My pal Lithium

Still taking lithium and haven't died yet so I'm thinking it's going pretty well, lol.  A few days ago my dr increased my dose, so I've gone from the 300 mg starter dose to 600 mg.  No huge side effects going on so that''s pretty awesome.  My hands tend to get a little shaky, but not to the point that I can't function and/or just ignore it. 

I can tell when I don't drink enough water because my kidney region starts to hurt if that makes any sense...it also becomes more difficut to do simple things like open and close my hands or twist open a bottle... weird little things that aren't too terribly awful but annoying enough to make them noticeable.

My doctor had told me to avoid caffeine because it can dehydrate you and that leads to lithium levels in your blood becoming toxic... so I kept drinking soda (regular of course and since I'm more thirsty that helped me pack on some points rather quickly) but when I went to the dr the other day and told her that I thought I was drinking too many because they made me feel weird sometimes she said that it's not just because of dehydration that I should avoid caffeine, but because it can alter lithium levels, pushing them up into the toxic zones...

Wow, could have used that information a month ago, lol.  My stomach occassionally gets upset and I go to the bathroom like 17 times a day (but that's probably only like 2 or 3 days of the week) and not so uncontrollable that I have to stay at home for fear of shitting my pants... (not yet anyway)

I'm super paranoid about my hair falling out if I put chemicals on it, so I've stopped coloring my hair and for the first time since my sophomore year in highschool am seeing my natural haircolor.  Crazy.

My face is breaking out more than usual which can also be blamed on Lithium I'm discovering, but if it gets bad enough, I'll go to a dermatologist...for now, it is what it is.

I ordered a medical ID bracelet the other day.  I want to have something as back up to where if my levels get all fucked up and I pass out or somethign crazy, then someone will have an idea of maybe what caused it, be able to reverse it and just go from there.

I've been a little on edge the last couple of days but I have my first mortgage payment coming up, and lil man seems to be really good at working my nerves since he's in his "smart ass" phase... I could just knock his teeth out somedays, but I don't...I never even lay a hand on him... I've gotten pretty good at giving him looks that say, look here boy, I'm not playing--DO WHAT THE FUCK I'M TELLING YOU TO DO, FOCUS, LISTEN, SIT STILL, BLOW YOUR NOSE, etc etc etc

Life goes on... headed in the right direction and just embracing it.