Every mental muscle flexed and pumping at the crank.

[reddragdiva]

The MP3 camera is fantastic for playing exercise music without disturbing redcountess. The headphone lead is annoyingly short, but I have lotsa 'phones here. The camera didn't arrive with the hand strap, so I put the one from the old Canon Powershot A40 on it, and now it has a strap somewhat larger than it is. Fear my spycam's industrial might! I also particularly recommend the seller, gdsupplies, who originally sent the wrong manual (EX-Z3 rather than EX-M2/EX-S2), but when notified promptly sent the right manual, signed-for, no less. How someone deals with a foulup is the telling thing.

(By the way, if anyone I know wants a Canon Powershot A40, you're welcome to it. Large, clunky, 2MP, takes CompactFlash of which I can't find any of mine, appears to be working, may stop at any time. Free, must cost me 0 to get it to you.)

For the first time in twenty years, I take a size 18 T-shirt. I have abdominal muscles and visible hipbones. Liz said this morning "You've got tits!" and I had to point out those were pectorals from doing pushups. I must say that this is doing wonders for my self-image. I'm really enjoying this "having a body" thing. It's nice having something worth wearing a mesh top for. (Something I started doing specifically because Liz liked the idea!)

Quite a lot of this is the speedy side effect (metabolism like a blast furnace and more energy for exercise) from being back on Cipramil, which I started on because continued unemployment was really getting me down. (Liz says I've been noticeably losing it since the flat exploded in November; I can't see that at all, but she maintains it's the case.) I was on the stuff three years ago as well. This time around it's working well enough; I'm a lot more cheerful and I'm still a bubblehead, but am actually getting stuff done. And am not quite on the same degree of crack I was when I first arrived in the UK.

The side effects are much the same this time — ridiculously increased libido with difficulty reaching orgasm (an annoying combination in some circumstances, a fantastically useful one in others!) and speeding off my head (lack of sleep, speeded-up metabolism, eating a lot less but thankfully not forgetting to eat this time around, occasionally talking even more rubbish than usual twice as fast). A new one this time is unexplained bruising, which is a bit weird, but I know there are perverts out there who like that sort of thing.

SSRIs are largely a side effect lottery and you need a GP who really gives a hoot and will act promptly at the first sign of trouble — they're medicine and to be approached with caution. But I do consider them one of the great medical advances of the twentieth century, up there with refrigeration and antibiotics &mdash so many of my friends have basically gotten their lives back from them.

Today I am in a "party on crack and rock and roll all night" mood. I hope to be at B-Movie, depending on Liz and arkady's health. Liz in particular is having a horrible time on hormone pills while waiting for Godot in the form of the Whipps Cross gynaecology and endocrinology department. So send her your love and Whipps Cross your glares.

Note, August 13th: Yes, I continue to drink like a fish on them without turning into a pumpkin. Good, huh.

Comments

[privateskylark.livejournal.com]

I'd gladly take the Powershot off of your hands :)

[reddragdiva]

I thought you might ;-) Where do you work, in the city? I can stop by there some time. Or you could COME TO B-MOVIE and dance to music that doesn't go bleep ;-D

[privateskylark.livejournal.com]

Having spent 99.9% of my wages I can't go out anywhere unless I beg for money from the Parental Unit ;_;

I work in Tottenham, as in N17, not TCR :P It's not the easiest places to get to, but I'm more than happy to travel to pick it up - I love adding cameras to my little collection :D

[reddragdiva]

Oh, a collection ... but then you can visit us ;-) I'll email you or something later on.

[privateskylark.livejournal.com]

Oki dokie ^_^

[miss-soap.livejournal.com]

I got the bruising thing too. Plus a raft of other nasty side effects and am still struggling with withdrawal. Ick.

[reddragdiva]

You may not wish to list them on this public post, but do you have a (presumably locked) post detailing them?

[miss-soap.livejournal.com]

I posted about two weeks back asking for people's experiences on Citalopram and there's a whole bunch of stuff in there about various side-effects. Personally, I had dreadful insomnia from the moment I started taking them, plus joint and muscle pain, dry mouth, increased panic - I had full-blown panic attacks whilst taking it which I'd never had before, dizziness and bruising like a peach. Since I've stopped taking them I've had paresthesia in the mouth and tongue, joint and muscle pain, pins and needles, itching skin, increased anxiety, flu-like symptoms [which come and go very rapidly] and fatigue.

Lovely.

[reddragdiva]

Yeah, that's what I mean by "first sign of trouble!" NOT FOR YOU! AVOID!

Last time around I started on Effexor and had the side-effect where you feel like your brain is plugged into 240 volts. (Sort of like a continuous panic attack.) I have friends who do fantastically well on it, but it's not for me.

[shamus9999.livejournal.com]

"Whipps Cross"? Is that really a placename?

[reddragdiva]

It's a hospital!

[wednesday]

Wait. Am I understanding properly from other posts that you're managing to drink Significant Amounts while on Cipramil, and to no ill effect?

[reddragdiva]

Indeed. Good, huh?

[wednesday]

Wow. That's been the big warning on all of the other such things I took (all of which damn near tried to kill me with the side effects, which might lead one to believe that someone up there wants me depressed).

[arkady.livejournal.com]

Have you found yourself sleepwalking at all? That's the main side effect I got from it. I sleepwalked all the way from Hemel Hempstead to St.Albans one night and got brought home in a police car after a passing motorist saw me walking along the middle of the dual carriageway at 3am....

SSRIs really don't agree with me, but ciprimil is the only one that sent me sleepwalking.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

Every psychiatric drug has a "Do not drink whilst on this drug" warning on it. It's mostly a load of bollocks. The worst that'll happen is you'll get drunk quicker than usual or maybe more sleepy (useful if you've been having problems sleeping), but it's not actually that dangerous. I've taken every SSRI on the market, a couple of tricyclics, several benzodiazepams, a few antipsycotics, a couple of antiepileptics and lithium, and haven't changed my drinking habits with any of them - and I'm fine. In fact I can actually handle more alcohol than Diva can....

[wednesday]

Ah, see, when I started taking my first SSRI, my tolerance shot through the floor; nearly ten years later, I have yet to recover it. Then again, I'm also the poster child for psychiatric drug intolerance. Damned either way, really.