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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Remembering?

A flurry of doctors and nurses hovered above my bed.
“Check this, check that. How’s he responding?”
Finally, “He’s coming out of it. He’ll be alright; you can move him to ICU now.

All this was a blur that I vaguely remember.
My first clear recollection was that of a psychiatric nurse standing at the foot of my bed asking me if I tried to commit suicide by overdosing on Lithium.

I really can’t remember. I don’t want to commit suicide. Since my depression is under control, I have too much to live for. I would never do something like that; would I?
I agonized; wondering if I did the unthinkable. Would I? Could I?

But what did cause my black out? I remember nothing after I went to bed Tuesday night. Sherry tells me I insisted that she go on to the bookstore without me the next morning. She tells me that she later called our daughter to go check on me. Our daughter and her husband let themselves in and went back to the master bedroom only to find me curled up in a fetal position at the head of the bed. Kimlin says that I insisted that Shaun dress me while she left the room. I don’t remember any of this; just waking up in ICU.

“But I’ve been taking Lithium for years and all it’s done is stabilize my mood. How can it knock me out after all these years?”
She mumbled something about kidneys processing and went on to grill me about wanting to die.
I didn’t want to die; I wanted to find out how Lithium could knock me out. I never did get a straight answer. Instead I got a nurse who asked me if I could write my name, write a check, write down my address, make change for a one dollar bar of soap, catch a cross-town bus; (I flunked this one because I haven’t ridden a city bus in 40 years). So she asked me if I could find my house from the hospital. I asked her about the Lithium but she didn’t know. I left the hospital two days later with my question still unanswered.
I continue to wonder.
What if it happens again and I don't wake up?

8 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear you are alright. I've been wondering where you were. Are you scheduled for a follow-up?

    ReplyDelete
  2. papercages
    Thank you for your concern. I still haven't gotten an adequate answer to my question about Lithium except it may cause the kidneys to shut down. How that relates to consciousness I don't know.
    Thanks again for caring
    darrel

    ReplyDelete
  3. lithium levels have to be closely and carefully monitored with blood work. My Ex husband had a similar episode with his lithium. over time it builds up in your system and it is also found naturally occurring in some water sources.
    I would get your primary Dr, not psych provider do blood and refer you to a kidney specialist (nephrologist) find one who will talk to you about how your head meds affect your kidneys.
    don't take no for an answer.
    and don't put up with there attitude that you did something wrong.
    a doctor was negligent here. If your weren't having regular blood draws for levels then I would suggest that you find a provider that wiil be honest with you. and do some research yourself. being informed will save your life. hang in there.
    I hope they are now monitoring your lithium levels.
    Your are stronger than you realize. I am glad you are doing better.
    Adora

    ReplyDelete
  4. Darrel,

    Thanks for sharing this. I love you.

    Your 'baby" brother.

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  5. Darrel,
    I am so glad you are alright! I agree 100% with Adora. You should definitely talk with your primary asap.

    You will get through this and be better informed after it is all over.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adorabibble
    Thanks for the advice. I went to my primary and he just said "high levels of Lithium can cause serious problems"........Well duh!!!!!!!!
    My psych had been monitoring my Lithium levels.....just not often enough.
    I looked it up on the internet and found I was experiencing most of the symptoms including slurred speech which should have been a dead give away (no pun intended)
    Thanks Again
    darrel

    ReplyDelete
  7. papercages
    Yes, I had a follow up last Monday. All he wanted was the hospital records. He wouldn't talk about the OD 'til he saw their records.
    darrel
    whydepression.info

    ReplyDelete
  8. adora
    I got with my primary and got the usual grunts.....what is it with these guys???? If they don't know they just grunt?...He did blood work and urinalysis . I called his nurse (you can almost always get more info from them than from a doctor. She said everything was okay.....I can't leave my present psych because he's the only one in 30 years to really help me. If I had to choose death over going back to depression, I would choose death
    darrel

    ReplyDelete