For the longest time now I have been taking a medication called Nortriptyline which, if taken at normal dosages (75mg to 125mg), is used as an anti-depressant. However, when taken at very low dosages (10mg) it becomes a very effective pain killer for those who suffer from chronic pain–like me. Unfortunately as time went on it also gradually killed my thinking processes as well hence the lack of meaningful posts or anything else meaningful for that matter. Yes, I did have a bad case of Mad Baby Disease but that just kept me from posting for about a week or so but this increasing lack of thinking ability was getting beyond the point of becoming seriously serious.
So the pain med went bye-bye. And over the last several days my thinking ability has almost returned to it’s usual sub-normal operation (I’m definitely noticing things again in other words. Wait a minute…Where did these cats come from?)
So what does this have to do with my eyesight? Well, a couple of the medications I’m forced to take due to these disabilities of mine tend to degrade my eyesight a bit. That plus the fact that I am getting older has promoted me to the level of having to wear reading glasses for anything that might involve seeing anything within say, 5 feet or less. However, anything beyond that was always crystal clear. But now, after having been off the Nortriptyline for just over a week, my eyesight seems to have gone wonky altogether.
I used to have to wear the glasses to see anything on my display or to read a book or to fix or build anything in the workshop or even to see myself in the bathroom mirror while shaving. Otherwise I might have shaved something off that I’d want later. Now, if I have the reading glasses hanging off the end of my face, my display is fuzzy. I have to take off the glasses in order to read things like Google news, a book or even my own blog when I couldn’t make out a thing before. Good, right?
Not quite. Now my keyboard is fuzzy so my spell checker is putting in overtime. I don’t get it.
Not only that but the formerly crystal clear portion of my vision has gone weird on me where I can now see the dashboard of my Jeep which used to be fuzzy around the edges before I quit the med. And I never needed glasses to read the road but now everything beyond the Jeep’s hood out to a quarter mile is fuzzy and I don’t have glasses for that, that’s for sure. Like I said…I don’t get it. Hopefully it’s all temporary because I have no idea what I’m typing right now. Good thing I can see the screen.
Of course the real question here is…did the medication really kill the pain? Ooooohhhh yeah! Did it ever! In fact I’m finding out just how effective it really was.
But I’ll trade comfort for thinking any day. Well, at least for the time being that is. Putting comfort before sharp mental processes doesn’t put intelligible posts on the blog now does it? It also resulted in my honey talking to the cats more than she talked to me. Better conversationalists I imagine.
Wait…you mean someone lives with me?
Kirk,
Well… maybe I could quit one of my med’s to get my brain back. *G* “Now which one shall I start with”, she says.
Hope you find relief from your pain and hope you get the vision thing figured out as well.
What? I can’t see what you’re saying.
Hi Janet,
I know, we could make a game out of it. Like the “Toss-a-Med” game (involves dice, your meds and spinner type thingy) or the “Quit a Med and See What Happens” game (where the players try to guess which med you quit by the withdrawal symptoms you exhibit. Can be played alongside the “Toss-a-Med” game).
What do you think?
LOL, pretty crazy.
Did you wean yourself off the Nortriptyline or quit cold turkey? Another thought ~~ if the medication was effective in pain control instead of going off it completely what if you reduce the dose? Alot of times with these medications it’s trial and error with dosing to minimize side effects yet be effective. I’d hate to see your pain get way out of control again.
Hi Elaine,
Initially I quit cold turkey. Since I’ve always used the pain I’m experiencing to gauge how my body is doing and how much physical activity I can handle thereof, I really needed to see how much pain the med was actually blocking (besides wanting to think again). It was working quite well in that aspect and it seems that the pain has gotten worse since I started the med in the first place.
Because of this, I’ve begun taking the med on a less frequent basis. Right now it’s “as needed” but I figure it’s going to be an “every third day” or “every other day” thing once I establish a routine.
You know, I really need to practice on simple yes/no answers, huh?