It's like a miracle

I've been sleeping better lately.  I still wake up four or five times nightly, but I now have no problem going back to sleep.  Instead of feeling lucky if I got six hours of sleep, I am now sleeping almost eight hours every night.  It has to be a side effect of a little pill I began taking perhaps a couple of months ago.

My nurse-practitioner told me last year when I told her I thought I was getting Alzheimer's that she thought my real problem was depression, after she looked at my answers to questions she had given me to fill out.  She said many older people think they have dementia when it's just normal forgetfulness that comes with old age, and she prescribed a tiny dose of a pill that raises serotonin, which helps with depression and anxiety.  After a week or so I stopped taking it because it didn't seem to be doing anything for me and besides, I didn't think I was depressed.

Fast forward a couple of months:  I seemed to be in a funk all the time; Cliff kept wondering what was wrong with me and I told him I felt like I needed a shrink; then I remembered those little pills, wondering whether they'd do something for me if I tried them again.  I called the nurse line at the doctor's office and explained to her my problem.  I told her to check with Samantha, the nurse-practitioner who had prescribed them.  I told her I was crying at nothing and that my husband wanted me to do something about it.  Later I got a call telling me the prescription was ready for me to pick up.  I noticed that the prescription was 10 mg instead of 5.  I began taking it that very night.  After about a week I awoke and realized I had been feeling normal for two or three days; I told Cliff, "You know what?  I feel like myself again!"

I had told him not to tell anyone about it; I was a little ashamed that I couldn't just get over it and go on with my life.  Well, now I'll tell anyone who listens:  Escatalopram, the generic for Lexapro, simply got me back to my old normal self; the fact I'm getting more sleep is a bonus.  A new, improved self would have been nice, but I'm used to my old self.  I am thankful.  

I have had winter depression all my life, and had I known there was something like this that could have helped me through it without any side effects, I would have jumped at the chance.  Oh, and it's much cheaper than a shrink, since my insurance pays for it in full.  

Have a wonderful day, won't you?  I've had a lot of them lately.