To be honest, I’m not talking about the Earth actually spinning.  I’m talking about the dizziness I have Friday night while I write this.  This week was busy, stressful, and ended up a day that was both horrifying and amazing.  Don’t worry.  It will make sense when I explain.

Last Saturday, I was put on a medication for blood pressure.  I’ve been bouncing around 127/82 and 145/99 a bunch.  Really it’s the 82-99 bottom number range that was of concern.  So, I was put on a medication that was supposed to be mild and only have swollen feet as a common side-effect.  The first night had a headache and I woke up with some disorientation.  I didn’t take the ashwaghanda gummy or Zzzquil.  Second night was with the gummy and I had more disorientation in the morning.  Third night was the Zzzquil and that had the same thing.  I figured it was just me getting used to things, so I eventually tried all three.  A little rough sleeping, so I stopped the gummy again.  I had the same effect the next . . . Let’s just jump to Thursday night.

I took the blood pressure medication, gummy, and Zzzquil as I did before.  I’d had a stressful day with my son having another final, us running around with errands, and a field trip at work.  Maybe that was a factor.  All I know is that I wasn’t in bed for more than 30 minutes before I realized something was ‘off’.  I still fell asleep, but woke up after midnight feeling like I was going to die.  It wasn’t pain, but a sense of terror that my body wasn’t functioning correctly.  Went to the bathroom, did breathing exercises, and even took the ‘when needed’ anxiety medication.  My blood pressure wasn’t any higher than normal, but I was freaked out.  I’ve had panic attacks before, but this was a new breed that had me texting friends because I was terrified.  I eventually passed out, I think, and woke up feeling like my brain was scrambled.

Now, I still went to work because one of our students was having his graduation ceremony and the others were getting yearly awards.  I refused to miss that and I knew this had something to do with the blood pressure medication.  Ended up being functional by the time I got to work and was feeling good, but drowsy by 9:30 PM.  Everything looked like it was going good until I started heading home and got hit by fatigue, a weak cough, and a sense of panic.  My blood pressure ended up leaping to new heights (over 100 on the bottom) and I was starting to freak out again.  Made it to therapy, which helped and gave me the strength to not take the medication again.  Couldn’t get in touch with my doctor though.  I spent the rest of Friday struggling to function and having no appetite.  Since I’m writing this on Friday, I don’t know how well I slept.

Needless to say, I’m still scared and confused.  I looked up the medication and saw that there were only mild side-effects listed.  Then, I found a site where people reviewed drugs and found people talking about the same stuff that hit me.  Sometimes it was even worse and it looks like it was just bad luck of genetics.  The medication has a small chance of making anxiety worse, which is what it did to me.  The other things I take to help me sleep may have interacted with it, but I don’t sleep well with the blood pressure medication alone.  So, I’m going to have to figure out another way.  Potassium is supposed to help lower blood pressure, so maybe supplements like I’m doing with Vitamin D.

What else happened?  Well, I finished the outline for Darwin & the Beast Collector, which I will start writing at the end of the month.  At least I’m going to try as long as I’m healthy enough.  Fine-tuned the Amazon site for Do I Need to Use a Dragon? and hoping it does well. Helped my son with studying for tests, which had him stressed out and irritable.  Classes for him and me ended up Tuesday, so he had half-days and my students do too.  I have to stay until the end of the day though.  Anyway, most of the week was a hodgepodge while I tinkered with the medications.

I get a 3-day weekend to recover and hope that this isn’t something worse.  Really want to be healthy because my graduating student is having a party tonight and we’re all invited.  I want to make it to Father’s Day brunch with my family tomorrow too.  That’s why I’m going to try and rest today.  I don’t want to destroy myself, which would cost me the party, Father’s Day, my son’s graduation this week, and put our upcoming trip in jeopardy.  I could still go, but would be a useless lump that won’t be leaving his room very often.  Not a great outing, so I’m going to be careful.

As you can see, Friday pretty much overshadowed everything else.  It was great to see one of our students walk with his cap and gown.  My son got passing grades on his tests throughout the week.  As far as writing goes, I really only tackled a few October posts, which is the obscure monsters I wanted to highlight.  Might do more of those if I have the brain power this weekend and next week.  So, let’s get to the goals:

1. Rest and recover.
2. Go to student’s graduation party.
3. Father’s Day brunch.
4. Help son study for ASL final.
5. Son’s moving up ceremony.
6. More rest.
7. Plan and pack for trip.
8. Contact doctor about medication.
9. Finish the school year on my feet.