3/12: what I learned this week: ALWAYS taper your SSRI

[ixchel]

Ugh the last two weeks have been CRAP!!! But, some good has come of it. I'll share some good, bad, and ugly.

This week, I have learned:

1. Lexapro is a hell of a drug.

2. My body will crash my brain after 7 days of insomnia, and I will hallucinate by day 10.

3. My spouse has the patience of a saint.

4. The kickback of a gun is nowhere near as forceful as it looks.

5. I'm good at shooting!

6. I may or may not have a job right now.

7. I never expected to feel so indifferent regarding my employment status. It feels revealing to me to realize how unattached I feel to it. Maybe my dislike for it has really grown that much.

8. I feel like the Boy Child has suddenly grown more mature and its freaking me out a little. I know he's in the pre-teen zone, but I'm not ready for this. I find myself checking in on him often and smothering him with mama love just to make sure my boy is still my boy. *sigh* This poor child is stuck with me.

9. If you tell them to stop building....

They will.

(I find this hilarious to an inappropriate degree.)

10. The A-Hole Dog only likes the dog park if she's on her leash. She also acts like she feels incredibly violated when another dog sniffs her butt.

11. Go to the following thread. Go to top comments, find on page, type "Robb Stark". Only do this if you are caught up on GOT. Also, only do this if you are not offended by politics, and if you do not plan in any way to come back here and blast me for sharing a comment that compares Trump to Joffrey and Balon Greyjoy.

Link: Bernie opposing Auto Bailout, delaying Clean Power Plan, supporting Minutemen militia, Koch brothers endorsement, Reagan HIV/AIDS "activism" and today's Sanders healthcare support in the 9s are 6 things Hillary Clinton blatantly lied about in a single freaking week. : politics (Mid-way through comment begins with "The way I see it, Bernie is...")

12. I like my ellipses with 4 dots, just like I like my lights (THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!!!!). Farawyn, we can take this outside if you want....

13. The spouse and I owe so much money in taxes that I can't even. We changed exemptions when we got blasted by state last year. Didn't matter. We owe thousands to federal and the state we live in. As in, we owe thousands to federal and thousands more to state. Can't wait to see how much the state I work in swindled. I swear to the Bearded Commander Riker that we had more money on one crappy income than we have now, with me working, too. Maybe I need to not work during grad school. :\

14. I am so excited for grad school!!!

I know I'm forgetting stuff. Boo! I'll remember right after the edit window closes, I'm sure!

What have you learned?

[Farawyn]

D- Daniel Tiger used to be a hand puppet in The Land Of Make Believe, voiced by the actual Mr. Rogers, back in the dark ages.

Henrietta Pussycat used to say "Meow Meow". She was another hand puppet, also voiced by Mr. Rogers.

[Dogen]

I learned that I'm terrified of antidepressants after reading here and various places about the withdrawal sx. But still curious.

I've learned that St. John's wort is helpful but somewhat overrated.

Like all medications, they should be stopped and started in consultation with a qualified medical provider. The issue of side effects can be mitigated if tapered appropriately. I start and stop antidepressants all day long without problems, because I'm a mostly-qualified medical professional.

Also, St. John's Wort is evidence-based treatment for depression, but it interacts with everything. It's like grapefruit. Not usually worth the trouble. Kava for anxiety, on the other hand, is good stuff.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

OC and Ixchel I'm sending you tons and tons of hugs and just hoping things start to work out on all fronts. Depression is awful, as is debt. I've been deeply engrossed in both and I'm sending all the good vibes I can muster.

I've had a really rough week (seems like I'm saying that a lot lately) but I had better not get in to venting about it or I may never stop.

I've learned I love mandala coloring books too!

*hugs* to you too!

[Junebug903, LPN]

YES...I am currently tapering off of Cymbalta by removing beads. It's the bead method. The withdrawal side effects are horrible. I do it slowly enough to help with the side effects. I still feel some emotional/mood changes for a couple days, but then I adjust.

[Dogen]

SSRIs are not compatible with me for some reason, and perhaps not my offspring either...

I have a kiddo who had such problems with lexapro that we ended up with multiple admissions to inpatient psych. She was not only having command hallucinations, she was starting to act on them. It was a really, really bad med for her. We tried a few other SSRIs but all had untenable side effects for her, so we had to go another route.

That sounds terrifying, for both of you. I hope things are better for you guys now.

[Farawyn]

Like all medications, they should be stopped and started in consultation with a qualified medical provider. The issue of side effects can be mitigated if tapered appropriately. I start and stop antidepressants all day long without problems, because I'm a mostly-qualified medical professional.

Also, St. John's Wort is evidence-based treatment for depression, but it interacts with everything. It's like grapefruit. Not usually worth the trouble. Kava for anxiety, on the other hand, is good stuff.

I stopped taking Kava Kava years ago because of possible liver toxicity. Is that still a "thing"?

KavaKava

[kiszi, RN]

Like all medications, they should be stopped and started in consultation with a qualified medical provider. The issue of side effects can be mitigated if tapered appropriately. I start and stop antidepressants all day long without problems, because I'm a mostly-qualified medical professional.

Also, St. John's Wort is evidence-based treatment for depression, but it interacts with everything. It's like grapefruit. Not usually worth the trouble. Kava for anxiety, on the other hand, is good stuff.

Re: interactions: oh, how I know. I only take a few herbals and claritin, but made sure to check for interactions before starting the Wort. I also know that if I decide to stop being my own herbalist and go on any real meds, I would have to get off the St. John's for a while first.

I've read about Kava, but haven't tried it. I took passionflower for anxiety for a couple years. Very nice but had its side effects like anything else.

[Dogen]

I stopped taking Kava Kava years ago because of possible liver toxicity. Is that still a "thing"?

KavaKava

It's as much a thing as it ever was - rare, isolated accounts of liver damage and conflicting, inconclusive research evidence. I don't tell people to take herbs, though, because I'm not an expert. I mainly read about them so I can talk to patients about stuff they're already taking.

[Farawyn]

It's as much a thing as it ever was - rare, isolated accounts of liver damage and conflicting, inconclusive research evidence. I don't tell people to take herbs, though, because I'm not an expert. I mainly read about them so I can talk to patients about stuff they're already taking.

*pops my melatonin and sips my valerian tea*

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

Ixchel and OC *hugs* I hate that you both are going through such rough times.

This is week I have learned:

-The correct way to say mischievous. I am still scratching my head.

-FaceTiming my girl on a break and hearing her say "Mommy please come home to me." Will make me hate my PRN job 10,000 times more.

-We got an offer on our house! Which means moving in with the in-laws until we build. And seeing as how we are broke...may be a while.

-If the LTC that my pt came from had been cleaning his trach correctly, he wouldn't have pulled it out because he couldn't breathe with all of the gunk build-up.

-The docs at my PRN job truly care about me. That makes me smile.

-I don't think I will EVER do righty-tighty, lefty-loosy correctly.

-I like surgical pts much better than medical pts.

-Daylight Saving Time will knock me on my rear.

-Having a job and boss you love (sn job) make all the difference. I never want to leave.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

Ixchel and OC *hugs* I hate that you both are going through such rough times.

Awwww thank you. *hugs*

[smartassmommy]

I learned that not falling = sprained knee.

I am finally biting the bullet and applying to lpn school.