A new beginning

After months of not sleeping well and JP and Tim hounding me, I finally made a doctor's appointment to talk about my insomnia. At this point, I feel like everything that is not quite right in my life is due to this, and I want a change. The only thing I didn't want was a prescription for sleeping pills.

So I go to see the doctor. I have doctor issues to begin with, so I was nervous. The doctor that I used to see is now gone from the practice, so it was my first time meeting him.

I think I love him.

I explained everything and we talked for a good long while. He must've asked me a dozen times if I was ok other than the insomnia. Really thorough. He easily explained why I had lost all that weight recently and reassured me that it was fine. He also took blood to check my thyroid levels. He even understood that I didn't want to be taking sleeping pills, but then explained to me why it was probably my best option at this point. By taking Ambien for only the next two weeks, I will essentially retrain my body to sleep normally and then hopefully be able to sleep just fine without it. It's non-addictive and all the crazy side effects you hear about only tend to happen to people who use it for more than a month, so I shouldn't be driving in my sleep any time soon. I expressed concern at the fact that I react to medications quite strongly since I'm so small, and he prescribed me the lowest dose possible at my request (5mg). I left his office feeling incredibly hopeful. Is it really possible to fix me with just a little pill for two weeks?

Then I went to Giant Eagle. I dropped off the prescription for the Ambien and something else that I needed. I was told 20 minutes. So I took the opportunity to pick out some new toothpaste (I'm such a sucker for oral care products!) and came back about a half an hour later (I take my toothpaste selection very seriously). I was told that: 1) there was something "wrong" with the Ambien prescription and that they had to wait for the doctor to call back to verify it and 2) my COBRA coverage hasn't gone through yet, so I have to pay for these completely on my own and then get reimbursed, as long as it is within the next 10 days. So I left Giant Eagle in tears of bitter disappointment that my new start to life can't begin tomorrow. It'll have to wait until Friday, I guess.