Category: chronic physical pain

random 199

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

I had a long tiring day. I didn’t sleep well again. I went to bed around midnight only to wake up five hours later. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I have been up all day. I tried to take a nap after my therapist’s appt but my phone kept going off. I had to keep it on in case the hospital called or my sister did with an update on my father. He was supposed to go for a test today but it got cancelled at the end of the day. He is up first thing tomorrow morning, supposedly. I hope no more emergent cases come up.

My therapy appointment went ok. We talked about how tired I was and she read the latest blog I sent her about cement shoes. She really liked it. She wish I had this creativity without the depression though. You can’t really have one or the other. I have to have the depression to write these things. I toldher I might see her tomorrow and she said it was okay if I didn’t see her. She is worried that my exhaustion level might be too much for the 30 mile drive to her office. I will see how I feel tomorrow. I won’t be stopping by the hospital if I do go. It will be too much for me.

We recapped what my psychiatrist had said to me just as I was ready to leave her office. She said that if the Zoloft doesn’t work out, I can stop it or if I want to stop it I can. She is okay with it. I told my therapist I wasn’t expecting to be on a 50 mg dose. I thought my psych would just give me 25 mg and be done with it. Guess she has other plans for me. My psych also said we can go up to 100 mg if I tolerate it. I was overwhelmed with that idea. I just wanted to be on 25 mg. I started the 50 mg dose last night. I still have no change in my mood and my hopelessness is increasing. I have been on it for almost a week now. I have no side effects so far.

We kept the conversation away from my father. I didn’t want to talk about him at all. Other than giving her an update on where he was at, that was the bulk of the one minute conversation about him. The rest of the session we just talked about how crappy I felt. I swear at one point I was ready to fall asleep. I was just so tired. I have spent that last three days at the hospital. Tomorrow is my break. My ankle just can’t handle another day of traveling. Maybe I will go to my therapist’s office next week. I will just order my groceries tomorrow. I also need to pick up my prescriptions. I hope I don’t have a pain filled night again. Last night was awful.

cement shoes

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

Cement shoes

I was wearing sneakers but you wouldn’t know it. My feet felt like they were in cement blocks as I trudged my way down to the bus stop. I really didn’t feel like going out but I wanted a latte and I figure going out was better than making coffee at home. I wasn’t expecting my sneakers to change to cement blocks though. Each step took a lot of effort. I was exhausted by the time I reached the stop. I am glad they have a bench so I could sit down and rest.

The depression takes many forms with me. It is never the same with each episode I experience. Sometimes I am walking through mud. Other times I have cement shoes on my feet. Each step is always painful whether it be mud or cement. I just can’t get through to my head that there is a clear path and that there is nothing physically there to slow me down. The physical symptoms of depression doesn’t care. It holds you back when you want to move forward, all the damn time.

Recently, a Twitter friend said that I should keep fighting. I don’t think she realizes just how exhausting that is. It is so much easier to give up. To stay in bed until the sun rises again, when the black dog disappears. But you have responsibilities and that keeps you from staying in bed all day. Appointments must be kept. Prescriptions must be filled. It’s hard, it’s really hard to go on when you feel like this.

Feeling hopeless is the worse. I wasn’t feeling this when the depression started. This episode started two months ago and I lost my appetite as well as my thought speed. My thoughts became slow as molasses. It’s still hard to get the words out at times. I lost weight because I wasn’t eating. I felt tired all the time. I felt down a lot of the time. But I still did what I had to do rather than stay cooped up in bed like I would have loved to do. Now that my appetite is back, I am beginning to feel like this depression is not going to end, that it is going to stay around and I am forever in its grip. I feel hopeless that things are going to get better again. Part of me knows that it will. It just takes time. I have been put on medication that should help relieve some of this suffering but I still don’t know. I have to wait two weeks for this medication to work and I am overwhelmed by this because I can’t even think of tomorrow or the next day.

I have to just think of the present time. It’s the only way to get through the day. If I can get through this minute, that hour, I will be okay. But it’s hard. I am still not eating 100% of the time. I have to remind myself to eat. I have broken the “no food in my room” rule. I had to because pain keeps me from going downstairs to get food when I need it so I keep some pretzels near me to offset hunger. It might not be the best food in the world but it’s something. And something is better than nothing. If I didn’t have to worry about mice, I would bring some of my chocolate granola bars in my room. Those are good for hunger. The reason I have a hard time going down the stairs is because of pain in my ankle and foot due to a condition known as complex regional pain syndrome. I have been living with this condition for the past four years. It’s difficult when you can’t walk and walking is your main mode of transportation. I don’t own a car so I don’t drive that often. I used to be able to borrow my sister’s car but she traded it in for a monster truck and I just can’t drive it for fear of sideswiping another vehicle or something else.

The cement shoes have come on in the last two days. I don’t know when they will come off. I hate wearing them when in fact, I have sneakers on. The cement is so heavy. I feel so weighed down with them on. It’s like I can’t move. It’s so painful. You are exhausted by the time you reach your destination, which is only a few short blocks from your house.

The exhaustion from the depression has to be worse than a physical illness or about the same, depending on who you talk to. It really sucks because you might have energy before you get dressed and then when you are finished showering and putting on your clean clothes, you are wiped out. It sucks more when you are in physical pain as well. I don’t know what is worse at this point. Dealing with my chronic pain in my ankle or the depression. Maybe it’s both. I just need to find a chisel and a hammer to try and escape from these cement shoes. They are no fun.

It snowed but It felt like walking in mud

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression

It snowed but I felt like walking in mud

By the time I left my house this afternoon, the snow had cleared. It didn’t matter though. I felt like I was walking in mud the whole way to the bus stop. I really didn’t want to go to my appointment today. I didn’t want to see my father either. But I trudge through the mud I was walking through. I was really tired and of course, the NP wasn’t on time. I had to wait in the exam room almost 45 minutes for her. She attributes my depression as “stress”. I won’t be bringing it up with her again. She doesn’t need to know about my mental health as she obviously doesn’t give a shit.

I got my blood work done but it’s not in the computer again. Lab, as I found out the other day, has been having problems with logging so they are behind. I have been feeling off all day. Exhaustion has put me over the limit. And I got a migraine soon as I walked in the door at home. It hasn’t been a good day.

I was going to get my prescription filled today but the pharmacy closed. I didn’t get home early enough to drop it off. I will do it tomorrow morning if I have the energy. I haven’t been sleeping at night so the mornings really suck. I was hoping to sleep till 0900 and woke up at 0800 after falling asleep at 0330. I had gone to bed before 2200 because I was so tired but woke up to pee and that was it. I was up half the night.

Between being tired and depressed, I haven’t felt anything else. I think that is enough. I am going to take my night meds soon and call it a day. I need to email my psych and update her on my father. I don’t know why I do this.

Lost Sleep

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders, suicide

Lost Sleep

I woke up about an hour ago because I had to pee. Now I can’t go back to sleep because my ankle and toes are having a contest as to who is going to hurt me more. I got to wait for the pain meds to kick in before I hopefully pass out again. I knew I would wake up because I went to bed at 2130.

I had one of my psychologist friends on Twitter respond to a tweet I posted about the black dog and how hopeless I am feeling. She says that I have skills and support to get through this. I don’t know what skills she is talking about. It’s hard to use anything when you feel hopeless. I just think this depression is never going to end because it’s gone on for two months now. The physical symptoms are still there. I still am not sleeping the way I should but my appetite is better. I wish the psychomotor retardation was gone. I’m still having slow thoughts at times. And I am feeling like I am walking through the mud.

We did get snow. A dusting so far but it’s still early. It’s supposed to continue around noon. I think I will be able to handle going out. I just have to find my boots.

I’m still thinking about death, my death. It would be easy if I had a place I can go to actually die but I don’t. I really don’t want to try something at home. I just have no where else to go. I can’t afford a hotel room. That would be ideal. I hate this feeling of being trapped. I wish I had a hideout place or something.

This episode of depression feels like I have never been depressed before in my life. I know that isn’t true and I know that I have had worse depressions than what I am feeling now. I am just so certain that this is going to last forever, that I am not going to get any relief. I think if it was going to pass, it would have passed by now and it just seems to be getting worse. I wasn’t hopeless and now that is increasing as time goes on. My heart is also feeling really heavy and I am not sure I can carry it. It’s the worst feeling in the world being weighed down by your feelings. It makes breathing difficult. It makes everything difficult. I have no energy to get myself dressed to go out. I have trouble reading as my concentration isn’t so great. I sometimes wonder what I was thinking when I increased my reading challenge to 40 books to read this year. I read 6 so far but I haven’t touched a book all week. I just have been reading Twitter and Facebook. I tried reading Dostoevsky last night and my eyes couldn’t keep on track as I was so tired. I finally figured out how to use the highlight function as a bookmark. I have so many books to read and I just am overwhelmed. I have an interest in reading but then I don’t. And I keep buying books because I am a bibliophilic. It’s so hard to read when you have depression. Usually, I can do it. This episode, I cannot. The attention span just isn’t there and neither is the interest. I have lost pleasure in reading. Least this depression I haven’t lost my taste buds. Things have flavor. Last depression, everything tasted bland.

I wish I could sleep. I am getting sleepy as my meds are kicking in. I hope I get to sleep till at least 0900. Otherwise, this day is going to suck.