CN: extensive and detailed discussion of chronic illness symptoms such as nausea, brain fog, and difficulty eating; discussion of weight loss One day, after taking a short walk, I had a strange health episode. I was incredibly exhausted, totally disproportionate to the amount of walking I had done. I sat down in the chair in the kitchen as soon as I got in, too tired to go all the way to my bedroom, and then …Read More
Tag: medication
Why I Stopped Taking Gabapentin
I am updating and republishing some of my early articles from this blog. Please enjoy this article, originally published under the title “Color” in March of 2017, about the early days of my chronic pain journey. CN: extensive discussion of the experience of anxiety, chronic pain, medication side effects, and medical neglect. Duloxetine was the first pain medication my doctor ever prescribed me, an anti-depressant that can sometimes help with pain. A year after I …Read More
Ableism Bingo: Things to Never Say to a Disabled Person
The unsolicited comments disabled people receive on a daily basis are so predictable, you can use them to play Ableism Bingo. This article covers those many of those comments and where they come from.
Why I Stopped Taking Anti-Depressants
CN: gaslighting, abuse, money, in-depth discussion of the symptoms and treatment of borderline personality disorder, medication, and mental illness; mention of suicide. As I discussed recently, the use of medication to treat mental illness is the target of a lot of undeserved societal stigma; however, it’s a tool that comes with many challenges in managing side effects, finding the right balance of brain chemistry for you, and for some people, it simply doesn’t work. In …Read More
Let’s End the Stigma Against Anti-Depressants
When I first started taking anti-depressants, I knew I could benefit from connecting to others over the shared experience but the fear of rejection was too powerful. There’s an enormous stigma against anti-depressants, or taking any medication at all for mental health. But there shouldn’t be.
I Can’t Fix Myself But I’m Supposed To
CN: chronic pain, medical neglect, fat-shaming, discussion of specific health issues and their symptoms Today’s guest post is written as a follow up post to Sunflower Punk’s piece, “Broken,” on her blog on The Orbit. The article covers her life-long struggle with chronic pain, living 6 years with an untreated broken ankle, doctors blaming her health problems on her weight, inaccessible housing, and juggling all of those while also raising a kid as a single …Read More
Could It Be My Birth Control?: The Intrauterine Diaries
Today’s guest post is for anyone who has struggled with unpleasant symptoms and body changes and wondered to themselves, could it be my birth control? This post is even more for you if this question was met with dismissal and doubts when brought to medical professionals, which is unfortunately too common of a pattern.
Windows: Snippets from a Mind Struggling with PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression
I spent more than a year searching for the reason that despite multiple skilled therapists and a wonderful social support system, I was still struggling with PTSD to the point that it was debilitating. I wrote this piece prior to my diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder, but now it reads like a textbook list of the symptoms.
Color
The original version of “Why I Stopped Taking Gabapentin”