Bipolar check-in #59

I like that you dressed up your bread picture with a candle, pinecone and ribbon! Makes it look so festive.

Thanks, Moose! Yes, I wanted it to look a little festive since I will eventually post it (with the recipe) on my blog. I had to go to the attic to find the ribbon and pine cone. It's crucial to get the photos taken before we start digging into it, which we already have since the photos were taken. Actually, my husband took them. He's a better photographer than me. I bake them, he "takes" them. LOL!

This Christmas bread is an addition to my Czech Christmas baked goods post from 2019. Then, I posted recipes and photos for 10 different varieties of Czech Christmas cookies, and a "lesser" Christmas bread called "Bishop's Bread". I made and photographed maybe 3 types in 2018, but then the other 7 and the Bishop's Bread in 2019. Busy year! I made only one type last year, in the midst of our big move. This year, in addition to the Vanocka, I might make 3 or 4 cookie varieties, but only because we're expecting a guest from the USA near/at Christmas. And we know she loooooooves cookies!

Gee I might have to bake cookies too! Several years ago I was manic and went on a spree of baking and baked these chocolate dipped lace cookies they were so good but I don’t know where the recipe went.

I've had something pretty much like chocolate dipped lace cookies. I don't have a recipe for them, though, but I do make something somewhat similar, but not "lacy". I'm sure you can find a recipe online. I'd use "lace" in a search.

I’ve been in contact with a nurse all day who relayed the info to my doctor. He said to just keep an eye on things and not to lift more then like 10 pounds. Which I don’t think the suitcase was. It was just over my head. He said not to repeat the UTI test since I just had one done. I think I just need to take it more easy then I had realized I had to.

My mom got me the sweat pants and they fit good. They didn’t have the flannel hoodies though. I figured those would go fast when they stocked them in august.

I ate some soup for an afternoon snack and I feel much better physically. Making meals is still tough and I don’t have the energy for a lot of healthy foods so grabbing a sleeve of Oreos is better for me physically then making actual food. But my mom made me the soup. It was a microwaveable cup of Campbells double noodle with a plastic top attached it to it that had Goldfish crackers in it. So I feel much better now.

We have a real bad Coke shortage here. I’m not sure if it’s still just the aluminum shortage or if they are rebranding stuff. They redid Coke Zero so I’m wondering if they are redoing other flavors as well. There’s a gas station that has a pretty good selection of regular 20oz bottles of soda for not much. They also have some good choices on fountain drinks. It’s just buying cases is so much cheaper. When I go out of state to my hometown for Thanksgiving I can go to the good grocery store on Friday and stock up on stuff. That’s the only reason I want to go to Thanksgiving this year. Honestly I’m pretty nervous about it. Maybe I can fake sick and stay at the hotel. Or just man up and go. I want to wear my purple button shirt and I want to buy a tie. I have no idea how to wear one though. Although I’m sure my brother in law can teach me. I do have a Snow White and the seven dwarfs one I got a few years ago because I liked it. I always wanted to wear it

I splurged on some Ben and Jerry's ice cream today. "The Tonight Dough". It's got chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter cookie dough. Yum!

They had one with potato chips in it early last year. It was called Chip Happens. I only got it one time and I haven’t seen it since. My favorite is their whiskey biz topped ice cream. It has a top layer that tastes like whisky.

Street tacos .. Mhmmmmmmm

Potato chips and ice cream. What a combo! Never heard of either of these flavors- I don't know that I'd want my ice cream to taste like Whisky though.

[QUOTE=Innerzone;7134254]
Ohhhhhh Going out to see a band sounds like alot of fun. My first husband was a full time Musician in a band and we went out alot to see other bands. those were the best days of my marriage LOL.

Do you have any local Christmas themed things going on that might fill your forced days off? My towns? its mostly Christmas tree lighting but this year I hear there will have more things to do on the square.. Normally its just a Chili cook off.. But I have heard rumors of food trucks and Art/ homemade goods. Hope its more than just fried pies LOL

If you find anything that will help with "Looping" I'll pay cold hard cash !!!

Be kind to yourself

So happy your getting a Kitten! they are so much fun ! Do you have a name in mind yet?

Good luck on the Ticket to work program

Oh your baked goods always look so yummy! Do you have any other trips on the books or do you have a nice stretch of time to just be home and relax? Hope you can lower your Seroquel

Mum and I took a drive today. It’s a brilliant day for a drive. We went though the back roads to go look at the house I grew up in. It’s beautiful out today with the fall colors. Most of the farms have been harvested and dug up to lay fallow until spring. So beautiful. Then I stopped for gas, saved over $6 bucks with my fuel saver points! Awesome 😎

Oh its been just a awful day for me. I am in the " bored sad stressed day" kind of garbage.

We had to buy some car parts for" maintenance stuff" Well its had a small exhaust leak for a few months so yeah numerous parts are needed to replace X part. Anyway its put us in the " Holy hell broke" situation as we had to put some stuff on credit cards last month so bigger payment prior to realizing we had to buy a few more car parts that expected. So I am going to just have make meals based on what we already have for the rest of this month. I will miss fresh fruit and vegetables but it is what it is.

We also have to find money to put aside for the trip to Florida Steve needs to make for his Sons " official wedding" December 19th, They got married a year ago but it was took place during Covid so they have the " fancy" wedding planned at Disney

So have to somehow factor in a ticket for that On top of him being there until after Christmas. The plan for him to stay with his Sister and then 3-4 days with Amanda. Hiccup is his Sister is planning to move up here and its likely her house is going to sell the same week as she is listing it ( listing this week we are sure) So..... Yeah that is going to be an issue. Staying with my daughter from the 20th through the 26th or 27th won't really be a possibility as she has a very small 1 bedroom and it will be stressful for her and Steve. Ugh More stress trying to figure it all out.

Sorry for a whiny post I am just feeling overwhelmed

Glad you got out for a nice drive and YAY for saving money on gas !!!

That is all so exciting! I got to pick my kittens when they were only a few days old from a picture. I knew I wanted an orange cat and hoped for a tortie. I got my orange boy and got a calico girl. The people who had them sent me pictures every week or two until they were big enough to come live with me. It was so much fun to watch them grow.

Good luck with Ticket to Work.

I love your coffee table.

Thank you guys!! I am not sure on a name yet, I'll have to wait to see which one I pick when she sends me the pictures, haven't seen any of them yet, I'm sure when I see them I'll be able to come up with something pretty good

With my busted up arm and constant fatigue, my daughter and mother begged me not to go to Atlanta. They didn’t want me down there alone in that condition. That’s okay. My sister has been here since Saturday and I haven’t lifted a finger. It’s been a nice break. She does things differently than me so it’s nice to see things from a fresh perspective.

I rented a Holiday Inn room for two nights. It has a heated, indoor pool. Have noodle, will travel. The first hotel I rented, I showed up and they wouldn’t rent it to me. I just came back home. I’ll go over to our airport and watch the planes. It’s not what I planned but I’ll enjoy what is. I see the doctor Thursday about my arm which I hurt helping my brother up from a fall. It really does hurt. I can’t imagine what’s wrong.

I hope everyone has a peaceful Tuesday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue_Bird Just went to the library and returned some stuff plus picked up my requests. I got the book Misery by Stephen King, never read it or seen the movie. It's 50 degrees outside, nice and cool. It was actually pretty cold in the middle of the night so I had to turn the heat on for a little while. I have this new coffee table being delivered to my apartment sometime next week, pictured below. Excited because I never had a coffee table for my apartment before

NICE coffee table! I'm excited to see pics of your kitten!

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CHRIS! THEY WERE AMAZING!

they were shredded chicken with a smokey flavor, onion, cilantro, sour cream and some special sauce they make. ben got a vegan black bean and corn taco and also a fish taco (just bc he knows i hate fish!) it was amazing. we never get time to do "stuff" instead of our weekend homework dates with coffee and cats in his apt. we also took flowers to his moms grave and cleaned it up. ive gone with him a few times to do it. i like to be supportive and i know what its like to lose a parent (my dad and his mom both from heart attacks at young ages).

im still suuuuuuuuuper stressed out but trying to make it.

I tried to taper off my Risperdal recently. I got down to 0.5mg from 2mg, then got racing thoughts and couldn't sleep. So i went back up to 1mg and i'll stay here.

The racing thoughts might just have been correlated, not causally related, as i'd talked to my doctor that day and talking about myself always sets me off. But i remember in Vancouver in 1999 when i was off all meds due to poverty i had racing thoughts so perhaps i do need the small dose of Risperdal. I might try working on it some more when i'm calm.

I was really excited when i first started cutting back and my appetite decreased. Finally i can lose weight, i thought. But it was just temporary, maybe a placebo effect and i'm as ravenous as usual.

Next to try is reducing Seroquel. I didn't realize it but my doctor wants me to take it absurdly slowly. I'm on 100mg and he only wants me to decrease it by 25mg A MONTH. This is much slower than i expected but he said i've been on it a long time and there is some research showing that slow tapers prevent relapses. So i'll start that on November 1st.

Not sure what i'll do if the med reductions or eliminations don't tame my appetite.

In good news, i got my Risperdal filled at my new pharmacy and it was delightfully inexpensive as they use generics at Walmart -- only $35 when my old pharmacy used to charge $70. Aces!!!

Hugs to all!

@~Christina, car issues do indeed suck! I hope what you get fixed keeps your car in good order for a while. I need to start eating out of my freezer, too. Not just for money issues, but some stuff is getting a little old and I can't afford to waste money by wasting food. I can understand why your son-in-law and his bride want a "real" wedding. I thought it sad all of the couples marrying during the pandemic. I'm sure you'll find some place to stay those extra days. As for me having a stretch of time at home, well sort of. We are going to meet up with one of my husband's friends for a couple days late next week, but just for two days. He has not seen that friend for years. That friend and his wife are a sweet couple. Then there's nothing else firmly on the calendar, but we might be hosting a friend from the US for some days around Christmas. We might take her to main tourist spots in our new country. The city we live in is not particularly interesting.

@Jennifer 1967, I hope you enjoy your getaway. I was happy to read that you'll have a chance to enjoy a pool again.

@BethRags, I'm sending positive wishes that you finally get a better psychiatrist soon. It truly is awful the neglect they're showing for your well-being.

@whatever2013, I can relate to wanting a reduction in appetite. I've gained about 6 kg (13 lbs) since my Seroquel XR was increased some months ago. My current dose (and above) has always been the jump from weight neutral (or fairly so) to not weight neutral anymore. In fact, I am going to talk to my psychiatrist today and ask for a reduction. My moods have been just fine for several weeks and my sleep has been slightly excessive. As for the reduction amounts, my old psychiatrist was like yours in taking things very slowly. I can speak from experience that big reductions can quickly cause mood shifts. Best of luck with your med adjustments!

@buddha1too, I'm thinking about you, dude. I hope you're OK. The last time I saw a post of yours the situation was not a positive one. But the one I'm referring to is over with. Sending you support and well wishes.

I don’t feel very good right now. My eating problem or whatever you call it was tough yesterday. I wanted to sleep through my hunger so I took 30mil of melatonin, 2 gummy zzquls and 2 Benadryl’s. I didn’t wake up to eat anything but now my stomach feels funny. I can’t tell if it’s the meds or the fact I restricted food yesterday and ate what my mind wanted instead of what my body needed.

I’ll talk to my therapist today about it. I hope she really does work with people with EDS and doesn’t think I’m too much to handle and hand me off once again to someone who probably has a very long waiting list.

I saw my psychiatrist today. He gave me refills, plus agreed to reduce my Seroquel XR a little bit. I told him that my moods have been quite stable for a while, but that I've gained too much weight for my comfort. I told him that doses below 600 mg tend to either be more weight neutral for me, or at least not so high that I struggle to diet. So, he has me down to 550 mg. I didn't expect a bigger decrease. I might have sort of liked one, but would have known it was too much.

I sent an email to an English-speaking gynecologist, requesting an appointment. I found her name on the local Expat Centre website. I hope she responds and gives me one. I'm on day 18 of my period, and counting. Just when I think it might be gone, it seems to return. Her office is quite close to where I live. I would even feel comfortable enough driving there, myself. If I don't hear from her by Friday, I'll ask Hubby to call her office. If she doesn't work out, I'll need to look further away. Hubby has been driving me to my therapy and psychiatrist (and other doctors). I'm uncomfortable driving to my therapist's office, as it is a little far away and in the historic center with trams and confusing traffic all over the place. I will soon feel up to making the trip on my own to my psychiatrist, though. His office is a comparative breeze to get to, and I love his location. It's my favorite part of the city in a beautiful quiet neighborhood, with the city's biggest and loveliest park a short walk away, and easily found parking. It also has a great pharmacy on the ground level, that's never busy. Convenient!

Soupe I hope the lady gynecologist gets back to you with an opening soon. Having one close enough that you can drive yourself would be a blessing. I never thought about that before but driving in another country with different road rules and signs in another language would be hugely intimidating. I’m intimidated by big cities and the signs are in English! And soon because 18 days is quite enough!