Mental & Emotional Health

My pharmacist knows I’m crazy; well he knows that I take Prozac, Neurontin, Tetracycline and a half-different migraine medications. Still, Hans D. Pills asked me out. About two months ago, I noticed that Hans was being a little more friendly than the normal patient-pharmacist relationship is. I’m recently divorced and although Hans is an attractive man, I still told him that I wasn’t ready to date; as I don’t feel I am. He was sweet, gave me his number and told me to call him “when you are ready to date.” I see Hans twice a month (for some reason I can’t get my pills on a “schedule” so that I only refill once a month) and thankfully, nothing has been weird with it. He’s still just as friendly and still won’t give me any “deals” on my meds.

Since I’m writing for mental & emotional health, I might as well talk about what I’m actually taking to help me be the Libelle that I always wanted & needed to be. : )

In the morning I take 10mg of Prozac (generic: fluoxetine) for my depression and moderate to severe Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Scuba Steve & his attending Eyebrows, want to bump me up to a much higher dose (between 40mg & 60mg) to help with the GAD. I’m nervous about it because of Prozac’s side effects including nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, abnormal dreams and sweating. These are some of the more “normal” side effects, some of which I am already dealing with. Eyebrows let me know that the insomnia and diarrhea will probably “pass,” but I’ll be dealing with nausea & abnormal dreams for a long while. I’m not looking forward to possibly quadrupling my dose.

I also take 300 mg of neurontin (generic: gabapentin) to stave off migraines and it also helps as a mood stabilizer; even though I’m taking a VERY small dose.

At lunch time I take another 300 mg of Neurontin. I am thankful for Neurontin. It has reduce my migraines from 3 or 4 a week (yes, a week) to 2 or 3 a month, and a incapacitating one every other month or so. My migraines are bad. It’s as simple as that. Between elementary & high school, I functioned as an A-student with migraines because I thought everyone’s head hurt like that. In college, my primary doc was kind enough to put me on a medication that made me relalize migraines are not normal. Thank you Dr. Dee.

Before bedtime I take another 300mg of Neurontin, 500mg of tetracycline for my skin. Since stopping my birth control pills and using an IUD, my skin hasn’t been as happy. I’m okay with taking a low dose of antibiotics to help my skin - I was promised that it wouldn’t aid in the creation of any resistant bacteria.

Overall, I’m okay with taking all these medications; they make me who I am and who I need to be. Sometimes, when I struggle thinking about why I have to take them all, my friend Princess reminds me that she has to take pills for her Cystic Fibrosis so that she can eat, and I have to take pills for my illnesses so that I can function. It is socially unacceptable for me to take my drugs, but it’s socially unacceptable for her to not take her drugs. The duality of society and the thoughts they have about what pills you take for what often pisses me off.

I’m no longer afraid to tell people I have depression or anxiety and that I take medications for them; the more we talk about our illnesses, the more it becomes “normal” and socially acceptable. I think everyone needs to think about this phenomenon.