Side Effects

On Friday my shrink had upped me from 225 milligrams to 300 milligrams due to my concerns. He told me that if I had any problems to call him. (Thankfully he doesn't charge for talking on the phone.)

So I started my 300 milligrams on Friday. That night I took that dosage for the first time. I felt a little funky afterward but I just chalked it up to having had a long week. Saturday again, I just felt a bit funky.

Then comes Sunday. I started to feel it a bit more. I was light-headed and couldn't fully focus my eyes for a while. So I was thinking about it and decided to keep taking that dosage. I figured that it was just because my body was getting used to the dosage. Remember, this is one of those drugs that has to build up in your system. Plus I didn't want to change the dosage without talking to Dr. L first.

But then last night it was a bit... unsettling. In fact I had Master read off the side effects to me. I would have read them myself but I couldn't read it. My eyes were focusing in and out, my depth perception was way off, I wasn't coordinated at all and I was seeing double every now and then.

Master basically said I was acting as if I were drunk. (Never mind I haven't had a drop of alcohol since March.) I'm not a big drinker, so when Master is telling me I'm acting drunk.. that's not good. He said that I was wobbling when I was walking, my speech was slurred, etc. So when Master read off some of the possible side effects it made sense. Double vision was listed, as well as lack of coordination, etc.. I remember having to put my hand on the wall as I was trying to walk to the bedroom.

The odd thing is, it only lasts until I fall asleep. Master woke me up in order to check on me. When He realized I was fine, He used me. And when I got up this morning I felt perfectly normal.

Regardless of those facts I decided to call Dr. L. I told him the side effects I was experiencing. He asked me if I had experienced any side effects from this drug before it was upped to 300 milligrams. I told him that no, I hadn't. So he said to go ahead and go back down to the 225 milligrams. He told me to let that build that up in my system for a few weeks before deciding it wasn't enough. He also told me that if I need to push up our next appointment from the beginning of August to not hesitate to call his office and he'll get me in asap. I promised him that I would. He also told me to have my Husband keep an eye on me and for Him to make sure He told me right away if He noticed anything different. I told Dr. L that Master has the office's number just in case.

So tonight when I got home from work I bought a pill organizer. You know, one of those things that holds your pills for the week. In order to take 225 milligrams currently I have to take one full pill, and then cut another in half and take the half at the same time as the one full pill. Once I got home with the pill organizer I put one full pill into each compartment and then Master cut other pills into halves so I could put them in there as well. This was all Dr. L's suggestion. He said that way I don't just have a bunch of half pills sitting in the regular medicine bottle and accidentally take either not enough or too much. It was a great idea in mine and Master's opinion. I should have thought of it earlier.

Dr. L is awesome. He had only upped it to 300 milligrams because I had expressed that I wasn't sure the 225 milligrams was enough due to a breakdown I had. But then again I hadn't let it build in my system for more than a week and a half. This time I know better. I'll let it build up and then if I feel it isn't enough I'll call Dr. L, make an appointment and he already said that rather than upping my dosage he'll just add a different medication so that the side effects will be little to none.