Granny Has A Podcast

Or, what exactly are they prescribing, anyway? And why?

The funniest question of late has been, “What are your sleep patterns like?”

I don’t know if it’s just me, or just us, or just age; or maybe it’s the modern fun and excitement that is Long Covid, but HusbandCat and I have developed some really hilarious sleep patterns. I’ve mentioned this before. I used to sleep a lot. He used to sleep a little bit, but in regular patterns. Now? Anybody’s guess! Never boring! SO MANY SURPRISES!! 🤣😴🤪

So we’re both adjusting to the reality of our new ways of sleep. This is neither a cry for help nor instructions for better sleep. It’s just notes on making the best of things and making discoveries. Don’t be worried that you are about to be hit with either sales pitches or advice. Why would I do that to you? Might ruin your sleep.

We both finally realized that our sleep patterns, if any, have pretty much shifted permanently in the wake of the pandemic, so we decided to start making the most of our weirdly wakeful hours. HusbandCat got the ball rolling and I’m learning from him. If the truth is that you’re actually full on awake at 1:30 and it’s not getting any better an hour later, you may as well fire up the computer and be a productive person, eh? And, not gonna lie, some of my favorite bloggers and YouTubers have advised me openly in their published works, that getting the earliest decent start possible on your morning can be really helpful in terms of focus and productivity.

So I’ve tried working with that a little bit, doing correspondence or bills during the wee small hours if sleep eludes. It’s not my favorite, but we’re all grownups here, we can adjust.

Anyway… last year at my very first voiceover conference ever, I was listening to some of the audiobook narrators talking about how their own sleep patterns are similarly weird, post-pandemic. They were discussing how there were definite “ups” to this — for example, the delightful silence of the ambient neighborhood noises around 1am to 4am, and what heaven this is for recording chapters in peace. They also allowed as how there are a unique set of “downs,” such as, how you gonna keep up with your family later in the day if you were at the mic for a few of the wee small hours? Problematic. This led to much discussion of self care in general,, and the importance of sleep for the voice.

And among the many adventures of 2022, Year of Un-Assing the Couch, I spent a little time in California, where among other things, I suddenly went from walking maybe 1 – 2 miles a day, to about 11 miles a day of beach walking. This led to effusion of the right knee, which led to doctors, PAs, and physical therapists, which led to: Methocarbamol!!

Here ya go, from GoodRX: “Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant. Experts aren’t exactly sure how it works, since it doesn’t work directly on the muscles. They believe methocarbamol relieves pain by relaxing the nerves that make your muscles tighten or cramp up.” (https://www.goodrx.com/methocarbamol/what-is)

They prescribed me 500mg 3 x day. I took only one, at night, to help me sleep. See when you over-stress a knee, for example, the complications may include some muscles getting stressed, right? I only took the one at bedtime and was so goofy the next day I knew there was no “three a day” in the plan for me.

And for the next six months I took one of those almost every single night. I had trouble sleeping just the same, waking up after about four hours. I was drowsy and confused by day, so it took me fully six months to realize that the symptoms I just described are three of the side effects of Methocarbamol. Additionally I had massive mood swings, stomach issues, and another ten or twelve of the many potential side effects listed for this drug. Absolutely none of which were discussed with me when they were prescribed.

This isn’t the first time. I found out the hard way a few years ago that I can’t handle Prednisone, a steroidal drug many rely on. It makes me sick in about 23 different ways. Hey, call me a sensitive little princess, but I have to think that if it’s happening to me it’s statistically probable that it’s happening to millions of other women in my cohort. Many women 50+ may be experiencing side effects from prescription drugs that they simply did not think to question. We trust our doctors.

I’m just gonna throw this out there:

Let’s question everything.

I mean… they’re doctors. They’re not gods. We can’t expect them to know every patient’s every nuance in a healthcare delivery system that caters to efficiency at the expense of time and a better patient to provider ratio. It’s 2023 and we’re all packing smart technology. Between you and me, let’s look stuff up. All of it. Every single time they write us those Rx orders. Join me in the great quest to help manage what goes into the prescriptions that go into us.

I ❤ medical science, very much.

But I’m keeping an eye on you, Big Pharma. It’s not just the opiods. You’re selling us a lot of problematic solutions.

Solutions should not be problematic.

I haven’t taken a Methocarbamol in a week and it’s the best I’ve felt since last June.

Meow, darlings. Take care of your voices.Domino says hi.