Tag: recurrent major depression with psychotic features

Monday check in

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Monday check in

I’ve got to shower today and I think after this blog is posted, I am going to do it. I woke up in the middle of the night again because I had to pee. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep. I woke up at 7 and feel rested, which is quite a change. I usually wake up tired as fuck. Last night I was having trouble with my suicidal thoughts. I texted a crisis line and it helped a lot. The person was so understanding of what I was going through. I felt validated and supported. I said that I had no plan even though I do have one but I didn’t want to get into it. I wasn’t going to do anything. It was just a lot of thoughts inundating me. My physical pain was really bad. My neck and ankle hurt so much that I was losing it. The stress that I have been under caused my neck pain as after I “talked” things out, I felt better. I know a lot of tension is in my neck and shoulders. I really hope PT helps alleviate some of the pain. My arm is feeling better. It just hurts if I touch the area that was jabbed. My chest is a different story. It still hurts when I touch it and it is swollen so I am going to have to put ice on it.

I had one cup of coffee but today might be two cups. I am thinking of having the second cup when I see my therapist around noon time. I had some toast with unsalted butter and it was gross. Never do that again. I think I am going to buy Irish butter so I can have it with toast. It is so good. I forget the name of the brand but my sisters love it, too.

I am going to try and clear off my bed today. I have been slowly getting things off and putting them where they belong or otherwise just tossing it on the floor because I have no where else to put them. Just hope the caffeine doesn’t wear off. I’d like to get my bed cleared before therapy and then change my sheets after therapy. I also plan on putting on the new foam topper that I bought that I hope doesn’t slide off the bed. This will mean I can’t be on my bed for a few hours but that is ok. I can go downstairs and stay with my mother while it settles on my bed. I just hope I can put on my sheets ok. I haven’t decided which blanket I am going to put on. I think I am going to put the blanket my mother made for me years ago on. It is heavy and warm. I just hope it isn’t too warm.

Snow storm is coming this afternoon. Snow is supposed to start around noon and end around midnight tomorrow I think. They are calling it a Nor’easter. I just hope most of the snow is plowed and shoveled by Wed when I have to go out for my PT appointment. If not I will have to have it virtually. I don’t like the virtual appointments. It is hard to really see what the therapist is trying to make me do. I am going twice a week for the next month or so. I really hope this works and decreases my pain. I just hope we get to work on my neck next because it has been really bothering me more than my shoulder.

Ankle is starting to act up again. I have noticed that when it acts up, my hamstring in my leg hurts, too. The hamstring pain is really bothersome as I can’t stretch it out or take anything for it. Usually if I just keep my leg still it helps with the pain. Last night was my niece’s birthday party. I was able to go down for dinner but I couldn’t go down for the cake as my ankle acted up. Pain is similar to what I am experiencing right now. I still hope I can shower. My hair needs to be washed. It is so damn itchy. I would love to find a shampoo that moisturizes your hair. I haven’t been able to find one. If someone knows a good brand, please pass it along. You can use the contact page or just comment on my blog.

cramping and don’t know why

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Cramping and don’t know why

Past two days I have felt cramps in my lower abdomen similar to period cramps but I no longer get them and I am worried it could be my bladder as they seem more intense when I am full or close to it. I still don’t have a clear sense to when I am full due to nerve damage I have suffered from. I am supposed to have urodynamic testing to see if my bladder has improved or not but scheduling has been difficult due to Covid. I need to bite the bullet and call to make the appointment. I also need to have a hysterectomy because if these cramps are uterine cramps I want the fucking thing gone. It is totally useless to me.

I have been in a bad mood all weekend, well, not really bad just really depressed and suicidal. I have been in so much pain with my ankle the past few days that the pain is really driving me insane. I’ve had to take more breakthrough meds just to get through the day and then my shoulders have been acting up so I have been in some serious pain last few days. I haven’t had anyone to talk to about it. I haven’t brought it up in group because physical pain is not really a mental health issue, though with it causing me to be suicidal, I guess you can say it is. I just have been zoning out in groups. I have my last week this week, thank god. I will be going five days this week, three groups per day. I tend to go to the first three groups unless the fourth one is interesting and I want to go to it. Then I will skip the DBT one for the fourth. The program had been helpful but now that I find myself in a semi crisis I am finding it didn’t really help that much. I found myself asking “ok, what skill or coping thing can I do”? but nothing was really coming to me as I didn’t know what to fucking do. I was in pain so going downstairs for an ice pack to use the TIPP skill wasn’t possible. I just wanted to die and as instantaneously as possible. Today has been better but these cramps are getting me down. I haven’t been faithfully taking my bladder spasm medication so it is possible my bladder is upset right now.

I just realized I forgot to do my meds this afternoon. I will have to do them soon as I need to take them in about an hour. Can’t believe I forgot. Today has just gotten away with me with all the pain I have been having. I got on my sister’s scale today and found that it was almost a ten pound difference between my scale. So all this time I thought I gained weight, I really lost weight. I feel better about this. My weight has been slowly decreasing over the past few weeks. I am really hoping to lose at least twenty-five pounds so I can have top surgery. I don’t know when I will have it but I hope it will be sometime this year.

the 330 am blog

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

The 330 am blog

I’ve been up since 0130 because of pain. My right shoulder hurts and didn’t get better until I got up and started stretching it out a bit. I’ve been in a weird mood since waking up. I feel like I should be suicidal with the amount of pain that I am in but I am not. I don’t know if this is a good sign that I am getting better or what. I think the groups is helping me though I don’t know how because the skills I haven’t learned really. I know what they are but I haven’t worked on them. I have tried the DEAR MAN skill that my therapist wants me to but we had to go over it and then I dissociated afterwards so I don’t remember a thing about what we talked about. I didn’t even know if I had attended the session so I asked her if I did. She said I did. So weird.

I have one more week of groups and then I am done and I don’t think I will go back. It was too stressful. Plus my email kept deleting the emails that the clinicians were sending and I don’t know why that is. I got to make a rule so that it goes to my inbox and nowhere else.

My therapist wants me to send her screenshots of the handouts I am given during groups. I think she wants to make sure I am going and I find this irritating. I feel like she doesn’t trust me. The agreement was that I would text her and Then I would have a response to what I was texting. Thing is the past few days I haven’t had any responses to what I text her about. I feel like this is a one way street again.

I haven’t really participated in group that past few days. I listen but I have been getting bored. Even the group that I thought would be interesting was a flop. I didn’t like it at all. I have been going to the first three groups because those are the most important ones as they are mostly clinical. The first one is just a check in and the other two are either CBT or DBT groups. I find it interesting that they are using both therapies in the program. Both are useful, don’t get me wrong and they do work to their own extent.

I love the therapist that I have in the program. He is so energetic and empathetic and fun to work with. He is a really good guy and I love when he leads groups because he makes them fun instead of boring. He brings this energy that is positive and soothing. I love it. I am going to miss him when I leave. I feel like I should write him an email but I think I will wait as it is the weekend. I am surprised the hospital doesn’t recognize MLK day. It is this Monday and my therapist is off but the program is on. Very weird.

I have put back the weight I lost. I am disappointed in this because I was able to go below 200 and now I am a few pounds over. My struggle with weight is so finicky. It all depends on my appetite and if I eat regularly. Lately I have just been eating one meal a day because I usually full and don’t want to eat anything else for the day. This talking about eating is making me hungry. I think I am going to make scrambled eggs with cheese. I just hope we have the bread.

dissociation

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Dissociation

I dissociated last night and didn’t even realize it until later that night. I wasn’t there for therapy but I was. I showed up but I have no recollection of the meeting. It has been a long while since something like this has happened. I don’t know why. I have no idea if something triggered me into dissociation or what. I don’t feel like seeing her again. I feel like I am taking up too much of her time.

I am meeting with my neurosurgeon and psychiatrist today. Both are virtual thank god because my ankle is still flared up and I know I wouldn’t be able to walk from the train station to my neurosurgeon’s office. Thankfully my back is better today so I don’t have to tell him I fell unless he asks. I have no red flag symptoms so I think I am ok. I got to tell my psychiatrist about he shaking. I noticed my right leg will shake and supposedly my hands shake when I give my sister things. I don’t have a steady hand when I hold them out straight.

I went to three groups today and they were okay. I had my meeting with the therapist and we decided to go the rest of the two full weeks. Insurance will pay so I don’t have to worry about going four days this week. I just have to show up to three groups though so that is good. I am not sure what my schedule will be like next week as I will be going all five days. I have to ask about this.

I didn’t sleep well last night. I was up most of the night because of pain. My neck, ankle, and back were all conspiring against me. They still are. I am so miserable. I feel like I just want to die. I wanted to text my therapist this but I decided not to. I didn’t want to worry her. I just said that I was in a lot of pain and left it at that. I still can’t believe I dissociated last night. I remember bits and pieces of therapy but it feels like I wasn’t there.

My legs and knees are still hurting from the fall I took the other day. My knees are bruised as I landed on them. I am so sore. I have been taking Tylenol around the clock for the soreness. My neck muscles are killing me too. All from that one fall. My back seems to be okay and I don’t have any back problems. I do have a sore back but that is it. No other pain going down my legs or other radiating back problems.

The surgeon signed me off. I don’t need to see him again unless I have problems. I am glad. My psychiatrist agreed to increase the citalopram. He is only going up 10 mg and then see how I do. He wants to make sure the drug doesn’t mess with my heart rhythm. I’ve never had a problem with SSRIs so I don’t know what his deal is.