Busy morning this morning
Doctor as usual first thing
On my way in
I pass The Plumbers house
In fact I pass his house at least twice a day
This morning he was just pulling out as I passed
And was then directly behind me
I fought the urge to give him the finger
And make rude gestures in the rear view mirror
Thankfully
He turned off at the next road
I think he has a new girlfriend though
Because often when I pass
There is a sporty little number parked outside his house
My sister says it looks like a hairdressers car
How she works that out I'm not sure
I'm not stalking them or anything
I just happen to be an observant person...ahem
Anyway
Enough about them
Good luck to them
They make a good team
She can cut his hair
And he can service her pipes
A match made inheaven
It was short and sweet today at the doctors
Just the way I like it
I told him briefly about the horses
He told me he had forgotten to ring his sister for her birthday yesterday
I was out by 9 10am
And in the pharmacy waiting for my script at 9 15am
It's hard to believe that I've been going to my doctor for over ten years now
Every Monday morning at the same time
Same place
Same routine
My weekly trips trips to the doctor have nothing to do with my ED
It's because I am on a methadone programme
They can't prescribe more than a week at a time
As it is a controlled drug
And by rights
I should be drug tested every week
But my doctor rarely does this
In a way
It's good thing to have this appointment every week
It keeps me on the straight and narrow
It keeps me accountable
And God knows I need that
After collecting my script
I headed back to the surgery
I nipped in to the bathroom
To take my meds
Then took a seat outside Bredas waiting room
As I had an appointment with her at 9 30am
A couple of minutes later
Breda arrived
And I followed her in to her room
I haven't seen her in a good few weeks
So filled her in in all that has been happening
The job
The meetings
The horse riding
She said things seemed to be steady at the moment
The only thing that I need to tackle is my purging
And my physical health
Which is still not great
Breda asked me if I would be willing to take a supplement drink
Like Ensure
Just to help build up my reserves
I said I would think about it
But I'm not all that keen
I would rather eat my calories
But
If I have to I will
I feel like I still haven't fully bounced back after my latest bout of pancreatitis back in December
I still get really tired easily
Weak
Dizzy
Every day activities are a struggle
Even walking my dogs takes massive effort
And that is not like me
Because I am more active now
I'm aware that I need more sustenance
More energy
More fuel in the tank
Purging is still a problem
And I'm sure it is contributing to my feeling so off colour
So
A lot of work done
But still more to do
I am trying to hold steady as far as my weight is concerned
I haven't lost anything recently
And my BMI hovers around 17
Not too low
But still not healthy either
The thing is to try and not lose any more ground
Breda talks a lot about having a strong foundation
She compared it to a building
A building won't stand
Unless it has a solid base
In order to stay standing
It needs a strong foundation
And once the foundation is stabilised
You can add in more structures as you need them
I like this analogy
As all too often
I have tried to stand my building on a crumbling foundation
And of course it all falls down in that case
But I feel like my building is beginning to tAke shape
My foundation is solid
And my life is coming together
Now I just need to maintain things
Which is always the hard part for me
Breda asked me about using
And if I get cravings
I can't lie
I do get the odd craving
Lately I've been getting kind of flash backs back to the start of my using
I used to go to Dublin with my boyfriend and his friends
We staying in a flat in the north inner city
I actually have good memories of that time
I was using
But I was not yet addicted
I was just starting to take heroin
And I felt like my mind was opening
I felt like I was so connected to my boyfriend and the others in the flat
Of course
This was the honey moon stage of my addiction
The part where everything seems great
And you get lured in
It doesn't last long
Once you become physically addicted
You can kiss goodbye to any semblance of a normal life
And the nightmare begins
I still get cravings
I still have moments where I think that using seems like a good idea
But I'm able to ride it out
I know it will pass
If I just hold on
I do have a lot of drug dreams
They are anxiety dreams
Where I'm trying to find drugs
But I can't get to them
They are always the same
Same situation
Same people
And usually in the dream I start smoking again too
It's always a relief to wake up
Breda also asked me about things at home
And how I was getting on there
My home life is good at the moment
It's me
My Mam
And my sister
I love living here
Love living with my family
And of course Honey and Lea
I am in no rush to move out
I know I would be lonely if I was on my own
It would be good to have my own space
But I would rather live with someone
Than be on my own
I mean
I have every independence here
I can do my own thing
I can live my own life
But I still have the support of my family
God knows I need that
Plus
Financially speaking
It would not make much sense to maintain another house
I am very lucky to be in my situation
I'm lucky to have the support I have
But still have my independence
So I won't be changing my living arrangements any time soon
Also
I wouldn't like to uproot the dogs
They are so settled here
I'd hate to upset them
I can just imagine if I had my own place
I would be taking in every stray dog and cat in the county
So yes
I'll be staying out for now
I finished up with Breda
And headed back to the car to meet Mum
We did some shopping
Before going back home
These days
I am most definitely a morning person
Up until I began to recover
I was a real night owl
I loved the night
Loved that all the fun happened then
That all the mischief and naughtiness happened then
During my addiction
There was a long period of time
When I slept all day
And got up in the evening
And went to bed in the morning
I didn't see day light for months
But now
Things have changed markedly
I love to rise early
Walk the dogs
Go shopping
And other bits and bobs that I need to do
Some days
I have everything done by 11am
I hate sleeping in
And I get really annoyed with myself if I do
This has to do with the fact that I have a fear of not being able to sleep at night
So I get up early to tire myself out
So I will definitely sleep that night
My fear of not sleeping stems back to my addiction
During my using
I had some desperate nights where I couldn't sleep
And was sick and in withdrawal if I had no drugs
Those nights were endless
So lonely
So painful
I am loathe if that will ever happen again
And everything seems worse at night
There were some nights that I thought would never end
And I would cry with relief when morning broke
Now I do everything in my power to make sure that I do sleep at night
I guess it's kind of a phobia of sorts
Thankfully
I have put those days behind me now
And i am eternally grateful for that
With all that said
I was wondering about you
Are you a night person?
Or a morning person?
Why do you think you are this way?
What do you do to ensure you get a good nights sleep?
Are you like me and fear not being able to sleep?
Inquiring minds want to know.....