Tag: CRPS (formerly RSD)

Some good news and not so good

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

Some good news and not so good

I went out with friends tonight. It was good but the bad news is my back went out on me even before I left Boston. I couldn’t stand up straight to save my life. Bad news for someone with back trouble. As the night went on, the pain got worse. I basically had to crawl home, which I didn’t not like at all. But it was good seeing my friends and the kids which continue to grow a few feet every time I see them. They already are taller than I am, which is nothing new.

The really good news came today in regards to the CBT counselor. The intake person called me today during therapy, which I will get to in a few. I called back after therapy and I will be meeting a resident for the sessions. The resident should call me sometime this week to set up an appointment, otherwise, I have to wait until December and there is no way I can wait that long. So my date is off the table, for now.

I haven’t told my therapist this, at all. I didn’t want to give her hopes up nor mine. I was really thinking that my suicidal past was going to keep me from going to see someone. Once they find out I have a therapist, I am not sure how it is going to fly. I know it will have to be on days that I am not having my therapy, otherwise my insurance won’t cover both services. I hope the type of CBT that I will have is centered on pain and not depression. I know what is involved with the CBT stuff and depression and that isn’t something I want to go through. I had one session over 20 years ago and it didn’t go too well. I believe that it does help some people, but I am not some people. I need something to help me manage my pain better. If not then there is not point in seeing someone and I will make that very clear to the resident.

My therapist was giving me a song and dance today about how I should still be around. She is the only therapist that I know that doesn’t talk about hospitalizations when suicide is present. She will if it comes to it but she kind of knows I won’t go for it unless I bring it up and then she is for it. But lately, I been finding the hospital to be more trouble than it’s worth. Even their discharge papers they have sent my therapist have shown they are confused about the kind of care that I need and how to address my transgender. One paragraph had “her”, then next had “him” or “he” in it. It was ridiculous. And this is the leader in the psychiatry field, not some shmuck hospital.

She really doesn’t want me to end my life, obviously. She keeps saying that if I die, I will be breaking “us” up. I don’t really know what that means. It has me wicked confused. I feel like I have been put in a relationship status of some kind and I had no idea about it. The more she says it, the more I want to run away from her, and fast.

After I found out about the CBT stuff, I planned out how I was going to tell my therapist as I would be seeing her in person tomorrow. However, those plans have changed as my back is at less than 50%. I am not going to stress walking to the car and then having to worry about an hour’s drive to and back. I’ll just be out the rest of the week and that won’t be good. But I set my clock for 0645 tomorrow. If I am not in any pain, I will keep the Zipcar reservation. If I am in pain, I will cancel it. I have until 0730 to cancel.

My therapist really wants to see me tomorrow. I really want to see her too, but it might not be possible. I really want to give her the cupcakes I made. If I don’t see her, that means they will be all mine and that isn’t a good thing. I might be able to pawn them off to my brother in law but I know he won’t have more than one or two. If I cancel the zipcar, I will just schedule it for another day next week. The cupcakes won’t be good but I can always whip up another cake for her. I really like the cake better than the cupcakes anyway. But then, I am a cake person.

Pain Insomnia

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

Pain insomnia

I never wanted to believe in this phenomena called “Pain Insomnia” because I feared it would happen to me if I did. Well, it’s happened. It’s after midnight and I am not sleeping because of pain. I am still listening to music but my foot and ankle are having a war as to which is going to hurt me more. So far my ankle is winning.

I started writing in my journal. I figure that would help me sleep. But nope, it didn’t. I wrote out my “suicide note” in my journal so in case someone reads it should I die they know they aren’t to blame for my death. I have tried everything I could to keep going but the pain is just too much. I just keep on taking pills left and right and that is not the kind of life I want to live. It’s bad enough this pain took away my jobs, my walking ability, basically my dignity. And still no one knows why I am in pain. Some docs have given me the elusive diagnosis of “complex regional pain syndrome” but I don’t fully meet the criteria for that because I don’t have color changes. I just have pain. All the damn time. And it’s worse at night so no doc can see what it is when I am not in the office during the day because that is not when I have pain.

My psychosis is not helping. I skipped a couple of doses and it caused the symptoms to return. Part of it is because my doc wants me on 1 dose a day but I need 2 a day to get relief. So I have this battle with the voices about taking my meds and it isn’t pretty. Mostly the battle is just take the bottle rather than a couple of pills. They don’t understand that by doing so, I might die. But they don’t care. Since when do auditory hallucinations care what you do when they command you to do something? They just want you to obey them. It’s gotten better now that I am back at 2 a day. I still get paranoid though. There was a guy at Starbucks today that was really antsy. I thought he could read what I was writing in my journal. Honestly, anyone that can read my handwriting, I give credit to. It’s complete chicken scratch.

My strong pain pills is ready to be picked up. I will head into Boston tomorrow and get it. I hope there isn’t a problem in the pharmacy. All this talk about opioid awareness has me wicked paranoid about filling my prescriptions. I haven’t had a problem but I don’t want there to be. It’s bad enough I have problems with my antipsychotic getting filled because of the new fucking system my hospital has, and that isn’t a controlled substance!

So while I wait for pain meds to make me sleepy or exhausted, I write till I am completely out of words. Insomnia sucks but pain insomnia is worse. One of my new Twitter follows was talking about how CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) helps those with chronic pain but her insurance doesn’t cover it. I find that very discriminatory. I wish I could help her with it. But I don’t know where she is in the world. Hell, I am even trying to get into a CBT program yet I haven’t been called yet. I was hoping to hear from them by the end of last week and here it is a week later and still no word. I just hope my suicidality doesn’t hold them back. I am always fearful about this. I have had so many therapists deny me their services because of my suicidal history.

I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow to get pumpkin puree so I can make pumpkin cupcakes. I like to bake and I have this new recipe. It looks easy enough. I want to bring them to my therapist when I see her on Tuesday. I also have an appointment with her on Monday. I hope it goes well. She knows that I am suicidal. We have been talking about it for the past couple of weeks. Seems I am more suicidal this time of year than at any other time. She wants me to see me through the new year but I think she is wasting her time with me. I just feel so awful and not sleeping doesn’t help matters.

I had picked a date but I don’t think I will go through with it. There are a few things I haven’t done yet that I want to do before I end things. I was hoping to do it this week but pain stopped me yet again. Next week I will be really busy so the things I need to do will have to be the following week. And again, it all depends on my pain levels to do these things. I hate that I have to be dependent on pain to basically tell me what I can and can’t do. It really sucks.

I remember the last time I visited my cousin in Washington, DC. We went to the Smithsonian and saw a few museums. It was really fun even though my camera wasn’t too cooperative. My leg flared up the next day and I was laid up for most of the weekend. I felt really bad because I couldn’t do anything but put my leg up. Some vacation that was. I stood too long and it just flared up pain in my ankle, much like it’s doing tonight, except I didn’t stand too much today. I did go up and down the stairs a few too many times though.

Random 566

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

I finally took a shower today and because our bathroom heater is still broken, I froze my ass off, literally. It wasn’t fun. I quickly dried off and got dressed. I then checked the time and realized I had just enough time to catch the next bus to the Square. I wanted to get some more Pike coffee and my espresso drink that I am falling in love with. It’s National Coffee Day, so I tweeted about having my four shots of espresso.

When I got to my seat, there was a guy there eating what I am guessing nuts of some kind and charging his phone. He was really antsy and made me nervous. I tried to ignore him as I had my coffee and pumpkin scone. I then tried to write in my new journal. I must have written a page and a quarter before I got tired of Mr. Antsy man and had to leave. I just didn’t feel comfortable. I felt like he could read what I was writing. I forgot to take my night time dose of trilafon last night so I have been unhinged most of the day, even though before I left the house, I took a dose. I just have been feeling paranoid and stuff. Doesn’t help that the voices have been loud and obnoxious with their commenting on everything I do.

I needed to get some eye drops and I love that I did everything through my phone rather than through Walgreen website. I had to buy 2 things of toothbrushes because I had to have $35 in order to get free shipping. I always forget to buy them so now I am stocked for the year! LOL

It is cold today so of course my lower back is hurting. I can’t stand too long without pain. It happened on the way home where my back decided to flare up on me. It was a long way home, even though I was only a block and half away. Think I will use a heating pad tonight. The stiffness in my left calf has eased. I am guessing the hot shower helped along with some stretches.

I wish the public transportation system would send me a letter soon about my disability pass. My current pass expires Oct 23. I don’t want to put a monthly pass on in case they transfer cards, then I will lose the pass. I think $20 should be enough for the month as I don’t use the trains as much. I mostly just use the bus.

Monday, I am supposed to meet up with some friends and go out to dinner. I will be wearing my AFO as I can’t trust my ankle without it. Since using it, I have been in less pain while walking but I still have flare ups at night. Seems lying down is a trigger for pain and even when I nap now, the pain is there. I can’t sleep sitting up, though I have tried. It’s only when I am completely exhausted do I get the sleep I need, pain or no pain. It’s not the way I intend on living the rest of my life. Something has to give. It’s been more than a week and the CBT people still haven’t called me. Nor has my PCP’s office called with my much needed strong pain meds. I hope they get back to me tomorrow, early enough so I can pick up the script. I can’t go Monday or Tuesday of next week because of commitments so the earliest I can get into Boston would be Wednesday and I might run out of my meds by then. I have just three pills left and if I have another flare up, I am going to use them. I hope I don’t get a flare up.

Long day after a painful night

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

Long day after a painful night

I didn’t go to bed until at least 3 in the morning. I was up in pain most of the night. Every time I laid down, my foot acted up and was very painful. It was giving me such anxiety that I had to take an Ativan to calm down or I knew I would be up till god knows what hour. Pain meds were worthless because the pain started after I took them, which has been the case lately. I texted my therapist that I was canceling sessions and that I was done fighting this bullshit.

We met today and talked about it. She said that I wasn’t cancelling the session or she would tack some more on. We spent the session talking about the difficulty of being in pain most of the night and the anxiety it is creating. If we talked about other stuff, I don’t remember but we are still on for tomorrow, much to my chagrin. I told her it wasn’t worth seeing her and she blew me off.

I gave her some of my cake. No sooner had I left her office, she texted me to say how yummy it was and she was eating the whole thing. I laughed. I was almost an hour early back with the car as I took it an extra half hour because I wasn’t sure of traffic as it was a new location that I got the car. I had to drive around the block as it was a one way street. I walked home and waited for my grocery delivery.

I wasn’t happy with my grocery delivery. They substituted the wrong kind of pumpkin that I needed for my pies and other goodies. And then the pie crust that I ordered was in pieces. I was not happy. I called them up and got a credit for those items. What I am going to do with the pie crusts now, I have no clue. I am so annoyed. Now I have to go to the store to buy the right pumpkin for my desserts. Good thing I don’t plan on baking until this weekend.

I am so fricken tired and annoyed. My mother called me while I was driving home and she asked where I was. I told her I didn’t know. I really didn’t. I knew I was either in Newton or Watertown but not sure where. I was driving for crying out loud. Then she asked why I was driving so I said to see my therapist. She misunderstood and thought I said visiting the cemetery. I got annoyed and rushed her off the phone. When I got home, she was mad at me. I don’t fricken care. Get a fucking hearing aid and I wouldn’t be so annoyed at you.

I put my groceries away. There was no room in the freezer for my things so I had to go to the basement to put some stuff there. Tomorrow I plan on making Hawaiian chicken. I can’t wait. It’s a slow cooker recipe so if I start at 1100 it should be ready by 1600 or so. I don’t know how thick the chicken breasts are though, that might determine how long I cook it for. Last time I made a similar recipe, the chicken got really dry because I over cooked it. I didn’t realize it because I was going by the directions not by how the chicken was prepared. Now I know what to look for. I got my Naan bread. Think I will have it with the chicken.

I haven’t had dinner yet. I had a cheeseburger when I came home. I might make the last patty but I really want cake. Or a nap. I can’t really decide. My ankle is killing me so it needs to be something simple. I bought avocados so I could make my avocado burger, but that seems like a hassle as I am getting lazy. I might just have a muffin and call it a night. I am really tired and cranky. I am sure I will pay for it tonight.