Tag: hopelessness

Cramping and other things

by Midnight Demon, posted in baseball, Bipolar Disorder, blogging, cauda equina syndrome, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

Cramps and other things

Last night, I fell asleep sometime after the 7th inning of the Cubs/Mets game. Mets won and will be going to the World Series!!! Baseball season is still going on and as long as it is, I will be paying attention. I fell asleep before the game was over. It was a blow out anyways and I didn’t think the Cubs were going to come back. Unfortunately, I must have moved my ankle the wrong way while I was sleeping because it cramped up pretty good. I couldn’t get it to straighten out without manually pushing it. I hate when I get cramps like that. It’s around 0415 when it started. I am glad it went away but now I can’t sleep. I took my pain meds and some Ativan in case the cramps come back. My ankle is really hurting from being contorted so I am hoping the pain meds help.

I was reading my Twitterline last night and a family doctor that I follow tweeted about a study of back pain and narcotics, saying that it wasn’t any good. I didn’t read the article because I knew it would upset me. I have heard over the years that the pain med I take is not good for acute pain, just chronic pain. Now I have this article and I don’t know what to think. I just know that if I was given pain meds when I first hurt my back, I might have avoided seeing a chiropractor and not ended up with cauda equina syndrome! I might have ended up with it the second time, anyway as I certainly wasn’t seeing a chiropractor then. If you have herniated discs, I encourage you NOT to see a chiropractor. I am not writing off the whole profession, just be wise that not all of them care about your spine and will want to keep you as a patient for as long as possible. I was helped before I got injured but then after I got injured, I wrote them off because I had herniated discs or slipped discs. Any spinal manipulation can cause CES if you have herniated discs. And don’t get me started on epidural injections. Those are just a money maker for doctors and have no real benefit for YOU. There is a 50% chance you might be helped and a chance you could get worse symptoms. I have scar tissue on my back (four back surgeries will do that) and in my nerves so I will NEVER get a shot in the back, no matter how enticing the doc may be.

I think the Mets and the Blue Jays are going to be in the Series. I could be wrong. Jays are facing a won game elimination so they really need to come back if they are to play. I really don’t want to the Royals to win.

My old laptop battery is dead. It cannot be revived. I luckily found one that was cheaper than $50 at Office Depot on Amazon.com. I love Amazon, I can get practically anything there. I always make sure that I go over $35 so I get free shipping. This order, I am ordering a bunch of baseball movies. I don’t know if I will be able to play them on my laptop as the screen is messed up, I might have to wait. But I got the classics like Sandlot, Major League and a League of her own. I wanted Bull Durham but it’s out of stock right now. I figured the movies might help my baseball depression, though it’s slowly moving toward my regular depressive state. I keep having thoughts of ending my life. I imagine doing something that takes my life away and then my niece finds me. It is unsettling because I don’t want her to be the one that finds me. It will be too traumatic for her. Not to say it will be any easier on another person, but a little kid would be too much.

One of the authors that I follow on Facebook posted pictures of this new writing space. I wish I could clear my room so I can get to my desk and then clear off my desk so I can have a space to write. Maybe it will be better than writing from my bed all the time. It might help me mentally not to have all that junk on my desk. I know most of it are my disability papers and old invoices and such. I haven’t touched them in more than two years so I think it’s safe to junk them. My author friend had his laptop and an old typewriter, but no paper. I found this odd. How are you supposed to type if you have no paper? It was very tidy, which kind of unnerved me. I am not a neat freak. I can’t stand things in proper places. I like clutter, but not too much. Unfortunately, I have a ton of clutter and can’t get out from underneath it. I have a bunch of my clothes in a box right now because I just can’t get to my closet because of stuff. It may sound strange but the clutter makes me feel more grounded and packed in. I like it even though it drives my family members crazy. Sometimes it does annoy me, especially when I am looking for something and can’t remember where it is.

Meds are kicking in now. I hope I wake up in time to make pancakes. I am addicted to oatmeal pancakes. They are my favorite food right now. It will be a good hearty breakfast. Until later.

Sunday Blog 8

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

Sunday Blog 8

I had a bad night of sleeping. My leg was hurting pretty bad because I wore dress socks to the wedding. Even after I took them off, it felt like it was still on because of the nerve pain. I then became anxious because that type of feeling always triggers me. I didn’t go to sleep till well after midnight. I woke up a few hours later to pee and then I was up for a little bit. I just got up now to use the bathroom and then kind of decide what to have for my breakfast/lunch. I really wanted to have a fried egg but didn’t feel like making it. So I opted for toast and making some hash brown tater tots. That was all I felt like eating, for right now.

I am still feeling lousy. My leg is going to take a couple of days to recover. Mentally, I am still anxious. When I woke up and was watching the football game, I had some strong urges to kill myself. I just didn’t want to live anymore. I just don’t see the point. I am so tired of being in pain all the time and worrying whether I will get CES yet again that it’s driving me crazy. I’m afraid to sneeze or cough for fear of taking out my back. I am scared of falling because my balance isn’t so great. But mostly it is because I am tired of being in pain all the time.

My experiment last night with switching up my night meds didn’t work. I took my night meds when I woke up this afternoon and now I am sleepy. I guess all the meds taken together make me hyper but when you separate them, it doesn’t have the same effect. Go figure.

Last night as I was trying to distract myself from the PTSD symptoms, I was trying to figure out why my laptop was so slow in downloads and stuff when it came to videos and GIFs. Even with the Ethernet connection I didn’t have speeds like I thought I would. I cleared the browsing history several times and still could not watch a GIF of the OSU game. I didn’t watch it last night because I was in a lot of pain. I got the tweets and the updates from my college football app. For some reason, ESPN didn’t want to load for me last night. I don’t know why I am having such a problem with internet connection. If it’s simple, like Twitter, it’s easy to load. But even Facebook has its problems, sometimes. I don’t know if it’s my laptop or the net connection. When I bring it to Dell for fixing my screen, I will have them take a look at it. Maybe it is a connectivity issue.

I really hope that my older laptop is useable. I just need a quick internet connection to post my blogs and word to work. I would type my blogs on my phone but sometimes my phone likes to change words to what it thinks. Like I had typed “limp” it changed it to “lump”. Luckily, I caught it.

I missed BPD Chat this evening because I was sleeping. I would still be sleeping if my sister hadn’t started yelling if anyone was home. It took me a few minutes to get oriented and then my bladder had to be relieved. I really didn’t want to go downstairs. I was nice and comfy in my warm bed. Temp has dropped to below 40 degrees now and some parts of town, there is snow. That wasn’t in the forecast. Neither was being below 40 degrees. Weathermen! Can’t trust any of them.

Woes

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

Woes

I had therapy today and it went awful. She is pushing me to see another therapist in my area, saying the phone is too distracting. I don’t know what to do. I thought that things would go back to the way they were but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. I can’t imagine actually leaving her. I have 14 years of stuff at her office. She said that we could still talk if I found someone else at least once a month. I couldn’t do that. My head is spinning around and around. Before we ended today, she wanted me to call the social worker that I found. I have no idea what to say to him. We also talked about seeing possibly a DBT therapist as an adjunctive person. I don’t know if I can go the DBT route. Maybe as a self-help kind of thing that I can do at my own pace. But I can’t do the full program. Maybe I can call my insurance and see what options they have for that. I would have to call them anyway to set up a new treatment provider, I think. But I am also on medicare so I am not sure how this is going to work.

The idea of her pushing me out is killing me. She wants me to have the best care but she can’t do that and I guess what I wrote to her really got her thinking. While we were talking, I was on my laptop looking over the blog I had started for her but never finished because of fucking family issues. About ten minutes left in the conversation, the screen went bye bye and I couldn’t get it back. I should have been upset but I didn’t feel nothing and said as much to my therapist. I have to get it fixed but I don’t have the money to right now. But the fact I could care less, really shocked me. My laptop is my world. Sure I can use my phone for some of the same stuff but it’s not the same as having a keyboard. I don’t know why the screen went. My computer friend wants me to buy a new screen but I don’t think that is the issue. I think there is a lose connection with the lid and the screen. I am going to have to send it to Dell for them to figure out, which means I will be out of a laptop for a couple of weeks. I should care but I don’t. Like I was telling my therapist, something happened last Friday and I just feel numb. She is calling it the “fuck its”. But it’s more than that. Me not caring about my laptop is something that is very disturbing. Sure it’s probably going to cost a lot to fix. I could just take it to Geek Squad but I just don’t trust them. I rather take it back to the manufacturer to fix the problem. I seriously should be having an anxiety attack and instead I am just blasé.

I told my therapist I feel like the family gopher and they just don’t realize how taxing it is. They just think that because I am home and in my room that they can call me and I should come running with whatever issue they are having. Meanwhile, my writing has suffered because the time it takes me to finally figure out something to write occurs but then my family calls and disrupts the process. Yesterday I was in the middle of the blog I wrote when my mother called to help her fix dinner. I am on the phone with my therapist and my mother calls. When I call her back she says why didn’t I answer the phone if I was home. WTF. Then she gets all bent out of shape because I tell her I was on the other line. My therapist then says this is why we should meet in person so we are back to being at square one. I don’t know if I can handle anything else that can go wrong. I am scared I might end up killing myself and then what is my family going to do without me? I know something just isn’t right. I don’t know if I am just wicked depressed or what. I just don’t want to do anything, yet today I changed my sheets, took a shower, and did laundry. I am paying for it now as my hip and back are killing me.

I’ve decided not to call the social worker, least not today. I can’t handle rejection right now. I’m still debating on making an appointment with my neuro for my nerve pain medication or if I should wait to see the stupid NP for it. Trouble is, the medication isn’t on my fucking med list they have. I thought my physiatrist put it on when I saw him last but the ass didn’t do it. I don’t know why they bother asking you what meds you are on if they don’t put it in your file. It’s not something I take every day but I do use it when I need to. I have been on it for years and know how it affects me. I was expecting to get at least six hours or more of sleep and didn’t. I got five and I am happy with that. It’s better than four, which lately seems to be my normal. My therapist thinks I am in a constant sleep deprivation mode. I probably am. I don’t know what it is like sleeping more than six hours anymore. It happens so rarely these days. Most of the time I wake up because I am in pain and then I can’t go back to sleep.

Well, I am going to try and find my old laptop and see if it is workable still. Probably needs a shit load of Windows updates. But at least I will have a screen that works and isn’t temperamental.

Waking up Early and other things

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

Waking up Early and other things

I have been up since around 0630. I got about five hours of sleep as I went to bed around 0130. I emailed my neurologist last night because I am running low on my medication for nerve pain. I don’t take it often so the refills have expired. Just got a response from her. As I suspected, I need to see her to get the meds. UGH. I hate dealing with her office staff. I could try and get it from my PCP. I see the NP the 26th so I will wait until then. I have enough to keep me going until then. If she doesn’t give me it, I will make an appointment to see the neuro.

I plan on changing my sheets today. It’s something that needs to happen but it always is a pain in the ass to do because of my back issues. I always throw out the back of my hip when I change the sheets. But then, I can stand too long and it will go out on me, too. I still haven’t gotten it checked out. It has been a problem for me for the past year. I took it out last Thanksgiving when I sneezed. It got better but then I sneezed after Christmas and it went out again. I have been in pain ever since. This time I am going to try and not keep so much stuff in my “office” side of the bed. That will make it easier to change the sheets because then I don’t have to keep moving stuff around.

I also want to work on the story I wrote a few weeks ago. I am loaded with good coffee so I hope it makes me want to write. I am trying to avoid going back to sleep so I had coffee. I won’t be going to the Square because I need to pick up my niece later today. But I need to change the sheets first. That is a priority.

I got a lot of views on my paper on the analysis of the song “How to save a life”. And most of the viewing from countries today have been from Ireland. I like that my blog has international readers. It means a lot to me to have readers from other countries reading my blog. Granted the majority of my readers are from the US. But today, Ireland is the top country. It could change over the course of the day. I love watching my stats because it’s fun. I learn through the search engine what readers brought them to my blog and then I can have a post about the search so that other readers, usually those with Cauda Equina Syndrome, can find my blog easier. My all time most read blog is my Knackered post.

I have therapy again today. I texted her with some things that I thought about. I got interrupted so many times yesterday with family stuff that I wasn’t able to write about it. I had started a blog with ideas and rather than sending it to her, I just texted her because it was easier. It was only a few things and it fit on a text. I hope that we can continue the conversation. After 14 years, it will be very difficult not to be in contact with her if we end. Our 15th anniversary date is in January.

Because I am feeling very hopeless and my therapist asked me to, I have put off the date that I was going to end my life. I feel defeated because now I will have to continue to live when I don’t want to. And because of the holidays, I don’t want to end my life then, which means I will have to see my next birthday. It was something I have been trying to avoid this past year. I wanted to stay 39 forever. It shouldn’t be so complicated, but it is. I hate living. It is such a damn struggle all the time. And the thought that I keep having bowel accidents doesn’t appeal to me for living. I have tried to deal with this stuff the best I could but I am so tired. I get no relief from the daily physical pain I have. I am tired of people telling me I need to lose weight when I don’t have the motivation to or the mobility to do so. I wish I could walk like I used to but I can’t. If I could, I wouldn’t be disabled from work. I know my job was stressful and it caused me to be very suicidal at times, but least it gave me something to look forward to every day. It gave me some purpose. Now I have none of that. Sure, I write but other than this blog, I doubt people would buy my book. It’s really depressing and powerful writing that no one sees or understands. It’s not a hopeful book. How can I write about hope when I don’t have any? I just think my death is the only way out of this misery that I am in.

Last night I was writing in my new journal. I was describing what I am saying right now. I might have to go into the hospital because I feel like I am going to snap. One more trigger and I am afraid I might go into constriction and then I will attempt to take my life. But I really don’t want to go there. Just the thought of the bullshit and my meds being split up because they don’t have the right tablet dose keeps me away. I take 12 pills a night. Last time I was in the hospital I had to take almost 16 pills. It was the same medication, but they didn’t have my BP med in a 40 mg tablet so they split it in 10 mgs tablets. That is four pills I had to take. I don’t know if they will have my other BP med in the dose. I would hate to take fucking another 4 pills for that, too. But there is no treatment while you are in the hospital. You just go to groups that are for arts and crafts, mostly. There is no psychotherapy going on in any of these groups or even in the meetings with your case worker. It’s just an adult babysitting system. Someone checks on you every 15 minutes and you talk with staff, which turns out usually to be better than talking with your case worker and psychiatrist. If I go to the unit I was before, that is how it is. If I go to another unit, you just get 15 minutes with the “team” and that is all. Sometimes you meet with your staff person, sometimes you don’t. It sucks. I rather just stay outpatient and struggle than be inpatient. Least I can have my electronics and not be watched.