.......................and when.....

[BRATgoddess79]

You grab your lighter so you can light a cigarette...then grab the pack of cigarettes and pull one out...then realize you've lost your lighter in the span of 5 seconds...and you haven't even gotten out of your chair. So you get up and begin searching for your lighter. After 10 minutes you finally find it...and some other things you've been missing...and then can't figure out what you did with the stupid cigarette. So you look around for that...but after having spent 10 minutes looking for the stupid lighter you just give up and figure maybe you just imagined taking a cigarette out...You grab another cigarette...and when you're done smoking you get up to grab a pepsi and upon returning see the missing cigarette broken where you were just sitting earlier...oops...sat on it...but you could swear you stood up and looked under your butt. It wasn't there before...there must be gremlins in the house moving crap around...taking things right out of your hand.

And here's another....
an alarm goes off 15 minutes before you have to leave to pick the kids up from the bus stop...then another goes off 5 minutes before...then another exactly when you need to leave. So you get up, thinking you've got things under control...and you realize you can't find your stupid car keys. You remember thinking earlier "I should put my keys here so I won't lose or forget them"...but you can't remember where "here" was. So you search and try to retrace steps...then finally find them in the dumbest of places...like your jacket pocket...which isn't a stupid place..but it is stupid that you didn't think to look there first. You look at the clock as you're flying out the door and realize you have about 2 minutes to get to the bus stop....You speed all the way there, cutting people off (accidentally) because you're panicking about possibly not making it to the bus stop on time....you finally get there and sure enough...you've missed the bus. Now you have to drive all the way home cuz you forgot your cell phone at home...call the school and arrange to meet the driver somewhere else or pick the kids up at the school when the route is done. What's worse..your kids are balling their eyes out thinking mommy has forgotten them again...which is totally untrue. Talk about GUILT.

And my absolute favorite....
an alarm goes off to remind you to take your meds...5 minutes later it goes off again because you forgot to hit the button to reset it and you can't remember if you took your meds or not. If you didn't take them...you're gonna be grumpy...if you did take them...well...great...but how do you know? Can't take them now cuz if you did take them already you risk overdose. No big deal though...you'll know the answer a few hours later when you finally realize you've been yelling at your family non-stop. Apparently it takes a while to sink in?

[scattyschats]

For me its the fact that not being able to remember to take the pill gives you a whole new disinterest in sex.

Where are my keys/my glasses to find my keys/ my handbag/my lunch/ the remote / the phone/s the paperwork I brought home/ all rings true and that before I even get in the car and attempt to deliver children and get to work.

Does anyone else seem to concentrate better chewing?

[BRATgoddess79]

I laughed at your wording there....a whole "NEW" disinterest in sex.....it was funny cuz I totally know the feeling.....as if there weren't enough reasons throughout the day or week or even month to not want to have sex....like a partner who's pissed you off or any one of the many other life stresses...but we add these meds to the mix and it's like "Sex? What's that? Well tell me what I have to do to complete this sex thing and I'll tell you if I think I can handle it...and where I might be able to fit it into my schedule"
And the other mental picture I get is "Not tonight dear....I'd really rather stare at the ceiling for a couple of hours.."

Now this isn't the way I see it...but I'm sure my partner sees it this way....especially when I've taken all my meds for the day and it's late at night and I start zoning out....just staring at the ceiling or whatever catches my eye while he's trying to get my attention....he might say something to me 5 times before I even realize he's talking. It really pisses him off too...but I can't help it.

And I have noticed that chewing gum helps...I have my own theory on that too....

We are always doing a million things at once...and when we're medicated we're forced to do only a handful of things at once....Chewing gum is one of those things that makes you feel balanced/normal....it's another thing that you can be doing while you're doing something else and it's comforting.
If you're like me...you spent the first 20 + years of your life unmedicated and accustomed to the multitask overload....and once you get on meds you feel lost....you feel like something's wrong with you because all of a sudden you're only doing 5-10 things at once instead of 20 +. So tapping your fingers, chewing gum, wiggling your toes, and a multitide of other little things that are sometimes considered nervous habits...actually calm us and help us. These little habits sometimes help us to compensate for our flaws....

An example....listening to the radio at a low to medium volume while I'm driving actually improves my concentration on the task of driving, and relaxes me enough to keep any paranoid panic attacks at bay.

And having the TV on so I can either listen to it or watch it a little here and there improves my artwork...and any other college assignment I might be doing.

As for chewing gum, I do it almost constantly. I buy my gum in bulk from COSTCO so I always have plenty of it...and I've noticed that I might stop chewing while I'm not really thinking...but I am chewing when I am thinking, and the more focused I am on my thoughts, the more rapidly I chew. It's wierd.

But really, I think it just comes down to coping mechanisms, which can take on a wide variety of forms.

[ashley]

I always read best when eating--because I was chewing. Then I got 'healthy' and started chewing my food at least 20 times. Now I can't do anything but count when I chew, but I try anyway. Now when I go to lunch I end up losing count and starting over at 8 or something, and I have no idea what the person with me is saying. No wonder I need a support group.

[jessmerrick]

The Disintrest in Sex: My husband HATES it when I'm "medicated" because I'll be too busy trying to get everything done that I've been putting off when I'm off the meds to pay any kind of attention to him. Its like I either can't stop my mind from wondering or else I think about the ironing I should be doing....

Loosing keys... oh my gosh. In the freezer? Anyone else? How about in a laundry basket? A sock drawer, under the fridge, under my car seat, at my mom's in Florida (I'll be in Indiana..), in the lining of my purse... And it's not like they're small... it's a huge bulk of keys!!!

I loose everything actually. I loose my cell phone on a daily basis, I loose shoes, clothes, jewlery, remotes... my hubby... My house is always a mess, I can't cook (my mom wouldn't show me 'cuz she was convinced I'd burn down the house)... I'm always late...

Was anyone else excited about the end of late fees at blockbuster??