Coming out of the Fog - Depression

Today is day nine of being on an anti-depressant.  It has been a little bit of a struggle.  My doctor increased my thyroid medication dosage 1 month ago and about 3 days after being on the new dosage I found myself being increasingly edgy and nervous, which is a side effect.  I'm not sure if coupled with not getting a lot of sleep or the holidays being so hectic, but that edginess and nervousness got worse and I started displaying some OCD behavior and became depressed. 

I called my doctor and I started on 1/2 dosage, for four days, of an anti-depressant.  On the 5th day, being Monday of this week, I started the full dosage.  Eight hours after taking the full dosage I had the type of side effects that, according to the instructions, said to call my doctor immediately.  Namely I had ringing in my ears, a headache that was borderline migraine, chills, weakness to the point that I felt like I couldn't walk because my legs would go out from under me and a mild panic attack.

I called my doctor and he told me to go back to the 1/2 dosage.  I did and now a few days later I am feeling pretty good.  The only side effect that I have now is restlessness at night and unable to sleep very well at night but that is even getting better.  Last night I woke up after sleeping for 1 hour, moved to another area of the house to sleep, and then I fell back asleep for almost 6 hours.  Last night was the first night that I got a good night's sleep since going on the anti-depressant. 

Okay, why am I telling you this?  It pays to stick with the medication.  You may get worse before you get better.  The impetus for my sticking with it was the alternative of being depressed and OCD which was far worse than taking the medication.  Yeah, Monday was pretty scarey when I was experiencing the side effects but I knew that if I went off the medication, the alternative wasn't good either. 

Today I feel like me.  I haven't cried in over a week.  The OCD behavior is gone.  Even though it is a gloomy, snowy day outside, I feel as if I could really tackle some household chores.  This is a good thing since I haven't done much for the past 10 days. 

I went to the grocery store today and picked up a few things.  We don't need much, just fresh produce and milk and eggs.  Having a food supply the likes of mine is great when you aren't feeling well. 

I decided to spend some money on me and my husband thinks this is an absolutely great idea.  I am going to go to Curves on Monday, the 17th for a free week to check it out.  I can walk to Curves from my house and I can then workout away from home and with other women that I know.  I will find out what the one time fee is and the monthly fee when I visit for the first time. 

I can save money in other areas of our budget to make up for this, but since we have been paying off debt, it won't be entirely necessary.  Also, I got my hair cut and colored on Monday, prior to experiencing the side effects thankfully, and it is so much easier to take care of now that it is a couple of inches shorter and it looks better too. 

So here is the lesson learned.  I need to be careful about planning too many projects that keep me at home, especially during the winter months.  Getting out is important.  Making lunch dates with friends are important also.  I can do it all within our budget and still meet our financial goals for the year.

Now that I have the energy I can get back to "What's for Dinner tonight?" and make a list of possible menus to choose from for the rest of the month. 

Life is good - even when the sun doesn't shine outside.