tired of living

I am feeling blah today. I just finished taking a shower and though I feel refreshed, I don’t have any motivation to do anything. I have some time to get my coffee before my therapy appointment in a couple of hours but I just don’t feel like being rushed. Every time I do, I forget something, and usually the essentials, such as the keys to my house!

I responded to an email for my CESSG (Cauda Equina Syndrome Support Group) about physical therapy. I hope that the person doesn’t see a chiropractor. That is how all of my problems started. I think that if I was given adequate pain medication in the beginning of my back pain, I would not have gone to see a chiropractor or if I had stopped once the pain did I would not have ended up with CES. All the ifs that go through my mind, looking back.

I am especially feeling out of sorts today because I still have my fricken, goddamned menses. Just when I thought I was getting over it, it comes back in full force. I seriously am suicidal more so now than I was before. I just can’t take being a woman anymore. I have tried to stop the cycle and I am failing horribly. I am so sad. I hate being in this body. I never am going to be a man. And though I should be possibly reaching out for help, I just can’t. I just can’t bear talking about it with someone because I know I will just start bawling like a baby. Just writing about it is bringing tears to my eyes. It just is a deep emotional reaction. And even though I know there are other FTMs out there, I still feel alone. I just can’t cope with this anymore. I doubt that anyone really knows the frustration of dealing with this. I am trying to cope with it but how do you cope with something you know is WRONG?? I know I should probably go back to my reproductive endocrine doc and be like this isn’t working but why bother? She has been trying to stop this beast and has been unable to do so this past year. My confidence in her is down to nothing. I know I probably should go to the experts and see what they know but this Doc is the tops in her field. I don’t understand how hard it is to stop a fucking period. It just doesn’t make sense to me. And with every mense that I get, the closer I get to killing myself. I am done with it. I just want to die. I am in too much pain anyways. My foot was acting up soon as I woke up this morning. It’s sort of fine now as I took my pain meds.

I just am tired of living. Tired of trying to make sense of all this. I really don’t know what to do about my menses anymore. I wish it was easy to get through this but it’s not. Every time I wipe myself and there is blood I freak out. I just don’t understand why I am still bleeding. It’s been two weeks already. This is my third week. I was hoping it was getting less toward the end of the week but I was wrong. I really hate being like this. I hate feeling like a freak. And nobody understands that I am going to end my life because of it. I wish I knew what I was feeling but all I feel is hurt. I feel pain. I feel hate. Hate that I am not who my brain thinks I am. And I get weaker. I get more tired with each passing day. It just takes so much energy to deal with this. To wear underwear now that are made for females is just killing me inside. I might be called a masculine name but I am far from being it.

stigma of suicide and ice cream

Last night I wrote a blog about being a loser. I don’t know if I am or not. I know most people would not consider me a loser but the reason I feel that way is because I am struggling with mental illness on top of being in chronic pain. I can’t stand either condition. I fight with myself constantly with suicidal thoughts. I am so jaded to suicidal thoughts that I seriously wonder why people get so out of whack when I bring the subject up. People honestly don’t want me to kill myself and I wonder why? People I don’t even know, like the people I meet on the internet, all think I should continue to live and I honestly wonder why? Or that I shouldn’t have these thoughts. Well, sorry, I do. I think about killing myself 85% of the time. I think about acting on it not so much, though I have come close a couple of times.

I think the stigma around suicide needs to change. People need to be able to think about suicide like they do vanilla ice cream. They either like it or hate it but regardless, vanilla ice cream is still going to be around. As long as there are conscious people, there is going to be suicide. It might be thought about like people like me, that are in chronic pain and suffering from depression. It might just be that the person is suffering from depression and they just feel like they cannot go on. They might have voices telling them they should not be around or just disappear. Or maybe the voices just tell them to kill themselves because they will be better off. But I do know this…people should be open to suicide like they are to ice cream. They should hear the person that is bringing up thoughts of death and thoughts of killing themselves or harming themselves. The stigma needs to stop. The hurting needs to stop and I don’t know if this blog will make sense and reach the people it needs to but as long as I am here and not in the grave, I hope that people will read this and know they are not alone. The feeling of being able to talk about this openly needs to happen. Too many people feel they are crazy and they don’t need to be. Too many people seek help and are turned away because they have suicidal thoughts need to be helped. They just need an understanding ear and an open mind.

So the next time someone is thinking about death or thinking about killing themselves, I hope that you hear their story as to why this is so. Because hearing their story is going to be the deciding factor on whether that person lives or dies.

on being a loser

My therapist is back from vacation. I really am glad she is back. We talked a lot today and I sent her a funny card for her birthday which is tomorrow. On the front of the card it has a dog saying “look I can connect to the internet” and a cat that is saying, “that is the microwave…” on the inside is says something about being an imbecile in the technological age, which is so true for her. I wish she was up to speed technologically but only a miracle can happen before she is. She has a vague idea what Skype is just to give you an idea and even though I created her own email address, she always forgets she has it. In her squirrel brain, I don’t know if she ever uses email for anything.

I have been depressed all day despite being with my niece. I just have been really fighting the suicidal thoughts all day. Even though I feel I have made some success with my blog and it being on the Masters in Counseling website, I still feel like a loser. I just don’t feel good enough. I am wicked depressed and in pain all the time. I am so tired of being in pain all the time. Yesterday my arthritis was acting up because I haven’t been taking my anti-inflammatory pill. I have sort of been deciding which meds to take and which not to take since I have been having trouble finding the funds to get them. I kind of wish I was on state health care so that it might be cheaper than what I am paying with my private insurance but there is no guarantee that I can see my providers. I know I can still see my therapist and psychiatrist. I am just worried that I won’t be able to see my primary care doc. So until then, I am skipping doses except for my psych meds. I can’t miss too many days of them because I will go nuts.

Because my pain has been acting up severely lately, I have really been in a funk. I just can’t get myself together to get out of it. I still do everything that I normally do, like go to Starbucks and goof off there then come home and usually write something. I just don’t know why I bother leaving the house. I hate taking the bus now. I get wicked anxious on the ride home every time. Getting there to where I need to go is not a problem because it’s the last stop of the bus. Everyone needs to get off so I don’t feel so claustrophobic and panicky. But on the ride home, if someone is blocking the entrance or an exit, I just get really paranoid and panicky for some reason. I don’t know why it is and why this is happening as I NEVER felt that way before while on the bus. I guess I am just self-conscious that I may trip over someone or something and go flying when the bus stops. I hardly leave my seat anymore when approaching my stop for fear of falling. I usually have good balance but lately I have been off. I guess it is becoming more into my head of not knowing where my feet are and it’s distracting me. Because of my nerve injury, I no longer know where my feet are, especially my “good” foot which is my right. I used to be able to keep my balance pretty good but lately I have been losing my balance on it more than my “bad” foot. I just feel like killing myself will solve everything. I won’t have to deal with the anxiety, the pain, the loss of balance, and the heartache anymore.

My therapist reminded me today that I am needed by others. Again with the others and my family. I kind of felt better, a little bit but I know she was just saying it because she is one of the others that need me for some reason. It kills me inside that I have to continue to suffer for others. It’s like I am being a martyr or something. I just am so tired of living. So tired of being tired. I can’t remember when I had energy to do stuff. I wanted to clean out my car today so that I could junk it but I had my niece with me so that didn’t happen. We went to the park and I know if I take my sock off I am going to be in pain more than I already am right now. I have been putting off cleaning my car for almost a year now. I just don’t have the energy or motivation to do it. It needs to be done but I just can’t do it. And I feel like a loser because I don’t have any motivation or energy to do this stuff. I am able to. I just need to sit on the back seat with a trash bag and haul all the stuff in the back in a bag but that is too much for me. I need to save my spoons for going to Starbucks to get my one cup of coffee a day, to get dressed and showered. To be able to tolerate standing while waiting for the bus. I think I am going to take a nap now.

A Pain night, YAY! NOT

dermatome

I have been having some weird pain in my left hip the past couple of days. If it was a one time deal, I wouldn’t be worried about it. But every time I sleep on my right side, my left hip goes berserk. It’s like getting zapped with an electric prod of some type. I never have had nerve pain like that so tonight I decided to look up the dermatome map to see what nerve pathway could be causing this. It is the L3 nerve. Just great. It’s the section I had surgery on almost seven years ago. I am really nervous now. But I know the first thing the doc is going to say is lose weight, which I have been trying to. I have been eating cereal rather than making something else to eat, like a fried egg. Course that is the only thing I do know how to make. I can’t make something fancy like poached eggs because I usually end up making it a hard boiled egg. Or egg drop soup. I usually have my mother make it for me if I am in the mood for it.

SO I have this new weird pain that may or may not mean anything. I am not having any weakness but my foot is wicked hurting me for the past few night really bad. This is despite me not doing anything and I don’t know if it is the position I am sitting in that is causing it to feel this way or what. I just know that when I lie down, all hell breaks loose. It’s like sitting up is the only way for my body not to hurt. Trouble is, I CAN’T SLEEP SITTING UP!!

I was going through my legal pad of paper today as there is a lot that I have rolled back and came across my letter to my psychiatrist about ending my life. There was soo much more I wanted to put in it but I think what I wrote is to the point and says what I need it to say. It is a really sad letter. I feel like bringing it to her at my next appointment, but at the same time I don’t think it will be a good idea as she might hospitalize me. I still am thinking about ending my life but a week later, the 23rd of Aug when I turn 37 yrs 8 mths old. It just some how works out in my head that way. I really want to stick around to see if the Red Sox make it to the play offs. I think they will but I am not sure. The bullpen has not been really strong but the new addition of Peavy is fun to watch. He likes to talk to himself on the mound. It’s like watching Dennis Eckersley on the mound. And he is a good pitcher, just like Eck.

I just feel like I have to do something to try and make my life better and killing myself is the only option I have. I don’t want to be anymore. I am so tired of fighting myself all the time. Of fighting to deal with this pain every fricken day. It is so tiring an no one knows except my fellow CES friends and bloggers. I can’t tell my family because they just say go to the doctors. The doctors don’t have any answers for me anymore. And I am scared to death that this new pain policy is going to be the death of me anyways. Might as well kill myself now and get it over with. I am sick of fighting for my pain meds. My one relief I can count on is a couple of pills a day, sometimes more. But lately I don’t feel like I deserve it. I feel like I should be in pain because I am a bad person so I wait until the pain is a 10 before I pop a pill. No one has told me otherwise. No one has cared enough to tell me when I should and shouldn’t take my pain meds except the voices. They know how I should take my meds and when I need it sometimes before I do. They sometimes are helpful but lately they really want me to OD on them in ways that I don’t like. I rather take a bottle of Tylenol than OD on my meds. And besides, it isn’t going to kill me. It might make me sick but that is all. I would need at least a three month supply of meds to kill myself and I don’t have it, nor can I stock up on it because that would mean not taking my meds and I NEED relief more than I need a method of killing myself.

I don’t know if I mean that I will kill myself. I know some day I will do it but I don’t follow through on my taking off or planning dates. The 17th will be here before I know it. But I just found out it is my friend’s birthday so I can’t do it on that day. I don’t think it would be right. It would so be a slap in the face. But that is not the person I am. I hate being in pain tonight. I don’t know how much meds I will take to make myself go to sleep. I still have a bottle of Neurontin I can take but I doubt it will do anything but zone me out.