Usually when someone asks, "Are you off your meds?" it means the person has been acting a little strange or hyper or irritable. Well I have been popping off lately. I also gained 15 lbs. over the last three months, which I had been keeping under control for almost a year.
I noticed a mood change in May. My friend's dad was visiting from back east and I met them at the Farmer's Market. I was grouchy and snapping at everything they said. I phoned my friend later to apologize. She said not to worry; friends forgive our occasional bad behavior.
Friends are willing to forgive, but not occasional blog readers. So if I've come off grouchy in my last few blogs, I apologize to anyone I might have irritated. I renewed my medication and started back on it yesterday.
I stopped taking my Escitalopram (Lexapro) at the end of March. According to Web MD, "Escitalopram is used to treat depression and anxiety. It works by helping to restore the balance of a certain natural substance (serotonin) in the brain. . . . This medication may also be used to treat other mental/mood disorders (such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder)."
Maybe I'm using this to justify my outburst at the Cemetery Workshop last month, but I attribute my overly emotional reaction to being off my meds. It was interesting that both Phil and Bill replied to my comment about the potential for 4,000 houses on that property, but did not answer any of the comments from other speakers, even when they knew they were wrong. This only reinforces my belief that there was more to this gripe fest then an informational workshop. If the purpose was Informational, they should have corrected everyone elses misinformation too.
I felt it was necessary for someone to correct the misconceptions and fear being bandied about, but I should not have brought up the potential for 4000 houses on that property. That was the number Phil O'Loane was using in his No on Measure W literature to scare voters into voting against Measure W.
Measure W was a badly written ballot measure that the City Council did not need to put on the ballot the way it was. It should have been two measures, one for the Western boundary which nobody objected to and one for the East into Tassajara Valley, without including the whole General Plan in either package.
Phil snapped back at me that 4000 houses couldn't be built there because the City did not move our Urban Limit Line into Tassajara Valley, as if only our City Council would consider a large housing development in Tassajara Valley. Just because the City was prevented from moving our Urban Limit Line doesn't mean the County can't or won't move theirs. Four of the five Contra Costa County Supervisors could vote to move their Urban Growth Boundary in 2016.
Phil rode onto the City Council on a campaign of preventing 4000 houses, but all he did was swing them over the fence to the County Supervisors. If the cemetery is prevented, the 4000 houses are still a possibly. It isn't likely, but it is still possible.