You can have your cake but you can't eat it

I am baking cakes today - Lemon iced cupcakes.  Just waiting for the ingredients to reach room temperature before I start.  I'm baking them for a cake sale tomorrow (I think it's in aid of some sort of cancer charity but I'm not 100% on that - at least it's for a good cause).  It's in Burgess Hill, and is part of what I'm doing tomorrow.  Because... ... I have a Taekwondo competition tomorrow.

I am so rubbish at taekwondo I'll be lucky to come away with my dignity left intact, let alone a medal.  Jeez, if my friend Michèle heard me say that she's tell me to shut up.  I've entered to do patterns and sparring, and maybe I might enter tag team on the day.

Oh I guess the tide must be out (because I feel low)

I'm posting this from my iPhone so please bear with me if it doesn't work out ok.

Today I think I reached some sort of breaking point. I feel so low with voices and paranoid thoughts but mostly because of my eating problems. I binged then purged twice today, usually it's once a day or once every few days. I hate doing it but if I don't do it, my anxiety levels just build up and up and I can't cope with it. I don't even know how to get out of this cycle and I don't care. I've had thoughts of suicide today. Just fleeting thoughts. I'm not going to act on them even though they are very distressing.

I'm feeling so apathetic and lethargic I didn't do any housework like I said I would, I planned to do the vacuuming and some laundry but it never materialised into an action. I guess I will save it for tomorrow. I'm seeing my psychologist tomorrow, I don't know what I'm going to say, I've tried implementing the ideas we discussed so I just feel like a faliure for not achieving. Hopefully I can keep busy and keep my mind away from any distress that is there.

I'm knitting a sweater. A bright yellow sweater. It's the first thing I've knitted that isn't a scarf. I'm not going to lie, it is hard But I'm getting there. I hope to finish it by the end of the week.

As a family (me, my fiancé and our pets) we are finding it hard to keep up with the rising cost of living and I think that is adding to my anxieties. I would say IRS keeping me awake tonight but I think the fact that I didn't get out of Ben until 1 might be what's keeping me awake. Ah well I had better try and wind down now.

Hope you're having a better time than me,
Allie x

Had to share

Meeting New People

I've been experimenting with templates as you may be able to tell...TODAY
Today was a sad day but also quite a good day.  As I said in an earlier post, my fiancé's grandad died last week and today was his funeral.  I hadn't known him long but I feel privelidged (sp?) that I met him.  I made vanilla cupcakes with icing and put a fruit pastille on the top of each one (his favourite sweets) - they went down really well, some people took some for their journey home.  It was nice to hear stories about his grandad from others and celebrate his life.  It still hasn't sunk in that I'll never see him again.
Of course, funeral = big family get-together.  There were so many new people there.  I was having kittens about it, really anxious that they were going to judge me or think I didn't deserve to be at the funeral or wake.  I can't remember most of the names but hey-ho.  I think I did ok, I felt like I didn't know where to stand during the wake, I spent plently of time getting in people's way and even choked on a chicken salad sandwich.  Basically, another awkward day for Allie.

TOMORROW
I am working in the ECT suite again.  It is SO rewarding to see people recover from some really dark places, I've never had ECT before or needed it but I have suffered severe mental distress so I can sort of identify with some of the patients.  I think I've become more aware of peoples' differing mental health needs and I hope that I can keep on working in mental health so I can help make a difference.

ANYWAY
My community treatment order (CTO) is due up for renewal soon, for those who don't know, a CTO means that you have special rules you have to follow (take monthly anti-psychotic depot, attend meetings with doctors/nurses/social workers) and if you don't comply, the doctor has the legal power to "recall" you to hospital.  I have a habit of stopping medication when I feel well, and that leads to relapse.  The last relapse I had was traumatic, not just for me but also for everyone else involved.  So, I have the decision to make as to whether I feel I can manage my own medication and health without the CTO forcing me to comply.  I'm going to have to do it myself at some point, but am I ready now?

Happy week everyone,
Allie x

PS
I have raised prolactin levels so my medication may be going down from 75mg every 3 weeks to 50mg every 4 weeks.  I hope I can still function on it, kinda nervous though

Pretending to be a Ninja

Hi again everyone, Allie calling!

Today (I think) so far has been a good day for me, even though it's only half 3.  I haven't binged for the last two days and by the end of today will have made 3.  We've had some sad news in the family, my fiancé's grandad passed away on Thursday.  Yesterday we met my fiancé's parents at his nan's house to give her some support and we stayed for dinner.  I usually get very anxious when I have to have dinner away from home or in front of lots of people but I had a nice healthy salad and I chose mostly vegetables and lean ham.  But the point of this story is that I had dessert: Apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  And it didn't trigger any binge urges.  I'm so proud of myself for that.

I saw my psychologist on Thursday, which went well.  She made me aware of the fact that my ED was getting to the stage it was at when I first saw her, which means that there is a path out of it because I recovered from it last year before relapsing.

Had taekwondo training today, a one-off fitness and sparring session.   I was a bit nervous about going because I don't know many people who go to the other clubs (it was lots of clubs training today) but I was happy to see a friendly face on one lady who trains in Bexhill and is the same belt as me.  I found out I am a bit poo at sparring although I think I've improved a bit.  I also did patterns as I am entering a competition at the end of May to do patterns and sparring.  The pattern I am doing is Do-San, and one of the black belts helped me fine tune it.

I guess the point of this post is to tell you all that I am feeling empowered, like I can actually move forward out of my own mental health problems and start out on the path towards a normal life.  It's about time!

Oh and my rabbit has just chewed a big hole in my favourite jumper.  He's the one in my profile pic...

Take care,
x Allie

Lemonade and Pepsi Max

I've been drinking far too much diet lemonade (I like the Schweppes brand -3 litres for £1.79 at my local shop) and Pepsi Max.  I'm using them as my coping mechanism at the moment, like turning to food for comfort, I am turning to low calorie fizzies to make me feel better.  It's better on my waistline, I guess?  Argh!  My teeth!  My uncle is a dentist so I usually play down how much of the bubbly stuff I drink and hide the 24 can packs of Pepsi Max whenever he comes over.


Work was good yesterday, I got chatting to one woman about the perils of men and I talked to another lady who was really depressed and suicidal.  You'd think I'd feel depressed too being around people with severe depression, considering I have suffered from depression (pretty sure I still do), but I feel like I need to be positive in the hope that I can help the patients feel a little more positive.  Even if they don't want me to talk to them or keep themselves to themselves, I'm still there if they need me.


I had a massive lie in today, I woke up at 11 am - shocking.  Yesterday I managed to convince my psychiatrist to let me try an increased dose of my SSRI antidepressant because I'd heard that high doses of some SSRIs can help with bingeing and bulimic behaviours.  So now I'm on the maximum dose of it now, and although I just started it today, I haven't binged for 2 days (it was touch-and-go though earlier), I've eaten healthy meals and I like it, I think I've achieved some sort of balance between needing so much control (restricting food) and having no control (binge/purging). 


My mood today has been fairly positive even though I've not really done that much, I gave my mum a copy of the official Royal Wedding Album.  Voices have been manageable today, just looking forward to phoning my fiancé tonight as he is away :)


Take care everyone,
Allie x

My brain is melting!!!

I've been on the phone to my car insurance on hold for the last half an hour.  All I want to do is cancel my policy!  My brain is starting to shut down with the repetitive renditions of Mozart that I keep getting played to me. :-/

That and I really need a wee :-O