health, wellbeing

I was fed up.  I averaged 3 hours of sleep per night and have been dopey during the day because of overuse of mirtazapine.

Two weeks ago I had an online appointment with Dr. Ovwasa to refill a zolpidem prescription.  He said I was way too early and that it should last 90 days.  It was 89 days since my last refill.  He denied me.  We had a long, somewhat agitated discussion.  He didn’t budge, saying I had to wait until Feb. 24 2026.

After many nights of lack of sleep and not yet asleep at 3am, I looked at the box label date – 05-Nov-2025.

The next day, after talking with my sister, I went to the walk-in clinic (no appointment) to talk with him.  Another rather agitated conversation ensued.  Still no.  As well, he wanted me to sign an agreement next time stating that I would take it only as prescribed and not to see another doctor about it.  When I asked why he thought I’d go behind his back to see another doctor, he denied it.

Sleeping only from 5:00am to 7:00am the night before, I drove to Costco where the prescription was last filled.  They said that, yes, it was indeed filled Nov. 5 2025 and that their information is absolutely accurate.  I asked, “Could it be, just for argument’s sake, that it was prescribed on Nov. 5 but filled Nov. 24 as the doctor insists?”  No, that is an absolute impossibility.  They printed three documents for me, including the previous prescription written by Dr Ovwasa.

I was irritated.  My gut churned.  I dreaded having to see him again.  I drove back to the clinic, stood in line, and explained to the reception in a somewhat loud voice that the notes on the doctor’s computer are incorrect and that I cannot live on 2 hours of sleep and hungover from mirtazapine while fellow workers wonder if I’ve turned stupid.

When I saw him next, Dr Ovwasa’s attitude changed.  He was polite, somewhat pensive, and almost apologetic.  I only said, “yes, sir” and “no, sir” to him while he talked.  “Thank you, sir.”  I walked away with the new prescription.

This morning, after sleeping from 10:30pm to 7:40am, I looked at my Google Calendar.  I had no appointment Nov. 24, 2025.

It’s more than 6 months in, and my cough is finally subsiding.

My doctor said that he found nothing in my x-rays, and the breathing test showed nothing unusual.  It’s just a cough.

Nonetheless, I’m still surrounded by particulates at work and, thus, coughing.

I’ve got a problem.  My stomach, since the poison-by-lemons incident in Korea, has been ill-tempered.  The slightest thing can upset it, and I experience bloating, rumbling (that distracts and amuses one student in particular), and gas.

So I came across this article.

How to Stop – And Prevent – Bloating

I thought, “Oh, I might find some of this article helpful” … until it started talking about my menstruation cycle.

Well crap.  I guess this article isn’t for me.

Still sick.  (a week of sick)  I’m stick hacking up crap.  It’s hard to fall asleep at night with a constant instinct to cough.  I suppose subjecting myself to 1403 isn’t healthy, but the respirator helps.

Been sick the past week.  I cancelled all my classes on Thursday and limped through the rest.  I’ve been coughing up all kinds of nastiness and went through dozens of tissues.  I think I’m finally on the mend, but I’ve still a long way to go.

It all started last week when I pushed onward, tearing up plaster and lath boards in the upper suite at 1403.  The dust that had accumulated over the past 115 years was something fierce.  But … to catch a cold from that?

I’ve since bought another (replacement) respirator, a 3M this time, with new filters.  I hope this will help next time I muster up enough courage to get back in there.