A couple of things about the pain meds... First of all, scientists have mapped out the gene which determines whether or not you react to codeine. Approx 70% of the population does, but 30% of the population doesn't. Codeine in general has 3 effects -- it relieves pain, it causes constipation, and it makes you loopy. Different individuals who are among the 70% do react differently to it, so it takes a little detective work to figure out what is going on. You say that you take it precisely because it doesn't make you loopy. This could be because you are one of the lucky ones who gets pain relief without the loopiness. Or it could be that you are only getting pain relief from the Tylenol (which is a reasonably effective pain reliever, after all). If the codeine isn't doing you any more good than just taking the store-brand over-the-counter acetominephen, then why spend the extra money for the prescription?
Secondly, tylenol taken in even moderate doses over long periods of time can cause liver damage. When you are talking about taking something everyday several times a day for the forseeable future, you need to consider this. I don't know what the exact limits are, but they are well-known. The most common form of chronic pain, after all, is arthritis, and tylenol is an excellent pain reliever for many people with arthritis, so the limits and toxicity are something that is well studied. The point about narcotics is that they are generally far less toxic to liver, stomach, kidneys, etc. than the non-narcotics. It's sort of ironic, ya'know -- you can have as much as you want of a pain reliever that has the side effect of destroying your liver and killing you, but oh no! it's totally unacceptable to give you narcotics because there is the tiniest chance that you might get a buzz on from it...
Thirdly, while everyone is different and there are no guarantees in medicine, for most people the fogginess/loopiness/nausia/whatever that is a side-effect of narcotics is only temporary, typically a matter of a few days (if you're lucky), maybe a few weeks. Would it be possible to ask a relative or friend to come stay with you for a short time so that you can get stabalized on some meds? Like when I had my babies my mom came for a month each time. I had a c-section with the first one and I don't know what I would have done without her those first couple of weeks! If you have the typical reaction to narcotics, after a couple of weeks of adjustment you'll be in far better shape to take care of your son just because you won't be in pain all of the time.
At Tue, 5 Feb 2002, EVETTA GREGORY wrote:
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>Dear Karla; When I read your letter it made me think. But when I read your quilt, I cried. I cried harder and longer than when I am in pain. You have opened my eyes to see the other side of this. I was never told that having this surgery can cause more adhesions, by any of my doctors. I am going in to see my Dr. in three days to discuss my other options. The pain med I am on now is only tylenol 3, it doesn't help alot, but I can't take anything stronger because I have a 2 year old son who has epilepsy. He has over 10 seizures a day and I need to be alert for him. Thank you for caring and taking time out for me. I really admire and appreciate you. Thanks again...Evetta
-- cathy :-)