I'm Not Down for the Count Yet

Again, side-lined by fibro. Lol.

It seems that by taking the Concerta daily, it loses it's effectiveness, as people with fibro tend to have a weird side-effect of acclimating to meds much much faster than normal people, which is why I tend to have to switch medications and up dosages so frequently.

So I only take the Concerta sparingly, and it REALLY gives me energy, though it kinda over-does it, so that while I get a lot done, if I am not doing anything, I have nervous energy that makes me restless and shaky. :-p Still, the Concerta is great for when I need to really do things, though I DO pay for it the next day. Heh. When you have a ton of energy, or just any energy, you get excited because you RARELY had any energy at all, and you tend to over-do it, so the fibro kicks in HARD the next day.

Like yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, I prepared the meal (well, reheated it, since we bought it all from a restaurant, lol), and did EVERYTHING, since my mother was in terrible terrible pain, and today, my body is not a happy puppy. But surprisingly, it seems that my shoulders are the only part of me that's aching. It's a pleasant surprise, as I thought I would be completely useless for today. Heh.

I have been having issues with my sleep lately, and that is quite frustrating. I thought I had FINALLY gotten on a good regime, but it seems that I've either become too used to the medication, or I'm just out of whack in some other way. I'm on a new antidepressant, Pristiq, but I don't feel it works as well as others I've been on.

And I don't know if I mentioned it, but it turns out I have a mild form of bipolar, NOT clinical depression like I thought I had, and it honestly makes more sense with the bipolar diagnosis when I look back on my life. And though I HAVE become more mentally and emotionally and psychologically stable this past year, something for which I am EXTREMELY grateful and am still shocked by (I basically had to do NOTHING to change my mindset or to have it seep into every single part of my thought process and life), my mood swings STILL need to be controlled by medication at this point in time. :-p

I'm trying to limit the amount of meds I'm on, since money is tight for everyone these days, and my insurance company is a piece of shit. Yeah, they can really help out sometimes, but when they keep upping the price of everything frequently, it becomes a hassle. :-p That's another reason I have taken to taking the Concerta less often. It saves us having to pay $35 monthly for it, and plus, like I said, taking it every day reduces it's effectiveness.

The Pristiq is also a problem, costing us $55 a month as there is no generic from it, and it doesn't really help me. But at the same time, seeing my psychiatrist isn't really too great either to get it changed, as they claim we owe them $40 (the price per visit, though I pay every time I go), and the visit itself would be ANOTHER $40 on top of that $40, and we just can't really afford it right now. :-p

Ah money. The root of evil. :-p

The headache meds seemed to have started to take effect since I last wrote, though I'm taking them twice a day as opposed to once a day, so 750 mg each time instead of just a one time 1000 mg. It took my body a while to adjust to the new med routine with that, but it seems to do okay with it now. I still get random headaches kinda frequently, but not full out migraines, thank god.

I've also been recently trying to lose a bit of weight, as I know that extra weight puts more pressure on the fibro, since it's having to accommodate to handle the extra luggage, which just makes it worse. :-p Plus, due to the fibro, I haven't been exercising as much, and due to not taking the Concerta daily, my appetite has gone back up to it's normal full force. I adore food, I can't help it. ;) I like eating, and I'm not ashamed of that fact.

But it HAS encouraged me to try to exercise more. Exercising tends to help my fibro a bit, though it doesn't feel like it at first and it takes me a LOT of motivation to actually get up and DO the exercising. My basic exercising is walking the dogs with my mother, and SHE is my motivation to get up and do it. Lol. She FORCES me, which is what I need, and she's practically the only one who can guilt me into doing anything even due to my fibro, because she's in a lot of pain from other medical issues, and if SHE can get out and do it, then I mostly certainly can. ;)

I'm also trying to eat healthier, which is just good all around for my body. I've just let taking care of myself go by the wayside since the fibro hit me, just not having the energy or the will to motivate myself into keeping up with my health or my hygiene, both of which I'm slowly working on fixing.

It's a good start to getting on a healthy track to better manage my fibro without too much assistance from doctors. I do appreciate my doctors and seeing them does help me very much, but like I mentioned before, the money isn't exactly there for me to see them as often as I was before, and hopefully, my adopting a healthier lifestyle with help with some of my issues, so that when I DO get to see them, I don't need to worry as much about controlling some symptoms that I myself can fix, and we can focus on the BIG issues that DO need to be addressed. :)