A World Away (from the TMS machine)

I fear my holiday may be over with 19 days to go before the flight home...

I arrived in London on 7/7/17, had a nice few days there before going to Edinburgh for little over a week, where I had a fabulous time. On arrival to Manchester I got to stay with my Aunt and Uncle in their 1640s farmhouse and play with their Great Dane, Bailey and French bulldog, Oliver. I was there for little over a week before coming to my Grandma's while Mum is alone in Italy. The public transport is more accessible from Grandma's than the farm and I don't have Mum to drive me around; I'll be back at the farm upon Mum's return.

I think I've succeeded in doing something every day. I went into the centre of Manchester yesterday alone, I only got a little bit lost. Today I had lunch with my Grandma, Aunt and cousin at a farm with a cafe and shop attached in Uppermill, it was very picturesque, but since there was a handrail in the way of any shots I would take and it was raining I refrained from photo taking. Tomorrow I'm going to my other Grandmother's, I think it'll take three buses. I'll hang out with her for a little while before my cousin and her daughters come to meet us there, we're then going to buy clothes for one of her daughters. Sadly my grandmother can't come as she is housebound. I wish she would consent to move into a home where she can get the care she so badly needs and some company, but her own room so she can also have privacy. I feel bad just flitting into her life for 5 minutes, seeing how happy the company makes her and then pissing off to the other side of the world.

While I was in Manchester yesterday I bought myself a new watch from Selfridges. I saw it last week with Mum, but she talked me out of buying it because it's Selfridges, therefore it's a humungous rip off; but in the meantime I've seen many similar, and frankly not as nice in other shops for a similar price, none lower, some quite a bit higher. So here it is.

I started this post saying my holiday is over, well, that's because I'm worn out; not from too much activity, from my mood and my need for a TMS boost. I finished TMS on 22/6/17, 36 days' ago. I should be in there now for maintenance. I'm so tired. I've had two naps today, one either side of the family lunch. I'm not at risk of doing this, but my mind keeps telling me to slit my throat and wrists, the throat for suicide, wrists just to see the blood. I'd never do it here, my family would have no idea what to do, if they found out, it may be summer but it's currently 14 degrees and raining so I'm wearing long sleeves. I'm wondering more and more about psychosis, I'm already on two anti psychotics, yet these urges to hurt myself are more like voices, I feel the physical pull but then there's an argument, it only contains my voice, but the other creature pulls me. I can't describe it so I'll stop there.

I've got three days coming up in the North of Wales with my Mum, Aunt and Grandfather. They're going to be pushing me to go on day trips and get angry if I waste the trip - and therefore Mum's money by staying in bed. I just don't know if I can do a whole day anymore.

I'm Too Happy to Buy Bottled Death

I'm writing this mostly for myself so I can remember that good times are possible.

I got home from hospital on Thursday, my last two TMS treatments being on Wednesday, and I feel good, verging on great. I woke up this morning smiling because I'd slept a 10-hour night right through with no extra sedatives; do bear in mind though that I had my normal sedatives - Neulactil, Stilnox, Seroquel and Lorazepam. I had a rather freaky dream, but not of the scary kind, so I didn't wake up troubled. My housemates and I just went to Bunnings and walking down the chemical aisle I briefly thought "If I drink that I could kill myself" but I pushed it out of my head really fast, normally I'd be thinking about whether or not I should buy it to keep handy for a really bad day or series of days.

Right now I'm letting my brunch digest before I go to the gym for the first time in my life. My support worker was able to get me $7 casual sessions at a nearby(ish) gym. I'm terribly unfit at the moment and I want to be able to walk more than 10 minutes when I'm in the UK so I can explore places, especially Edinburgh, it's quite hilly and the best bits are high up. When I get back my doctor is going to try to get me off Seroquel so I can drop some weight - an impossible task when taking Seroquel; currently I'm 113.5 KG, size 20. Somehow the change from size 18 to 20 felt really traumatic, much more so than going from 16 to 18. I'd like to drop some weight before the trip but I really don't think that's realistic now with it being only 10 days away, but hopefully if I go to the gym every day or every second day my fitness will improve a bit.

That's all I've got to say for now.

Happy K signing off!

To Grandma, I'm Not Going to Run Down The Street Naked

I took these photos for my Grandma, who I think is under the belief I'm in a 1950s style nut house. I wasn't aware of this, but my Mother and Grandma are both concerned about a few days I'll have without Mum's presence in Edinburgh and a week in Manchester when Mum will be traversing Italy. Mum brought it up in a meeting the two of us had with my doctor on Wednesday night; thankfully he was on my side and said that I'm an adult quite capable of roaming around Edinburgh as I desire, he just encouraged me to answer people's text messages to assure them all's well - that I'll do so long as they're not every 20 minutes!

                                                A bed, not a trolley with straps to tie me down!

                                          Shelves, bench and desk - plus a hoard of towles

                                   Exit into the main hospital and my ensuite door on the right.

Some things I've made whilst here. I know the koala is very Australiana, but it's for my (other) Grandma and she'll love it. 

Ensuite, you may notice the lack of shower curtain; some people don't like that, but I always leave them open, so I'm quite happy to go without.

                                                             The rest of the bathroom.

I was unable to take photos of the dining room or the two tea/coffee spaces due to not really being allowed to take photos in here and there's the possibility of capturing other patients.

So as you may guess from the photos, I'm still in hospital and undergoing TMS, it has definitely worked a lot on my mood, but my anxiety is troubling me every afternoon and evening as my meds are wearing off. I take the next batch at 8pm. I don't know how often people come in for maintenance and for how long. I think it's monthly and for a few days, but it differs according to peoples' needs. I hope when I get back from the trip I can relax for a week or so at home before having to come in here for a top up, it may even be a full session since I will have gone eight weeks without any. I'm going home on Thursday, bringing my days at home for the year up to 21, it'll reach 33 if I make it to the trip without needing to come back. Then 6 weeks away!

K

TMS Again

I know all of you have been reading my blog avidly for over five years; so you will remember that 5 years' ago I underwent some TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) treatment, that it was effective, but didn't last. Well, I'm starting again today and this time I'll probably go on the maintenance program, which will require one short admission per month. I know that sounds like it's taking over my life, but really it's giving it back. In this whole year I've had 20 days out of hospital in two short stints, I'm so depressed that there are hours' every day when I can hardly move, and I have to rest after doing even the smallest of activities. TMS will take a month, but I can cope with that.

Here's an article on TMS from another hospital; mine doesn't have one, which is interesting since they helped pioneer it here.

Free (Just Not For Long)

Well, what to say... I've been out of hospital for exactly a week - well one week and 7 minutes if we're being specific. It's felt liberating, I can walk out the door without asking anyone, get in my car and go wherever I like; after three months' incarceration that's a big deal. It's been a hard week though, usually my household cook for each other, we each pick a night of the week at the start of each week and then cook for everyone on that night. After being catered for (not always badly I might add) for so long I haven't got myself past cooking some pasta with a jar of sauce or scrambling some eggs. S is keen to reinitiate the group cooking, so hopefully we can convince the other two; there's just no motivation for me to cook a more complicated, nutritious meal when it's just me eating.

I'm probably going back into the hospital on Monday for two weeks - it better not be any longer. I've been a bit of a mess and DR thinks it's time to increase my Parnate dose, this was always coming because I'm actually not on the treatment dose, they say that's between 30mg & 40mg, I'm on 20mg right now. I performed some self-harm yesterday and the day before, I'd lasted a few days without doing so because I had no razor blades left and I'd never use a kitchen knife, in the end the urge got ridiculous so I went out and bought a knife, I now know razor blades are better - sharper. So this pretty blunt knife has left me with decorated thigh and wrist but no damage. I already had an appointment with my GP booked before I did this, but when I told her she was furious, I've never seen her like that before; usually she's understanding and tries to comfort me, this time she was saying that it's a poor use of her time to be stitching me up for something I've done to myself and she could be seeing other patients or talking me through things and actually trying to make some progress rather than being in the theatre stitching me up. I'm lucky I didn't need any this time - that knife isn't capable of cutting that deep. She still wants to be my GP, asked to see me for a double appointment next week if I'm not in the clinic; maybe she was just trying a different method - scaring me!

I had an experience yesterday whilst walking where I felt like my body had produced another and was walking behind me, so my mind was in the front body but all of my energy and my coordination was in the other body walking behind me. I made it to my car and the two merged back into one, I didn't feel right for the rest of the day. Today I feel teary and like spending the day curled up reading Harry Potter and not leaving the house would be good. I have a lunch date though, this is a good thing, it's someone I want to see and it'll get me out of the house.

Parnate

Two days short of 11 weeks, that's how long I've been in the hospital, and it's not likely to end very soon. I've started a new drug called Parnate, well new to me, it's about 50 years-old. It's a MAOI - Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor - which comes with a fun diet of things I can't eat. I'm still on an introductory dose, so can't be expecting any miracle mood boost yet. A good thing about it being an old drug is that it's on the PBS, which will help me save money to put toward the UK trip in August/September. I can't imagine still being in here in August, so it's probably safe to let Mum organise the trip with me in the plans. Our family are mostly in Manchester, but we have two in Edinburgh. Mum and I will go to Edinburgh; I'm definitely going up to the Highlands but not sure if that will be alone. I'm also hoping to go to London (and Harry Potter World) and while I'm there why not skip across the channel to France. I think London and Paris will be done alone.

I feel awful at the moment, I've been getting what my Dr called "tactile hallucinations" when I saw him today. It works so that I feel depressed and agitated and then I'll feel myself stabbing my leg, or biting a chunk out of my arm, feel the blood trickling down from the wound. It's lots of fun! Today it's been slitting my throat; the most protective thing about being in here is that if you do anything stupid they call an ambulance and send you off to a nearby hospital with a horrible, horrible psychiatric department; I've promised myself I'm never going there again.

Sorry, I feel too bad to write, I'm ending it here.

Have a good weekend.

K