Sentence a Day 11.2023

Good evening, my friends.  Thanks for joining me for Sentence a Day 11.2023 – a monthly review of my November in one run-on sentence a day.  This month started out okay but mid-month things fell apart.  Read below to learn what turned my world upside down.

Sentence a Day & OGT 2023

 

Before we get started, I want to thank Rebecca Jo at Knit by God’s Hand for creating this month-in-review series.  For each of my daily entries, you will see OGT after the date for that (looooooong) sentence.  OGT = one good thing.  I am following Rebecca’s good lead by including one good thing I am grateful for each day.

Also, hoping to make the What’s Been on Your Calendar? link-up with Deb at Deb’s World, Sue who blogs at Women Living Well After 50, Donna from Retirement Reflections and Jo who can be found at And Anyways. It opens on the last Friday of each month.  Hoping this post will be ready to go live in time to join those gals.

Just a reminder:  Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After occasionally uses affiliate links which are usually italicized.  If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link provided I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.

And you can find where I link-up on this page.

Sentence a Day 11.2023

 

What a month.

Big Mess

• November, really?  Hated to leave my warm bed but got PC off for work then returned to get under the covers while I did quiet time and finished then published my October SaD post; gathered the ironing and knocked it out while watching the “Eye Drop Murder Trial” on YouTube; received vibrantly colored fall leaves from my sister in Tennessee; ran to Walmart for kitty food and litter, some food items for donations at church; had my eyebrows threaded; renewed my mom/grandmother’s yeast; finished listening to The Secret Life of Violet Grant; fixed fish sticks, tater tots and corn for dinner – a PC fave; Supernatural workout and standing abs exercises during the 7th inning stretch of the final game of the Rangers’ first World Series win.  11.01.2023  OGT:  Facetiming Declan and Brennyn first thing this morning, remembering that the enemy is the one putting stumbling blocks in my way

 

As I went up to bed last night, long after I had written my sentence, Paul called to me to come down and check my yeast in the refrigerator.  When I did, I discovered the jar had cracked and all of the yeast had oozed out all over the shelves and into the bins.  I scraped what little yeast I could off the top shelf and into a new container.  Then rinsed off the items that were yeast covered but had to be refrigerated.  Left the rest of the mess for the next day.

• Dreaded tackling the colossal mess in the refrigerator, took much of the morning to get things sorted; funny, I had such a wonderful day on Halloween, then yesterday and today were both trying in little ways; I felt like the ‘enemy’ was attempting to trip me up; had noticed yesterday the fridge needed to be scrubbed and organized but hoped to put it off until next week – guess not!!; decided to clean the oven, too, while I was at it; fixed this French onion roast but in the crockpot; walked to the Estrella Market in hopes of buying pan de muerto but they had just sold their last loaf; watched football after dinner; bedtime walk to get my steps – oh, what a beautiful orange moon.  11.02.2023  OGT:  the devil didn’t get me

Sleepy Head

• Telemarketers are worse again, calling before 7:00 am; PC was off this Friday; we planned to walk McKelligon Canyon but got started on projects around the house and nixed the walk for another day; I brushed the pool while Paul fixed a faulty sprinkler valve and tried to fix our garage door but had to call in the professional; he arrived at 1:00 pm and was done by 3:00; we had Boozy Tacos for dinner; began watching the series “All The Light We Cannot See” on Netflix, based on the book by Anthony Doerr, had tried to read the book but couldn’t get into it.  11.03.2023  OGT:  PC can fix just about anything
• My gosh, I am practically comatose lately at night and sleeping later and later on the mornings PC doesn’t have to go to work; today it was 8:17 am, followed by about an hour of being lazy in bed; we showered, ate a bite of breakfast and then jumped in the car for the Renaissance Fair in Las Cruces, NM via Tractor Supply to get pine litter for the kitties and a big bag of cheaper kitty food for the strays; the fair was much fun – lots of folks in costume; booths with all kinds of wares including floral crowns which PC treated me to, and beautiful weather; we had Chipotle for a late lunch; home to watch “Lessons in Chemistry” on Apple+ and to do our Supernatural workout; silly phone call with Brennyn gave us both lots of laughs.  11.04.2023  OGT:  pleasant day doing something different

Slower Pace

• This has been an enjoyable weekend.  We set the clocks back so I enjoyed an extra hour of sleep; showered, dressed, fed kitties and off to church; another message about heart for the house – this church does such good things; we split a Whataburger and fries afterward; walked the outlet mall; mini DQ blizzard on the way home; a lot of football watching and blog reading this afternoon; walked up to the neighborhood market to get a can of baked beans; fixed hot dogs, beans and tater tots for PC/sweet potato for me; worked on our puzzle; got all my steps – I am a StepBet winner; ready to start a new week; poor little yellow kitty keeps coming for dinner and loves and a warm place to snooze.  11.05.2023  OGT:  the slow pace of the weekend
• Good grief, I am comatose in the mornings…had the best of intentions to get up and do QT since 5:20 am would have felt like 6:20 am but I was snuggled up in my bed, so toasty warm, just couldn’t do it; got PC’s breakfast and lunch packed and walked him to the car then started the laundry; after QT, made my week’s to-do list; cleaned the litter boxes and added fresh pine litter to both; made chicken marsala in the crockpot – only fair, not delicious; took a nice walk; ran on the treadmill; painted on my Fresh Paint pumpkin; colored a journal page in my Bible while watching the “Eye Drop Murder Trial;” watched football and my fantasy team lost; off to bed after the game.  11.06.2023  OGT:  beautiful weather breaking the record with an 87* high

Joys of Growing Old

• Busy Tuesday, with 2 doctor appointments – one for PC about the spot he has on his upper cheekbone (he just told me about it on Monday, and he shared with the doctor and me that he is feeling very irritable, lethargic, he has a referral to a dermatologist, and bloodwork; we came home, had lunch, dropped in to visit Luna, then turned back around for my appointment – oh, the joys of being a senior citizen; I was given 3 prescriptions for constipation and the pain in my foot and an order for a foot x-ray; straight from that appointment across the mountain for writing – the gang was all together again, and we celebrated with cookies.  11.07.2023  OGT:  health care

 

• Meltdown day.  Attempted to take care of a couple of very frustrating issues and it took all the stuffing out of me; called Social Security to find out about whether I can apply and hope to receive SS along with my TRS retirement but the SS database was down and the person with whom I spoke was zero help; called Robinhood (e-investing) to try to change my name on my account so that it matches with what IRS shows – HAVE MERCY – an hours long ordeal that is still not ‘right’; drop-in visit with Luna; ironed after dinner just to do something mindless; by bedtime I was worn down and so discouraged; the enemy got the best of me.  11.08.2023  OGT: tomorrow is another day

Catching Up

• So glad to wake up feeling less defeated; met my old friend Lorena at her apartment downtown and we walked to Healthy Bite for breakfast then to District Coffee for lattes, good food, drink and great conversation; started to sprinkle just as we walked back to my car; dashed to have my foot x-rayed then to pick up my Walmart order; put groceries up, finished work on my Where Bloggers Live post; Hamburger Helper for dinner; watched football, did my Supernatural, off to bed.  11.09.2023  OGT:  old friendships

My Vet

• Happy Veterans Day.  Proud of my Army veteran husband.  Salute.  Struggled to wake up this morning after overnight rain and a goodnight’s sleep; showered, dressed – got to wear my raincoat a second day in a row – breakfast and then over the mountain to pick up the grandbabies; Bren called to say Declan is sick and going to the doctor, wound up testing positive for strep; took the girls to Walmart to pick out toys for Cia’s school toy drive and toiletries for the drive at Kindercare; did my drop-in visit with Luna; home for chicken nuggets and tater tots then the girls played grocery store, Connect 4, and painted gingerbread houses; took them home at 2:00 pm, walked around the Fountains at Farrah, popped into Versona (so many pretty things), Barnes and Noble, and Cavenders for a hat for PC; dinner at Casita Linda, home to catch up on “Amazing Race” and “Golden Bachelor” which I have just started watching; going to be cold tonight; hope the stray kitties are warm and dry.  11.10.2023  OGT:  the mole at Casita Linda’s was delicious…oh, the flavors

 

 

Salute

• Happy Veterans Day again – not sure if it was yesterday or today.  I don’t recognize myself these days…sleeping like the dead, we stayed up until almost midnight last night but I slept until 9:30 am!!! – what in the world??; and then we lounged in bed until 10:30, absolutely nuts!!; did a quick standing abs workout while breakfast baked; ate then did a Hasfit strength training workout; scrapbooked with my sister until 4:00 pm – still working on the last pictures from Mom’s 95th birthday; PC and I took a good walk in the neighborhood; leftovers (thankful for them) for dinner; watched TV, puzzled for over an hour; nice day.  11.11.2023  OGT: thankful for my soldier

 

Generosity

• Good message about generosity at church; iHop for breakfast – I love pancakes; walked around the outlet mall, tried on these black jeans at Old Navy but the checkout line was so long, I left them until I can go back this week for them; home to watch football; fixed taco salad for supper; did a Supernatural workout; received a text from Fluffy’s owners down the street – Fluff is the kitty we have cared for for over 4 years because his family neglects him –  apparently he got stuck in their closet and was without food or water for days – doesn’t make sense to me; his ‘mom’ texted me to tell me Fluff was very sick, I ran over with pain meds for him, gave him the medicine, and eye droppers of water then hand fed him some canned food and he seemed to rally a little; his eyes were rolled back in his head and he looked blind; his mom promised to take him to the vet (in Juarez) tomorrow, praying he improves and is out of pain.  11.12.2023  OGT: pancakes

Hibernating

• I do not understand why I am sleeping so soundly, I am unable to rouse with the alarm – worries me; did quiet time before PC got up; got him off to work; got the laundry underway, changed the sheets, made a chicken salad; then began working on my scrapbook page for a bit until PC came home to go to his dermatologist appointment about the place on his face; PTL it isn’t skin cancer but a spot sensitive to the sun – the PA froze it off; we dropped off old some old swimming vests the girls no longer use at their Y; picked up some erasers and stickers for rewards for my sub assignment Wednesday; enjoyed an afternoon matinee at Alamo Draft House, where I had a quinoa salad and a habanero Margarita; home to watch Monday night football; discovered I was prescribed the wrong medication by the doctor for my constipation…was given an antidiarrheal medication which explains 2 days of more severe constipation, will call tomorrow to find out what is going on.  Always something.  11.13.2023  OGT: no skin cancer on PC’s face

 

Early Turkey Day

• Up early for quiet time and a workout before we headed off to the urologist first thing this morning all the way across town on the eastside; repeated a PSA test and they will see him again in 6 months; across the mountain for Lucia’s Thanksgiving luncheon at school – oh, I do love turkey and stuffing; took pictures in front of the backdrop they had set up; I came back home and Paul headed to work; got the laundry all put up and the ironing done; scrapbooked a bit with my sister; chicken salad sandwiches and soup for supper; Supernatural workout; have a new Rover.com client for the Thanksgiving weekend; my sweet Fluff crossed the Rainbow Bridge, his mom texted me that he was alive with cancer and had gone blind from the period of time he was ‘stuck’ in the closet, I will miss him so.  11.14.2023  OGT:  healthcare and health insurance

 

Time with My Babies

• Up early for quiet time again and a quick abs/arms workout; showered and dressed and off to sub for a 4th grade class at the neighborhood elementary school; no lesson plans for the first little bit and couldn’t sign into the district site for taking attendance – all very nerve racking but lesson plans were soon delivered and the technology desk got me into the attendance website; kids were pretty good; home by 1:00 pm; put together a makeshift grocery list for tomorrow, worked on 2 blog posts; the pink fur stole I ordered for Cami was a hit;  pork chops, scalloped potatoes and peas – yum – for dinner, tired tonight.  11.15.2023 OGT:  opportunities

 

• Had planned to have breakfast again with Lorena, but she is at her parents’ house, and I had blog posts to finish, groceries to buy so we postponed til next week; I worked on my blog posts in bed with the kitties about me; made my grocery list for Thanksgiving; shopped the commissary and found everything I needed; home to put the groceries away; as soon as Paul got home, we jumped in the car and crossed the mountain for Lucia’s gifted and talented wax museum presentation; each GT student researched someone – she loves to sing and researched Adele, then created a board about the singer’s life, dressed like her from head to toe, and memorized her presentation, Lucia was amazing, she shone; and all the kids did a great job; McDonald’s on the way home.  11.16.2023  OGT:  how well Cia did for her Adele presentation

Long Weekend

• PC’s Friday off and a very pleasant day; slept in a bit, then enjoyed quiet time in bed and Facetiming with Bren, Dec and Mustafa; showered, dressed, fixed breakfast croissants with sausage, egg and cheese; we messed around on our laptops for a bit, then went out with screwdrivers to dig up the dandelions in the yard; did a 5 minute run on the treadmill, 5 minutes on the elliptical, 5 on the bike; Paul’s PSA test came back undetectable for cancer – hallelujah; went with PC to his stretch then we had dinner at Jason’s Deli and walked around the Fountains at Farah, impressive with all the twinkling holiday lights; bought a pink western belt at Versona – so many pretty sparkly things there; home to do a Supernatural workout and to watch “Golden Bachelor” and “Lawmen Bass Reeves.”  11.17.2023  OGT:  easy day from beginning to end, PC’s PSA test

Going Cold Turkey

• Turns out the medicine I have taken for years for OCD is no longer being manufactured, and I just found out when I was down to my last pill; not supposed to get off cold turkey but…today was the first day without it, hope I can adjust to handling my OCD tendencies without it; slept until 8:00 am, cereal for breakfast then we took a long walk in the neighborhood; PC went to lunch with some of his baseball buddies; I scrapbooked with Valerie and finally finished Mom’s 95th birthday; now to do my last visit with her when she died; made a creamy taco soup for supper; did Supernatural; a new kitty is dining from our community bowl on the patio – a Siamese-looking kitty; we puzzled and made great headway; my left leg is really hurting tonight, rarely take anything for pain but did tonight; blog reading before bed, 83* today!!  11.18.2023  OGT:  memories of a good visit with my mom

Silly Kitty

• Awakened in the middle of the night by our silly kitty Purrcy jumping on the bed with my slipper in his mouth – thank goodness we didn’t have a heart attack!!; over the mountain for church – great message about peace and purpose – John 16:33 “I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.”; following service, I volunteered for the first time ever at Abundant by handing out turkeys and boxes full of all the trimmings – great experience; Taco Tote for lunch – we shared; walked around the outlet mall – so many folks out, and little cottonwood tree blooms flitting around on the breeze like snowflakes; DQ on the way home; scrapbooked and laughed with Valerie as we tried to paint Christmas cardinals; soak in the hot tub then leftover soup for supper; Supernatural and abs workout.  11.19.2023  OGT:  volunteering and laughing

 

• Slept like a champ, popped out of bed to get PC’s breakfast and lunch before having my yogurt and coffee and playing Wordle; got all the laundry washed; cleaned upstairs, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, scrubbed the bathroom; tossed 2 pork loins into the crockpot with Claude’s marinade to share with Lauren and family tomorrow; cleaned the pool leaf catcher which was full after last night’s wind; called Social Security to find out about how to begin SS payments; booked another 4-day drop visit with Luna kitty for the weekend; walked over to meet new kitty visit clients Pistachio and Figaro whom I will care for this weekend, too; PC picked up Taco Bell so I could save the pork loin to eat tomorrow; watched as my fantasy football team lost to Brennyn this week; Supernatural workout.  11.20.2023  OGT:  opportunities

And Then My World Came Crashing Down

 

At this point, I was 4 days into my withdrawal from Fluvoxamine, and I began to become unwound.  Initially, I didn’t associate the feelings I was experiencing with withdrawal from Luvox.  I thought perhaps I had the flu, or was experiencing problems with the venous reflux in my legs or even a possible Lyme Disease flare-up.  My legs and hips ached.  My mind was foggy.  I was emotional – angry, sad, and very easily reduced to tears.

Managed to gather myself enough to do a little research on Fluvoxamine and antidepressant withdrawal.  Two articles that I read alarmed me.  One at VeryWellMind.com explained:

If you are withdrawing from an SSRI, symptoms often occur in stages. The two phases of SSRI withdrawal are acute and protracted withdrawal.

• Acute withdrawal: The acute withdrawal phase can last six to eight weeks. During this phase, you may begin to experience flu-like symptoms, have greater fatigue, and notice increased feelings of anxiety and depression.
• Protracted withdrawal: The protracted phase of SSRI withdrawal, sometimes referred to as post-acute withdrawal or PAWS, refers to symptoms lasting longer than six months. According to one study, the average person experiencing protracted antidepressant withdrawal had symptoms for 37 months (with some reporting symptoms for years).

[source]

 

The other article at AlternativeToMeds.com, outlined the following symptoms that often accompany withdrawal to Luvox Controlled Release, specifically.

Common LuvoxCR withdrawal symptoms can include:

Flu-like symptoms — fatigue, lethargy, achiness, sweating, headache, nausea, vomiting ✔️

Insomnia, vivid dreams and nightmares, sleep disturbances ✔️

Nausea, vomiting ✔️

Imbalances, dizziness, vertigo, incoordination, lightheadedness ✔️

Sensory disturbances, shock-like sensations, burning, tingling ✔️

Hyperarousal, agitation, aggression, irritability, anxiety, mania, violence, jerkiness ✔️

Check✔️, check✔️, check✔️…I had all the symptoms, with the exception of jerkiness and nausea and vomiting.

What to Do?

 

I didn’t know how to proceed; should I try to ‘tough it out’ and hope that the withdrawal symptoms subsided quickly, that I would not experience protracted withdrawal, and then just try life and living without a medication for OCD?  That was my initial plan.  But the symptoms became more intense.  I was crying more than I wasn’t!! And the pain in my legs and hips was interfering with daily life.  Broke out my compression stockings and they helped a little with the achiness.  But I was unable to get comfortable in bed, suffering with very disturbing nightmares when I could finally get to sleep, and worrisome thoughts when I was awake.

Poor PC.  He was at the brunt of my frustration, anger and impatience.  He suggested I call the doctor to see if she could prescribe an alternative to Fluvoxamine that I could start and then wean off gradually.

Help

 

On 11.27.2023, I had been struggling with the symptoms for over a week, and PC convinced me to go to the doctor for help.  So thankful that I did.  Dr. Franck explained that I had been on this drug for 30 years.  That my body was so used to it, dependent on it that quitting cold turkey was going to be difficult.  Withdrawal could last a few weeks or a number of months.

She suggested I get on a drug similar to Fluvoxamine, which interestingly had been banned in the U.S., U.K. and other countries, in 2002, when it was implicated in the violent behavior of the shooter at Columbine High School in 1999.  The manufacturers had tweaked the formula slightly after it was banned to develop the Fluvoxamine CR (controlled release) I had been switched to without being told.

I started this new drug, Fluoxetine, more commonly known as Prozac, 8 days ago.

Today

 

Eight days into taking Fluoxetine, I am beginning to feel a little better.  Actually, today was the closest to ‘normal’ I have felt in about 3 weeks.  And for now, I am going to continue on this regimen.  Let me get through the holidays, and then I will reevaluate, under the supervision of my doctor.  Together, with PC, we will decide if I should stay the course or try life without medication, and then begin weaning myself off slowly.  S-L-O-W-L-Y.

I haven’t started writing my sentences for December, so I am already 6 days behind.  But today is the first day I could have written anything that didn’t sound dark and depressing.  Maybe I will write my first SaD sentence for December tonight.

Your Turn

 

Mental health struggles are so difficult to share.  I wrote about my teenage eating disorder issues in a recent Title Talk post, here.  And for years, I have shared the mental health problems with which my mother was battling most of her later life.  My hope is that by talking about my experiences, here, maybe someone will read this and realize they are not alone.

Thank you for stopping by.  In the past weeks, I have not been up to reading blogs, writing posts, or doing much of anything I have enjoyed in the past.  Hopeful that this weekend, I can catch up with everyone.  I usually share the ways I have incorporated my WOTY, consistent, into life lately.  But nothing in November was consistent or even.  So, I will save that for December’s post.

Hugs and kisses,