Time For A Comic

This is a comic strip about what ran through my head when I had a bad day last week, when I was adjusting to a change in my medication. I've been fine since, but I want to try and convey what it's like when you have thoughts you can't control going in and out of your head. A lot of the thoughts are recurrent throughout the day. along with a song I had stuck in my head and other random thoughts that popped in.

These aren't all normal thoughts on a normal day, I hardly think like this due to the medication. The creeping doubts is the worst part.

MiNE!

I wanted to get more exercise and I needed to motivate myself. I was looking at a the vast array of sports wristbands of somewhat varying prices. One of my colleagues recommended the Mi band. At £13 it's a cheap and cheerful step counter and sleep monitor. A charge lasts 30 days and it can also unlock your phone.*

I've been trying mine for the past week or two. There's an app, it connects the Mi band via Bluetooth and config it from there. I've been setting myself a goal of 18,000 steps a day, a bit over 8 miles. In the past I've usually struggled to reach 10,000, not now though, walking the dogs in the morning and at night allows me to hit that target and sometimes, hitting over 20,000.

The band can vibrate on incoming phone calls and text messages, which is great if you keep your phone in a bag or jacket pocket and don't always hear it ringing. The band can also act as a vibrating alarm. The app can sync to Google Fit. However I picked up Mi Band Notify and Fitness, the PRO version for £1.38 and it presents a more detailed breakdown of steps and sleep. It also allows configuring what apps you want to buzz when they generate notifications.  It also allows you to connect to a heart rate monitor as well should you so desire as well as a few other functions.

I've found the Mi band helps me retain my motivation, partly due to accurately counting steps and at £13 it's cheap, cheerful and fairly robust. I might copy my colleague and get a couple for the kids and connect it to their tablets? Oh you've not walked 10,000 steps? No internets for you until you do!

Click for more info about the Mi Band

* There's a Bluetooth bug in Android Marshmallow 6.0 that stops the unlock feature working, it is fixed in 6.0.1 and works in Kitkat and Lollipop.

Fallen in the trap

I'm a little annoyed with myself. There's a bizarre stubborn streak that insists on being able to do everything for myself and not have to rely on other people. What I should have done was go straight back to the doctor when I wrote that last post. No I thought, I need more rest, I'll be fine, it should sort itself out. Erm... not quite. In fact it was the anxiety starting to take root again. I was thinking I shouldn't bother the doctor as I'd be fine I could wait for the next appointment.

Stupid me. Really I should have gone to the doctor upon returning from visiting friends on Skye a couple of weeks ago. The trigger should have been when I kept having to leave the kitchen because of how I felt. Too many people, too much noise, I regularly wandered out into the garden because I couldn't handle it. Again I thought I'll be going to the doctors in 2-3 weeks so I should just wait as I didn't feel I was in a state where I needed to see the doctor quickly.

Last week my wife, told me to make an emergency appointment and go see the doctor. I did and they doubled my medication. I've been on the increased dose for a few days and already I feel better, having a bit of chat with people serving me in shops instead of smiling and saying very little. 

I am annoyed because I didn't see what was right in front of me, I fell into the trap and started descending the steps again. I'm annoyed because I didn't listen my wife straight away and allowed myself to feel I wasn't important enough to see the doctor as soon as possible. Instead I allowed myself be self aware of what was happening, but allow part of the anxiety to influence my behaviour.

You'd think I'd have learned? Maybe this time.