Mind and Hearts

So within the last few weeks, when other excuses wore out and facts had to be faced, I finally acknowledged that the CNS depressant I've been taking for a little over a year has, in fact, caused a low-grade depression. Well, the medication's known psychiatric side effects were likely boosted by the fact that the drug hasn't been keeping either migraines or seizures under control at the current dose, and any higher dose tends to make my digestive system deeply unhappy. Mostly it's the medication's current ineffectiveness which the neurologist was focused on (though nobody's particularly happy with some of the other recent side effects, even when you're not taking the Great Bleh into account). Since a higher dose is a bad idea, I'm now on a lower dose and will be going on a lower dose still until I've stopped taking the drug altogether. For those interested in such things, I'm tapering off of Depakote and will start taking Keppra--beginning with a low level of that, since we've established that my body is oversensitive to the nastier effects of mindbending meds. Wish me luck!

(Note to local people: Keppra's side effects include mood changes too, most famously RAGE. If any of you happen to notice me being more psychotic than usual, please let me know (from a distance, if you have to)!)

Anyway, the big thing that made me realize that Depakote's been less-than-good for me mindwise is that I've barely even wanted to be creative this last year, except perhaps theoretically. I hardly recognize myself! Did play pointlessly with some POV-Ray pigment patterns, though. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to experiment with fractals or heart curves, so I did both:



See?

After that, I played with hearts a little more: ( In my heart of hearts )

So if things go well I hope to find some of that old creativity again, or possibly find some new and fresh creativity that I can call my own. "Better living through chemistry" can be such an elusive goal sometimes.