My Grotto: "Now I know what you would be like as a meth addict"

"Now I know what you would be like as a meth addict." -Heath 2009, said to his wife after she had to cut her medication dosage in half.

I have newfound understanding and sympathy for people with addictions.

About two weeks ago I started having reactions to my medication. An indescribable sensation closely akin to having my brain electrocuted at the slightest movement. At every slightest movement. The closest I have been able to describe this as is the feeling of touching a live wire, with your brain. It was accompanied by a "shink" sound in my head. While the sensation was very quick, it sometimes came in twos or threes, depending on the intensity of movement. After much research on the internet, I found that it was a common "withdrawal" symptom of my medication, even though I was still taking my medication. (I also found that under no circumstance am I to suddenly stop taking this medication. A gradual decrease in dosage must be followed to alleviate the risk of seizure and in some rare instances, sudden death. Peachy!).

After contacting my doctor, I was actually relieved to hear he had heard of this before (as most of the medical blogs were full of self-help forums for people whose doctor's had not heard of this and after several MRI's and other brain scans/tests could find no cause or reason to believe this was real). Not only had he heard of it, but he had heard of it as a side-effect as well as a withdrawal symptom. He immediately called in a new, lower-dose prescriptions to my local pharma-teria.

Mere hours after my taking my first pill from the new prescription (half the dosage I was used to) withdrawal set in. From uncontrollable shaking, to the meth-addict squirrel-iness. Episodes of muscle spasms and an uncontrollable urge to... well, just move... and hold no clear or logical conversation were probably the most noticeable of these aforemention withdrawal effects.

Now, nearly two weeks after it all started, I am finally able to work an entire day and remember it. I no longer have the urge to return to the higher dosage, either.

However, with my mood being what it was, I did get some pretty great shots with the camera. Like this tree, located on Roscoe Road. I have loved this tree since the first time I saw it without its leaves. The branches are thick and trail off into an unusual pattern that catches my attention every time I see a tree like this.

Every morning I go to work, this van is parked on one of the side streets. It is occupied by a homeless person. I have never had the opportunity to speak to him. I feel this shot, taken one foggy, rainy morning when I was still going through withdrawal, was symbolic for both of our current situations. So I took it in black and white.