Off Your Rocker or Just Off Your Meds?

You never know how well something works until you don’t have / can’t take it anymore. Or so they say.

If I had to hazard a guess, I bet everyone who has ever been prescribed medicine from their doctor has wondered at one point or another if their medicine actually works or not. I am certainly no exception to this. It is, in fact, something I have been dealing with currently.

Having been scheduled for surgery, there were a couple of different medications I am required to stop taking a week prior to my surgery date. The first is Meloxicam. It’s something I’ve taken for the better part of 15 years for my fibromyalgia and spinal issues (nice way of putting the many herniated discs I have). In my personal opinion, it’s the holy grail of anti-inflammatories. I would NOT be able to function on a daily basis at such a high pain threshold if it weren’t for this medication. So I can safely say that this is one of those medications that improves my life for the better.

If you ask some folks, such as the natural healer I visited to have acupuncture done for my migraines, they will tell you (as they told me) that taking this medication long term can cause all sorts of damage to internal organs such as your stomach, kidneys, and liver. I am, in no way, in a position to refute that statement as I have not done my research (shocking I know) and do not possess a medical degree. However, what I will say is that I have had an endoscopy done and there is no damage to my stomach or intestines thus far from taking this medication much to the surprise of my doctor.

Representation of my ADHD / Bipolar brain on any given day.

The second medication I was instructed to quit taking a week before surgery is for my ADHD, Methylphenidate. This is the generic for Ritalin. Thankfully, I do not have to quit the bipolar medication that works in conjunction with the ADHD meds, or as the title of this post suggests, I would definitely be off my rocker, not just off my meds.

In my particular case, I didn't realize how much the ADHD medication was working until I had to stop taking it for surgery. There had been some obvious signs it was working prior to stopping the medication altogether. Better concentration and less distractibility were certainly noted. Another lesser-known benefit to taking ADHD medicine is that it inadvertently has the ability to help manage the severity of bipolar episodes. So the hypomania isn't so hypo and the lows are quite as low.

Something else I encountered when I had to stop taking my meds was medication rebound. For me, this happens when the medication I'm using starts to wear off, or when I have to stop taking it completely due to surgery. The symptoms that were once managed by the medication become more severe or "flare up." Medication rebound can also happen if the medication dosages are incorrect. If the doses aren't strong enough and begin to wear off, you might experience symptoms more intensely.

Am I off my rocker or just off my meds?

Regardless of which medicine you need to stop taking, it's critical that you are aware of how it will affect you personally. Ironically, as a result of being off my medication, it has taken many attempts to focus on writing this particular blog post. I have started and stopped at least a dozen times. You may be wondering why that is. After all, it can't be that hard to sit down and write a quick post on the effects of stopping a medication and how it relates to me specifically.

That would be a big fat yes. Yes, it is that hard to write this post. I have likened a woman's brain many times to an internet browser. At any given time, there are 86 tabs open at all times. Now, for me, with my wonderful ADHD brain, those same 86 tabs are open, but my mind is flitting between at least a dozen of them, trying to focus on each one individually but failing miserably. So instead, within those twelve tabs, I am working on five of them "simultaneously" while the other tabs are not quite "closed", they are just lurking in the background waiting their turn.

An even better representation might be the snapshot of me and my ADHD as provided below, on any given day. This specific instance just happened to occur when I was off my medication.

Hubby is making my iced coffee and tells me to go grab the sweetener from the bathroom (yes, it's in the bathroom because that is where I drink my iced coffee in the mornings when I am getting ready for work - don't judge). I head to the bathroom to retrieve the sweetener but notice the unmade bed. I set my phone down on the nightstand and proceeded to make the bed. Next, I head into the bathroom to get the sweetener and notice dirty clothes on the floor. I scoop those up and put them in the hamper, which is full, so I take them to the laundry room to start a load of laundry. I put the clothes in the washer and Hubby asks where the sweetener is. Crap, I've forgotten all about the sweetener at this point and the iced coffee for that matter so I head back to the bathroom to get the sweetener and notice my phone on the nightstand. I remind myself to grab it on the way back (because logically that makes more sense). I grab the sweetener, forget the phone, and head to the kitchen. But before I can put the sweetener in the iced coffee I notice I never started the laundry so I put the sweetener down so I can go get the laundry started. After this, I come back to drink the iced coffee but realize I still don't have my phone. So I head back to the bedroom to get my phone and then when I return to the kitchen, I grab a soda from the fridge and open it because I've forgotten all about the iced coffee, yet again. Hubby asks what the heck I am doing because I still haven't put sweetener in my iced coffee and now I have gotten an entirely different thing to drink. And that is how my morning went if you can imagine it.

The Infamous Sweetener

Just what was the answer to the question, off your rocker or just off your meds? No, I wasn't off my rocker, well not too much; I was just off my meds. So as you can see, I am definitely one of those folks who can see the benefits of taking the medications I take. If you have a similar story or can relate to the one above, I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Disclaimer: I do not have medical training. The details I share are purely based on my personal experiences and the research I perform to gain a better understanding of my conditions and disorders. For any questions or concerns, please consult a medical professional.