Thank you, Mari (((HUGS)))

But I don't feel like I've really been handling things that well lately. Otherwise I wouldn't have needed to almost double the amount of Klonopin I usually take, or increase the dose of Gabapentin again.

I had a revelation: I think that the problem with the neighbors is impacting me so much because there is NO ESCAPE from them and all the noise.
Sometimes realizing things like that helps me cope with things better. Maybe it will help with this situation? IDK. I f'ing hope so.

I did tell Corey last night that I didn't mind him drinking, but if he started getting belligerent again, I'd be heading for a hotel because my mental health comes first. He didn't drink much at all, but I went to bed early, and he stayed up drinking and fell asleep on the couch. The neighbors were also quiet... about as quiet as they get when they have people over. So, I caught a break last night. I hope it continues throughout the weekend, but because of everything that's happened, there is always anxiety that something else will.


I don't feel sedated from the 800mg of gabapentin this morning like I was yesterday. My anxiety is still high, so I took the extra 1/2mg of Klonopin, and that has helped.
Once the sedation wore off yesterday, I was squirmy. I hope that doesn't happen today. It will take a couple of days to see if the gabapentin increase will take care of my problems.


I never heard from my surgeon, or anyone in her office, this week like I was told I would. That worries me. I know that she wants to get and view X-rays from a test I had done at my local hospital, and that may take time because they may have had to mail a CD to her. I hope that's all it is. But I'm really worried that my kidney function is the issue tho.

I have no idea what my pdoc would do if she has to take me off the Vraylar, or what it would do to me at this point, because I'm not exactly 100% right now. It would definitely take time. But maybe I should be on something other than Vraylar anyway because:
!) My declining kidney function, and
2) I keep needing these gabapentin increases (I've doubled my dose) to stay stable, so maybe it's not doing it's job
I should call to try and make an earlier appointment with her to discuss these issues, especially if this increase in gabapentin doesn't work out by Monday.

Glad that you got some rest in and that the neighbors behaved.
You are thinking clearly it seems to me. yes call upon your pdoc for guidance.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

Thank you, Bizi

Another night passed by without any issues
I don't think that the neighbors were even home.

I woke up at 6:30am yesterday, which is normal for me. I went grocery shopping the old-fashioned way. By the time I got home, I was spent. Corey told me that it looked like I was forcing myself to stay awake, and it "pained (him)" when he sees me like that, and told me to go to bed...
But I couldn't fall asleep even tho I was exhausted. I was fixating on the kidney function issue. I ended up taking a 1/2mg of Klonopin, and was able to sleep... for almost 3hrs.

I have been taking 2mg of Klonopin a day every day now. Usually I take 1. I was squirmy in the evening again, but it doesn't rise to the level of psycho-motor agitation, but I know the gabapentin increase isn't going to work this time.

Rolling around in bed unable to sleep served a purpose;
I've decided that even tho I want to have the surgery done ASAP, I have to get off the Vraylar, so hopefully my kidney function will rebound, or at least not get worse. It is ridiculous to continue to take a med that is causing my kidney function to decline significantly. I can't believe I would actually consider doing it.

And I need to be on a med that will work better for me. I will call and leave a message for my pdoc on Monday. I need to see her SOON. She's going to have to get creative, but she's good at that.

I can still schedule the surgery if that is okay with the surgeon, but I will need to schedule it out far enough out so that I have enough time to get stabilized on another med. It should be much easier with all the gabapentin I'm taking right now, which will probably have to be reduced. I need the benefit of an atypical antipsychotic more than the benefits of gabapentin.

Glad that you could nap...and for once corey paid attention to you and your needs.
Happy that the neighbors were quiet.
Some people are admitted to a pysch unit or hospital for major medication changes.

I hope you can just do that at home.
What do you think about that?
(((((HUGS))))
bizi

Good luck Kay with you and your pdoc selecting a med to replace the Vraylar.




M

The psych office opens at 7am, so I called and left a message for my pdoc with the secretary vs. in the general mail box like you're supposed to do so she will (hopefully) get it sooner.

My treatment goals are:
1) Keep me safe, and
2) Keep me out of the hospital

I would NOT be okay with going inpatient, but I think that's a non-issue. We have worked our way out of WAY worse messes, and should just be able to transition from the Vraylar to another med... hopefully without too much trouble.

We would have to make that change regardless of my kidney function issues because I'm hypo AGAIN even though we've doubled my dose of gabapentin to try to prop the Vraylar up.

There are options, but they're limited because of past failures and side effects from several meds, and the cost of the new meds.

As far as the surgery is concerned, everything is up in the air. I don't like that.
At least I can tell the surgeon I know what has caused my kidney function to tank, and that I'm doing something about it, when I hear from her again.

Mental health is #1 right now. I need enough time to get stable before surgery.

you are so strong! and thensome

Kay

I can't remember, how long have you been on this medicine.

Not that it makes a difference with you. But this is one when
Dan was in the hospital they tried to put him on.

He had issues and didn't like it right then. He told them what
was going on, I honestly don't remember. But they changed
him to something else at that time. I was so proud of him
for knowing it wasn't going to work. It was the first time other
than an ADHD medicine he was on at one point this has happened.

Donna

I am sorry you are hypo again.
what do you think you need to do?
bizi

Donna, I have been on Vraylar for a couple of months. Honestly I can't remember exactly how long. But I have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and am on the highest dose, so it may have started effected my kidneys pretty quickly. I just hadn't had a kidney panel drawn since July.

Like Dan, I have been on some meds that I have known right away that I should not continue to take. Latuda was one of them, and I ended up in the nut house after only a couple of days of taking it. But I haven't have any side effects while on Vraylar, aside from the decline in m kidney function.

If anyone from my doc's office called me back yesterday, I never got the message!!!

I am very anxious about the whole issue. I am worried about 1) being hypo and 2) getting off Vraylar because of my kidneys. So, this is driving me bat s- crazy.
I left my pdoc a message, this time on the "med line" to make sure she gets it... if she is even in the office today. If she isn't, hopefully the covering pdoc can find a note in my chart about what the message was- if one was even left. I worry that she wanted me to come in this morning, and I've missed the appointment because I never got the message.

Bizi, I think I've already said this, but because they Vraylar is causing my kidney function to decline, I have to stop taking it. Regardless of that, it's not working out because I'm hypo AGAIN even though I'm taking 800mg of gabapentin off-label now (which is ridiculous) to try to make it work.

Because I'm still having a hard time, I can't go without extra help (another atypical anti-psychotic, etc.), so the Vraylar has to be replaced with a different med, and maybe my gabapentin could be reduced slowly down to my regular "fighting dose" of 600mg, and I think that would change would be based on my level of sedation. That is what I want.

I'm hypo now, not manic, so hopefully it will be easier to transition to a new med. Also, when I start new meds, they don't really kick in until my pdoc raises my gabapentin. That won't be necessary now because I'm on such a high dose of it right now.

There are different options to replace it, but I would defer to my pdoc because she knows what she's doing. There are a lot of meds out there that I've never even heard of.

I really hope that my pdoc is in the office today, gets the message early, and I get the help I need really soon. I'm going to get in the shower so I will be ready in case I get called in for an appointment.

Oh! The secretary from my PCP's office emailed me yesterday... they JUST faxed my lab results to the surgeon in the morning. I'm PO'ed because they were available on Thursday