All right, enough whining! It really does help to vent it into a blog post: writing it down lets me stop thinking about it so much. And notice both whiny posts were in the late afternoon / evening: I go through the whole day just feeling kind of bleh, and then it’s evening and I’m tired and there’s no dessert and the coughing is starting and it’s ACK DESPAIR TIME ACK!!
Next time I see the doctor I’m going to ask about the coughing asthma thing. It definitely gets worse when I lie down; I’ve been sleeping upright in the recliner the last few nights because if I lie down I wake myself up with the coughing. I once tried my mom’s rescue inhaler (er, I mean, JUST KIDDING, I WOULD NEVER BREAK A FEDERAL LAW BY USING MEDICATION PRESCRIBED FOR SOMEONE ELSE) and it didn’t help (IN MY IMAGINATION, WHICH IS THE ONLY PLACE I WOULD USE SOMEONE ELSE’S MEDICATION), but perhaps a different medication would help. And in the meantime I’m going to try the Zyrtec.
The stranger cat is probably out of the basement. We put the cat door on in/out mode so the cat could leave if it wanted to. My plan of posting Found Cat signs was not going to work: we couldn’t get a hold of the cat even if the owners called us. We will just have to hope that it is an owned-but-collarless cat and that it will find its way home, and that if it IS a stray it will find a family that doesn’t scare it half to death. We ARE kind of LOUD.
I agree with everyone who said the Pill is probably contributing to the moody despairingness. Problem: if I stop taking it, Paul will get Teh Snippage. Soon I will be ready for that, but not yet. I am hanging on to a tiny lingering hope that he will say, “Actually, now that the four oldest are in school, I guess we COULD handle another!” So. Stuck with the hormonal craziness element for now.
Okay, now I am going to go get another cup of coffee, and put on one of my pretty rings, and finish up today’s Milk and Cookies post which is going to be about earrings for 14-year-old girls so that means I get to look at more pretty jewelry and that should be cheering.
Yes, the Pill made me all kinds of crazy which is why I haven’t taken it for almost 10 years now (shortly after I had my first child). Surprisingly, my other two children were planned and other than a close-call scare or two, we haven’t had any issues with my husband being “in-charge” of our contraception. He is planning on snippage though since we are done having clones.
I hope your funk dwindles and is gone soon, Dear Swistle. Maybe if you wrote a post about your favorite thing to do?
lmao @ you (not) taking the inhaler. haha!
you know, i keep hearing about how awful the pill is. i’ve been on it since i GOT my period at 17, for health reasons, so i’ve never really known my post-puberty self when NOT on the pill. maybe i’m like a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON!? how weird.
I understand the hormonal craziness, and wish I could reach through the computer to give you a hug. UNNNGH! (That’s me reaching.)
I like the idea of writing it down as remedy; it also helps me just to have admitted that I’m feeling cranky out loud to the world, rather than just simmering in it and vaguely attempting to act as if I’m not in a bad mood.
But after listing the things that you’re still in a bad mood despite them being good and cheery, I am excited for you to have one last plane trip to see Niestle!
And I am dieting with you (I’ve somehow gained like 15 pounds since last Thanksgiving and Christmas, and thought it would come off as I stopped eating pecan pie and turkey sandwiches in the new year, but NO) so I am feeling that dire sentiment as I fit in ONE workout this past week and NONE of my pants.
But I am with you! Stopping whining and dwelling NOW.
I suggest that you go off the pill without TELLING Paul. That will solve ALL your problems! Right?
I really feel like the pill has stabilized my moods. But, I take it continuously without any spacers (ie. no periods – LOVE!). And I take the kind that have the same level of hormones every day. It totally keeps me sane.
Blogging is definitely cheaper than therapy! Plus way more commiserative.
Re the coughcoughcough, have you considered reflux? The worse when lying down bit is suspicious — I know lots of people who had horrible chronic coughs for YEARS and went through all kinds of allergy/asthma exploration, only to find it was reflux.
Coughing is more often a symptom of GERD than of allergies, and it often overlaps with asthma. I think this might be what’s going on in your case, since it only happens when you lie down. Instead of Zyrtec, it might do you better to take something like an antacid, Zantac, or Prilosec. Also, and I know this will be painful, cutting down on chocolate and coffee really, really helps with reflux issues.
I didn’t find the pill made my moodiness worse or better. I am still crazy hormonal bitch once a month, and I haven’t been on the pill for many years. I think I was crazy hormonal bitch when I was on it but can’t remember – perhaps I’ve blocked it?
Are the twins in school???
I second the antiacid course of things… My “asthma” a few years ago turned out to be a hiatal hernia/reflux.
Dear Swistle,
Have you tried taking some mucinex when your cough gets to this point? My colds have always done this to me, where I hack and hack and can’t sleep- but mucinex and codeine-infused cough syrup really help. I would get the off-brand, though, as the real thing is expensive, but the cheapo works very well.
If you get the 12-hour stuff, drink LOTS OF WATER, because it’s drying up all your goop– and whatever you do, don’t overlap doses, because it might make you feel loopy and crazy.
Hope you feel better soon!
Love,
Your Personal Troll
ditto on the reflux.
Have you ever considered an IUD? I love mine. (Paraguard, not Mirena.) Instantly reversible! Works for years! Save money!
You may have already considered it and don’t like the idea. Just suggesting.
Feel free to ignore this…
My experience with a higher protein and lower carb diet left me miserable. I had *no* energy, was terribly unhappy (beyond general dieting misery), and felt like I was in a fog. I was incredibly weepy and I did not like anything about anything. It may have even caused weight gain. I am not a refined sugar junkie or anything like that, but I just need the ‘extra’ carbs. (‘Extra’ in the more-than-the-idealized-average-person-needs sense–you know, the person we are all measured against when it comes to dietary needs, exercise and weight.)
I’ve tried a couple of different pills and most made me a crazy person. I’m on Loestrin 24/4 right now and so far it’s been great. No mood swings, no craziness. Maybe you just need to try a different formulation.
PS – Oh my god I’m such a dork. I just totally used the word formulation….
The pill may also be contributing to your weight. After going off the pill (some low-dose wonderdrug), I suddenly dropped 15 lbs. I also suddenly became somewhat less crazy, and had fewer (yes, fewer!) migraines.
I also got pregnant three months later…
Something else to consider. Better to have hubby wear a jacket or get the ol’ snip-snip than continue to taking a pill that may not be playing nicely with your body.
I third the cough/reflux suggestion, too. Happened to me.
I, too, have not used someone else’s inhaler, but from my non-experience I can say that it would have taken a few times to have built up in my system to have helped me had I used any.
Ugh, the Pill. That thing messed me UP.
So I used to think I had asthma with all the coughing all the time and it turns out I have HORRIBLE acid reflux. When I was diagnosed, I thought that doctors were crazypants b.c I never had heartburn or anything like that… but it turns out my orange-juice guzzling was majorly killing me and making me cough b.c it irritated my throat. I quit the concentrated citrus stuff (juices and raw pineapple, etc) and coffee and soda and no more coughing. It’s awesome!
I hated the first type of Pill I tried but used a different type with no noticeable side effects.
I haven’t been reading long, so forgive me if I am repeating or you’ve posted about this, but have you tried a nasal spray for allergies? (Assuming you have allergies, that is.) I’m not talking about a steriod; I’m talking about something like Flonase. Mine changed my life.
My husband had the snippage TODAY. We have 3. I am done. Tired of doing 98% of the work.
I’m doing a give away and trust me you want to enter
I think the cat in the basement is funny. I dunno what I would do if I found a cat in my house that wasn’t mine
Sorry about your troubles! I really hope you go see your doc re all of the above: cough, mood, diet, etc. It could be your pill – maybe you need to try a different one, it could be the change in your diet, it could be a number of things and I’m sure your doctor could help you sort it out.
As a side note, I’m hypoglycemic (never officially diagnosed, but a naturopath told me if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck), and I absolutely have to balance my food groups – protein, carbs, and fruits and veggies or I turn into a moody, irritable, prone to outbursts at my husband MONSTER. Cutting out carbs is simply not an option. I prefer to think of the “carb” category as “whole grain” – brown rice, oatmeal, even quinoa, rice cakes and peanut for a snack, you get the idea. When I’m trying to lose some extra Christmas weight or something, I try to stick to whole grains and nothing refined.
It does work for me, but again, you have to figure out what works for you.