Saturday, November 25, 2006
somedays her shape in the doorway...
Since I’ve been living upcountry lately, I’ve been taking malaria pills. I don’t usually take them in Dhaka because its not required and they have some unfortunate side effects. However, other than a slight loss of appetite I had yet to feel very many of these negative side effects. That all changed yesterday. I felt a bit light-headedly dizzy and sick for most the day, which is easy enough to forget about if you put your mind to it, but then I went to bed. Now, on the warning label, they say that you may experience various “psychological disturbances”. Well, I’ve heard of people having some crazy dreams when they’re on Mefloquine, and I’ve had some myself, but that’s about as far as the “psychological disturbances” went. Last night, however, I woke up at 3:21am, completely wide awake and was absolutely convinced that there was someone in my room – which is quite impossible because you bolt all the doors from the inside – but nonetheless I laid completely still and wide awake for a good 25 minutes hearing imaginary footsteps and breathing. Then when I finally got a bit of a hold on my rational self, which told me I was just hearing things, and it was all in my head, I laid there for another 20 minutes trying to remember or decide if I was awake or asleep which proved to be a very confusing and perplexing task for me. I was quite convinced that I was still asleep but decided to get up and put on some quiet music to put me at ease and it was only then I realized that I was actually very awake and still in “fight or flight” mode with adrenaline pumping through my body still and feeling the effects of my paranoia. Needless to say, I am writing this blog entry malaria protected, but oh, so tired.
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4 comments:
Thats nothing Bri - I teach english in my sleep for weeks now! In my half-sleep half-awake mode, I'm convinced I have my students in the room and that I must teach them!!
Although... I'm not currently on any medication... so I'm not sure what my excuse is for these strange tendancies.
Correction - I meant to say:
"I've BEEN teaching english in my sleep for weeks now."
Hello. My name is Jane. And yes, I am an english teacher. Despite evidence of the contrary.
i'm on mefloquine too! but i've had no strange dreams, thankfully. there's only one night i was really freaked out, and that was when i was pretty much the only person on the whole compound. scary. most of the amerindians here believe in "jombies," which are kind of like ghosts/little people who like to cause harm/mischief at night. everyone else is creeped out about them, but most of the time i can convince myself that i don't believe in them.
Bri! I had those same exact side effects! The most vivid nightmares i've ever had! Every day i would have to lay down because of being dizzy and ill. I said forget about those pills. I'll risk it. I'll deal with Malaria when it hits me. So far so good. Fingers crossed.
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