When getting gum stuck in your hair is the least of your problems
A medication switcheroo made me kinda crazy. Also: My Disney trip shopping has begun.
Hey team,
As the title of this post suggests, a piece of gum got stuck in my hair on Thursday. I was sitting at my desk at home working and the gum just kind of fell out of my mouth. I carefully patted the front of the fluffy fleece jacket I had on and then slowly pushed my chair away from the desk, ensuring I was not accidentally rolling over the culprit and getting it caught in the chair’s wheels.
I quickly considered that the gum might not have made it that far in its journey out of my mouth and had been captured in my hair. “Nah,” I reasoned. “That would never happen.”
Guys, it happened.
This potential tragedy occurred at the tail end of a no good, very bad month. Rather than go into the equivalent of a limited miniseries based on this April tale of woe, let me give you the YouTube version — I switched ADHD meds and turned into a feral animal.
I was irritable. Agitated. I felt like I didn’t sleep for three weeks because my brain was just grinding all night long. At work, we’d been creating survey questions for an upcoming data report, and throughout the night, I’d compose questions in my sleep. But like, the same question, over and over for hours. And a lot of times, the questions I was making up didn’t have to do with work stuff, but, like, the ACOTAR books I’ve been reading. That sounds like it might be fun but trust me, it was not.
Remember how I wrote a few weeks ago about feeling so sick to my stomach and exhausted? I think it was the meds (Qelbree, specifically).
For most of the month, I was not myself. Nothing brought me joy. I wasn’t interested in doing anything. I let shit pile up all over my house because I just didn’t have the wherewithal to put things away. And I definitely didn’t feel like talking to anyone.
This became abundantly clear when I got on Facetime with my exercise friend, Dan, early one Tuesday morning and immediately realized I had zero interest in talking to him. We chatted briefly and then I turned music on — which I never, ever, do — and spent most of our hour session far from my iPad and halfheartedly doing the exercises he told me to do.
When I signed on Facetime again on Thursday for our next session, Dan said, “Let me see your face.”
I put my face up to the iPad and told him how a woman I worked with had shared on Tuesday that I seemed off during a recent meeting and as she spoke, I realized that I had come in hot on a call and had upset some people.
I reported this to Dan and that I thought the medication was making me crazy. “Amy,” he said in his deep voice,"if I had heard you murdered someone the other day, I would not have been surprised.”
When I pressed him on why he said that, he said, “Your eyes looked crazy.”
That was all about 10 days ago. In that time, I’ve worked with medical and mental health professionals to decide I was going to wean myself off the med. But then last weekend, I had a horrible night's sleep on Friday and rushed out of the house early Saturday, and forgot to take it. I told a friend later that day my dilemma, whether I take it when I got home late afternoon and then be all hopped up at bedtime. I shared with her that I was thinking about just going off cold turkey. I reasoned that the inability to turn my brain off and drop into a deep sleep was making me miserable.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” I asked.
Flash forward 12 hours later and I’m lying in bed with the worst headache of my life in the middle of the night and considering having my sister drive over to take me to the ER. In the morning, I realized that it might have been a migraine and for about three days, it persisted on and off and I took 800mg of Ibuprofen to keep my brain from leaking out of my ears.
But here’s the good news — that despite the throbbing headache, my sleeping patterns have gone back to normal. And when I wake I feel pretty rested. And the best part? I finally feel like ME again. Just a kind of more manic version of myself. Like, I’m getting really excited for my trip to Disney with the kids and bought three pairs of shoes the other night. And I’m back to being a little more distracted than usual. The other day I went to fill my big Brita container and came back 10 minutes later to find the water overflowing in the sink.
I logged on to workout with Dan this past week and once again, he started by telling me to let him see my face.
“You look like yourself again,” he said, and I totally agree.
Oh, and the gum? When I saw the wad of my favorite waxy Mentos sitting at a point on my long hair that if stuck, would have meant a massive haircut, I kept my cool and grabbed some ice cubes from the freezer. In a minute, the gum became solid enough to carefully pull the hairs out of and I quickly freed the wad, wrapped in a nearby tissue, and started laughing harder than I’ve laughed the whole month.
sunday shares: read + watch + cook + buy
My Disney fashion manifesto: Look cute. Don’t melt. For our four days running around Orlando them parks in May, I’m pretty much going for cool comfort. If my fellow vacationers have to see my arms and legs, they’re just going to have to deal. Here’s what I’ve bought and I don’t know what I’m keeping or sending back.
This Athleta dress is 25% off right now. My son is getting married next spring in Paris and I thought it could be cute for sightseeing, too. Mais oui.
Just what I need — another shirtdress after The Great Shirtdress Grab I underwent last spring when I bought every version The Gap, Old Navy and JCrew had to offer. Well, now let’s add this Everlane dress to the list. But also, could be cute for the office. Et, Paris!
I can’t decide if I’m going to look like an old-timey nurse in these things, but I am really feeling them. And this is my Hoka style that I can wear all day and not feel like they’re vice grips on the tops of my feet. Always a plus
I’m also low-key obsessed with adding New Balances to my uniform repertoire.
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Or Asics after getting fed this TikTok video and going down a hole of this very chic family’s OOTDs. Please enjoy them all saying, “New Balance!” in unison.
And finally, guys have I lost my mind? I dunno but something about these spoke to me. They whispered, “We’d be so cool and comfy on your sweaty feet at about 3 p.m. when you’re eating your way around the world at Epcot.”
The Shallot has landed. Team, don’t say dreams don’t come true, because this week The Blonde Shallot opened the doors of its second location, nestled in the heart of downtown (LOL) Sea Girt. My current faves: the Jenna Lyons salad, the Skinny Chicken and the lemon vinaigrette. YUM. GO. Also, how stinking cute is
See you next week. xoAmy
Sorry to hear about the gum and the meds! Keep the travel outfits coming. We are heading to Germany in July and I need suggestions! I’m hopeless with that stuff.
So glad to hear you are unstuck! 😘