Many years ago I went to the doctor with extreme pain in my upper back, shoulders and neck. He poked around and found that those muscles were all bunched up and so tight they were hurting me. He said that’s where I carry my stress.
We tried many things to get rid of it. Muscle relaxers and pain pills were the first things we tried, and after several weeks my muscles finally settled down and I was in less pain.
Living a life on those two medications wasn’t easy though. Being “loopy” on the muscle relaxers all the time wasn’t conducive to being productive at work. And the pain pills masked the pain I was in for a while, but they also caused me not to care about much of anything. I could easily see how people could get addicted to these medications so I decided to go back to the doctor and try a Plan B.
The next thing he suggested was antidepressants. I told him I didn’t think I was depressed. He told me I wasn’t, but a side effect of antidepressants was helping to get rid of pain.
Sounded strange to me but I was willing to give it a go.
For about the first week I was so sleepy I could barely function. I was ready to call the doctor again for a Plan C when one day I noticed I was no longer sleepy, and more importantly, no longer in pain.
So there I was taking a medication not for its intended purpose, but for the side effect it caused. Odd to me but it worked. Plus I noticed I was always in a pretty good mood after a while. I am usually in a pretty good mood anyway so it took longer for me to realize I was in an even better mood than usual.
So here we are years later and I’m still taking them and I’m still in a good mood, and even though I still carry my stress in the same place I’m no longer hurting.
And I guess that’s a good thing because there are certainly lots of stressful situations in 2020. And things which can depress us all.
This whole life-being on-hold in a way because of COVID-19 is really starting to get to me.
I’m one of the lucky ones who didn’t lose his job during all of this. So I’m thankful for that.
I suppose I should be thankful that I’ve been hunkering down and I haven’t gotten sick and haven’t brought any sickness home to Mom and Dad.
So I’ve decided to be positive about the mundane things in my life like good health so far.
One week I got a crown put on a tooth so now I won’t lose it and I’ll be able to chew better.
I’m thankful for hot tea in the mornings and nice red wine in the evenings. And eating Mom’s home cooking almost every day.
Also, not one, not two, not three, but 10 friends celebrated a birthday on the same day over the weekend. I’m thankful for birthdays and for whatever “celebration” was happening nine months ago the year of their births.
I’m thankful Mom and Dad finally felt comfortable enough to go to actual church instead of online church on Sunday. They have really been missing it and seeing the other members of the congregation. I stayed home in my bathrobe like a heathen so everyone was happy.
So be thankful for the mundane things during these strange days. It doesn’t take antidepressants to do that.
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