I hardly ever remember my dreams, so I'll give you an example of one I do remember. I slipped on stairs, grabbed the rail at the last minute. Finger shaped bruises on Frau Lobster's arm the next morning.
Anyway, they can treat it. Clonazepam, the generic for Klonopon, is the drug of choice. According to the doc I had at the time, and it works most of the time. I complained it was 100% effective. Frau Lobster almost had to go to the doctor, which would have landed me in jail for domestic abuse. A judge might want to hear my doctor talk about REM Behavior Disturbance, but the cops by law aren't allowed to listen. And a doctor who saw the bruise on my wife wouldn't have been able, legally, to 'not' notify the cops that they had a likely domestic abuse victim.
The alternative, it turns out, is a Parkinson's drug with a side effect profile no doctor I've talked to is comfortable with prescribing me. Even Frau Lobster vetoes it. Even the neurologist who finally diagnosed my Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (misdiagnosed as tendonitis a decade earlier) wouldn't write for it. And she wrote for it all the time, for Parinson's patients.
So they up my dose of Clonazepam. 4 mg at bedtime now. I skip on the rare occasions I sleep alone, my sleep is more restful without it, mentally if not physically. With it, it's kind of how Chief Broom describes the Secenol they give the patient's in 'Cuckoo's Nest.' You don't fall asleep, you blink out of existence.
But the sleep study, it found I had obstructive sleep apnea, which Frau Lobster kinda knew and had been nagging me about. So I sleep with a CPAP, which makes a huge difference in the quality of my sleep. It's about as sexy as a genital wart, but quality sleep can be strangely habit forming.
Then I have a heart attack mowing my Mom's lawn. So in addition to the CPAP and Klonopon, I take:
1 Aspirin
50 mg Atenelol
2000 mg Fish Oil
2000 mg Niaspan (prescription grade time release niacin)
10 mg Crestor
10 mg Zetia
1 generic equivalnt of a Centrum Silver
2,000 mg Vitamin C
That's at bedtime. During the day I take my Ritalin (yes, methylphenidate, Garth), for ADHD. Which if you couple the Ritalin iwth the Clonazepam and a halfway normal neurological system, is the Elvis Diet.
Perversely, thanks to my ADHD, Ritalin effects me about the way I'd imagined valium. But Klonopon was developed to replace Halcyon because of psychotic side-effects; and Halcyon was developed to be a less addictive valium.
And this September, I turn:
Next time you hear about Baby Boomers aging, remember I was only
when I...
Well, I died. Cardiac arrest. Four percent (or so) of guys like me come back from that. The only excuse I have for being alive is that only the good die young.
Oh, and yes, cardiac events are a contraindication for stimulant therapy. A lot of people don't seem to know that Ritalin is, well... It's crank. See also Adderall, which is a cocktail of amphetamines, and Dexedrine, the original 'greenies.' Isolated way back in eighteen-ninety-something. They used to give Dexedrine to anyone who played professional baseball, looked great in ruby slippers, or otherwise got fat. Now they hide cold medicine so people don't make homebrewed amphetamines. Go figure.
But my blood pressure actually measures lower on the Ritalin. After a lifetime of 'catching up to the class' and 'underachieving,' of 'not living up to my potential,' it's very stress-relieving to be able to go to work and not be the guy they put up with.
Okay, maybe I'm still the guy they put up with, but I'm easier to put up with. Ask Frau Lobster. She hates it when I don't take my crank...I mean Ritalin.
2 comments:
Hey Leary,
200mg of vitamin C a day is the maximum amount that (human) cells can absorb.
No harm in taking more but maybe you can save yourself some $$$
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/vol281/issue15/index.dtl
(not sure if this link will work as one may need a subscription, but look at the article under “Special Communications” – well, look at it if you want to be bored.)
Yeah, the doctors have told me it's just expensive pee. Funny about the 200 mg thing, because I can't remember the last time I saw it sold in lower than 500 mg tablets.
I could chalk it up to superstition that my body is somehow running higher on free radicals than the average, but that's bullshit. Since I don't really believe in C that much, I guess it's not even going to give good placebo effect.
The Niaspan is an interesting case. The amount of niacin I take is enough to cook my liver with onions & serve it with a nice Chianti. Even with the time release, they titrated me up starting at 500 mg and upping the dose in several month increments.
My LP(a) was sky-high at the time of my attack, and that's pretty new stuff to show up on radar. You probably know about it because of your line of work. I don't have the passwords to follow that JAMA link you sent about the C, but I'm sure Niaspan's stuff has gotten ink there over the past few years. Lipoprotein A being only recently associated with early onset heart disease, and Niaspan beig the only thing they know will reduce it.
My cardiologist was adamant that I not go cheap and buy the over the counter time release niacin. I gather the time release and dosage control of the pharmaceutical grade is essential if I'm not going to end up waiting for a donor liver.
And one night I staid up late watching a movie & having martinis after I'd taken my meds, and I got to feel something few men ever do. A real, bonafide hot flash. I think I drank about a gallon of water before bed that night, I felt like my fucking skin was on fire.
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