Tag: suicide ideation

Saturday Blog 16

by Midnight Demon, posted in cauda equina syndrome, depression

Saturday Blog 16

I have not felt good all day. But I have been thinking about my cousin all week since he left me a message saying he was getting married today. I wanted to call earlier but I am bad at returning calls during normal business hours. I always remember after 2100. I called my cousin back today and spoke to him. He told me about his wedding and the parties he went to. My cousin married his partner, finally, after being together for more than 25 years. I am so happy to officially see his partner in the family. His partner got on the phone and he told me he sent me lyrics to a song he wrote in the early morning. He was telling me the process of the song and I had to read it. I LOVED it. It was so cool. I hope he records it and sends me the recorded version. Would love to hear the melody of the song.

Last night I had a scare. After I had my difficult BM, I started having increased back pain and my saddle/genital area were throbbing, something that has never happened to me before. It was awful. I had to take two strong pain pills and at least two ativans to calm down. I finally dozed off around 0200. All that time I was freaking out and was so damn tempted to go to the ER. I woke up in the morning and things were better. I still had back pain but it was the normal pain that I have been dealing with all along and not the pain I was dealing with last night. I swore to myself that if it was CES (Cauda Equina Syndrome), I was going to kill myself. There is no way I can handle being a cripple or be fused. I have heard many people who have been fused have so many problems. I have yet to hear of one success story of the many bad ones I have heard. My brother in law has told me that his coworker has received a fusion and is doing well. But I am sure that he didn’t have nerve damage before he got his fusion.

I don’t know why I was in horrendous pain last night. I know I had a difficult movement where I really had to push to get the crap out of me. I had been backed up for a few days as the last time I went was Monday. It is just another reminder of what living post CES is like. You can’t have normal bowels. I still am waiting to go again but it has not happened. I would take another senna but I took one earlier and I really don’t want to take two in one day for fear of bowel cramping.

I was so scared last night that I emailed my psychiatrist around 2300. I told her I was freaking out and that things were weird. I didn’t know if things were going to be better in the morning or not. I would have to go to the ER if things were not good. I feel like I am living with a time bomb in my back and I don’t know what will be the detonator. I have severely herniated discs in my L5/S1 that I am most worried about. I see my doc on Monday so I will ask him if having another MRI will be worthwhile at this point or not. I really don’t want to have another MRI as I need to have contrast and the last time I had one, they couldn’t find a vein so they skipped it. But with my back surgeries, you need contrast to show differentiation between new and old stuff.

I think my plans of seeing my therapist on Tuesday might be foiled as snow and ice are supposed to hit that day. Just great! I really want to see my therapist but I can’t because of the stinking weather. Normally, I wouldn’t care but I know going west of where I live is going to be more treacherous than where I live. I hope that it is nothing and I wake up with nothing on the ground. But some places are already having snow right now so there is still the chance that I won’t be seeing her Tuesday. Things could change as Tuesday is a few days away.

Knack for Lyrics

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

Been listening to Garth Brooks for the past hour. I forgot how much I miss listening to his voice and my favorite songs.

I didn’t have a good night sleeping. I woke up around 0330, fell back to sleep about an hour later only to wake up again a few hours in pain. Damn hip just doesn’t want to be slept on and if I sleep on my back it still hurts me. If I sleep on the opposite side, it still hurts so I can’t win.

I can’t believe I am saying this, but I really can’t wait for PT in a week. I really want them to give me an exercise that will stretch this out so that I am in less pain. I know that the script was for my ankle but they should be able to do something for me for my hip. I can’t be hurting all the time. I think that if they refuse, I will just call my doc and get them to have a new order. If I need to be seen by a doc, that wouldn’t upset me either. I am just so damn tired of being in pain. The pain medicine is only doing so much for me.

I have been playing my stupid Facebook game most of the day. I was so damn disappointed when I got the wrong dog on a timed thingy. Now I need to start another one but need to stockpile one of the items. It takes some time and I am glad people are still working on this mission because I would be so screwed otherwise.

My blog passed 33,000 views yesterday. I am so glad people read my blog. So thank you for reading.

Can’t believe that my stupid birthday is in nine days. I really am not looking forward to it. Every year, I have been so suicidal that I just didn’t care about the day. This year has been different. I am not really depressed and I am definitely not suicidal. Usually, I have a depression that makes walking feel like I am in mud. I have been trying to document the change but it has been hard to pinpoint. I know my feelings have changed since my last hospitalization and Robin Williams’s suicide. I guess you can say that I am glad that his death occurred while I was hospitalized. I don’t think I would be here otherwise. I think going back on mirtazapine was the best thing I could do for myself. It has been more than three months being on it and I still have been stable. Usually, the effects of the drug last one month and then it stops working. But for some reason, this time around, it has benefitted me. Only thing I hate about it is the increased appetite. And the subsequent weight gain. But since I have adjusted, my weight has been stable the past month or so.

I wanted to go for a walk today but my ankle thought otherwise. I hate having pain dictate what I do or don’t do. It totally sucks. I need to try and save my spoons for tomorrow when I deal with my father again.

I think I found a new “old” song that fits my therapist and I. It’s Garth’s song “A friend in me”. I will write out the lyrics and send them to her. I got half a letter and a blog post written to her that I have been meaning to send out. She likes getting letters. I’m telling you she is a nuttier case than me. I don’t know why some lyrics jump out at me and others don’t. For instance, there are no lyrics on 1989 that jump out at me that would fit my therapist. Maybe “Bad Blood” would fit with the lyrics “now we got problems and I don’t think we can solve them”, but other than that, the rest of the song doesn’t fit. Yet I listen to Garth, and at least three songs jump out at me. I don’t get this knack that I have, I really don’t.

I’m the Problem

by Midnight Demon, posted in chronic physical pain, depression, suicidality, suicide, suicide attempt survivor

I’m the problem

A few days ago, I got a comment on one of my blogs saying that my therapist isn’t the problem, I am. I was bullshit because how could I be the problem when my therapist was the one freaking out over my suicidality. Then I read my blog that was commented on. The commenter missed the point I was trying to get across and was blaming me for my problems because I wasn’t seeing things “her” way. I was “choosing” to stay depressed and suicidal rather than getting my shit together and moving forward. If only it was that easy.

It got me pretty upset. I have been trying to get a hold of my therapist to get her input. I know she is NOT going to blame me for my problems. The whole point of this blog might be kind of stupid but I can’t sleep and it is on my mind. And I know that I won’t be able to sleep until I get the thoughts out.

The fact of the matter is that I have a therapist that freaks out whenever I bring up my suicidal tendencies or thoughts about death. I find it isolating because I can’t talk about these feelings with her. How can I when she becomes so tense and flips out? I feel that therapy should be a place that you can talk about anything in the world that is bothering you. But suicidal thoughts are so taboo that it is difficult to engage in that kind of talk. I have been through this with my therapist for the past 10 years and it is always the same. She starts talking about things that have nothing to do with my suicidality and I am left feeling alone and helpless. So how am I the problem when I can’t talk about how I feel when I know it will be falling on deaf ears?

This commenter also brought out that I am irresponsible, “choosing” to spend my money on coffee and music rather than my bills, which is totally untrue. I can’t make ends meet because I am on limited income and have more bills than I can pay. So some months I buy coffee and my country music because I think I earned that right. I don’t skip a bill payment because I pay for it. It just means that I can’t get to eat out or pay for groceries. I think I am responsible enough to know what to pay for and what is frivolous. I have 5 bills I am responsible for every month and I pay them even though it leaves me with little left over for things like coffee and music. And I shouldn’t have to explain to the internet what I spend my money on. This commenter just has an assumption that is wrong, all because she thinks she is an expert in financial matters.

I use my coffee spending as a reward and my one joy in life. If that is too much for you Ms. Expert, go suck an egg. I am not going to stop spending a miniscule amount of money for coffee just because you think I am being a big spender. I wish I had the money to be a big spender but I don’t. I am on a fixed income every month and have to make do with what I have. I don’t work anymore because I have chronic pain and mental illness that requires at least two hospitalizations a year. But then, if you think that this is all bullshit, try a day in my shoes. I am sure you will topple over the first hour.

My suicidality makes me a “difficult” patient. No therapist wants to see their client die by suicide. No therapist wants to see their client hurting so bad they want to hurt themselves. It is a challenge to the mental health field. I have worked hard on this blog to tell my story and hope that it helps someone. After your bogus comments, I was questioning whether to continue. But fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I am not going to stop blogging because of your ignorance and high almighty attitude. People need to know what it is like living like this, and living through it, though it is difficult, extremely difficult at times. If you can’t understand it, stop reading my blog and go bother someone else.

Up Early Again

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

Up early again

I woke up around 0530 with back pain. I don’t know when this pain is going to go away. I could see what if I was doing something stressful, but all I was doing was sleeping. It is so annoying to wake up in pain.

When I woke up, two things fell off my bed and scared the crap out of me. It was my portfolio and a book. They made such a loud noise in my quiet room. I will pick them up later as I can bend down right now to return them back to where they belong.

I had such a long day yesterday that I couldn’t think of anything to blog about. Words were escaping me because I was so tired. I dealt with my father for 6 fucking hours. That was enough to drive me to drink. He was so ornery and deviant that I could have choked him. It’s a good thing I have patience with him otherwise I would have told him to fuck off and left. I really, really can’t stand him and I know it is only going to get worse as he gets older.

My mood is kind of low because I have not been having a good night’s sleep the past few days. I don’t know why I can’t sleep past six hours. But being in pain doesn’t help. Last night, before going to sleep, I started coughing really bad. I think I am getting sick so I am not going to be around my father today. My sisters can deal with him. I don’t know why I am so congested.

I really want to write my therapist a letter but I don’t know what to say. Things have been difficult between us lately. And she is clueless, as usual. I will try and talk with her about this on Tuesday when I see her. I might be able to take my sister’s car and visit her. But it will all depends if this congestion goes away or not. I don’t feel sick, but I just have this stupid cough.

I hope my therapist reads the last blog I sent her. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn’t. That makes things difficult because then I have to try and remember what the blog was about or worse, read it to her. That annoys me. I hate reading what I wrote. The difficulties we are having is that she keeps panicking whenever I bring up thoughts of death or suicide. Soon as I hear her voice change, I can’t talk to her anymore and I shut down. I feel like my feelings have no where to go and I get frustrated. The frustration just makes me more depressed and makes me feel alone. It drives me crazy that after 14 years of working together, she still fucking flips out over my suicidality. For once, I would love for her to accept it and explore it and possibly question it so that maybe it won’t haunt me so much. But I don’t think that is ever going to happen.

I was shocked, really shocked, when they were doing some pre-op questions for my father, they asked if he was in danger of hurting himself. I wanted to laugh and say he was too narcissistic to want to end his own life. But it seemed strange to ask him that right before he had surgery. I mean, if it was me, what were they going to do, put a watch on me while they operated? So stupid sometimes when they ask these questions. There are times when it is appropriate and other times when it is not. I mean, I get that suicide is an important issue to try and capture but I know that if the answer had been yes, things might not have changed. I just don’t get why they would ask something like that right before being operated on. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

I just had cookies and milk for breakfast. I really wanted to make some scrambled eggs but couldn’t be bothered. Yesterday I made them so very good. I put in three slices of cheese. I love when they are cheesy. I really want to have a poached egg but I suck at making them. I always break the yolk and then there is no point in eating it because the good stuff is gone. I like the yolk more than I like the whites. I also made a good cup of coffee yesterday. I was going to have a second cup at Starbucks but declined when I got to the station. I didn’t want to be jittery when I saw my father. That would have made things worse.