So over the past few weeks I haven’t posted anything. That is mostly due to some personal turmoil and arguments with and about the healthcare system here in Canada. I won’t delve into it too much here, but I’ll say that it’s incredibly difficult to get admitted anywhere when you present with multiple psychiatric diagnoses. The leading psychiatric hospital’s emergency room in my city wouldn’t take me because my eating disorder is too severe, but they also told me that they doubted that I was physically ill enough to warrant admission to a general hospital. That leaves me falling through the cracks. Thanks so much, healthcare system.
Another thing that’s been going on over the past month is that I’m slowly tapering off of Effexor (Venlafaxine). I was told by several sources how difficult some people find it to taper off this medication, but I didn’t have a terrible time. It wasn’t easy, though. I got the “brain zaps”, nausea, vomiting, a lot of dizziness, and my shakes became more pronounced. Things have calmed down a lot in the past few weeks.
Ever searching for something to help my insomnia, I tried Valerian Root – my psychiatrist recommended it. Once you get over the fact that it smells like hot vomit, it’s okay. I think it’s helped a tiny bit. I ran clean out of Chloral Hydrate, Imovane (Rhovane) (Zopiclone), and Risperidal (Risperidone) for a few days, which obviously made it a lot harder for me to sleep. I think I got a total of two hours over the course of four nights. It was intense. Luckily the doctor in emergency prescribed me enough of those medications to last me until I see my GP (tomorrow) and she’ll get me back on track, prescription-wise.
On the theme of sleep medications, I forgot to bring up something important with my psychiatrist yesterday: I have developed a tolerance to the dose of sleeping medication that I’m on at the moment. This means I’ll have to have another increase in order to get some good sleep. I’m going to call him today about that. I’m also going to see if he’ll refer me to the psychiatric hospital in the city – maybe if I skip the emergency room and get another doctor to review my case, they’ll admit me. It’s worth a try!
So here’s what my pill chart looks like:
Effexor (Venlafaxine): 37.5mg in the morning – reducing by 37.5mg each week until discontinued – for Depression
Imovane/Immovane (Rhovane) (Zopiclone): 22.5mg nightly – for Insomnia
Risperidal (Risperidone): 2.5mg nightly – for Tourrette Syndrome
L-Tryptophan: 1000mg nightly – for Insomnia
Dexedrine (Dextroamphetamine) Spansules: 40mg in the morning as needed – for Depression-related symptoms
Chloral Hydrate: 10mL nightly – for Insomnia
Clindoxyl (Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide): apply topically at night – for acne
Delatestryl (Testosterone Enanthate): 60mg intramuscular once weekly (Friday) – for low testosterone
Erythromycin: 333mg in the morning and at dinnertime – for acne
Losec (Omeprazole): 20mg in the morning (before eating) – for acid reflux
Fucidin (Fusidic Acid): apply topically once daily – for Impetigo
Melatonin: 3mg nightly – for Insomnia
Multivitamin: 1 in the morning – for overall health
Salmon Oil: 1 in the morning, at dinnertime and at night – for high cholesterol
Vitamin C: 500mg in the morning – for overall health
Calcium + Vitamin D: 500mg Calcium and 125IU Vitamin D (1 tablet) in the morning and at night – for bone health
Valerian Root: 800mg (2 tablets) nightly – for Insomnia and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
“Relaxing Night” herbal tea*: 1 bag steeped in hot water nightly – for Insomnia
* “Relaxing Night” tea contains Chinese jujube, subterranean fungus, white mulberry, lycium barbarum, and Chinese yam.
A Medicated Boy 