This blog is officially over.
When I began afflictionateher.com last October, I was trying to come to grips with the idea of being disabled. I felt very sick, and I had given up on trying to get back to the “old” me that seemed to have slipped away with time. I certainly didn’t imagine this blog would lead me somewhere new – I thought I was creating a blog to lead people to information about mental illness.
My withdrawal symptoms from the Neurontin, Lamictal, and Seroquel are all but gone. I’ve learned to stay away from Symbicort and Protonix. I’m clear headed, and I’m sleeping well (naturally). I’m breathing easier than I have in years – and for the first time in years, actually, my Albuterol “rescue” inhaler lasted for more than a month (for 60 days, actually). I’ve cut back on caffeine by half or more, and am limiting myself to a couple of diet sodas every day.
If I had to sum up the conclusions I’ve drawn in the past 8 weeks, it would be that each of the pills I stopped taking was causing the specific symptoms I thought I was taking it for. Ironic, eh? And while it may seem that my conclusions would be attached to new beliefs about the evils of the drug industry and the shortcomings of the medical profession, they are not.
I’ve lost 12 pounds – or had, last time I checked (more than that, maybe, since then). I’ve lost congestion. I’ve lost dizziness and wobbly legs. I’ve lost paranoia and disorientation, sudden grief and sudden fear. I’ve lost chronic indigestion and nausea. I’ve lost feeling like I have a jackhammer in my chest. Chronic dry mouth and sinus problems are likewise lost.
I’ve gained breath. And life.
The story of what all this means to me is one I haven’t written, yet. This is the first time since 1996 that I have been so medication free, and I’m not even sure why I was able to pull it off this time. I seem to be moving forward in to a new chapter in my life; moving forward in a way I probably have relatively less control over than I would like to think.
Affliction did not eat her, after all.
Popularity: 1%
