The Syringe and Needle

I’ve had a moderate number of encounters with injections and needles. The worst was when I was hospitalized around 2001. Lots of blood was taken from me for testing. It took some time before the doctors determined my sickness which turned out to be protein-C deficiency. I left the hospital 10 pounds lighter with marks of needles on my arms. L

Cute and colorful syringes! Which one do you like? Hehe.
Photo Credit: http://www.free-hdwallpapers.com    

 It had been a long while since I came face-to-face with the needle again. Not until this January 2013 when I had a psychotic episode (the gist of it is in the blog entitled “ Jobless Again”). The story that I created in my mind was that the Evil One was looking for me and I was an angel sent by God to give the world a message. I had superpowers – mental telepathy – and I can communicate with other “special beings” through the eyes.  I was hiding from the Evil One who was out to kill me. When I was at home with my parents, I even thought that the he used them to destroy me. I was manic, sleepless and paranoid.

When I couldn’t and wouldn’t sleep, my mom brought me to the hospital to see my psychiatrist. In my mind, the Psychiatric Ward was the Evil One’s lair and guess who was that villain? None other than my psychiatrist! Haha.

So, there I was outside the Ward, waiting for Doc – my enemy. I was playing Christian rock music in my headphones (if I remember it right, it was “Take It All” by Hillsong United). I was singing out loud to drown the seeming “darkness” in that place. I waited and waited with my mom until finally, we were ushered inside the Ward. Doc had arrived.

I was wearing shades to protect my eyes which was supposedly the key to my soul. We sat down with Doc, I removed my shades and I looked straight into the eyes of my psychiatrist – my “enemy.” I was still singing because I was afraid. Somehow, the lyrics of the song calmed me:

“Jesus, we’re living for Your Name, we’ll never be ashamed of You.

Our praise and all we are today, take, take, take it all! Take, take, take it all!”

Doc and Mom talked for a while and later on, a nurse came in the room with a syringe. I did not resist receiving whatever was in that injection. All I knew was the God was in control. After around a minute, I became groggy – the medicine had taken effect.

OUCH!! That was painful. Huhuhu.

I later on discovered that I was given an intramuscular injection of Serenace (Generic name is Haloperidol). Haloperidol is an older antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia, acute psychotic states and delirium. It is sold under the tradenames Aloperidin, Bioperidolo, Brotopon, Dozic, Duraperidol (Germany), Einalon S, Eukystol, Haldol (common tradename in the US and UK), Halosten, Keselan, Linton, Peluces, Sigaperidol and Serenace.

The delusion created in my mind did not disappear immediately though. I was put back on Aspidon 2mg daily (Generic name is Risperidone), the antipsychotic drug that I had been taking whenever I’m being treated for psychosis. It took days and months for my brain to recover.

Now, thank God, the delusions are gone. My brain had stopped thinking that my psychiatrist was the “enemy.” Months ago, my Risperidone was initially brought down to 2mg every other night and then NOW, FINALLY I’m weaned off the drug. Yay!! J  It was a long process but I just needed to be patient and to go through the process of recovery and healing. And hopefully, I will NEVER EVER have another injection encounter in the Psychiatric Ward again. NO MORE, PUH-LEEEAASSEEE!!! J

No more injections, puh-leaaaassseee!!! 

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haloperidol

I’D LOVE  TO HEAR FROM YOU:  What's your most memorable experience with syringes and needles? J