Larium

The doctor told me to start taking the Larium ahead of time. This way, if I experience any negative side effects, I could come in and change my prescription. So last night I started taking it.

Common side effects are: nausea, dizziness, headaches, depression, fatigue, hallucinations, and nightmares.

Thus far, I haven't puked or fainted, and it's been almost 12 hours. I figure I will wait and see for the next 24, and call my doctor tomorrow if anything seems suspicious. I bought the Larium because it's only taken once a week and is far cheaper than the daily pill I took in Senegal. But in Senegal, I was only there for one week and was able to pay for fifteen pills (you have to take them for a few days afterwards, too). Since I'll be in southeast Asia for almost 40 days, the price would have been outrageous. So Larium it was.

I feel ok but holy moly! The dreams I had last night were so insane. I remember Andy saying something about his dreams getting all whacked up, and now I believe him. They weren't really nightmares, per se, but they were strange and disconnected, very bizarre dreams.

For example, in my last dream before waking up this morning, I was in a bar with a bunch of people from high school. We were on the third floor of a three-story bar. I needed to use the restroom, so I went downstairs to the second floor where the toilets were. Oddly, when I got there, there was no music and there was a hazy stillness in the air. Nobody moved. In fact, everyone on the second floor had cut off their fingers at the knuckle, and they were silently writhing around on the floor in pain, bloody finger stubs strewn about haphazardly. Shocked, I tried to ask them what had happened, and they just looked at me, dazed. One girl held up her hand, chopped at the thumb, index, and ring finger. Horrified, I ran downstairs to the main floor and told them that we needed first aid people immediately. Britney Spears was there (I don't know why celebrities always find their way into dreams) and said something to the effect of, "I just don't get this cult of finger-cutters." I was surprised to see Britney there, but in the dream I knew that she had been the one to incite them into massacring their own hands. The varsity volleyball coach was the first aid lady, and, upon inspection, she sadly proclaimed that nobody would ever be able to sew back on their fingers.

I had other, just as wacky dreams. Also, at one point, I felt my legs disconnecting from my body. They felt lightweight and super energized, and I seriously considered going for a run (I think this happened in the middle of the night). Later, I put my arms over my head, and felt them lifting, lifting... as if they were resting on something very bouyant in the air. I don't know if that qualifies as hallucinations.

This is going to be a strange, strange month.