Tag: chronic pain

Editing nightmare, writing, and other things

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

Editing nightmare, writing, and other things

Earlier this week when I was editing, I noticed that one story had given each paragraph its own page. I fixed it and thought that would be it. Tonight, I went to the next story and there was a similar error. I went to the next and found the same error. I panicked. I knew what I had to do to fix it but it was a lengthy process and would take some time and effort to sort through. It was more than 50 pages of work to sort. I had nothing better to do so cut and pasted I did. I fixed the book and in doing so, “lost” 20 pages. I am up to 125, without edits as I still haven’t inputted them but at least there are no formatting errors, least none that I can see right now.

Because I thought I was up to at least 150 pages of work after putting in some dedication and acknowledgement pages, I figured I could publish the book. Now I can’t because it’s too short for my taste. I really would like to get it up to 200 pages, minimum. It’s probably going to take me another six months or so to get another 75 pages written. I am so disappointed. So close yet no cigar.

My mother annoyed me tonight. I told her I was in pain and she said “well you are going up and down the stairs alright”. WTF She doesn’t fucking get it. The other day when my sister was here she was telling her that I go down the stairs “carefully”. But she said it in a mocking voice. I just can’t win with her. Tomorrow she wants me to clean the stairs, both flights. I will clean the bottom stairs first as those haven’t been done in quite a while. Then we’ll see about the other flight.

I just took a strong pain pill because I couldn’t stand the throbbing in my ankle anymore and the regular pain pills aren’t working. I hope I am not up every fricken two hours. I am really tired. It’s funny, when I want to sleep I can’t and when I need sleep, I do. There is no medium. I know part of it is my fault because I am on my bed most of the time so when I feel the need to lie down, I do and usually sleep, no matter what time of day it is. A sleep doc would have a complete fit if he knew my sleeping habits or lack there of.

It’s extremely windy and it is shaking the house. It kind of scares me because I fear the house will fall in. I know it won’t, sort of, but it still scares me when the house shakes. I hope the wind dies down by the end of the night. I don’t need anxiety on top of pain to keep me up. That just isn’t a good combination.

I talked with my aunt tonight. It didn’t go well. She didn’t know who I was and then started crying. It broke my heart. She wanted me to visit her. I wish I had a car to see her but I don’t. I would have to go by public transportation and it’s a pain because I would have to take two trains and a bus to get to her house. It would be worth it to see her though. I miss her terribly. She is the last surviving sibling in the US on my father’s side. I have one uncle in France but he has dementia and is not doing too well. I don’t talk to him because of the language barrier. He doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak French or Italian.

therapy, eye appt and other things

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

Therapy eye appt and other things

Today is the US election day. I had voted last week so I didn’t have to go near a poll today. I pretty much tried to stay off social media because it was filled with “go vote” or “I voted” followed by selfies with the “I voted” sticker. Who the fuck gives a shit. After the 20th message, I just said I was done, on both Facebook and Twitter. It was difficult because I am on both mediums all the time but I kept myself occupied with trying to sleep and then I had therapy.

I was and am so sleep deprived because I only had about 3.5 hours of sleep consistently last night. I was up till around 0600 because the pain was so damn bad nothing was helping me, not even my trusty Ativan could knock me out. I was so overtired and cranky that I sent messages to both my psychiatrist and therapist saying that I fucking hated them and they sucked for allowing me to live. I didn’t care. It was around 0400 when I sent off these messages. My psychiatrist wanted me to call her to check in, which I did after I took a damn shower when I woke up at 0930 and then made breakfast. She is really worried about me because I never talk like that.

I have no idea what went on in therapy. She said I had the floor but I know I didn’t talk. I just answered questions. She skipped the text message about canceling tomorrow. Not my problem so I got out of it. She wanted to fill it in with a session on Thursday but I wasn’t having it. I am all therapied out. I just want to sleep all day tomorrow, without interruptions by a pesky therapist. After therapy, I tried to nap for 10 minutes before having to catch the bus to the Square so I could get my espresso. I wanted 5 shots today and got it dammit. It helped keep me awake as I had my eye appointment.

I love my eye doctor. I have been seeing him since I was like 18. He is a very cool guy and very caring. I told him I needed an eye exam and to check the growth that was at the corner of my right eye. And also to figure out why my eyelids were so dry. I have some kind of virus thing that is causing the growth and it’s both eyes. The ones on my left eye (7) are small and the one on my right is slightly bigger. It’s a cosmetic thing so there is nothing to be done about it. Not that I care as long as it doesn’t interfere with my vision. The thing with my eyelids is eczema. I have to get a cream to put on it. Just great. I have eczema in my ears and now my eyelids. Fucking lucky me. Two places that make it hard to put stuff on. UGH.

I had to email my doc because I noticed a change in the prescription from the previous one to the one he gave me tonight. I just want to make sure it isn’t a typo when I get my new glasses. I won’t be going to one online. It will be more money to go to an optical place but I don’t care. The ones I bought were good but even my doc said they needed to be adjusted and I never got them adjusted to fit right. Live and learn

I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning and I am too lazy to make something. Actually, I am not really lazy, just too tired. I’d order something but I don’t have cash on me. My choices are either a tuna sandwich or pizza. I am opting for tuna because it’ll be a lot quicker than pizza. Our oven takes at least 20-30 minutes to preheat and then it’s another 25 minutes to cook. I’ll be digesting my tuna sandwich by the time the pizza is done. I don’t know what happened with the celery I bought. It might have gone bad or my mother froze it. She loves to freeze things. I wanted to make pasta with my sauce but making a sandwich will be easier. I will make the pasta tomorrow for lunch.

I better have no problems sleeping tonight or I might get myself admitted. I am going insane with no sleep. Last night was so horrible. I really don’t want another night like that. It’s getting late and I am getting tired. I think I am just going to take my meds and call it a night. Screw eating. My meds will be my meal.

My appointments today

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

My appointments today

I met with my psychiatrist. She spoke with the NP and explained the situation. I was grateful because I was really nervous. We also talked about how I have been doing which just centered on my pain levels. I told her I had been baking but it costs me every time I do it. Then we talked about how I am using the trilafon and I told her. She didn’t like it but I told her it works for me. I see her in two weeks.

I had 45 minutes before my next appointment. I just found a seat by the elevators and wrote in my journal. I brought a book for me to read but I was too nervous. Time came for the appointment and I went upstairs. I had to wait at least a half hour for the NP. She is never on time. She started off by saying I had a very caring psychiatrist, which I do. We talked about what to do about my pain and I bluntly said that I just wanted this and that. Surprisingly, I got it. She wanted me to go to the pain clinic but I told them they just wanted injections or infusions and I wasn’t for it. I didn’t want to see anymore doctors. I told her I thought I was under medicated and if I had the right amount of meds, maybe that would work. She haggled over the Tylenol levels and I was getting bullshit. She wanted me to try another drug. I don’t want to try another drug. Just give me two more pills of my regular pain pills and I will be happy. What is so hard about this? UGH. She worked it out as to how many pills to order. I could have told her but I didn’t want to be a smartass. Eventually she figured it out after calculating it on paper. She didn’t change the fucking order though, so I am still taking 1 pill every 4 hours now instead of 6. I told her I take 2 in the morning 2 at bedtime and then 2 when all hell breaks loose. She understands this but, dammit, didn’t write it that way. I am so frustrated.

I luckily got my strong pain pills and regular pain pills on separate sheets of paper. Monday I will fill the strong pain pills because I know the pharmacy will provide a stink about it and have to call the office to confirm they know what they are doing, even though it’s the same provider and office that are prescribing me the meds. So annoying.

I came home and was exhausted. I also needed to pee before my bladder exploded so I went to the bathroom first before going to my room. I bought some ice cream at the pharmacy and had some before going upstairs. Now I just ordered a burger and onion rings because I am in too much pain to go to the basement freezer to get pizza. I will have that tomorrow. I just hope I can find my sister’s pizza stone so I can cook it on that. Of all the gadgets my mother buys, she doesn’t have a pizza stone.

This morning when I went back to sleep after showering, I had a dream about my father. Then the damn alarm went off. I was so pissed. I miss that fucker so much. He looked good in the dream, not like the way I last saw him. He was wearing a button down shirt and of course his dress pants. I wanted to talk to him so bad but I woke up before I could do. He was demanding in the dream like he always was in real life. I guess there are some things you can’t change.

Hang Over

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

Hang Over

I got a Neurontin hang over because I took a lot of it last night to help with the pain as I am low on my pain meds. I also took a lot to help me sleep through the night. Now I am on my second cup of coffee to help clear the cobwebs.

Today is my sister’s birthday. I wrote her a sentimental note and placed it in the card. We are going out for dinner tonight. My mother’s back is hurting so I am hoping she can make it. It would be good to have the family together. Course, this is the first of many birthdays without my father so I know it’s going to be weird. I have been thinking about him a lot today.

One of the clinicians that I know on Twitter sent me a response to my upsetting chat blog. He gave me an article to read and would like my insights into it. I read the article with interest though it was hard to do with this hang over I have. I told him I would write a blog about it because 140 characters are too short for my response. I am still thinking of a response, but I had a question for the psychologist that the article is about. I am waiting for a response before I write a blog.

The game of taking my foot in and out of the covers is still going on. It is so annoying. Half the time I am waking up with my foot frozen. I need to get the AC out of my room so it can be a little warmer. And for some reason, I had the ceiling fan going. That helped my foot a whole lot, NOT. I hate when my feet get so cold and then warm up because it’s like going through the process of freezer burn. It warms up and then it hurts like a SOB. I can’t win.

I have the appointment with the NP for my pain management. I hope that my psychiatrist has emailed her. Otherwise, I fear that it’s going to be another status quo appointment. I am going to ask that the order be changed to how I take it. And I am going to ask for the 2 extra pills a day to help ease my pain. Four pills a day just isn’t cutting it. I am really nervous about speaking up about this. I am terrified of her saying no to my request or saying that a MD needs to change the order, which means I need to wait another damn month. I have decided I won’t wait the month. I am in too much pain as it is and dealing with another month of this bullshit because she is an NP and not an MD is just ridiculous. I am tired of dealing with stupidity around my meds and not being heard.

My therapist wanted to know the outcome of the appointment via text. I just texted telling her I won’t be texting her tomorrow, regardless of how it goes down. I just don’t care or give a shit anymore. I tried to convey this to her yesterday when we had our appointment and it fell on deaf ears. She is another one that doesn’t hear me, but she knows the severity of my suicidality so there is some cause for concern.

In the article that I read today, which I post a full blog about, it was talking about suicide being its own diagnosis, specifically as an acute suicidal affective disturbance. I unfortunately, fall into the criteria for it but my only saving grace (so far) has been that I haven’t been able to walk to my destination of choice to kill myself. The criteria does exclude some stuff but not medical conditions, such as chronic physical pain. This is the information I am waiting on before I write my thoughts on this new diagnosis they are proposing.