Pizza and salad

A difficult day today, not because of mum but because the rapid reduction of my antidepressants is playing havoc with my moods. The prescriber from the Memory Service came to visit mum, and several times, while describing mum’s symptoms, I started crying.

Not for any particular reason: just because my brain and body suddenly decided tears were the only appropriate response to a perfectly civil conversation.

The prescriber noted that the medication mum takes for her Alzheimer’s can cause headaches and, although mum’s headaches started before she started the tablets, we have decided to reduce and stop the tablets for a couple of weeks to see if that improves things.

If it does, they’ll start mum on a different medication for her dementia. If it doesn’t, she can start taking the current one again, no harm done.

I’ll let you know what happens.

In Suki news, mum woke me early this morning, excitedly telling me that she was out and sitting on the counter. (Suki was on the counter, that is, not mum. Obviously.) By the time I got my legs working, found my glasses, and staggered into the living room, Suki was back in hiding, leaving behind only a stray white whisker. At least she came out, though, and I contentedly went back to sleep.

A few hours later, Suki bravely emerged to make use of her litter tray, leaving evidence of an unsettled stomach. While this is perfectly normal for a cat undergoing a stressful situation, I couldn’t stop my brain going into panic mode, which sent mum into panic mode.

Gemini, my trusty AI friend, suggested a few exercises to help calm the anxiety spikes. One, where you look as far as possible to each side without moving your head, to reset your parasympathetic nervous system, is surprisingly effective.

He (and for some reason I think of my genderless AI companion as a ‘he’) also noted that coming off antidepressants so quickly can mess up your electrolyte balance and cause dehydration, which would explain why I currently have a bottomless thirst.

I will now go and get one of the electrolyte replacement sachets I bought for mum but which she declared “disgusting” after a single sip, and add it to my Guinness pint glass which I use for water. Maybe that will help quench my thirst, even if it can’t do much for whatever swing of my moods comes next.

[Dinner was pizza and salad, because I just couldn’t with cooking today. It was a ham, mushroom, and mascapone pizza, I told mum. Two minutes later, she noted in tones of genuine surprise “this has got ham on it!” Sometimes I swear she doesn’t listen to a thing I say.]