, I just got some sidewalk chalk! When I do I’ll take a picture. I will admit I’m eating very poorly, that needs to change.

How many of you have gained weight during all of this?

What are you doing differently?

How are you dealing with how things have changed?

Light Switch Flipped

On By WendyIn Mental Health6 Comments
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

This is going to be just a (relatively) short update, if you read my last post you will have a good idea of what goes on during my treatments. My dose pack was increased back to 3 (84 mg), but the “trip” that I had the last 3 treatments was not as intense at the first time. It was pleasant, fun even, but not the same. My husband is so patient to put up with this, he says it isn’t bothered by it at all, but I have to wonder. He is not the kind of guy to just let loose and have fun with you when you are intoxicated and he’s not, and I’ve only seen him a little drunk once; and let’s just say he cannot sing but he’s a much better dancer when he’s a bit tipsy.

An amazing thing happened at the end of the last treatment, I felt as if a light switch flipped, and I looked at Stuart and said, “So this is what it’s like to not be depressed.” It wasn’t the happy silly feeling I was having when I was high, of course I wasn’t feeling depressed then. And during mania I don’t feel depressed. This is different. As a friend asked, “Is it like in the Wizard of Oz when the Black and White turns to Color?” YES!! Suddenly the cloud is gone. It’s just gone. If things weren’t so crazy in the world I’d probably be really happy right now, but as it is, I’m handling things really well. I had a little spell this weekend where things slipped in and I felt the cloud closing in, so I don’t think I’m quite to the point of going to a maintenance dose yet, but This is AMAZING!

I had another vertigo spell that lasted 3 days this week. It was mostly severe disequilibrium. I had no balance on Friday, I thought I had an ear infection. I could not walk without Stuart’s help, and by help I mean almost carrying me. I was stuck in a chair the whole weekend and couldn’t do anything for myself. It brought back the feelings of complete helplessness I had when I was at my worse. That is what triggered the small bout of depression, but it probably would have been worse before this treatment. I’m a bit concerned that I’ve been struck with vertigo each week I’ve had these treatments. If it happens this week, I’m really going to think SPRAVATO might be triggering my Meniere’s. If so, I hope it gets better the longer I’m on it. If that’s not the case, at least in maintenance I’ll only need it once a month, maybe getting it less often will lessen the risk.

So that’s all for this news. I have more to tell, but that’s for a different post.

Esketamine has finally been approved by my insurance

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Mental Health36 Comments
https://www.spravato.com/

I found out last week the ketamine (really esketamine, um SPRAVATO) has finally been approved by my insurance, and it has taken this long for me to wrap it around my brain so I could write about it.

My doctor keeps saying I’m getting ketamine, but really I’m getting SPRAVATO, which is esketamine. Ketamine is not FDA approved for treatment resistant depression (TRD), it has been used for it off label for quite some time now with very good results but it is very unlikely they will ever approve it for anything other than an anesthetic because it cannot be monetized. That’s where esketamine comes in. “Esketamine is a molecule taken from ketamine’s racemic mixture (basically two mirror image molecules which spin in different directions).   As it is an altered form of ketamine, esketamine could be newly patented.  As a result, corporate dollars were invested in clinical trials that led to the current FDA indicated use of nasal esketamine for TRD.” (Nasal Esketamine vs IV Ketamine) IV Ketamine has been used to treat TRD since 2010 and has a 70-80% success rate, esketamine is also showing to be very effective which makes sense since it is a molecular part of ketamine, but it has only been in use in clincal settings for a year so I don’t feel like we really know long term results yet.

I start my first treatment on Tuesday, March 10th at 2pm. I have to be enrolled in a restricted program called SPRAVATO Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program. It can only be administered in a healthcare setting certified in the SPRAVATO REMS Program to patients enrolled in the program. I go in and under supervision I give myself the nasal spray. Then I stay there in a quiet room, with Stuart, (there is no way he would let me do this without him being there) and I’ll be observed for 2-3 hours. You shouldn’t drive or operate machinery until the next day. For the first month I have to go in twice a week for a treatment, the second month is once a week, then it goes to every other week….eventually it goes to once a month and that’s the maintenance dose. That’s all depending on how well I do on it. I could go through the dosing faster, or I could not do well on it at all, but that is the normal regimen. I can tell you that I have been struggling with this schedule. The fact that Stuart has to leave work so much so that I can go in just to get this medication, ugh, this is awful. I’m trying really hard not to feel guilty, but it sure it hard. His boss hasn’t made this easier.

Most of the side effects of SPRAVATO are short lived but they can be pretty intense.

  • Dissociation (was reported 2 ways in clinical studies through adverse event reports, 41% of patients, and by using standardized scale, 61% – 75% of patients.)
  • Dizziness (29%)
  • Nausea (28%)
  • Sedation (was reported 2 ways in clinical studies through adverse event reports, 23% of patients, and by using standardized scale, 49% – 61% of patients.)
  • Spinning sensation (23%)
  • Reduced sense of touch and sensation (18%)
  • Anxiety (13%)
  • Lack of energy (11%)
  • Increased blood pressure (10%)
  • Vomiting (9%)
  • Feeling drunk (5%)

It can also cause abuse and misuse. (I don’t really know how since you can only get it in a clinical setting. How can you misuse a drug that you can’t take home?) It can cause an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. (Why does it say this on every anti-depressant? Isn’t this what they are supposed to stop? hmmm. Or is this different?…scratching my head on this one) Temporary increased blood pressure that may last about 4 hours after a dose (could this be because people have been spinning and dissociating, and having increased anxiety?? I’m pretty sure my blood pressure is going to be a bit high before we even start.) Problems thinking clearly (not sure I’ll notice a difference on this one) or it could cause bladder problems, such as a frequent or urgent need to urinate, pain when urinating, or urinating frequently at night. (well that could be inconvenient). **all of the information about SPRAVATO came from literature provided by SPRAVATO.

Now you can probably see why it has taken me a while to wrap my head around this. The fear of having a vertigo attack has been real, and the thoughts of dissociation is a little scary, but I’ve been meditating and trying hard to simply stay in the moment and not get too ahead of myself, if I keep on thinking I’m going to get vertigo that’s a sure way to make that come true. I’m going to try hard to go in there with no expectations, simply aware of what may happen and having good thoughts about how this may help.

This is not only for my resistant depression, it is also going to hopefully help my migraines. It has been shown to help, reduce migraines, so I really am going in this optimistically.

Why Am I So Sad?

On By WendyIn Bipolar, Chronic Illness30 Comments

*Warning, this post may be a trigger for some people. It mentions major depression and passive suicide ideation.

self

I’m sitting here with a severe migraine and I’m certain that’s why I simply want to die, but why do I feel that way so much on other days? Let’s face it, my life is going better than it has in a long time. Yes, I’m having a really bad migraine right now, it isn’t as bad as it was last night or I wouldn’t be able to type this, but it’s still pretty dang severe. However, my migraines are much better overall. I’ve had 5 migraine free days this month! That’s enough for me to be dancing in the streets! I haven’t had a month with 5 migraine free days in….Oh, I don’t know how long! I have a house of my dreams, an amazing husband, wonderful neighbors….So why am I so sad? Why do I sit here and question if I should actually exist? How can life be so much better, and yet I feel so bad so much of the time? I have this urge to just run and run and run. I have this compulsion to pack a bag and leave. Where would I go? Why do I think that would make anything better? In reality I know it wouldn’t, after all, I’m trying to get away from myself and no matter where I go, there I am. I simply do not want to exist.

So these are these are the things I asked my psychiatrist last week, why am I still so sad? Why do I feel no better when everything in my life is going so well? She said, “It’s not what’s on the outside that’s bothering you, it’s your brain chemistry that’s out of balance.” Yeah, I knew this, really I did, but I’ve never had it this bad with everything going so well, and that’s a bit too simplistic for me. So I came home and started reading, I wanted to know more about this “brain chemistry” of mine. I found this article in Harvard Health that explains things really well in language I understood, and I thought some of you might find it really interesting too. What Causes Depression? Onset of depression more complex than a brain chemical imbalance.

More about me….We are still working on getting the ketamine approved. It seems as if it might actually be happening soon, or at least we will be getting a definite yes, or no from the insurance company, instead of this extremely long hold up that both me and my doctor are extremely frustrated over. If they come back with a “No”, I don’t know what the next step will be.

I’m doing everything I’m supposed to to try to be better. I’m eating well (most of the time), writing a gratitude journal every night, writing affirmations every morning, I’m trying to move more, I’m meeting new people, making friends…..All of this is very hard for me. I’m pushing myself beyond all my comfort zones and I’m still doing it, I’m trying so very hard to get better. At least when I’m focusing on those things I don’t have time to think about other things, but then I have days like today when all I can do is sit here because it hurts so bad and I think, “what’s the point?” I was supposed to go to coffee with my neighbors this morning, and I had to get Stuart to cancel for me because I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow it hurt so much. That’s a great way to make an impression, huh? I’m so tired. I’m just so tired of trying so hard, it just shouldn’t be so hard.

I know it isn’t always this hard.

I know it can get better.

I know it will get better.

I KNOW I WILL GET BETTER.

“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” ~Seneca

Ending a Horrible Year the Best Way

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness17 Comments
Image from pexels

I’m still pinching myself, I just can’t believe how much has changed recently, and all for the better. Wow…just Wow.

Our new home

I’ll start with the best news first, we close on our house on the 19th and we move in on the 20th! Yes, we will be in our new home before Christmas! I’m so excited I could squeal! and I probably have! hahaha We found the cutest house in the nicest neighborhood, I just adore it. It’s not exactly what we were looking for, but I just fell in love as soon as we walked inside. The neighborhood is focused on sustainability. The houses are all energy efficient, the neighborhood has a lot of walking and bike trails, it has it’s own coffee shop, and a few other little shops. It has the greenest school in the country that also ranks very high academically. It’s beautiful. The house has enough room for us and Dad, without being too big, and it has a little casita (a detached guest suite) in the back that’s going to be my studio. And I’m going to plant a lemon tree right outside my kitchen window. Perfect.

I’m able to enjoy all of that because my antidepressant is working better. I still haven’t gotten the approval for the ketamine, but we increased the dose of the Fetzima and it is helping more, I still feel like I have this black cloud over me, but it isn’t dropping buckets of rain and hail on me all the time. I can see the sun, maybe even a rainbow.

I’ve also had a few migraine free days. Yes! I really said that! The days aren’t consecutive, but I have had one here and there. I normally do not wake up with a migraine now, I get them in the afternoon usually. I’m not having as many severe migraines. They are normally moderate in intensity, when they are severe the severe stage doesn’t last as long. For example, I might have a migraine that last 9 hours, 2 of them will be severe. I did have a severe day one day this week, so it still happens, just not like it was. It looks like the Aimovig is doing something. Yay!!

The nerve block I got in my neck started helping, not completely, but I have been waking up most days without my arm being asleep or aching terribly. Every once in a while it will happen, but most of the time nope, it’s good. My follow up appointment was rescheduled because my doctor was sick, so I don’t know what the next plan is, I’ll find that out soon.

I had planned to post much more often but I’ve been so busy with all of the house stuff, doctor appointments, holiday stuff….I am so busy! I will try to post more soon, but I can’t promise anything, the next few weeks are going to be crazy busy! I have a lot of post written in my head, I just need to type them up.

Not everything in my life is perfect, but I’m feeling so much better I can’t think of a better way to close out a really crappy year and start 2020.

Ketamine and Esketamine — Repost from Experiments in Happiness

On By WendyIn anxiety, Bipolar, Chronic Illness, Invisable Illness, Mental Health9 Comments

In the upcoming weeks, as soon as my insurance approves it, I will be receiving Spravato (esketamine nasal spray) for depression. I wanted to put together a post explaining what it is all about it, then I found this post and thought I couldn’t possibly do a better job. So I hope you don’t mind if I share this with you. Please note that this covers all forms of ketamine, if you want to just read the “How Effective Is It” statistics surrounding what I will be receiving read sections 3 and 4. I got so much information from tbe post started to not even watch the video attached to it, but then I noticed that it is captioned so I went ahead and watched it and it is very interesting. It does get a little in depth in the science part of things, so if you are interested in that kind of thing, it’s worth it, but if that bores you, you might want to skip it.

Do you have any experience with ketamine? Know anyone who has? Do you have or know anyone who has, medication resistant depression? Or like me, the meds stopped working or there are just way too many bad side effects? I’d love to know other’s experiences.

Ketamine and Esketamine

Drug Class: NMDA Antagonist

How it works: Blocks a channel for a chemical in the brain called NMDA. This, in turn, increases the effects of another channel for a chemical called AMPA. This leads to increased effects of BDNF and mTOR. The increased effects of BDNF and mTOR helps the brain to rapidly form new […] Ketamine and Esketamine — Experiments in Happiness