Let's chat

[cleolinda]

Okay, we have a lot to talk about. First of all, I have a question, since I do talk about mental health and the treatment thereof pretty openly: have any of y'all had any problems with Zoloft withdrawal? I'm moving from a fairly low dose to an even lower one, and I'll probably stop taking it entirely after my next med check. (This is my doctor's idea, and I am on board with it; I am very vocal when something does not work for me, so it's a whole process, and it's professionally guided.) I just want to know if there's something I should look out for. Because we tried to increase it a couple of years ago, before eventually moving to Lamictal (which, after a bumpy adjustment period, has worked out really well), the Zoloft increase was... bad. It was bad. So I want to know what to look out for, so I can recognize it and go back and say "This isn't working" if I have to. (ETA: It may affect your answer to know that I'm going to try to taper entirely off Zoloft after twelve years of being on it.)

Second: I have been sick the last two or three days. Not too badly, but a low fever, some sinus drainage, a sore throat, and I've had a cough for a while. So I've been dozing on the couch a lot. I would hate to think that I am such a ~delicate blossom~ that the anxiety of posting a new Fifteen Minutes--let's face it, I only do this 2-3 times a year, so there's kind of a psychological build-up to it--did me in, or smacked my immune system upside the head, or what. But it's possible. I'm usually a bit done in for a day or two after these things, after all. Because I am, apparently, a fragile little e-flower. Who knows.

Third: Let's have some linkspam.

Ed Norton Not in 'Avengers', Marvel Says It's Not Money, Rep Claims It's Totally About Money (long story short: Marvel basically goes out of its way to say, and I am paraphrasing, "This guy is a dick. I mean, we could have just maintained some kind of polite fiction about what happened, but no. This guy is a dick"); 'Hulk Is Bigger Than All of Us': Edward Norton Offers a Facebook Franchise Farewell; Mark Ruffalo in Advanced Talks to Play New Incredible Hulk.

Here is Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern!; More Green Lantern photos!

Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon Confirmed for 'X-Men: First Class."

First Full Length Trailer for Fincher's 'The Social Network.'

Johnny Depp's 'Dark Shadows' Finally Finds a Screenwriter.

Janis Joplin Biopic Starring Amy Adams In The Works, 'Twilight' Producer Wyck Godfrey Says. ... what?

Twilight vs True Blood with dolls.

Elizabeth Banks to play live-action Tinker Bell.

Trailer for Shyamalan-produced thriller 'Devil,' about people trapped in an elevator with the devil.

King Arthur's castle and round table may have been found at last.


Meanwhile--bear with me, I'm going somewhere with this--this is my new favorite thing. Yes, it's actually a "mystical eye" design.

And there is a reason I am showing you this, because: we have to talk about this Twilight engagement ring, again, some more, because somehow, this week, it got EVEN WORSE. So. Okay. It's described in the book as an oval of diamonds. Whatever. Someone had a book-inspired, author-designed replica they were selling before the movies even came out.

I'm... not a fan. Someone on Etsy even came up with a better design. Although I have seen a number of people say that they have the book replica ring and they love it, and if it makes you happy, then I'm happy for you. Apparently they now sell it in real-diamond format, and people have actually gotten engaged with it. Maybe it doesn't photograph well, I don't know. But as I have previously said, I can show you better designs without even breaking a sweat. In fact, this time I'll give you six instead of three. And technically, that last link has two different rings, both of which I love, so that's a total of seven designs (ah ah ah!). Seriously, I can do this all day.

So then we had the movie ring, for which the costume designer was forced (or so I read) to use Stephenie Meyer's design rather than come up with an actual, decent, Victorian-inspired ring, and lo, it did look like a cheese grater, and yea, I was !!ANGRY!!. Not because I particularly give a shit what kind of rock Bella Swan ends up with, but because I am, as you can see, a jewelry nerd. And this. WHAT. WHAT IS THIS.

And now, we have the cheap-ass NECA prop replica of the movie ring.

I just give up. I do. I give up. If you buy this and are willing to wear it in public, you deserve it. And I say this as someone who owns an $8 Nenya. It came in a light-up box. And I STILL have more dignity than--this.


Meanwhile-meanwhile, YA Highway has linked to me a couple of times this month---first to the "Twilight and the female gaze" entry, now to Eclipse in Fifteen Minutes--which is nice.

What I saw while I was over there was... not so nice.

@cleolinda: Also via @yaHighway: YOU GAVE YOUR BABY A PUNNY TWILIGHT TRAMP STAMP? http://tinyurl.com/3a8psqu

@cleolinda: I AM GOING BACK TO BED NOW AND THAT BETTER HAVE BEEN A DREAM WHEN I COME BACK.

@cleolinda: Although that is by far not the worst Twilight-related tattoo, temp or otherwise, I have seen. Please do not send me other examples.

@cleolinda: Obviously it's temporary. I don't even care. THE INSANITY IS NOT.

@cleolinda: If you turn that baby around and it's wearing an "Imprinted!" baby shirt like the one I saw, I'm burning this place to the ground.

@rhiannonrevolts: @cleolinda ...you saw WHAT. // THESE. http://tinyurl.com/37ghr4o http://tinyurl.com/2u647f2

I'm going to go lie down again.

Comments

[glenvorian.livejournal.com]

*Makes cleo some chicken soup*

Feel better, doll!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks.

[bienegold.livejournal.com]

If you're slowly ramping it down, you shouldn't have too much of an issue with withdrawal. I'd consider saving the last few and cutting them in half to draw it out as long as possible, though. Zoloft's not as notorious for sucky withdrawals as some of the other SSRIs, but it is there.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I ramped down from 100 to 50 a year or so ago, so I'm going down from 50 to 25 now, and will probably try to go off it all together in October. At the same time, I'm also still on Wellbutrin and Lamictal, so it's not like I'm going off anything entirely. We may try to ramp off the Wellbutrin as well eventually, but we both think--given that my mood cycling is getting worse rather than better, as it tends to, it's something I need to be on medication for. It's not like depression, chronic or otherwise, in which just therapy might help, you know? The whole bipolar thing really does seem to need medication, at least for me. And we're thinking now that getting off antidepressants entirely (if gradually) and going with just Lamictal may be a better way to stabilize things.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

I know if I miss a dose, it makes my lips buzz and the planet goes sideways.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I tend to get kind of flushed and dizzy (NB: I was already sick before I cut down the dose) if anything gets screwed with in any way. Miss a pill, take one late, etc. If that's the side effect I get, I know that everything's okay, because that's normal. It's when I get such hideous back pain that I have to crawl up the stairs, like that one time, that we have problems. Or, say, the legendary Fatal Rash.

[cellardoor28.livejournal.com]

oh hey, I have the One Ring that came in a light up box, so I have no place to judge :p

(In fact I've had two as the first one was STOLEN - someone actually thought it was a proper ring).

Also, random fact - 'lion on a cheesegrater' was an ancient Greek sexual position (quote in Lysistrata? possibly? maybe a different Aristophanes, it's been a while :P).

Also also, I am happy to discuss drug withdrawal etc, but maybe not here (ie a public post) if you understand me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I... what? Lion on a... how?

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

All I have to say is that Lamtical has been a godsend to me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

After I got past the really scary possible side effects (FATAL RASH), it really has helped a lot. I still have bad days or weeks, but I feel much more even over all.

[seferin.livejournal.com]

So I want to know what to look out for, so I can recognize it and go back and say "This isn't working" if I have to.

I have switched off, and have found there is a period, usually about two to three weeks after you are off the meds completely when you may get a reaction. It's your body being totally off the pills, and reacting. Option A is to plow through it, Option B is to go on something else. Your preference as to what you do, but expect the emotional roller coaster around then.

Some Xanax, if available, may help even things out.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah... Zoloft was the first psych med I was ever on, which means I've been on it for twelve years. You can see why I'm a bit concerned, no matter how slowly we taper off.

this and that

[mell-c.livejournal.com]

Yes, the ring does keep getting worse. I saw the pre-movies book version for sale somewhere at multiple levels- costume, fine, etc. Perhaps the ring will morph again with the insanity of BD the movie?

As to Zoloft: I wanted to share an experience with it I had several years ago when a doctor prescribed for sleeplessness and anxiety. My experience taking it was so negative (it made my insomnia and anxiety worse; gave me vertigo; made me feel like I was walking on spongey ground; and the kicker-severe GI distress) that I quit the med cold turkey. I'm not telling other folks to try this. But I think I was a case where Zoloft was just making me worse. I had no withdrawal when I quit. An on-line Zoloft support group (independent of the drug maker, btw) cautioned against this approach, and not everyone is the same. I was so miserable I sought out a new doctor.

I think I started out at a lower dose- maybe 25 mg. I complained of side effects, and doc kept UPPING the dosage, saying my side effects were related to the anxiety. I might have been up to 150 mg near the end. My ill feelings just got worse. Doc told me to eat lots of rice to counter the GI problems, which were pretty awful. Not sure if your increase had any of these same effects, Cleo.

Re: this and that

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, that does not sound like a good time. Or a good idea, even.

My last increase basically threw me into a deep, deep depression. Apparently suicidal thoughts are associated with Zoloft as one of its worse side effects, and while I just don't consider that an option, that was probably as close to it as I was ever going to get. Bad, baaaad depression. If there were other side effects, I don't remember them.

[queenanthai.livejournal.com]

the Zoloft increase was... bad. It was bad. So I want to know what to look out for, so I can recognize it and go back and say "This isn't working" if I have to.

If ANY change to your meds is fucking you up, it is going wrong. Talk to your psychiatrist IMMEDIATELY.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, believe me, I do. Maybe not as quickly as I should, but I am pretty vocal about how I feel and what I do or do not want to do next. I mean, I told her up front this time, "I don't know what we need to do, but I am pretty much broke and I have got to get some projects finished, so we can't do anything that's going to mess me up and prevent me from working in the next few months. Like, even a little."

[merikeh.livejournal.com]

Okay. Yes. Firstly, that ring is Hideous. Even more Hideous than I ever could have dreamed of hideousness being. Why? I mean, just why?

Second of all, that baby with that tattoo and those t-shirts are the stuff nightmares are made of.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I think it says something about me that--assuming it's a temp tattoo--I'm most offended by the pun. I mean, not that it isn't a tight race to the finish.

[castleatmydoor.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who thinks the Green Lantern costume looks like it's made of GREEN JELLO?

[piccgirl.livejournal.com]

Icon love!

Just wanted to say it! (icon only related in person in icon, not subject)

[ceilidh-ann.livejournal.com]

Amy Adams? As in Giselle Amy Adams? I think she's a good actress but for Joplin? I can't shake my head enough at that.

I feel a bit sorry for Ruffalo. Marvel go on about wanting to cast an unknown actor then they're suddenly in talks with Ruffalo? I didn't know his career had died.

[chaneen.livejournal.com]

Actually, Marvel's statement says they're replacing Norton with a name actor. And, yes, Mark Ruffalo (who I adore) is a name actor, but so is Edward Norton. IDEK what Marvel is thinking with that.

[norinoricat.livejournal.com]

I usually never comment... but man that replica ring looks just like a shower head.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's what an IRL friend of mine just said on Twitter.

Zoloft didn't work at all for me...

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

I think that it might have been one of the meds that made me worse. Sigh. I have a wonky brain, and nothing but Wellbutrin works. I do remember feeling somewhat worse as I tapered off it, but then my doc tapered me back onto the Wellbutrin so I started feeling gradually better, or as well as I felt at all in those days.

I just talked to my doc about brain mechanisms yesterday. She reminded me that it takes about three weeks for doses to get established in our brains because of the way our receptors handle uptake. Don't forget that. It sucks, but that's the way our dratted meat computers work.

Also, I hate ALL those rings, and would probably get more depressed if I had to wear them. They all look as if they should be magnetic and would make the wearer stick to refrigerators. Yes, even the first one.

Re: Zoloft didn't work at all for me...

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I generally find that it takes three weeks for the benefits to kick in... and no time at all for the side effeccts. >:(

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Hope you feel better. Colds suck especially in summer. Especially in the South.

And those imprinting baby shirts just made me throw up in my mouth a little. Just...noooooo. Nonono.

ETA: Oh and you KNOW those cheap cubic zirconia are going to start falling out of that prop ring in like two days. Then there'll be weird blank spots and general vending machine wtf-ery.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'd be surprised if those "stones" weren't just crystal, or maybe polished glass.

[smands.livejournal.com]

This is one of those secondhand uninformed opinions that likely means nothing, but I just wanted to say a good friend is in the process of going of Zoloft entirely, and that she also got sick during the withdrawal process. In all she felt her immune system was compromised while she was taking it the whole time bc she got colds a lot more/couldn't explain it otherwise. She's definitely been feeling and sleeping better since she's been off it entirely (about 1 week after weaning now). Hope you are feeling better soon!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hm. I will say that I was sick before I started taking the lower dose--sick on Wednesday, new dose on Thursday. (I kind of just figured that if I was going to feel crappy anyway, it was a good time to start cutting down.) But that's interesting, because I didn't really feel feverish until Thursday.

[katedhart.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking to YA Highway. :) I apologize for sending you back to bed with inappropriate baby butt though. I kind of want to plaster "THAT'S NOT MY KID I DID NOT DO THIS" across the picture.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

O hai!

I'm still convinced that if you turn the kid around, she's wearing one of those baby shirts.

[jennnk.livejournal.com]

The movie replica ring looks like the jewelry version of lotus boob. Don't google that if you value your brain cells.

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

AHHH DID NOT SEE UNTIL NOW, AND NOW WILL NEVER UNSEE.

[ladymalchav.livejournal.com]

OMG, it's Lotus Ring!! D:
Someone needs to animate it!



As for Zoloft, I've gone on and off that so many times I've lost count. I generally get a week or two of dizziness and numbness, starting a day or two after I stop taking it. I've never tried to wean off it, though, I'd just go straight from 150 or 200 mil to nothing.

[shadrad.livejournal.com]

Re: Zoloft

For me, I got frequent headaches as a result of trying to get off of it, but I'd been on it for many years. The best solution was going to a low dose and then jumping ship to a different anti-depressant at the same general dose level.

[wondersheep.livejournal.com]

I saw that baby with a tramp stamp photo on some other site and the first thing I thought was, "Get some ointment for that poor kid's diaper rash!"

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Comment twins!

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

"First Full Length Trailer for Fincher's Sorkin's 'The Social Network.' "

Fixed that for ya ;)

Who was it thought "Gotta cast Janis Joplin....I KNOW! Amy Adams!"???

And if you're gonna put a New Moon tat over your baby's moons, can you make sure he doesn't have friggin DIAPER RASH?

And the IMPRINTED ZOMFG. "I want my child to be bound to a furry guy 20 times her age. PEDOPHILIA, YAY!"

My icon is for Ms. Meyer.

[bearus-maximus.livejournal.com]

So yes, let's talk for just another moment about that ring and how it is SUCH AN EFFING GAWD AWFUL NON-PERIOD ACCURATE PIECE OF HORRIFIC CRAPTACULAR SHITE!

Whew. Thanks, I feel loads better. I actually gasped aloud in the theater upon seeing it because I was THAT HORRIFIED! Who lets her be in charge of stuff like this? Do the producers not understand that part of their job description is make sure that shite like this doesn't make it into the film least of all ON SCREEN!

Ok. I'm better now. Thank you for indulging me and my rant.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

That ring looks like the lotus boob thing that creeps me out. Which reminds me of that frog that has babies out of its back. Which make me SQUIRM AND ITCH JUST THINKING ABOUT IT ZOMG AAAAAAAHHHHHHH.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I swear, that ring is like a Rorschach test for people's squicks and phobias. I have heard so many different things people see in it, and they're all horrifying.

[amity-erin.livejournal.com]

I think the best part of watching Eclipse was, after Edward presented the ring to Bella, my boyfriend leaned over and said "it looks like a diamond cockroach."

I had to stifle my giggles, lest I be mauled by pre-teens swooning at the *~romance~*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

... thus proving my comment right above this one, that this ring is a glorious Rorschach test of horror. That is both a comparison I have not heard before and also one that is completely accurate.

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

Well I took Zoloft for about a year and half after the birth of my twins. I was a bit touchy for a while, this according to my hubby. I got very irrational about things for a period of 6 months before evening out. Physical? not really but since I am diabetic with neuropathy I am pretty much in pain every day and take neurotin for that.