Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Temporary Insanity

Seriously? I think I'm losing my mind.

Monday night Sophie started having hallucinations. She'd woken up Monday with a dizzy spell & had had a pretty rough day. I was snuggling with her at bed time before she fell asleep, and all of the sudden she sat up & said "Mommy there's a spider on my doll's leg!" The doll is on her bookcase & had a couple of little flowers on her pants. She was seeing a spider instead of a flower. I explained that to her, then she saw a spider on her wall where there was a dark spot. We went to the family room where she could fall asleep to TV & keep her mind off the dark spots/spiders.

I assumed this was a side affect from her ADHD meds, and called her doctor Tuesday morning & he agreed we should stop the medicine. I scoured the internet & found that in January the FDA released research that found hallucinations are more common in ADHD meds than previously thought. So, oh joy, we have to stop the medicine that was helping her so much. Thankfully the hallucinations only lasted through yesterday and are now completely gone.

But the dizzy spell is still around. Day 3. We have an appointment at the St Louis Children's Hospital on April 8th. It can't get here soon enough.

Yesterday I called my doctor & got the OK to go back on Wellbutrin. I've been feeling horrible on the Lexapro & was reading about the side affects with that drug (which I've been on before but it's been years), & was reminded about how easy it is to gain weight on Lexapro & how hard it is to lose weight on Lexapro. Wellbutrin was awesome for me, in the 150 mg dose. Only at 300 mg did it become a problem. So I'm back on my drug of choice in the lower dose, and glad I came to my senses about Lexapro before it was too late. I feel a teeny bit better today, and I think it's mostly because I just feel relieved to be off the drug that would likely have put 20 pounds on me in 6 months.

More fun in our household--Luke is allergic to the cat. The cat we've had for 13 years. The cat who my daughter says is "her baby." I'm trying zyrtec & am going to put up a gate on his room & "de-cat" all his stuff. I just hope it's enough to make his sneezing & congestion & itchy eyes stop. I can't imagine the misery that losing our beloved Earl Grey would cause.

And, the piece de resistance--Mark busted a tendon last night in his leg, while playing chase with kids. It's the plantar's tendon, which the ER doctor said is ruptured. Mark's sister brought over her crutches last night at 9:30 and he took himself to the ER (which is 2 minutes from our house). He couldn't put any weight on it, it hurt so bad. The kids were of course freaked out. They wouldn't go to sleep after daddy left by himself for the ER at 10. So they piled in bed with me and stayed up & watched a movie until after 11:30. Then Sophie fell asleep in Luke's bed, & Luke fell asleep on our floor. I fell asleep around Midnight, and then woke up a few minutes later when Mark called & gave me the ER report. He got home sometime around 1 a.m. He's on pain meds & can limp around now without crutches. He worked a few hours this morning but now is home while I'm at work (with Sophie, of course). He said the pain isn't as bad as he thought it would be & he promised not to be an invalid that I have to take care of.

Which is a good thing, because I'm pretty much worthless right now & don't feel like I can take care of anything or anyone else right now.

I especially can't take care of myself.

For whatever reason, I'm still wired to eat, eat, & eat some more when faced with crises. I guess it's my brain saying "feed me some happy shit & feed it to me now." Unfortunately, my brain needs to take a good look at my ass, because it's clearly not happy with the recent feeding schedule.

This is only temporary. This is only temporary. This is only temporary.

God, I hope so.

12 comments:

Jilligan said...

You and are are living identical lives that need to change for the better. Hope you have a better afternoon. Glad to hear that you are out of bed! Hang in there.

Cindy said...

Wow, you really have a lot going on. My weight loss started in 2005 when I quite taking Lexapro. I went off all meds at that time. During my 200 pound years I was on Prozac first, then Zoloft, then Lexapro. And maybe a few others. I believe there is a connection but there's other stuff too. With the cat allergy - I bought air cleaners to run in our house because of pets. None of us are allergic but I wanted cleaner air for my own sinuses. I have two friends with pet allergies - one to dogs and one to cats. I had them both over for dinner one Sunday. We vacuumed really good, furnature and all, and then I ran the air cleaner down where we would be spending the most time. Neither of my friends had any reaction to the pet stuff. Normally my friend's nose ran and eyes watered so much I felt awful when she'd visit. My point is that the air cleaner could help. It's hard to keep a kid away from a pet but you can probably come up with some ideas. I know things are crazy but hang in there. Also, keep me in mind when you come to St Louis!

Cindy said...

PS I hope Sophie is doing better. So sorry about the meds.

Anonymous said...

Allegra (prescription) is fabulous for my cat allergies, which I have had for years. We don't have a cat, but before the Allegra, I couldn't visit anyone that had a cat. Try a few meds -- my family is rampant with cat allergies and we have found that certain medicines seem to work better for certain paople -- sorta like the antidepressants, I guess. And on that front, do try hard to go for a run!

Vickie said...

did you have him allergy tested?

did you have the rest of you allergy tested - particularly sophie?

if you have not had her tested - I suggest you do it before you go in April. the data will be very helpful.

Heather said...

it IS only temporary, so hang in there and just do the best you can each day.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you do have a lot of crazy stuff going on! hang in there! Hope things start improving on all fronts soon.

debby said...

Laura, it seems like almost too much to bear. I will keep you and family in my prayers.

Anonymous said...

Good gravy, woman! Just when I think you couldn't possibly have anything else coming at you...along comes more shit!

If ever there was a need for girlfriends and margaritas, this would be it - why can't all of us bloggers live closer together?!?

I'll check in on you later - keep cool girlie.

Lori G. said...

Around here, literally overnight, the trees have started blooming. Could some of Luke's symptoms be related to other allergy?

I'm so sorry about Mark! Tell him crutches do provide a great upper body workout (I know from experience).

Poor Sophie! At least she has her appointment coming up AND they know that she does respond to the medication -- so maybe there's a way to tweak it or find another drug for her.

I'm so sorry that you're going through these things. It will get better!

Doc Manette said...

Whew! So sorry about the ADHD med's causing Sophie's hallucinations. April 8th will be here before you know it.

I hope Luke isn't really allergic to the cat. I noticed a lot of pollen on my car this week and since it is windy . . .. just keeping my fingers crossed it might be something else.

Ouch to Mark's injury. Hope for a speedy recovery.

And you are amazing . . . it is temporary, even if it seems ongoing - it's just temporary.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh. What a tough time. :( I hope things get better soon. That's A LOT of things to get better though :(

At least you are taking meds that have a better affect on your body. I did Lexapro for about a year, and gained weight too. Meh.