Tapering down Lithium is getting tough. All my senses feel red raw, I have constant palpitations, and I can’t stop sleeping. Physically I just feel really off. Like the parts inside of me are crawling instead of my skin. I’m coming down from 900 mg and should hit my temporary target of 450 mg on Thursday. Maybe I will drag it out. I’m sitting at 450 until next month when I see my pdoc. On the plus side I am more emotionally engaged and ‘real’. I have been laughing a lot more. If only I could stay awake I could enjoy life.

So mostly I’ve been sleeping but for the last three days I’ve been watching over my partner who ran out of meds and didn’t have a valid concession card to get them cheaply. He was so distressed he couldn’t even handle me taking him to the government agency to get a physical copy of proof of entitlement, or help him get it off their website. Instead he’s waiting for them to post the card out which could take two weeks. This meant he abruptly stopped three psych meds on the same day. Poor guy is going through hell. I’ve just been making sure he doesn’t have a bad reaction and eats enough. Thankfully he’s been sleeping a lot too so we basically spent three days resting. His mood has been all over the place though. I wish he would talk to his pdoc.

My niece is now being put on Prozac. She is only 15. It worries me as the side effects can be brutal and it increases her risk of suicide temporarily. Something has to be done though. She is suicidal and has begun to have severe panic attacks at school but refuses to talk when in therapy. I can only hope that she is one of the lucky ones who respond to Prozac well. My sister is being very compassionate and vigilant so she has a great Mum. Dads part of the problem unfortunately. He is loving but has a bad temper.

I’m surrounded by mental health issues. It’s kinda stressful. To combat stress I’ve been walking or swimming at the beach. It helps. Mentally I’m doing pretty well. Mood stable. The ptsd still leaves me fragile and anxious though but I’m working through it. I’m still on the floor in a million pieces so it’s going to take a while.