synergy

2 Months

I had no idea that it had been two months since my last post. Doesn't seem as if so much time has past. And lots has happened. This has to be a short post, because I need to get ready for work in 15 minutes. I am meeting my boss downtown, so I get to leave almost two hours later than normal. Very exciting.

The K update. She's doing great. She missed her first day in six weeks yesterday due to a bad cold. This was the longest stretch that she has gone to work, since prior to her heart attack. In October, she went through a bad spell of wanting to sleep for 18 hours a day. She couldn't wake up and go to work. After only going to work for about 2-3 days in a two week period, we had the pscyhiatrist give her another med. Enter (cue the drums)

PROVIGIL

Okay--any med with the name PROVIGIL can only be spelled using all caps. It is a medication to promote wakefulness, normally used to treat narcolepsy. The military has also tested it with Air Force pilots and they needed only a few hours of sleep over an 80 period. But, K is taking a lower dose.

It has done wonders. It does not affect her mood. But she is able to get up and get moving in the mornings. Even on the weekends, she is frequently up by 7 am, which previously was unheard of. She goes to work every day. It has lifted this constant tension that both of us had on a daily basis as to whether she would be able to make it to the office. It was one of those tensions that you don't even realize that you have until it is lifted and you feel lighter.

The other change that the doctor made is that he told K to stop using her light box. When she was really ill, it made a huge difference in her mood. This winter, K would sit in front of the light and after turning it off, she would crash. It was a crash that would occur over a 20 minute period and I could see it on her face. She would go from being fine to being in a black, black mood with anger and unable to get herself out the door. She stopped using the light at the same time she began using the PROVIGIL. That makes it difficult to parse out the individual effects, but there has been a dramatic switch in K's ability to function.

Several downsides exist to the PROVIGIL. !) It will only work for a few months. Hopefully, she can come off it in the spring. 2) It is addictive. 3) Insurance won't pay for it. K takes half a pill every morning, which is $5.50. A monthly dose costs about $150 or a bit more. It is not an inexpensive med. But, it works. And really that is the only thing that is important.

Okay--I need to go change into my suit and get going. Otherwise I won't have time to make it to Starbucks before having to meet my boss.

Labels: meds, sun lamp

posted by synergy @ 8:00 AM