Yeah, Spidra, I'm afraid you are nicer than me. I would have been all "Great! You can help the kids set the table, you come into the kitchen and help me serve, and who is volunteering to help clean up, since I cooked all day."

And if there were no takers, I would be all "Oh! Sorry. I didn't realize you weren't staying to eat with us. It's nice of you to stop by, though!"

That is so rude. Hospitality is sacred, but it works on both sides of the fence.

My DH's brother is staying with us for 4 days, because he has some stuff going on and needed a GET AWAY break, which I am perfectly happy with. The first night, I was hospitable and fetchy, but he is a nice guy and has been helping with dishes and taking out trash and such the other days.

Had he not been, I would have no compunctions in announcing "Since I cooked, you guys can clean up. Thanks!"

I am irritated on your behalf.

But I am all ROWWWR! on sj's behalf, and yeah, ignore the friend. She might have thought you were too busy/preoccupied thus week, and would have called her if you needed anything.

I had a friend whose family and acquaintances were blowing up her phone with random shit -- like, where should we go to dinner in this town? stuff -- the night before and the morning of her wedding. I took her phone after, I swear, the tenth weird call of the morning (Is Uncle Larry there yet, where should I turn on I-35) and answered all the phone calls so she could enjoy her wedding day.

I do not GET some people!

"They're gettin' married in the mornin', ding-dong, the bells are gonna chime!"

"Pull out the stopper, let's have a whopper, but get 'em to the church on time!"

I don't know who's around, but I could use some advice.

I went off antidepressants mostly to see if I still needed them. I hoped some of the weight I'd gained would come off (didn't), and that I would get back to being a slightly more prolific writer (haven't).

Given that my grandfather will probably be dying within a month, I'm thinking maybe I should restart them. Is there any reason I can't just do this? I was on 20mg of Celexa, but I'd probably start at 10, to see if that would work for me.

I know they take time to become effective, and I don't want to wait too late.

Unless you went off them a looooong time ago, I don't see any reason why you couldn't start them again. The reason I say loooong time ago is that metabolisms and hormonal balances change and a drug that was great for you before could not be so great years later. I had that experience with Effexor, for instance.

I agree that ramping up for effectiveness to hit when you most need it is a good idea. I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather, Dana.

ETA: Thanks for the hugs. I could definitely use them.

Though I'm exhausted, it's back to working on this song. I had delivered my semi-finished product to someone who's a much better synth/software musician than I am. but what he's delivered back, while it improves on my keyboard bass, is kind of a disappointment in other places. So I need to spend more time trying to make this arrangement more complex and pseudo-orchestral. It's not my strong point so I'm kinda surprised he didn't beat me handily.

Nah, it was...let's see, I was mostly totally off them by the time of my aunt's funeral in September. Ha. Ha ha.

Dana, go ahead and restart it. (I assume you mean without consulting your doctor first, because you have some in the medicine cabinet?) If you can start at 10 mg, great, and then ramp it up if you need to.

And then next time you see your doctor, or when you need a refill, let him/her know you re-started it. (Unless he/she doesn't know you stopped it, in which case -- if it were me -- I'd just skip the whole part where you explain how you stopped it and then re-started it 2 months later, and go right to the I-need-a-refill part.)

Yes, I have plenty, and yes, I consulted him when I wanted to stop it and ramped it down gradually over two months.

Dana, I use Celexa, and have gone off and on it a couple of times.

I find that after not having been in it for a while, when I DO go on at the dosage I was taking before I went off, I feel speedy and ramped up for a few days; I think starting off at 10 mgs for a 4-5 days is a good plan.

I'd like to stay at 10 if I can. I still have some hope that the side effects might lessen slightly.

I also think it might have been helping with headaches. I had a four-day migraine a couple of weeks ago, and that had never happened before.