Share Your World 2015 – Week 7

This is week 7 of Cee’s Share Your World. Here are her questions (and my answers) for this week.

Is the paper money in your possession right now organized sequentially according to denomination and with the bills right side up and facing the same way?

It is rare that I carry paper money and there is never any order to it. The bills face every which way and occur in whatever order I shove them into my wallet. Since each bill is a different colour, it’s easy enough to find what I am looking for. Got to love that Canadian “Monopoly money”.

What is your favorite type of dog?  (can be anything from a specific breed, a stuffed animal or character in a movie)

My favourite dog was Snoopy when I was little. I had a stuffed Snoopy in a raincoat that I loved. I also had a giant red bloodhound that I love. I can’t remember where he came from. He wasn’t Clifford. He came with a Christmas elf hat. I named him Poinsetter because he was red like a poinsettia.. In terms of real dogs, I love Bernese Mountain dogs. Their markings are gorgeous. I hear they are friendly and intelligent too.

If money was not an issue, would you go on a cruise?  If so where would you go?

I would try it. I’ve never been on a ship before, so I’m not sure how I’d fare. I get motion sickness of cars and buses, but not  speed boats, trains and planes. Who knows what could happen on a ship. I would like to do a Caribbean cruise. One that hit a bunch of the smaller islands.

Would you dare to sleep in haunted house overnight?

No. You’d have to offer me a lot of money. I love my sleep. It’s really hard for me to get a good night’s sleep. There would have to be a pretty big reward for me to purposely put myself in a situation where I know there’s no chance of good sleep.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last Week: I am grateful that my second bout of stomach flu was short lived!

This Week: I am looking forward to finding some time to catch up on art journaling. I thought I was going to have some time last week, but it never happened.

The Rest of the Quentiapine Story

At the beginning of September, I was at an all-time low. Psych had recommended changing my Fluoxetine (Prozac) and Bupropion (Welbutrin) to Quentiapine (Seroquel or Q) and Bupropion instead. Q was supposed to treat depression as well as the sleep problems I was having. I wrote a post about it here and then abruptly left you guys hanging for several months.

So what happened with Q? At the last post, I had been on a nightly dose of 50mg of Q for a few days. I decided that I had to keep going with it. It is important to give medication time to work before ruling it out all together. I lasted a few more days before I swore it off. You see, I blame Q for my most recent embarrassing moment!

I cringe just thinking about it. I was on the bus on my way home from work. I was uncomfortable because adjusting to Q had been making me nauseous and the bus only amplified it. I had been dealing with it for about a week and I was handling it. I’m no stranger to nausea. I normally get motion sickness riding buses or in the back seat of a car. I’m never actually sick though, thankfully. I threw up a lot as a kid. I think it was an anxiety thing. Anyway, the benefit to this is that I know my body pretty well and I know the difference between “I’m going to throw-up” nausea and just plain motion sickness.

So, here I am sitting on the bus in rush hour traffic. The bus is packed and I’m nauseous as usual. Whatever, this is my life. But, suddenly, I start getting a different feeling in my throat. It’s like the lining of my throat is being pulled downward into my stomach. That’s it. That’s my signal. I know I’m going to throw up! I know I have 30 seconds at the very most. This is what was going through my head….

“OMG I’m really going to be sick. It’s actually going to happen this time! It can’t. I have to get off the bus!”

*Turns head to see where we are and signal stop*

“Noooo!! We just got on the highway! The bus can’t stop and I’m not going to make it to the next stop! What am I going to do?!” The window! I’m sitting next to the window, I’ll open it.”

*Grabs the handle and pushes the window open all the way…….it opens about 2 inches.*

“Aaaagh!! What am I going to do now?! Press my mouth into the opening and projectile vomit onto the car next to me?! It’s going to splash back all over me. What else can I do??? A bag!!”

*Frantically searches through tote bag for a plastic bag, a tupperware, kleenex, anything…but there’s nothing*

“OMG! Running out of time!”

*Looks around for somewhere to be sick*

“I’m out of options! I’m stuck, there are so many people. The seat beside me is occupied, the window is on my other side, there is someone directly in front of me, seated at the end of my knees. There is just enough room on the floor for my feet and the person’s next to me…..”

Time is up. I convulsed. Everyone looked. It wasn’t pretty.