Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Chemically Altered

I've been here for two and half months now, and this has been, by far, the most stressful PCS I've had. Even after I got my truck and my stuff moved into my house, I was still reeling from all the tension. For this reason, I was thinking the move plus work plus lack of social outlets was collectively causing my severe bouts with stress and worry. But something this week made me think differently.
Just over a month ago, on one of my rash appointments at the hospital, I asked the doc to give me something for my allergies. He gave me Claritin (which I've taken before) and Singulair (which I hadn't). When I saw one of the possible side effects of Singulair was suicidal thoughts, I laughed it off. Then both prescriptions ran out last Thursday, and I hadn't had the chance to go by the pharmacy on base to refill them until today. I've started to get a little sniffly, which is bothersome; but you know what else? I haven't had any panic episodes since I've been off the Singulair. In fact, today, I felt like a million bucks. And NO! I never felt suicidal. (Hopefully nobody has called 911 yet.) I'm just thinking that it might have something to do with the strange mood swings I've encountered lately.
Now, it might be totally unrelated; but just to see, I'm going to stay off the Singulair and see how I feel. I don't really think I need it anyway, as the Claritin should do the job. And, in my opinion, the less drugs, the better.

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