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Doctor's Orders

© Ian Chovil

I see a psychiatrist every three months or so. I usually only need a new prescription but it's always nice to chat with an intelligent man about something that has changed my life in more ways than I probably want to know. I've got a new psychiatrist that I've only once or twice. I saw him a couple of weeks ago and I have new marching orders. He wants me to give up coffee and cigarettes. He wants me to start exercising regularly and pay attention to my nutrition, and he wants some bloodwork done on my cholesterol and blood sugar.

The medication I'm taking causes a significant amount of weight gain. I gained twenty pounds the first month and had to buy a whole new wardrobe. He told me I am at risk for diabetes and not only because of the weight gain. The medication itself has been shown to have an association with onset of diabetes. It's Olanzapine and by chance I ran into an Eli Lilly rep at the local Staples Business Depot store and she said all the atypicals have been shown to have an association with diabetes independent of actual weight gain. It must be enough of a risk that my psychiatrist wants to establish a baseline for future reference. The cholesterol count is a good idea simply because I'm a heavy smoker, I'm at least twenty-five pounds overweight and I don't get very much exercise.

I hate making life style changes of any sort but especially when it involves things I've grown to know and love. Coffee is not only a stimulant I enjoy, it is a recreational activity when I am bored. Nothing to do, I might as well make a pot of coffee and smoke a few cigarettes. I grind my own beans now. The chemistry of coffee involves all kinds of very volatile compounds that react with air, and if you don't use it right after grinding the beans you lose a lot of the stimulant qualities of the coffee. I shouldn't drink the equivalent of 24 cups a day. I'm always just catching up with the withdrawal. Which explains why I am always tired and run down.

Quitting smoking would save me $150 a month. My apartment would smell nicer, and I could expand my social life, to do things in nonsmoking environments, with nonsmoking people. I know it's not good for my health, and my lungs don't like it at all and it's a lot of money literally going up in smoke.

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