Just Stuff.

Well, life just went from 0 to 100 quicker than lickety-split. School has officially begun and I am already feeling a little bit frantic. I am taking 5 classes on top of being a teachers assistant for my cultural anthropology professor from last semester. I have class M-Th and the TA position requires me to sit in on at least one of her classes. I don't know why I feel the need to stretch myself as far as humanly possible, but I did it last semester too. I guess it doesn't feel overwhelming in a bad way; I really like being busy and productive. I spent so long at home with babies that having something to do, even if it is a lot, feels really good...most of the time. That to say blogging will not be occurring perhaps as frequently as it was.

So I have had nightmares every night for over a week. I couldn't really understand why this is occurring because I have never had issues with frequent nightmares. They aren't wake up crying and screaming sort of dreams, but they are pretty violent and personal in nature. Turns out this is a common symptom associated with SSRI withdrawal. So in about a 3 week period I have gone from 100mg of Zoloft to 40mg. Along with the nightmares I have also had the very typical "brain zaps" that occur when lowering or discontinuing SSRI's. I am all too familiar with this particular symptom because I had them REALLY bad coming off Paxil about 8 years ago. It sort of feels like someone is randomly administering a mini electric shock to your brain. More annoying than anything else, but if you aren't familiar with them they can be pretty alarming. Along with nightmares and shocks, here are some other awesome things someone looking to come off meds may need to prepare for:

• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Depression and mood swings
• Light-headedness
• Dizziness and balance problems
• Electric shock sensations
• Fatigue
• Flu-like symptoms
• Headache
• Loss of coordination
• Muscle spasms
• Nausea
• Nightmares
• Tremors
• Trouble sleeping
• Vomiting

Wait a minute....you mean to say that I am going to experience worse symptoms coming off medicine than I was experiencing prior to even taking it? YES! 

Typical pharmaceutical nightmare. I could go on and on but I am not even gonna get myself started. Prayerfully the minimal side effects I am dealing with will subside sooner rather than later and if not I will at least have the perseverance to get through them.

Update on the church situation- the one I wrote about here. I ended up speaking to the pastor and he was super apologetic so I gave the church another shot the following Sunday and I am SO glad I did! Not only was the teaching great, but the people were out of this world nice. Weird nice. I had more conversations that one morning than I have had in 2 years of Sundays looking for a church. Not to mention that when I introduced myself to the pastor he was again, more than apologetic and totally glad I was there. He even emailed me again later in the week and thanked me for coming. I have been for 3 Sundays now and I have totally committed myself to stay there the rest of our time in California. I have already made some friends that I have seen outside of church and am getting myself involved in serving. I feel like this place is definitely something special and considering the circumstances, exactly where God wants me. I am actually excited about Sunday mornings again and I haven't felt that way since Washington.

AND before I go, I got a letter from my school in the mail informing me that I was on some Vice Presidents list for maintaining a 3.5 or above GPA with 12 or more units last semester. I was pretty stoked being as how I am the chick who in high school wrote a whole paper on why I wasn't going to write the paper I was actually supposed to write. True story- I still have it. Hoping I can live up to my accomplishments this coming semester!