Drug "Discontinuation" Sickness

Yesterday, I was really sick from "discontinuation" (my psychiatrist's term) problems with Effexor. I've been taking it for years and I was supposed to eliminate it beginning this week. It's been a step-down process that's gone relatively well. Four days after I took the last (smallest mg. capsule available), I started to have that weird head thing that tends to happen. No problem. Then I started to have intense colon pain that spread throughout my body. I hurt all over and felt a little nauseated.

The upshot is that I now have to break the capsule open and attempt to divide the medication into two halves. I spent about 20 minutes this morning trying to separate the little grains. I'm not a naturally patient woman, though I've worked really hard through the years to get better. The process of dividing up the contents just about drove me insane. They're unruly and go sliding around everywhere, so I end up having to search for the little grains all over my desk.

I'm going to try that for a week and stop taking it again. I'll just have to see what happens. Otherwise, I guess we'll try to quarter it. Couldn't they just institutionalize me for a while? Oh wait. That would involve hospitals, I think. Never mind.

In addition to my weekly aerobics, yoga and hand weight routine this week I added in a belly dancing tape. I haven't done that since before my first surgery. Hard work. It was fun doing something other than riding my stationery bike, though. I have to proceed slowly; stamina is still hard to come by.

I finally decided to call my radiation oncologist and see if I can drop by for a visit next week. He's in town and, whatever the problem is, it's probably related to radiation treatments from last year. I have another appointment on Tuesday with a different kind of doctor, so I really didn't want to add another one in. It's come down to a choice between sleeping through the night (and just a high rate of anxiety, generally) and subjecting myself to another encounter with a doctor.

Try to imagine how tired I am of doctors--oncologists, general practitioners, opthamologists. I think there are some more in there, but I'd rather not summon the whole list to mind. Some things just can't be helped, I suppose.

I'm going to have to wrap this up. I have therapy today for the first time in two weeks. That means I get to leave Crazy Land early. It's too bad, in a way, because I do have some more work war stories to share. I guess I'll get to that next week or, if I'm feeling really energetic, over the weekend.