Tired, tired, tired

[beandelphiki]

So I've now essentially missed two weeks of school, except for a Prac class I went to on Monday.

The first week after Practicum, I was sicker than a dog. I did manage to get some schoolwork done, though.

This week, I've been...sleeping. Yeah, sleeping. Nothing but. This morning I was up at 4:30...after going to bed at three in the afternoon yesterday. After getting up at five. Which wasn't so bad, except that I went to bed at noon on Wednesday. After getting up at eight, which is when my first class should have been STARTING. And so on back to Monday... Guess how much work I've caught up on this week? Oh, that's right...NONE. I've been SLEEPING. And emailed none of my instructors, since I was either sleeping, or exhausted when I was awake.

I've been trying to figure out why I'm tired. Possibly culprits include:

1) The earlier illness. Mom had it for three weeks; I apparently got over it in one, but maybe I have fatigue as a "leftover?"
2) Approaching Hell Week, although I don't think it's usually this bad. (Although I think I'm a week late! What's up?)
3) Dexedrine withdrawal...?

My doctor wanted to see me after three weeks on Dex, so OF COURSE I can't get in to see her until next Friday afternoon (which will make it five). So I've basically run out of meds, and am down to my last three doses, which I'm saving.

Good news: given the way I've been floundering since I stopped taking regular doses, I think it might actually be working a bit.
Bad news: of course, I have to be floundering to figure that out.

(I'm almost certainly going to flunk. It's like, a 99% certainty at this point. Whee. The thing I'm most worried about is that I'm going to get kicked off my dad's insurance, and then I won't be able to afford my meds.)

So anyway, yeah, withdrawal. From here.

The length and severity of Dexedrine withdrawal is related to how much and how often the drug was used. Generally speaking, you may experience withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it suddenly after several weeks of continuous use. The most pronounced withdrawal symptoms from Dexedrine are depression and extreme fatigue.

[...]

Withdrawal symptoms can occur when the use of amphetamines is stopped abruptly. Users may experience fatigue, craving, exhaustion, confusion, psychotic reaction, anxiety reactions, long, disturbed periods of sleep, irritability, intense hunger, and moderate to severe depression.

Well, I'm not depressed, which makes that suspicious. But fatigue/exhaustion, long periods of sleep (and said periods being "disturbed" would explain why I'm still tired...I've been waking up a lot, does that fit?) all are present. I don't know.

So I've only been up since 4:30, after sleeping 13.5 hours, it's only 7:05, and I'm already woozy and swaying. Ugh.

Not going to school today, although I don't know what I'm going to tell my mother. She'll flip.

Comments

[cmot-dribbler.livejournal.com]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025452.700&feedId=online-news_rss20

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Er...why did you post that? The article is wrong about multiple things, and I wasn't diagnosed like that. So I'm not seeing the point...?

Dependency doesn't equal addiction. They're different things. O.o

[cmot-dribbler.livejournal.com]

heh, cause i was walking out the door, as i read this article, and decided to pass it on.
not that i am saying it is directly related to you, i just thought it would be an interesting read.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Haha, okay. I was like, "Buh?" I'll take a closer look at it later, I see it's recent.

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

I've had that experience with meds, meaning that I've had them run out before my next doctor visit. In those cases, I've phoned the doctor's office and explained the situation to the secretary. They seem to be used to this problem and they phone the pharmacy for a refill right away. Any chance you can call your doc office and get this to happen?

that's so awful to finally get a little stabilized on a med and then have it just disappear.

[blackbyrus.livejournal.com]

Fatigue and sleeping a lot *are* symptoms of depression, even if you're not feeling sad. I would also check to see if you have some sort of allergy running you down. Hope you feel better. :-\

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Hmm, good point.

I checked some Dex boards, and a few other people there had the same experience when they went off their meds suddenly, so it does strongly look to be related to the medication. I kept my eyes open for signs that it was something else, but at this point I think "stopping meds too suddenly" is it.

Thanks for the thoughts, though. I've never had an allergy test, and I keep thinking I should.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Totally.

Other people in my family on psychiatric medications said the same thing, so I will see what I can work out with my doctor and the front desk at her office.