Step One in Family Vacation Planning

Twenty-two days until vacation! To make sure you are all able to feel adequate sympathy for me when the time comes, I'm going to be sharing several family-focused posts in advance of vacation.

Preparations for family vacation have officially begun. As any over-anxious freak sane person me would tell you, the first step in gearing up for family fun is to visit the doctor for refills of important prescriptions. Like Lexapro.

Since I've now been on Lexapro since October and it's completely saving my sanity (not to mention my marriage), the doctor felt comfortable offering me the option to switch to a similar medication that is available in a generic to also be saving me some cash.

I totally support the idea of saving me some cash. I'm a big fan of that. However, she also said sometimes the generic isn't quite strong enough and there can be a period of adjusting the dose to find the appropriate level. With that in mind, I asked her if I could first have another 30 days of actual Lexapro before we start playing around with my ability to not kill people meds. I expressed my concerns over family vacation, citing 7 days (and nights!) under one roof with my parents and siblings as the biggest test of my sanity EVER.

Dr V agreed that it was not a good idea to play with my brain under those circumstances. We talked some more about the stress of the trip and time with my family given the fact that we have almost nothing in common except DNA and I'm 98% certain I'm adopted. She encouraged me to have some responses ready for topics that might come up and asked for an example. I told her about "baby" sister and her little guy leading to questions about when I'll have a child of my own. My doctor encouraged me to shed a tear and just break down in hysterics so they'd drop the subject. I told her if I really wanted to shut them up, I should tell them we're considering adopting from China since they are horrified by "foreigners".

It was at that point she jokingly offered me Xanax. And I laughed and said "probably not a bad idea".

We moved along to discuss my other meds and she printed out prescriptions for what I needed. When she went over them with me, not only had she refilled my meds for my allergies, my reflux, my migraines, and my Lexapro, but she did give me a supply of Xanax.

Sometimes it scares me how quick my doctor is to hand out meds. But in this case, I think it's interesting that discussion about my family has made a medical professional feel chill pills are necessary. My only question is - the prescription is for 20 pills. That should take care of move-in day but what am I supposed to do for the rest of the week?

P.S. Despite the fact that I often make light of my medications, I do take them responsibly and encourage everyone else to do the same.

P.P.S. If anyone has any experience going from Lexapro (10mg) to Celexa (or its generic specifically), I'd love to know how it worked for you. Same with any experiences with Xanax - I'm wondering if I should try a dose before the trip, just to know what I'm dealing with (she prescribed .25mg and said I should try half a pill first). If you're not comfy leaving a comment, please email me at showmyface at gmail dot com.