My Monthly Request: So Far, Only a Slight SNAFU

The good news is that this week’s SNAFU doesn’t happen nearly as often as it might. And I live in an era where folks like me have options that simply were not available in my youth.

The not-so-good news is that I’m not perfectly perfect in every way.

Nobody currently living here on Firebase Earth is, actually; but I’m a tad more positively off both the 50th percentile and society’s fluctuating notion of perfection than many. And that’s another topic.

I talked about this last December, so the quick and easy way to review what’s wrong with me is repeating the list:

• ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, inattentive type
• ASD: Autism spectrum disorder
• Cluster A personality disorder
• GAD: Generalized anxiety disorder
• PDD: Persistent depressive disorder
• PTSD: Post traumatic stress disorder

It’s not a complete list, and the point is that I’ve got problems.

Now, back to good news. Some of those alphabet soup disorders are easier to manage when I take my medications. Less difficult, at any rate.

And that brings me to the current SNAFU.

One of my meds is methylphenidate. It’s a Schedule II controlled substance, so every month I have to get authorization for the prescription.

Concerns, the Controlled Substances Act of 1971, and Me

I remember the circumstances and paranoia that led to the Controlled Substances Act of 1971.

I think some of the concerns were legitimate.

But I experience frustration when I am “protected” from medication which I need. I’d better explain that.

Again, methylphenidate is a Schedule II controlled substance.

As such, each month I must submit a request to a regional health care authority which processes the request and eventually sends it to the doctor who authorizes that month’s prescription.

Some months, the process goes smoothly. This month it didn’t. The fault is partly mine: I submitted my request when there was only a week’s supply left.

I checked with the pharmacy earlier this week, and again today.

My first request may or may not have disappeared into the ether. Another may or may not be getting put through the mangle.

And, with hopes that the regional authority’s staff will not be offended, I said ‘okay’ when the pharmacy said they’d submit another request.

When I realized that something was going wrong, again, I cut my daily dose in half. It’s not my preference, since I actually need the stuff.

But after experiencing withdrawal a few times, when sorting out the mess took weeks, I’ve learned to exercise a certain degree of caution.¹

It’d be nice if there was some way to track my monthly request for permission to keep using my brain, but that’s not how these things work.

So I’ll keep doing what I can, accept those aspects of reality that I can’t control: and see if I can use this month’s SNAFU as an opportunity to practice patience.

Re-reading this post, I’d say I could use the practice. 😉

Now, before getting back to working on this week’s post, the usual links:

• “Exoplanets, Air, and the Marshmallow Planet” (December 10, 2022 )
  • And Now for Something Completely Different
• “This Week: Sunshine, Blue Skies and an Echocardiogram” (July 16, 2022)
• “I’m Not as Crazy as You Think I Moose!” (April 9, 2022)
• “Ritalin, the 2020 Summer Olympics, and Me” (August 7, 2021)
  • Lobotomies, Cure-Alls and Making Sense
  • Getting and Staying Healthy: Within Reason
• “Firebase Earth” (September 3, 2017)

¹ Part, but not all, of my life:

• Wikipedia
  • Controlled Substances Act
    • Schedule II drugs
  • Drug withdrawal
  • Methylphenidate