Exploring Aravis

After having to make some adjustments, the Latuda is working extremely well.  My mother says it’s like having me back; I’ve been withdrawn for so long.  Now my adventurous spirit is returning, and I’m far more outgoing.  In fact, I’m sitting here bored out of my mind with the day yawning endlessly ahead of me.  How to fill it?  Because just sitting around doing nothing isn’t as appealing as it used to be.

Next Saturday will be a different story.  I’m going canopy zip lining with a friend from school.  Located further up in the Berkshires, there’s something like 9 zip lines, 3 rappels, and a couple of suspension bridges over the course of a 3 hour canopy tour.  Not to be confused with a certain infamous 3 hour tour that landed Gilligan and his companions on a (really not quite so) deserted island.  I can’t wait!  I’m working my way up to perhaps trying hand gliding or sky diving.  Zip lines first, though!  It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a long time.

Okay, I’m off to find something to do today other than ramble at you.  Actually, I’m on vacation from school for a couple of weeks, so perhaps I should try to find lots of things to do.  Have a splendiferous day!

I saw my APRN and am working through things.  I was on a low dose of Latuda, and it simply may not have been therapeutic levels for me.  We’ve increased the dosage, and two days later it seems to be helping.  I’m also taking it with dinner instead of my bedtime snack.  It’s supposed to be taken with food in order to be better absorbed by the body.  I may not have been eating enough with the medication for it to be properly absorbed.  Here’s hoping the combination of increased dosage and food intake will lead to resolution!  I’m still feeling a bit scattered, but am better able to focus.  I’m also not acting as impulsively, and am stopping myself from buying just to buy.  I’ve still purchased a few things, but they’re school-related and serve a purpose; I was planning these purchases for some time.

I’m not depressed and I’m not hypo-manic (I don’t think), so that’s a good start.

In other news, I have an interview for a practicum position!  It’s not with the prisons.  They are really dragging their feet, and the deadline is fast approaching.  If I don’t have a placement by the time classes start, I would have to drop the class, switch to part-time status, and wait until Fall to take Practicum.  I’d lose a semester.  Don’t want that!  This interview is at the community college I used to attend prior to transferring to Saint Joe’s to complete my undergrad.  My therapist told me that she has a colleague who works at a local community college just over the border in MA.  That therapist sees all sorts of people, including many veterans with PTSD, or people who went to prison, who are trying to rebuild their lives.  It then occurred to me that people who go to community colleges tend to be different than those attending regular 4-year liberal arts schools.  Many are starting over in some way after major life changes or crises, or are in the midst of those events.  I also enjoy helping people discover what they want to be when they grow up, and then figuring out how to get there.  I’ll be able to do that working at the community college counseling center.  A position there isn’t certain, but my contact graduated from my same program at Saint Joe’s in ’06 and is really excited to meet with me, so it’s promising!

Here is the current plan: if nothing changes between now and Wednesday when we meet, I’ll accept a practicum placement there if offered.  I can always continue to try to get an internship in one of the prisons, but since Internship I isn’t until the Fall semester, that buys me more time to work with them.  This way I have an interesting placement and can stay on schedule and on track to graduate next year.

That is important!

The past few days have been rough.  I waited until the last minute to do homework (more on that shortly), so had to dedicate myself to that.  Then school, quite frankly, sucked.  Specifically, Thursday night classes were a waste.  I was bored.  I was frustrated.  I was defensive.  By the end I was downright pissed off.  It’s complicated, but it came down to a textbook that I can’t trust despite being required to do so, a professor who seemed displeased with my critical thinking because it didn’t agree with his, and two women who are older than I am (!) who acted as though they were in high school.   They don’t like me (the feeling is mutual), and rolled their eyes while I argued with the prof.  One leaned over to the other while I was talking and wrote something about me in the other’s notebook.  I know this because they were sitting right next to me.  I couldn’t see what she wrote, only my name.  Bitches.  I also know for a fact that they talk about me behind my back, because some of it got back to me.  This makes them dumb bitches.

I need to let it go.

To make myself feel better, I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD when I got home.  It wasn’t a totally random purchase; I’d been thinking about it for awhile.  I just finally decided that I deserved it.  But the spending worries me.  I’ve also bought Rosetta Stone: Spanish, albeit half-off, some jewelry, a blouse, and an area rug.  Spending money is a symptom of hypo-mania, and I’ve felt it.  I’ve also felt mildly depressed.  And I’ve experienced anxiety again, though not as much as I used to.  I have trouble focusing (which is why the homework wasn’t done until last minute), and am bitchy.  I’m questioning the medication.  I sometimes think that it’s like not being on any medication, except that the symptoms are duller than they would be if I weren’t taking anything.  I feel a little out of control.  I wonder if this is something that I can learn to recognize and regain, or if this means that I need to go back onto the Lamictal instead.  I’d miss the energy, the sociability.  When I’m on, I’m on these days, and it feels great.  I’m focused and happy.  But when I start to swing in either direction, it’s challenging.  I don’t stay on either end of the spectrum for too long, and the symptoms aren’t too intense, but they are noticeable to me.  I see my APRN again in a couple of weeks, and I suppose we’ll make some decisions then.  In the meantime, I’ll experiment with trying to regain some control over my behavior and impulsivity.

And I’ll refrain from smacking those women, however tempting it might be.  I’ll even try not to argue with my professor as much.  Most of my classmates loved my mood the other night.  They laughed and said I was “really on fire” with my jokes and quips.  Glad my bad humor translates well to others.

I may be a bitch, but I’m a funny one.