Vicodin

[sudsmaster]

As noted, Vicodin is an opioid (codeine), and like all opioids will slow down digestion and after more than a few day's use will cause constipation. Lomotil, an anti-diarrheal, is an opioid derivative without any pain killing properties.

So if you plan to be on Vicodin for more than a few days, you might want to stock up on some sort of gentle laxative.

As for fentanyl... after a bike accident about four years ago, which broke three ribs and a shoulder blade, I was given a fentanyl patch while in the hospital. I was allowed to wear it home but took it off the next day... too dizzy and groggy with it. After that I sort of wished I had it again, but I had some Vicodin to take the edge off (I found I had to take one before I got out of bed in the morning, because the pain of that motion was so intense).

I don't really care for opioids and take them only as a last resort, when stuff like aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxin (Aleve) doesn't work.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[mattl]

You can still get goodies like Valium. My dad gets it for sleep. Takes 2-4 mg. I have a lifetime supply of Valium. Last year I called the Dr. for a refill and the nurse called in 6 refills of 10mg x2. 60 10 mg tablets x 6 refills equal 360 10 mg tablets. Of course that should have been 1 mg tablets, but I'm not going to complain.

We all know we should not swap drugs, but we do.

 

[jeffg]

Launderess, government (and even worse, the health insurance industry) has absolutely no business intruding itself into any doctor-patient relationship. This is true in all cases, without exception, and applies equally to everything from medication prescriptions to decisions about contraception and abortion.

I believe within the next 20 years, we'll see a privacy amendment proposed to the U.S. Constitution, to permanently slam the door on our government sticking its nose where it clearly doesn't belong: doctor-patient relationships, women's uteruses, family planning (especially for gay people) etc.

 

[animasinsulinpu]

Oxycontin

I still have a TON of that crap. My dad was on it for years for his Parkinson's. Well, he's dead now and I think Im gonna put it down the disposer. Tried 1 20mg. thing and I thought I was gonna die. New project!!!! Mr. Waste King has got a job to do.....Bill in Az.....

 

[tolivac]

DON'T throw unneeded prescriptions down the toilet or disposer!Take them to a hazardous waste disposal facility or see if the pharmacy will take them back.Drugs can cause water pollution.Oh yes--don't put them into the trash either-"junkies" can find the drugs and use them for their habit.

 

[yogitunes]

Who cares.....?

If someone is in major pain and aspirin in any form doesn't work, who cares how you get out of pain, you just want it GONE!....I've been getting headaches lately that I can't stand that last for 4 days at a time. I take the vicoden I have for my kidney stone attacks to get rid of it sooner....not everyone has the same tolerance for pain, they just want it GONE! or at least take the EDGE off!...I don't care if it's someone else's script...I know what it will do for me, since I have been on it before...Next time you want to describe the pain to someone who thinks your faking, GRAB them by the "PRIVATES" ( was that PC enough?...or should I have said "NAUGHTY AREA"...for you pre-schoolers) and twist to show your intensity rather than describe pain from 1 to 10...I HAVE done that to my doctor and my dentist...WERE NOT GOING TO HURT EACH OTHER, ARE WE?...try it sometime!...But to blame a drug or a doctor because a mature grown up doesn't have the discipline to follow the script and ruin it for the rest of us...and YES, I know from experience, I have a brother that goes overboard and ends up in the ER, I walk in and SMACK him upside the head and call him a dumb@ss, he knows better, and then leave, I'm sorry if thats cold, but if a person doesn't want help you can't force it!

I'm on a few drugs for the rest of my life, unfortunately, I take them as needed, been on so long, I don't even feel the effects but they work, and their locked in the SAFE away from the KIDS or any visitors into my restroom...and I'm sure many of you are the same...

like a neutered dog....some don't get it!... think about it on many levels...you won't buy the cow if the milk if free!...run and ask your mommy about this one!

 

[danemodsandy]

yogitunes:

"But to blame a drug or a doctor because a mature grown up doesn't have the discipline to follow the script and ruin it for the rest of us...and YES, I know from experience, I have a brother that goes overboard and ends up in the ER, I walk in and SMACK him upside the head and call him a dumb@ss, he knows better, and then leave, I'm sorry if thats cold, but if a person doesn't want help you can't force it!"

If that was in response to what I said about my close friend, I would like to point out that both the manufacturer and the Food & Drug Administration recommend only a 15 mg. dose of Restoril, for only 7-10 days, and both sources are explicit on the point that longer=term use or higher doses should be undertaken only with caution. In addition, both say that elderly patients should not be given a dose higher than 15 mg., due to the potential for weakness, falls and pseudo-dementia.

My friend was given 30 mg. beginning at age 70, in clear contravention of those guidelines. No follow-up was done with him, no re-assessment, nothing, nada, zip. The VA just kept sending him the pills automatically.

That is what I don't want to see. I want anyone who needs Restoril to be able to get it, but I don't want anyone to get it on a basis that fosters addiction. Addiction is self-perpetuating; once you're hooked, you'll do anything to satisfy the addiction. And you affect others; this person was supposed to take out life insurance to help me when he died, because I spent the last five years taking care of him 'round-the-clock, including bed baths, bedpans, the whole nine yards, plus helping him out financially. He kept forgetting to pay his premiums, and now I'm up the creek financially. Big time. I'm having to start all over, aged nearly sixty.

So please don't tell me this situation was a matter of individual responsibility. I know the situation I was in, and this man was hooked on a drug with a high addiction potential by sloppy doctoring, not because he had no willpower or didn't know better. The drug he was taking addicts people over time, it's well known, and his doctors simply didn't do what the Federal government and the manufacturer says they should have.

 

[rp2813]

After my partner's second back surgery, his doctor prescribed a fentanyl patch along with Oxycontin. I don't know if it was one or the other or both in combination, but he turned into a crazed person I'd never seen before. He would get a look in his eyes that actually scared me. I knew he couldn't help it, but had to tell him to either stop with the abusive behaviors or he could start paying for a nurse to help him wipe his @ss and everything else he couldn't do for himself. After reading up on side effects and discovering that the first couple of days could produce some strange ones, sure enough, after those days passed he acclimated and was back to normal. Please be advised that normal for him means behaving like a child, but that part I'm used to. He never used all of the Oxycontin. I think he gave it to a pill-popping friend. To the doc's credit, the post-op pain management was seamless all the way through and my partner never had any nagging discomfort.

Ralph

 

[sudsmaster]

On a related matter, I think a lot of drugs today are over-prescribed. The worst offenders are the statins. Doctors like to see low cholesterol levels, but what they don't seem to want to see are the bad side effects statins can have. Muscle weakness, joint pain, mental confusion, etc. I think the doctors (and nurses and care-givers) just assume that the patient is old and weak and losing his or her marbles. They don't even begin to suspect that the cocktail of drugs given might be the cause of severe problems. So they wind up prescribing more drugs to treat the symptoms caused by the earlier drugs.

I tried a statin (as doctor prescribed) for about 3 months a couple of years ago. By the time I quit, I could barely walk, and felt like I was 98 years old. It took a while, but I recovered my strength and don't have those episodes any more.

I also had a bad reaction to metformin (which helps regulate blood glucose and is generic). I finally asked to be put 100% on injected insulin. I don't like the needles but it has far fewer side effects than any of the oral diabetes medications I've tried. More predictable control, as well.

 

[sudsmaster]

Percoset...

I think Percoset is Percodan with an emetic thrown in, to discourage recreational abuse. Hence the queasy stomach, perhaps.

I have an acquaintance who used to buy Vicodin off his friends, to meet with his drug addiction. Finally he got busted for heroin and last time I spoke with him, he was on methadone. Kind of a shame, he runs his own business, is very successful, plenty of girl action, but seems to have this real weak spot for Dr. Feelgood.

When I had my broken rib bike accident, I was eventually taken to a trauma center. It was pretty amazing... complete scan of torso (all my organs passed muster) they would also ask me what pain level I was at. When I answered "nine" they really gave me a good dose which killed most of the pain. Forget what the painkiller was, but it worked quite well. I did have some visual anomalies, though, like seeing a spider on the ceiling that wasn't there, which amused the medical staff no end.

 

[perc-o-prince]

I did have some visual anomalies, though, like seeing a spid

Sounds like Demoral

R

 

[qsd-dan]

I think a lot of drugs today are over-prescribed. The worst

In my opinion, it's antibiotics. Seriously, people, a cold or flu will NOT be cured by antibiotics. Antibiotics will only cure a bacterial infection!! Use P73 strength Oil of Oregano, or Olive Leaf Extract and your bacterial problem will go away without killing (literally) billions of good bacteria.

 

[polkanut]

For all bad press that Vioxx got that was one drug that actually helped to alleviate the pain I have in my ankles because of chronic tendonitis. And you can dispose of old prescription meds yourself by burning them. A friend of mine who passed away in Feb. was on many different meds, and his nephew took all his drugs and burned them in his garbage burner.

 

[qsd-dan]

his nephew took all his drugs and burned them in his garbage

Not too many counties where you can burn garbage anymore unless you live deep in the sticks.

Probably better to burn than flush down the toilet though.

"Research on the effects of PPCPs (pharmaceuticals and personal care products) in our water has focused on hormone disruption in fish and increased resistance to antibiotics due to an abundance of estrogen and antibiotics in the water. The risks posed by other PPCPs are largely unknown and unstudied. The environmental issues could be as varied and diverse as the number of chemicals in use."

http://www.ecocycle.org/askeco-cycle/20040123.cfm

 

[animasinsulinpu]

Antibiotics

I haven't taken antibiotics in at least 12 years. I believe let yout immune system do it's job. And I haven't had a cold or flu in 12 yrs. My Dr. said my T-cell count is off the charts. YAAH!!!....Bill in Az.....

 

[polkanut]

Dan,

Here in Central WI when you go out in the country just about everyone still has a "burn barrel".

 

[sudsmaster]

Yes, antibiotics are over-prescribed, however, one generally is not on antibiotics indefinitely, unlike statins and other meds to control chronic conditions. If one has a chronic condition that requires indefinite treatment with antibiotics, one probably has some major health problems.

What gets me about the statins is that most doctors tend to dismiss the side effects... I've watched a close relative turn to stone as she ages, and I suspect that the statins she's been given have a lot to do with it... but I can't get the medical regime she's under to change. Kind of sad, and it seems almost like elder abuse to blindly prescribe drugs that are having such serious side effects. Personally I'd rather have a heart attack or a stroke than end my days unable to move my limbs and have my mind in a fog for months if not years.

 

[qsd-dan]

Here in Central WI when you go out in the country just about

Lucky bastard

 

[earthling177]

Yogitunes:

Please see your doctor(s). A friend of mine some time ago was told by his doctor that any time you had "the worst headache" you should talk to your doctor -- it may be your first sign that you are having micro-bleeding in your brain that can develop into full-bleed and end up in a stroke. What you need (beyond pain management) is a scan. Now. I hope for your sake that it's nothing and they'll prescribe appropriate drugs to relieve your pain (just like it happened to the friend I just mentioned) but it's not something you should be dealing with on your own.

And I say that from the perspective of someone whose BF had a stroke nearly a year ago -- no warnings, just happened (not even headache), because he had high blood pressure. Not fun. He's basically fully recovered now, one wouldn't notice anything if one didn't know, but it's not an experience I'd recommend to anybody, friend or foe.

Best wishes,
-- Paulo.

 

[sudsmaster]

Dan,

The ban on most open fires is probably a small price to pay for one of the best climates in the world. No snow to speak of, dry warm weather, not too hot, from May to November, and beautiful scenery all around. You can plant in April and keep on harvesting until December.

Of course the traffic is horrendous and the cost of living high, but... it's pretty close to paradise without being a tropical island...

 

[tolivac]

Home incinerator barrels and units-haven't seen those since I was little-too many areas have banned the burning of home waste because of the higher plastics content which causes very serious and TOXIC air pollution-better to let the municipal waste incinerators handle this-their incinerators burn at a higher temp than household ones-so less pollutiion and better waste reduction-and you can get the benefits of steam and power gneration from large incineration plants.but burning prescription waste may not be a good idea-esp in a household trash burner-whats going to be in that smoke?Again take the drugs to a hazardous waste facility.They can dispose of it more safely.
I would second the motion of seeing your doc if you are having cronic head pain-pain is an indicator something is WRONG!Get it fixed before it kills you.

 

[yogitunes]

Paulo an Rex

thanks for your concern...I did mention it to my doctor, it continued for 4 months, he tought it was from the new medicine he had me on, but wanted to do a scan just to rule out any other problems, so the next day, I had a CAT scan with contrast, turned out I had one major sinus infection, no other symptom except for the headaches once a month for 4 days, never had sinus problems my whole life, who knew, but a 5 day treatment packet and all gone, thank god, you just never know...they said it was really bad to show up on a scan.

All better now!

Thanks again

 

[retro-man]

spoke to my pharmacist

I asked him what to do with pills that I have that I either no longer need or can't take. He suggested to do what they do. All newer pill bottles are water proof. He said to leave pills in container add water put the cap back on and put into the trash. Do not throw them down the toilet. With all the pills out there he said it wouldn't take long to pollute the water ways. So this is what I have been doing with mine.
Jon