Wednesday, May 21, 2008
decisions, decisions

hello again internet pals!

i'm glad you all enjoyed the bounty cat as much as i did. sometimes all you need is a laugh.

well my decision is made and i'm moving forward. it's something of a compromise, really. the thing is, my doctor (who really is quite an expert, and whose opinion i greatly respect) wanted me to try another MAOI, one which is older than the one i am on now -- Emsam. So they have had better results with the older MAOIs, but the patients also have more side effects, which is why they typically start out with this newest formulation, the patch. One example of an older MAOI (which you may be familiar with is Nardil.

so there are two big reasons i'm not jumping up and down to go onto an older MAOI drug - #1 is the side effects. i don't usually get many side effects, but i got a boatload with Emsam. dizziness, increased appetite and weight gain, and sleep problems. the sleep problems was the most problematic, but the other two weren't great either. if the older ones typically have more side effects....well, i think you see where i'm going with that. no thank you.

#2 is that they require a 5-6 day hospital stay to go onto the MAOIs. they want to monitor my reaction to the drug and particularly my blood pressure. i'm realllly not thrilled about that either. it sounds really immature, but i feel like i just got out of the hospital, and was not planning to go back anytime soon. i certainly wasn't planning to be back within a few months. i just....pfft. the IVs, the needles, the nurses waking you up all night, no privacy. etc. etc. you know, it's just the hospital. they do all they can to make it pleasant, and i recognize it could be much much worse. it's not chemo - it's just the headache and migraine ward. it's just that i really thought i wasn't going back for a long time. the idea of going back SOON is a little disheartening.

SO. my decision. my decision is to try something else first - which is, in this case a tricyclic anti-depressant. if this doesn't work i will try the old MAOI my doctor is recommending. this will give me some time to get used to the idea of going back to the hospital (for less than a week!) and get some sleep stored up before i go back to an MAOI. hopefully i can get my body back to normal for a bit in case it goes all out of whack again. this time, if i see things getting messed up, i think i'll just ask to stop immediately.

has anyone made it through to the end of this marathon blog post? wow, that was long. a gold star for you!

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3 Comments:
Blogger Shama-Lama Mama had this to say:

Oh that was nuthin' compared to the length of half of MY posts!

This sounds like a good plan. I figure, try LOTS of different things. People are like puzzles and you need to find the right puzzle piece to fit you. So why not try the easier one first.

I was gonna say, "think of the hospital as a kind of mental vacation, bring some good books, etc." but then your description reminded me of when I had just given birth, and I was ASTOUNDED at how often they woke me and pestered me. Yeah... I say bring a trench coat and some dark glasses and escape at least once a day for your own sanity.

See what I mean about how I write too much??

11:12 PM 

Blogger Elozia Marie had this to say:

I understand wanting to stay away from the hospital stay if at all possible. I hope that the medicine can work for you. I'm sorry you have to go through all that!

9:42 AM 

Blogger Emily had this to say:

you guys are sweet - like i said, it's not really that bad. i surprised myself at how much i didn't want to go back.

10:17 AM 

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Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

I'm 25 - married, and recently graduated from Brigham Young University, studying music; I play piano. My husband is just starting his PhD program at the University of Utah in computer architecture.

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