You Mean My Brain Has an OFF Switch?

I’m four weeks into the Zyprexa experiment, and I think this is the quietest my head has ever been. I’m serious. For the first time in ages my thoughts aren’t zipping around at 100 MPH, and there are times I actually catch myself thinking about absolutely nothing at all.

This must be what Will and the kids must have meant when I’d ask them what they were thinking and they’d say “Nothing”. How does anybody think about nothing?? I used to wonder. I couldn’t understand that most people’s brains come with the ability to shift into a lower gear when not actively being involved in something requiring their attention. I also never knew it was possible to think only one thought at a time; unlike a lot of folks, my mind races whether I’m manic, depressed, or stable.

Who knew that a small increase in the ingestion of a simple chemical could make my brain slow down to the point where it’s even become a bit sharper? It may not be noticeable to anyone around me, but I’m remembering things better, like where I put my phone and how to navigate my new Facebook page. I’ve even bought a book to try to read on the plane to Florida later this month; it’s a book of short stories which I hope can hold my attention for longer than five minutes. (It’s a long flight.) Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here, but without a barrage of thoughts flooding my head all the time there are all kinds of possibilities!

I’m sure Dr. Goodenough will be delighted, too. I see him day after tomorrow and I expect to stay on my new dose of Vitamin Z for at least the rest of the summer, or even beyond. That’s OK, I’m over the angst about the meds. The hypomania is gone and the world is making sense again. I’m obviously taking the right number and the right kind of medications in the right amounts to keep me happy and stable. I’ve noticed too that the free-floating anxiety I was experiencing has taken a leave of absence, and I don’t miss it. My blood pressure has even dropped a little, though it wasn’t high before, and sleep—oh, the sleep has been amazing. I’ve only had a couple of sleepless nights since I started taking the higher dose, and I don’t have any more difficulty waking up in the morning than I did before. (I’m still kind of a slug, but I can get up early for church or appointments when I need to.)

It’s all still new to me, but I think I could get used to it. I love it that the incessant buzzing and conversations in my head have been muted. I love it that I’m not as distractible as I was. I also love it that I’m starting to not feel like the village idiot. I doubt I’ll ever be the intellectual I used to be—there’s still quite a lot of brain fog to deal with—but I can live with that. Now, if I can just remember this the next time I get a bee in my bonnet about coming down or off meds…