March 17th - I cried at work.
March 20th - I went to the Dr b/c of my Depression getting worse. She told me I needed better coping skills and upped my Prozac from 10 mg to 20 mg.
March 25th - I had a 7 am counseling appointment with my Counselor who taught me Mindfulness.
April 21st - I had an awful crying day at work on the 20th. i was able to take the 21st off and called my Dr. at 8:15 am on the 21st, to try and get in to be seen. My Depression was getting much worse, and not better. My Dr said she could not see me and told me to go to Epworth. I later found out that Epworth is an inpatient facility only. Since I was not a harm to myself or to others and was not suicidal, I had to wait till Monday, April 24th, to be seen. My Dr.. did not offer me any other appointments with other Dr.'s at her practice that Friday. When i saw my Dr. on Monday the 24th of April, she upped my Prozac from 20 mg to 40 mg. I was crying uncontrollably and told her I could not function. She looked at me with a straight face and said "So you are going back to work tomorrow, right?". I said "I just told you I cannot function! No, I cannot go back to work tomorrow. She offered to write a note. I told her notes don't work at my place of employment and that I needed FMLA to secure my job. I was in disbelief, I had always gotten along with her before and had no problems with her, until my depression started acting up. She had been prescribing my meds for 6 years and not once had I ever had issues severe enough that I went to see her in regards to my depression. I was not a "cry wolf" type of patient. She finally agreed to give me 2 weeks of FMLA. I filed for FMLA, but not for short term disability because I needed to use my vacation time for our mission trip to Ecuador in July.
After, being shocked and very unhappy with how the appointment went with my Dr on the 24th, I made an appointment to see a new Dr. on April 26th. He was awesome, but most of all because he possessed empathy and understanding in regards to depression. We set up another appointment for me to see him for a follow-up on Friday, May 5th, before I returned to work on May 8th. He wanted me to have another week off to see my Counselor and work on getting better, so he gave me another week of FMLA. I took that unpaid as well.
I went back to work on Monday, May 15th. I worked the 15th-18th (Mon-Thurs) and by the end of the day on Thursday I was behind on my work and crying. I was able to take the 19th off of work. I got in to see my new Dr. on the 20th. I told him that every time the old Dr upped my Prozac, 3 weeks later, I would be crying uncontrollably. He believed me and set up a plan for me to be weaned off of the med. He agreed to up my Seroquel from 200-300 mg. We also both agreed that it was time for me to apply for short term disability while getting used to new meds and waiting to see a Psych Specialist. My Husband and I decided it was not in my best interest to go out of the country on the mission trip at this time. When I first saw this Dr. on April 26th, he got me on a referral list for a Psychiatrist. I called that place on May 18th and found out I was on a waiting list for a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner because that Psychiatrist only saw adolescents and children. The last time I checked (a few days ago), they will be calling to schedule an appointment with me in the next week or 2, but I probably won't be seen until the end of July/beginning of August.
I had a follow-up appointment with my new Dr on Friday, June 2nd. I had gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks due to my meds making me crave bad stuff, and me giving in to those cravings. He advised me to push thru the extreme tiredness and avoid sleeping whenever I was tired. It's been hard, but I was successful yesterday, and I have been successful today.. I have an appointment on June 27th for blood work to be drawn and then my next follow-up appointment with my Dr is July 6th.
I applied for Short Term Disability thru my Employer on May 19th. Due to a Holiday and some miscommunication between my Dr.s Office and my Employer, my employer just received the needed paperwork from my Dr late on Friday June 2nd. Today is June 6th and I am still waiting for an answer as ti whether my short term disability will be approved or denied.
During all of this my Husband got a promotion at work. God is good and is watching out for us. I am very much at peace right now in regards to my short term disability getting approved or denied. I don't know what will happen. Since I was feeling so much peace, I used the concordance in my NLT Bible and I found the following verse: " Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you." Job 22:21. I can honestly say that I feel that's what I'm doing now, submitting to God. My health has to come first. I'm glad my Husband realizes that, and I'm glad we live modestly and live below our means. I am not worried.
So, there you have it. This is my saga thus far. I think the uppage of seroquel and the weaning off of prozac has helped, but I'm still dealing with the side effects of the seroquel, which aren't fun.
Thank you to the Friends who have stopped by, called and/or texted, or have sent me well wishes thru my Husband at work, or to me thru FB. I really appreciate it. It is nice to be thought of and know that I'm cared for. God's got this. I'm not worried. I just want to get better.
So there you have it. That's what I mean by "The Fight For My Mental Health", and it's not over yet.
As a bracelet given to me by a friend says "You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it". With God and Jonathan on my side, I can and will come out of this stronger!
Peace, Love, and Joy to you All!
Love,
J-La-Sta
