Entry tags:
better living through brain chemistry
1. We received Emma's laptop just a few hours after I'd posted that it had shipped. *boggles* I heartily recommend the Asurion and the Square Trade protection plans that Amazon offers. We've had to use them several times, and every time it has been well worth the small expense.
2. I get up very early in the morning now as is proper for a middle-aged lady, and then Fiona is the next to rise, so the day after we got home from visiting Josh's parents, only the two of us were awake. It was very, very quiet. Fiona got up, went to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, and the toilet began screaming. And then we realized that every time we ran water or flushed another toilet, that toilet screamed. Well, what with all the screaming, Josh woke up, and we just stood around and laughed. What else could we do in such a situation? But I am happy to report that the toilet is no longer in pain, and Josh mostly doctored it himself! He did have a friend come over at one point (it was a multi-stage repair process that took a couple of days), but he did pretty much all of it himself. Hurrah!
3. I am pleased to say that I am not blind yet although I did call the neuro yesterday and ask if I could go back down on the topamax dosage. He had me titrate up to 100mg with that being the goal of my daily dose. After four days at that dose, I felt like a zombie. So I went back down to 75mg last night. I'm going to stay at that dose for a few days, and if I still feel too spacy, I'm going down to 50mg. It's an interesting calculus; apparently I'm not willing to trade never having a migraine again for feeling markedly less mentally acute. Also, at 100mg, I started getting the tingling in extremities and the lips (lips! omg!) that is listed as a side effect, and boy is that annoying. It doesn't hurt or anything but do not like. I have started losing weight which is another side effect (apparently topamax shares a main ingredient with one of the approved weight loss drugs on the market). I've had some stomach upset which I'm hoping is going to resolve soon because even though it's very mild because Josh has cdiff my anxiety brain can't help circling around the fear that I have caught his cdiff. The most positive side effect from my perspective is that since I have started taking this drug, I sleep through the night. Even when I was a teen and in my twenties, I would usually get up to pee. After Fiona was born, my sleep was just shot. I had insomnia and started sleeping for just a few hours at a time. Since I started taking this drug, I've been falling asleep, waking once before midnight and then sleeping straight through until sometime after five and sometimes until after six. That's wow for me.
4. I'm a little more than halfway done with The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia, and I am loving it so much. It's one of those novels where I really care about the main female protagonist and am anxious for good things to happen to her. (Thank you,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
executrix!)
2. I get up very early in the morning now as is proper for a middle-aged lady, and then Fiona is the next to rise, so the day after we got home from visiting Josh's parents, only the two of us were awake. It was very, very quiet. Fiona got up, went to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, and the toilet began screaming. And then we realized that every time we ran water or flushed another toilet, that toilet screamed. Well, what with all the screaming, Josh woke up, and we just stood around and laughed. What else could we do in such a situation? But I am happy to report that the toilet is no longer in pain, and Josh mostly doctored it himself! He did have a friend come over at one point (it was a multi-stage repair process that took a couple of days), but he did pretty much all of it himself. Hurrah!
3. I am pleased to say that I am not blind yet although I did call the neuro yesterday and ask if I could go back down on the topamax dosage. He had me titrate up to 100mg with that being the goal of my daily dose. After four days at that dose, I felt like a zombie. So I went back down to 75mg last night. I'm going to stay at that dose for a few days, and if I still feel too spacy, I'm going down to 50mg. It's an interesting calculus; apparently I'm not willing to trade never having a migraine again for feeling markedly less mentally acute. Also, at 100mg, I started getting the tingling in extremities and the lips (lips! omg!) that is listed as a side effect, and boy is that annoying. It doesn't hurt or anything but do not like. I have started losing weight which is another side effect (apparently topamax shares a main ingredient with one of the approved weight loss drugs on the market). I've had some stomach upset which I'm hoping is going to resolve soon because even though it's very mild because Josh has cdiff my anxiety brain can't help circling around the fear that I have caught his cdiff. The most positive side effect from my perspective is that since I have started taking this drug, I sleep through the night. Even when I was a teen and in my twenties, I would usually get up to pee. After Fiona was born, my sleep was just shot. I had insomnia and started sleeping for just a few hours at a time. Since I started taking this drug, I've been falling asleep, waking once before midnight and then sleeping straight through until sometime after five and sometimes until after six. That's wow for me.
4. I'm a little more than halfway done with The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia, and I am loving it so much. It's one of those novels where I really care about the main female protagonist and am anxious for good things to happen to her. (Thank you,
executrix!)
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My autoimmune stuff already makes me some degree of brain foggy and clumsy so I already have a baseline of that I've been living with for years that while I don't like it, I have come to accept. But this is a whole nother level. LOL But if it doesn't go back away, then I'll just titrate down off this med and know it's not for me.
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The screaming toilet would have freaked me out, lol! Also, the dogs and cat. Probably.
I am also glad you are not blind! I hope you're able to find a happy medium with the new med. Brain fog is the worst.
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Thank you, sweetie.
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I hope you find a good balance with the meds. *hugs*
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Thank you.
I am already seeing some improvement with the lowered dose. Hurrah!
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I am already seeing some improvement with the lowered dose. Hurrah!
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Thankfully, I have neither in my life now. Meds are so fun. /s
I'm so glad you're sleeping!
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The wonderful thing is that I'm taking it for migraine prevention, so if I don't like it, ultimately, I don't have to take it. It's entirely elective. But, I am already seeing some improvement with the lowered dose, so I'm hopeful that I will adjust soon. Hurrah!
The sleeping is pretty awesome.
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The Screaming Toilet sounds like something out of Hogwarts. What next. Don't answer that.
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What happens next is that I wake up and brownies have finished constructing my classes for fall. LOL
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Topamax is one of the seizure meds my daughter takes, and it is a strong one. I hope you can get things to a reasonable compromise between efficacy and side effects.
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The wonderful thing is that I'm taking it for migraine prevention, so if I don't like it, ultimately, I don't have to take it. It's entirely elective. But, I am already seeing some improvement with the lowered dose, so I'm hopeful that I will adjust soon. Hurrah!
I hope it works for your daughter and that the side effects are worth it for her.
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I'm already starting to feel more myself and better with the lowered dose, so I'm hopeful I can get it sorted soon.
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A screaming toilet? That must have been shocking at first. Sheesh, glad Josh was able to fix it.
Glad you've backed down on that med even though you're sleeping more. I'm sure you'll find the right balance of med vs. side effects.
Hope you're having a good week!
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The wonderful thing is that I'm taking it for migraine prevention, so if I don't like it, ultimately, I don't have to take it. It's entirely elective. But, I am already seeing some improvement with the lowered dose, so I'm hopeful that I will adjust soon. Hurrah!
I am having a good week. I hope you are, too. <3
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Oh my god! I mean, hilarious, but wow, that sounds stressful, too! Yay for Josh and his friend fixing it! \o/
I'm so jealous of your sleeping through the night. If only we could pick and choose our conditions and drug side-effects!! *hugs*
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Honestly, it wasn't that stressful. It was just weird. And I decided to lean into the funny and absurdity of it and be amused. It was a pretty cheap fix. The screaming was fixed just by replacing an internal thing, so that only lasted a matter of hours. And then when doing that, a thing on the outside started leaking because it was old and corroded and got a little damaged when replacing the inside thing, so Josh replaced the outside thing, too, and now all the things are replaced. LOL
As I said upthread, I am ready for my robot body and my Star Trek doctor and my immortality. LOL