In the realm of narcolepsy, folks sometimes consider "medication holidays." The narcoleptic does not take her or his stimulant for a few days, or even a few weeks. This practice allows the person's body to readjust, hopefully making the stimulant more effective once the narcoleptic begins taking it again. I decided recently to start using these "breaks" myself. While my stimulant definitely seems to work fine still, I do feel like it is less effective than it has been. Thus, I spent today (Saturday) dragging quite a bit.
So, I am now finishing this post on THURSDAY! Sunday was insane. My medication holiday continued, and I found myself completely washed out. The best way I can describe it is full blown narcolepsy. I would be doing something and suddenly find myself "waking" 45 minutes later! I drifted away doing tons of things. I had NO energy and could not function. While it was humbling to realize that I am totally dependent on my stimulant, I know that it was good to do this. I also clearly see that I can't do this again until the Education Minnesota break in October (or some weekend when I have NOTHING else happening).
The other funny moment came on Monday morning. Stopping my stimulants for the weekend was a planned break. I also had a week long hiatus from my 1 AM dose of Xyrem. Because my alarm (and my fatigue) conspired against me, I missed that dose for seven days. I finally managed to take it Sunday night into Monday morning. Thus, I awoke on Monday groggy and loopy. Taking my stimulants did have more oomph than they had (and they did get me "focused"), but I also know that getting a full dose of Xyrem after a week of half doses left me stunned and doped up. I did do a decent job at school with our ninth grade orientation, but also found it funny that I got a glimpse of what a hangover might be like.
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1 comment:
This doesn't quite compare in the same way, but I can understand what it's like to be so tired you ARE loopy...I worked/went to class from 9-7:30 today. Around the middle of that I agreed to take a 3rd shift of the day at my coffee shop job, thereby sacrificing my hip hop class, which I'd totally been anticipating. I've been staying up too late every night to get stuff done/unwind, so I ended up calling my mom and breaking down. Not what I had intended upon calling--I was going to RANT, not CRY.
And I guess the only way I can follow up that tangent is by channelling MITY editing and saying "I read your story and this is what it made me think of."
And btw, I'm set up to be able to take better care of myself this weekend. :) May your Friday-Monday be as fun. <3
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