Monday, July 18, 2011

The Worst Part

The worst part (for me) about being depressed is how it spreads into other areas of my life. Like weeds that you can't evict from your garden. They don't just stay where they are and choke out the positive and beautiful plants in one little area, they spread. They ruin the aesthetic everywhere.

I was pretty much not taking Zoloft while I was taking doxycycline.

The list of things you can't take when you're taking a Cipro drug is so long it's completely overwhelming. I was scared to take anything that would interact so I decided to taking nothing but the doxy. After basically 3 weeks without Zoloft I was feeling okay, a little low on the motivation-o-meter but otherwise a-okay. Now, nearly two weeks after finishing doxy my motivation level is so low it's hard to leave the couch. I can put on a good show for peeps and I'm not so far gone I don't love doing things with the family, obviously, but over all my inner monologue is pretty dark.

I have a hard time psyching myself up for even the most basic of tasks (like eating a real meal). I'm frustrated that I seem to need Zoloft, or at least that I'm not my normal self while not on a mood stabilizer. I'm frustrated that my dining room table is a wreck. I'm not sure if I'm depressed, or just lethargic (at least I'm not anxious). I don't really know what's going on, but it's like a weed, it's creeping in to everything.

My judgment is impaired. I'm not acting normally to even the simplest things. Example: I want to see the Harry Potter movie so bad I can taste it. I'm depressed that I haven't seen it yet. (Pathetic? Die-hard-fan?) It's just a movie.... I have the ability to get a sitter and go see the movie but I'm scared to call her. Why? Rejection? I'm paying her, not asking her out... I keep hearing friends good news, like really good news, and although I'm not so dark to be purely jealous, I'm happy first and jealous second. Why? Can't I just celebrate someone else's good news. (If you're reading this wondering if I've been dark and twisted about your good news, yes. Whether I know you IRL or just through the blogsphere, yes.)

I also keep hearing bad news. Cancer stuff (the running count is 3 wonderful people with a shitty shitty disease) and bad luck generally crappy things happening to good people. I don't deal well with bad news. I don't deal well at all with bad news. I basically shut down and pretend bad news isn't happening. So I obsess negatively about good news and ignore (or more like internally fester) bad news. I might not spend much time actively worrying about or being depressed over the sad things happening to good people but I'm not so naive to think its not sticking around. Bothering me. Weeds.

I mean it doesn't make sense, I feel totally emotionally all over the map, and yet things are not so bad I'm thinking about trying to stay off the Zoloft. I want to "make it on my own" as it were. But I'd like to function like a normal person again. I'd like to clean my dining room table and weed my metaphorical (and literal) garden. But its hard. It's especially hard because I have no trust in doctors (shrinks included).

Lost in the woods.
What to do? Oh, what to do....

3 comments:

Caitlin MidAtlantic said...

Ooh, i'm sorry! I'm on week two of no Zoloft, and am so happy the twitching finally stopped, I haven't even noticed my moods. I don't think they're great, but at least I'm not twitching!

Maybe a few more weeks to balance out from withdrawal and we'll both be feeling better? Fingers crossed!

In The Lyme Fight said...

Hi Emily! Are you taking Doxy for Lyme?? I am on Doxy right now for Lyme and they had to back me off the dose because it brought me down so low. I literally could have written your post for you. LOL. You described me to a 'T' these days. I have so little energy, I have to really push myself to pick up a glass to drink water. Or get up to go to the bathroom. My Lyme-literate MD says it is because I have a TREMENDOUS amount of Lyme bacteria in my system. YAY me! :S Hang in there. Now that you are off Doxy, your energy will pick up. I am on half the dose now and it took me 3 days to get back ANY energy. Thank goodness, as I have to teach an Intermediate Yoga class tonight! Give it time! And call that babysitter! HP is one HELL of a movie...saw it this weekend...and you will love it. It really picked me up and I think it'll do the same for you! Thinking of you!

The Crivella Family said...

I hope you have been feeling better (especially since you have seen HP!) I have been seeing all these commercials about how Zoloft can cause birth defects so it may be a good idea to stay off (if you can) if you are planning for another baby!