Momentum

One thing I have found about blogging is the longer you go without making an entry, the harder it is to start back up.  So I am just going to catch everyone up in a short post, just to get myself moving again.  No pictures today.

I do have a few random outfits and purchases to post.  But it is by no means a daily record.

We have been having a really tough time.  I have been having a lot of headaches, and DH has been having many seizures.  This weekend, he battered his face against either the bed or the bureau, I couldn't see.  But he has a big cut on his forehead, right above his still healing black eye.

Surgery has been post-poned, again.  I still assume it will happen before next fall.

I am thinking of trying Cymbalta for my migraines if there is not a marked improvement in frequency or severity before my January appointment.  It is an anti-depressant, an SSRI, but it is used off label in tiny quantities for migraine.  My p-doc doesn't think it will be enough to interfere with my other meds, and that it will be okay if we go ahead with it.  I had an SSRI induced manic episode when I was on Prozac, so I was a little worried.  But he said the amounts were so miniscule that they wouldn't have any anti-depressant effect.  That is one odd thing about psychiatric and neurological meds:  Depending on your illness, you may take wildly different dosages.  For instance, both DH and I are on lamotrigine (generic Lamictal).  I take it for bipolar illness, and take 225mg daily.  DH takes over three times the dose I do, since he uses it for Epilepsy.

Anyway, I have been using the propranolol for 6 months as of the 29th of November.   This is kind of my last gasp with it.  It is odd, because I swear it helped with my headaches when I was 20; I had to quit it abruptly because of side effects.  But this go round, I was able to tolerate the side effects (it is 26 years later, bodies change), but it isn't working.

Oh, and our new insurance has deadly co-pays: $10 for generics, $60 for brand name!  And we both take meds that are brand name:  One of DH's is so new there is no generic, and I only respond to the name brand of a migraine treatment.  Even though the molecules of medication are identical between generic and name brand, sometimes there is something in the binders that blocks absorption for certain people.  For most of my  meds, I can use the generic, but for Sumatriptan, a rescue drug, I have to use the name brand, Imitrex.  I receive it in two different formats, a pill, and a subcutaneous injection.  That is $120 copay for one month of migraine rescue medication.

There is nothing wrong with the healthcare system.  It is double plus good.

You may have noticed my mood issues have receded into that background for the moment, while my migraines have come to the forefront.  This is how it is with the combination of migraine and bipolar illness, one condition or the other always seems to be flaring.  My focus flips back and forth between the two syndromes.

I am mailing Sister2's birthday present Tuesday.  Hooray.  I also plan to make a trip with Violet to explore a new independently owned "boutique" pet shop, Biscuits.  I meant to go see it on Saturday, which was an official day set aside to patronize small local businesses, but I was busy being sick.

I have actually purchased a couple of holiday purchases.  Also I am very excited about a gift my sister got for my DH for his 40th birthday, which is this week!  Eek, I have to arrange for a cake!  I have no idea what to get him, and I think he would like some input: It is a special birthday, and we were in France for my 40th (he went on business, but we stretched it out into a vacation).  I had hoped we would go on a great trip for his 40th, but I guess our next big trip will be for my 50th birthday.  That will be Australia, if I have any say.  We also had hoped to go to Hawaii for our 5th, and I needed knee surgery.  So we then retrenched, and were going to go for our 10th anniversary.  That was before we went through our entire savings during DH's year of unemployment.

We are still going to have an amazing 10th anniversary:  We are returning to the B&B at which we honeymooned, a very luxurious and fun place.

So, not the most interesting post.  But I know from past experience it is important to keep up one's posting momentum when one blogs.