Saturday 9 March 2013

Update: Drs Appointment

OK, so I mentioned I had a Drs appointment yesterday.

I'd actually been needing to go since November/December, but... I can't make appts because I can't use the phone, so Mr has to. Mr forgets to do things and has to be motivated constantly. Because I didn't want to go to the Drs, I haven't been reminding or motivating him. Yeh, vicious cycle. Anyway, on Thursday, when I was barely recovering from the work-focused interview, Mr informed me he was phoning the Drs on Friday. I hoped, for a future appt. He said no, for an appt on Friday. I had a wee breakdown... I agreed tho, just to get it over and done with.

It actually went well, we have a good Dr to talk with.


I've still got The Itch. Did I mention it got rediagnosed as Chronic Vulvitus? Or something like that. I was on a very potent steroid cream for 6 weeks; then a potent steroid cream for 6 weeks; and then it felt a bit better for a short while. Then I tried the hydrocortisone cream, and it made it itchier. Then I got confused. I was getting progressively more itchy, so had 2 weeks back on the potent steroid cream. My Dr has now prescribed me a moderate strength steroid cream, which I will use for 2 weeks before trying... errr... a nappy rash cream. Fun, hey?! I have shown improvements on the steroids. I mean, the very potent one made the skin very fragile and sore, on my thighs as well as my vulva. That improved on the potent one, and I've started to produce natural lubricant again. I think we're making progress, it's just working out how best to manage it now.


And... I am now on an antidepressant. Citalopram, to be precise. I've considered them for years. But I was too young, and homeopathy helped, and I simply didn't want to. I've been scared of losing my emotions, losing my libido, and a million other things. When they were given to me, I felt the weight of the stigma attached to them land on my shoulders. But I feel proud that I'm taking them. It feels like the most grown up decision I've ever made, because I'm actually trying to take control of my life. I feel positive about it.

The most difficult thing about it is that it sorta means delaying starting a family. That is really, really hard to deal with. Especially as we haven't used contraception/been careful since late 2011, and now we have to be somewhat careful again... I don't want to be on this long term, I'm hoping within a year I will be strong enough to manage without it, and then we can start TTC properly. But noone but our Dr and my homeopath knew we wanted to start a family, so noone knows how hard this is...

It's also not advised to take Ibuprofen with it, so I'm going to have to be super strict with that - I can't imagine getting through the first few hours of period pain without it, so we'll see how it goes. The Dr didn't mention my Dihydrocodeine though, so I assume that's ok!

As for the reason we've eventually taken this plunge with an antidepressant? Well... I am sick of feeling so overwhelmed, suicidal, unable to cope. Mr is struggling to deal with my hours of screaming/crying/shut down every day, and he needs something to stabilise my emotions. The reason my mental health has got so severe? ESA. Work focused interviews. Medicals. Appeals. Tribunals. Brown envelopes. Just hearing the letterbox go gives me a mini panic attack now.

I pray these tablets are worth delaying our family for. I pray they help me. I pray I can take control of myself again. And I pray that an improvement in my mental health won't mean they class me fit for work, because my physical health is still more severe when people realise.

 

Update!

So, I've been feeling too overwhelmed to post here lately, sadly. My brain fog had been bad, I've lost my ability to speek more often and for longer than I care to mention, and with it has gone my ability to type much. Foggy, painful fingers.

There's been a lot going on, here's a list of updates due:

- Drs appt yesterday
- work-focused interviews
- ESA appeal
- ESA review + the non-medical

Instead of overwhelming myself and trying to do them all here and now, I will do a few brief posts over the next few days to sum it all up...