Losing weight, gaining workload

The diet's going well - I've managed to lose 2st5lb so far, which leaves 6st12 to go before I hit my target weight of 9st. I saw my GP today, and he's prescribed me some Orlistat, so that should speed things up a bit - ideally I'd like to lose another stone before Christmas, although I think that might be setting the bar a bit too high? Answers on a postcard please. I'm also worried about the GI upset it can cause if I eat too much fat while I'm taking it, because I think diarrhoea combined with the sedation from the antipsychotics could be a really bad idea... we'll see!

Mental health wise, everything's on a pretty even keel - not getting worse, not getting better, just ticking along. Am managing to get a bit more work done, I'm not quite as sedated as I was before, so that's positive. I think at the moment the main thing impeding my getting on with my work is the library - as an undergrad, I'm not allowed to order inter-library loans of research papers without a signature from a member of faculty, and I'm on placements at the moment, so there aren't many members of faculty hanging around to sign my forms! Bah, humbug. Think I'll just ask my friend who's intercalating to sign them for me, he's on a Masters so he gets to order anything he likes. Hmph.

My research is getting more intense and scary - I've started analysing my first research focus group. I'm still waiting for my research tutor to get back to me about the group she said she'd organise in a different school - I don't want to hassle her, but equally, I want to keep moving - I want to get the whole prpject written up and finished with by the end of the Christmas holidays so I can focus on getting ready for Finals. Thinking about it, I should probably give her dictaphone back - oops!!

Must crack on with work, the to-do list is three pages long and unfortunately won't complete itself. Hey ho - more update soon.

Those damn badgers...

The last week or two have been all about my mental health - I've seen a psychiatrist, three GPs, a social worker, my new CPN... as yet, none of the pills or potions have made any difference, but the fact that someone's listening and trying to make things better is helping me get through bit my bit. Anyway, it's all been a bit intense and a lot of talking about stuff, so I've taken today off to give myself a bit of space - after my appointment this morning I went into town, got my eyebrows threaded (Ow!! But very pretty) bought some new makeup and had my hair cut. Looks much better, but now the roots are showing, so I'm going to have to dye it again. Am feeling much more pretty and human now anyway, and I'm off out to have a catch up with friends tonight. I probably shouldn't be eating pizza the night before weigh-in, but hey - I don't drink and a girl's got to have some vices!

Weirdly, my psychiatrist has also told me to go and get my hearing aids looked at. When I first started hearing voices, I assumed I was picking up induction coils and bluetooth from other people's electrical gadgets - it was only when I started hearing things with my aids out that I realised it had to be in my head. I guess then I owe my sanity to deafness - if I could hear normally, I'd probably have assumed the voices were real...

My work's lagging behind a bit, and I should probably be writing about epilepsy in patients with learning disabilities rather than blogging! Hey ho.