Monday, August 24, 2009

I'm Having An Upside Down Day

This morning while talking on the phone to Z, half asleep at 11:30, I took my pills. I always wake up, get coffee, pee, take the dogs outside and then open my weekly pill minder, take the day of the week container out and slam that handful of pills back with a swig of coffee. There are two doses: the one for morning contains the mood stabilizer Neuronton, the blood pressure drug Lisinopril, the blood thinner Warfarin, Estradiol, the drugs that keep my heart in normal rhythm, Diltiazem and Flecainide, and one tiny aspirin; and then there are the night time drugs that include a dose of Lisinopril, a Flecainide, two of the Neurontin, a whopping 80mgs of Simvastatin, and my antidepressant Doxepin. For the first time ever I opened the pill minder upside down and took my night time dose by accident. I didn't realize it until I got off the phone. Then I looked at the pill minder in my hand and realized my mistake. I had to take the morning drugs that I don't take at night, like the Warfarin, and the Diltiazem. It's a fuck-up, but not disastrous. The worst that will happen is a minor doziness today since my antidepressant is slightly sedating.

I called my therapist Fred, the minute I realized what I'd done. I left him a message. He'll check with my psychiatrist to confirm my decision skip my usual evening dose since I took it this morningish. I'm going to try to avoid double dosing if possible. The worst that will happen if I take another Doxepin will be a mild hypomania. And like most normal people I kind of like a little hypomania. It sure won't kill me and I just might finally get my house clean. I was going to grocery shop today, but now I don't think driving is wise, so I'm going to stay close to my bed as I may be flopping down and sleeping as if this day were night.

12 comments:

La Belette Rouge said...

Take good care of yourself. I hope you are feeling okay. Let us know how you are doing.
xoxo

Utah Savage said...

Hi sweet thing. I hope things are going well with you too. Studying I hope, or is the test over already?

ROBERTA said...

damn! so you're having an upside down day - kind of like having dessert for breakfast :) i'm sure you'll never again pick up your pillminder w/o checking its directionality!!!

Utah Savage said...

Roberta, in f45 years of taking pills, I've never done this before. I have forgotten to take my pills but never have I taken the wrong pills at the wrong time. And you are so right; I'm having an upside down day. I'm a bit woozy and dozy but have yet to just give in and drift off.

Gail said...

Hi Utah-

Wow, it is good you realized so you could call 'your people'....by tomorrow you will be back on top, or bottom depending how you label today. :-)
Please let us know how you are.
Love Gail
peace......

La Belette Rouge said...

:-)))I am STILL studying. Please remind me that this(studying) too shall pass. I tell myself and yet I am not entirely sure I am an accurate judge when it comes to this.

Utah Savage said...

LBR, at the end of this studying you will be credentialed. Let me try that again. CREDENTIALED!!! I'm 65 and still uncredentialed. Now, in writing a query letter, I have to explain in a sentence why I am uncredentialed. And it has to be an engaging sentence. I feel doomed by my lack of a degree. I'm better educated that most PhDs, but I don't have the actual degree. It just seemed to be the thing that would trap me teaching other people to write and not working on my own writing. It's what happened to my last husband. And he was a brilliant writer. He was a great teacher and teaching something like writing requires careful, close reading of other people's work and making detailed comments--time sucking work but with just enough intensity to make you give it your all. Writers are like that.

Utah Savage said...

Gail, my people called back and gave me instructions. I'm to skip tonight's dose of Doxepin. So tomorrow I will be slightly less antidepressed. I'll let you know how it goes. So far today, I'm just a bit loopy.

Comrade Kevin said...

I certainly understand what a hassle it is to keep track of different medication. Right now I'm only on three, though I have been on as much as seven before.

It's a major balancing act for those of us who have chronic illnesses, isn't it?

The Crow said...

Hope the upside-down meds have no lasting effect, Utah.
Best wishes,
Martha

Stella by Starlight said...

I'm at the age where I am also dealing with the pill dilemma—I am so sorry you had such a difficult time. It's hard to keep track. You already know that all will be well. Please take care.

I stopped at my Master's in English. Grad school means tearing books apart with a multiplicity of critical theory that dulls the senses. I got my degree and ran screaming, swearing I'd never read another book. To this day, I cannot read for long periods of time like I did before grad school.

This is so true: 'm better educated that most PhDs, but I don't have the actual degree. It just seemed to be the thing that would trap me teaching other people to write and not working on my own writing.

Your comments about earning a degree in English is so dead on, I had to laugh. You saw the results first-hand. To anyone who wants to get a Ph.D. in English, I could only reponsd, "RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY!" Being an undergrad was a joy, though. To everyone that leaves any graduate program, I congratulate them for their good sense.

I've rarely seen writers in grad school touch the depths of literature you've achieved

Sherry Pasquarello said...

i've done things like that.

my mom who has far more meds than i have and is 90 is way better at keeping her meds straight than i have been at times.

take care. be well.