Stage and season
Maintenance
Year two, year three, and the part nobody writes about.
Almost everything written about these medications is about starting. Then the writing stops, and the actual majority of your time happens in the silence afterwards. This circle is that silence, populated.
Maintenance is flat, unheroic and largely uneventful, which turns out to be the whole point and also strangely hard to talk about. We talk about it anyway.
Who this circle is for
- You have been steady for six months or more
- You are approaching maintenance and want to know what it is like
- You are on a reduced maintenance dose and finding your feet
Agreements here
- Steady is an outcome, not a holding pattern
- We do not treat a change in either direction as a moral event
Two years of Wednesdays
Ottilie8 replies
Cheshire. Two years this week and I have been trying to work out what to say about it that is not a speech. The truthful summary is that this has become a fact about my Wednesdays and…
What I would tell someone in month four
Nan14 replies
What I would tell someone in month four — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in. I have been reading here for a few weeks and have not posted, so this is me…
A maintenance dose that stopped holding, and what we did
Ottilie15 replies
A maintenance dose that stopped holding, and what we did — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in. I do not know if this belongs in this circle. Move me if…
Do appetite signals come back? Asking for the eleventh time
Romy8 replies
I have asked versions of this before and I am asking again because the answer keeps changing for me, which I suspect is the actual answer. Year two, steady dose, nothing dramatic. What I…
The cost conversation in year three
Clémence17 replies
A question rather than an update: The cost conversation in year three Long one, sorry. I have been chewing on this for a fortnight. My prescriber has been fine, genuinely. The problem is…
When did you stop thinking about it every day
Ives10 replies
A question rather than an update: When did you stop thinking about it every day Writing this partly to ask and partly because writing it down usually tells me what I think. The thing that…
The strange grief of not having a project any more
Aiko15 replies
Something I have been sitting with: The strange grief of not having a project any more Not looking for advice so much as other people's experience. I do not know if this belongs in this…
Two years and my only news is that there is no news
Barnaby12 replies
Two years and my only news is that there is no news — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in. Long one, sorry. I have been chewing on this for a fortnight. I…
Maintenance through a house move and a redundancy
Perry19 replies
Maintenance through a house move and a redundancy — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in. Long one, sorry. I have been chewing on this for a fortnight. My…
I came back to say it stays fine
Thea17 replies
I came back to say it stays fine — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in. Writing this partly to ask and partly because writing it down usually tells me what…
Nobody prepared me for maintenance being an identity question
Gilda13 replies
A question rather than an update: Nobody prepared me for maintenance being an identity question I do not know if this belongs in this circle. Move me if not. I am aware some of this may be…
What my bloods look like after two steady years
Ottoline16 replies
A question rather than an update: What my bloods look like after two steady years Writing this partly to ask and partly because writing it down usually tells me what I think. The thing…
People stopped asking and I found that a relief
Nils19 replies
Something I have been sitting with: People stopped asking and I found that a relief Not looking for advice so much as other people's experience. I have been reading here for a few weeks…
Do you still journal in maintenance
Fabian20 replies
Do you still journal in maintenance — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in. Writing this partly to ask and partly because writing it down usually tells me…