Nay for painkillers and hormones

[Greyshe_wolf]

You'll have to excuse me, feeling very female today, normally I am a very positive 'get-on-with-it' kinda person.

 

I hate all the medication I am on at the moment, this seems to be the focus of my hormone driven ire.

 

I take the following: Naproxen twice a day with a stomach tablet to prevent ulcers

Tramadol two tablets at least twice a day at the moment

Co-codamol 30/500mg twice a day in between the tramadol

 

Sometimes I just get so annoyed with it that I refuse to take the tramadol and co-codamol even though I am really sore, it's like I can't control my hip being sore but I can control my pain relief. I've lost count of the number of times my mum and my GP have told me off for not taking pain medication when I am sore but I just get so angry and frustrated about it in a 'Why me? I'm only 27' sort of way.

 

But then usually (and thankfully) I get over it and go back to enjoying my life as best I can and my only concern is what to do on a given day to keep my mind occupied.

 

Thank you for listening

 

/rant

 

Spoke to my older sister and she said something fantastic 'Don't try and be a superhero, there is no prize for not taking your painkillers, no one shows up at the end of the day with a certificate' which is absolutely correct. She always knows how to make me feel better.

[AyeAye]

I completely hear you on this front. I hate taking medications unless I absolutely have to... I'll try and tough out most any pain or discomfort over taking any medications, even when my physician parents say go take [...] to take the edge off.

 

Around 5 years ago, I was prescribed an SSRI for my major depression and anxiety disorder and now all these years later I still take it, at a fairly high dose. I hate the stuff. It makes me tired all the time but if I don't take it I get serotonin withdrawal which is basically being completely spaced out with a side of vertigo, dizziness, and having your brain feel fuzzy. The tramadol you take is part serotonin reuptake inhibitor so maybe you feel the same way sometimes. I'm 22 and I nap daily. It's ridiculous

 

Anywho, I take my meds faithfully with the hope one day I'll be able to wean myself off, even though my psychiatrist says that's unlikely. My mom has a great similar statement to your sisters. She says, "there are no living martyrs." It makes me feel better sometimes I guess. But anyways I totally feel you on this, though I'm not in chronic pain like you, which must be awful. Plus co-codamol must make you wicked constipated ouchies.

 

Anyways, dude, I got you. Rants are cathartic. Rant away.

[Greyshe_wolf]

Oh tell me about the brain fog! When I first started taking the tramadol I was still working and I had to go up to my TM and say 'Can I sit off for a bit? Just taken my painkillers and everything is a little sideways' I sometimes think taking the calls would have been amusing but seeing as I was a call centre agent for a bank, the risk was too much to take, I would never have forgiven myself if I messed up some poor person's account while I was high. I do sometimes have to take a nap after taking tramadol especially if I slept poorly the night before, but I don't beat myself up about it anymore, I've accepted that sleep will claim me no matter where or what I am doing ((I can sleep sitting up, had this talent(?) since I was a child))

 

If you think you might be able to come off your pills someday, then you might. Don't let anyone take away the thought that gets you through the day sometimes, even if they think they are being helpful by managing your expectations. Unless they live a day in your shoes, they won't really know what you are talking about.

 

Funnily enough I think the stomach tablet helps with the co-codamol side effects and my IBS too, I don't have too many problems with my stomach unless I binge on stuff I really shouldn't, like kebabs or really fibrous stuff then I know about it the day after.

 

Yeah, ranting does help, especially when you have a big elephant in the room that you can't control and you act out and try and control anything you can get your hands on. Older sister compared it to eating disorders, makes a lot of sense. So my aim is to control my pain positively and not self punish myself by not taking them.

[AyeAye]

Oh tell me about the brain fog! When I first started taking the tramadol I was still working and I had to go up to my TM and say 'Can I sit off for a bit? Just taken my painkillers and everything is a little sideways' I sometimes think taking the calls would have been amusing but seeing as I was a call centre agent for a bank, the risk was too much to take, I would never have forgiven myself if I messed up some poor person's account while I was high. I do sometimes have to take a nap after taking tramadol especially if I slept poorly the night before, but I don't beat myself up about it anymore, I've accepted that sleep will claim me no matter where or what I am doing ((I can sleep sitting up, had this talent(?) since I was a child))

 

If you think you might be able to come off your pills someday, then you might. Don't let anyone take away the thought that gets you through the day sometimes, even if they think they are being helpful by managing your expectations. Unless they live a day in your shoes, they won't really know what you are talking about.

 

Funnily enough I think the stomach tablet helps with the co-codamol side effects and my IBS too, I don't have too many problems with my stomach unless I binge on stuff I really shouldn't, like kebabs or really fibrous stuff then I know about it the day after.

 

Yeah, ranting does help, especially when you have a big elephant in the room that you can't control and you act out and try and control anything you can get your hands on. Older sister compared it to eating disorders, makes a lot of sense. So my aim is to control my pain positively and not self punish myself by not taking them.

Oh jeez I'm glad I'm not the only one with the brain fog. I had "stress induced gluten intolerance" and was on a gluten free diet for like a year before I could have a piece of bread again. They thought I had IBS or ulcerative colitis at first. I'm glad ranting helps and your older sister sounds like a smart cookie. I just have an older sister who likes to tell me that she'd handle my case differently and my psychiatrist is doing it all wrong (She's a 4th year medical student, she thinks she knows everything lol).

 

I love my psychiatrist though. He's this little middle aged Asian man who speaks like Yoda. It's awesome. I'm glad you have some support system in your sister too though!

[Greyshe_wolf]

Ugh, I hate it when people try to say 'You should do this or that' without really knowing what they are talking about or knowing whether I have actually done this or that. Even worse is when people try and tell you how to feel.

 

Yeah, Nicola is the type of person that you don't go to if you wanna be told what you *want* to here, you go to her to hear what you *need* to hear. If I want sympathy I usually go to my mum but thankfully it's not very often that I am the self pitying type.

 

Spoke to the GP about my physio exercises seeing as the physio didn't bother getting back to me, she suggested I take my painkillers about an hour before I do them to try and head the pain off, seems like a good idea so I'll try it.

[AyeAye]

I try to avoid wallowing in self pity as well cause I often get stuck in that mood if I don't actively avoid it. Honestly the best medication for me thus far has been keeping active. I used to competitively horseback ride but it's a very expensive sport/hobby and I don't have my own horse. I lurk in the gym a lot and the endorphins boost my mood but I imagine when you're in chronic pain exercise is not anyone's idea of fun.

 

What's physio? I don't think I've ever heard of it. I've done all sorts of neat homeopathic healing medicines/techniques etc. I think most of it is hogwash but acupuncture felt interesting.... *shudder at the needles*

[Greyshe_wolf]

I am supposed to try and keep active but you're right, if I'm in pain the last thing I wanna do is move. Physio is short for physiotherapy, it's basically doing exercises to strengthen your muscles, I have a load I am doing everyday but it's quite hard when I feel it is doing me more harm than good.

 

Haven't tried any alternate therapies apart from using a TENS machine (electric impulses to the site of pain) it worked pretty well but I broke three in three months due to overuse and I can't afford to keep replacing them.