After I fell in the shower, the doctor prescribed it. I took 1 during the day and 2 before bed. Didn't get addicted.
Vicodin
- Thread starter frigilux
- Start date
Help Support :
Rich & Chuck---Your advice is, of course, sound! Please don't apologize, and I would never recommend any one else take meds not prescribed to them.
Having sampled many, many prescription drugs when I was younger (and even more foolish), I've been lucky not to have serious reactions to any of them. I was hesitant to try the Vicodin, as I've heard it's pretty strong, but this morning my knee was killing me. I don't have to go anywhere, today, so I thought it would be a good time to give one a try.
As predicted, I slept through Bringing Up Baby. I set a kitchen timer to wake me in order to check the clothes out on the line, and when that lurched me back to consciousness, I was quite chilled. As soon as I went out to bring clothes in, I warmed up, but I almost felt refrigerated when I woke up, LOL.
Having sampled many, many prescription drugs when I was younger (and even more foolish), I've been lucky not to have serious reactions to any of them. I was hesitant to try the Vicodin, as I've heard it's pretty strong, but this morning my knee was killing me. I don't have to go anywhere, today, so I thought it would be a good time to give one a try.
As predicted, I slept through Bringing Up Baby. I set a kitchen timer to wake me in order to check the clothes out on the line, and when that lurched me back to consciousness, I was quite chilled. As soon as I went out to bring clothes in, I warmed up, but I almost felt refrigerated when I woke up, LOL.
Yogitunes
Could you please remember there are ladies and a few minors about?
TY
L.
Could you please remember there are ladies and a few minors about?
TY
L.
Yogi, LOL, speak for yourself buddy! I've not known a Vicodin experience that didn't make my "life on the edge" much more manageable and enjoyable. I agree with you partially though, as getting over the edge can require a little extra effort, but how is that a bad thing?
Hopeful my choice of words has managed to accommodate the ladies and minors in the room.
If you're gonna reply to this one Yogi, you better e-mail me directly. LOL!
Ralph
Hopeful my choice of words has managed to accommodate the ladies and minors in the room.
If you're gonna reply to this one Yogi, you better e-mail me directly. LOL!
Ralph
spiceman1957
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 724
On A Serious Note Here,
I have had chronic back pain for over 10 years, even after two hellious operations. I have been taking Vicodin off and on for two year under the watchful eye of a pain management physician. It has made the difference between holding down a job and going on disability. Thank God I have not gone on to take Oxycodan or be on a Fenanyl patch. I am now taking cordisone injections as well (my first injection was two weeks ago) with a little relief. I guess my point here is this; no one really wants to be taking an addictive drug along with wanting to have a degenerative disk and etc. But I believe as adults here, especially anyone here who has chronic pain can appreciate the benefits of this meds, especially if you have tried all the other OTC meds.
I have had chronic back pain for over 10 years, even after two hellious operations. I have been taking Vicodin off and on for two year under the watchful eye of a pain management physician. It has made the difference between holding down a job and going on disability. Thank God I have not gone on to take Oxycodan or be on a Fenanyl patch. I am now taking cordisone injections as well (my first injection was two weeks ago) with a little relief. I guess my point here is this; no one really wants to be taking an addictive drug along with wanting to have a degenerative disk and etc. But I believe as adults here, especially anyone here who has chronic pain can appreciate the benefits of this meds, especially if you have tried all the other OTC meds.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
My Two Cents:
Vicodin is one of those things that should be taken only short-term, prescribed by a doctor who is committed to seeing that you don't get it for long enough for its addiction potential to kick in.
I have recently been through the death of someone very close to me, a death that was partly caused by careless administration of Restoril (temazepam). The manufacturer and the FDA recommend that the drug be prescribed for short-term (7-10 days) use only, but this person had been getting it for more than five years, and in higher doses than recommended, too.
The drug caused this person to lose his ability to remember to "slow down" when his end-stage heart failure was causing him problems. Although it was prescribed primarily for sleep, he began abusing the drug, and relied on Restoril to make himself feel "good", and so he did. He felt so good he burned himself out far earlier than should have been the case, running around and doing things he didn't really have the heart reserve to be doing. I tried everything I knew to bring his addiction to the attention of his hospice doctor and the hospice company nurses, but by the time I was able to convince them that Mr. Nice Guy was abusing Restoril prescribed by a careless, ignorant doctor, it was too late; he'd pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.
There are a whole lot of doctors out there who don't know anything like what they need to know about the meds they prescribe. The best doctors are the ones who are stingy with the high-powered stuff, in my opinion. There is a place for serious painkillers, don't misunderstand me. But if you're in the place where you need them, close and critical supervision is essential, I think.
Vicodin is one of those things that should be taken only short-term, prescribed by a doctor who is committed to seeing that you don't get it for long enough for its addiction potential to kick in.
I have recently been through the death of someone very close to me, a death that was partly caused by careless administration of Restoril (temazepam). The manufacturer and the FDA recommend that the drug be prescribed for short-term (7-10 days) use only, but this person had been getting it for more than five years, and in higher doses than recommended, too.
The drug caused this person to lose his ability to remember to "slow down" when his end-stage heart failure was causing him problems. Although it was prescribed primarily for sleep, he began abusing the drug, and relied on Restoril to make himself feel "good", and so he did. He felt so good he burned himself out far earlier than should have been the case, running around and doing things he didn't really have the heart reserve to be doing. I tried everything I knew to bring his addiction to the attention of his hospice doctor and the hospice company nurses, but by the time I was able to convince them that Mr. Nice Guy was abusing Restoril prescribed by a careless, ignorant doctor, it was too late; he'd pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.
There are a whole lot of doctors out there who don't know anything like what they need to know about the meds they prescribe. The best doctors are the ones who are stingy with the high-powered stuff, in my opinion. There is a place for serious painkillers, don't misunderstand me. But if you're in the place where you need them, close and critical supervision is essential, I think.
Sandy, my take is pretty much the opposite of yours. Chronic pain is, by far, the most undertreated disease in the U.S. and in much of the Western world. Thanks to a 40 year "war on drugs", which thankfully President Obama finally declared an end to just last week, our government and physicians have become hysterical over most pain medications, and in particular the opiate class of medications.
The simple fact is, nature has provided these chemicals for the specific treatment of human pain (we have receptors in both our brain and gut specifically for opiates). Another simple fact is that addiction to opiates is a relative rare phenomenon, and even when it does occur, withdrawal symptoms are mild compared even to non-prescription drugs (such as alcohol), and are not life-threatening.
I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. However, benzodiazepines (like temazepam) are an entirely different class of drug than opiates, with far more severe consequences when they're misused.
The simple fact is, nature has provided these chemicals for the specific treatment of human pain (we have receptors in both our brain and gut specifically for opiates). Another simple fact is that addiction to opiates is a relative rare phenomenon, and even when it does occur, withdrawal symptoms are mild compared even to non-prescription drugs (such as alcohol), and are not life-threatening.
I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. However, benzodiazepines (like temazepam) are an entirely different class of drug than opiates, with far more severe consequences when they're misused.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Jeff:
I'm all for chronic and acute pain management, don't misunderstand me. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors don't do the management part. The same close friend was being handed oxycodone for mild to moderate pain, which is absurd - and he got it for well over a year before I was able to intervene.
A responsible doctor will do his or her best to match the drug, dosage and duration of any prescription to the patient's needs, and will review the situation at prudent intervals, which is exactly what did not happen with my friend. If someone actually needs heavy doses of morphine, then they should get them, no question. If they can manage well enough on Tylenol, then they should get that, is my take on it. And with either drug, the dosage should be stopped when the pain ceases, with proper medical support for any withdrawal issues for opiates or benzos or whatever.
I don't think we're that far apart - I want people to have whatever they need. I just want that need assessed properly and the actual use of the drug monitored responsibly. Since that's not even close to being a given, I prefer to remain very concerned about the potential for addiction, abuse and toxicity, that's all.
I'm all for chronic and acute pain management, don't misunderstand me. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors don't do the management part. The same close friend was being handed oxycodone for mild to moderate pain, which is absurd - and he got it for well over a year before I was able to intervene.
A responsible doctor will do his or her best to match the drug, dosage and duration of any prescription to the patient's needs, and will review the situation at prudent intervals, which is exactly what did not happen with my friend. If someone actually needs heavy doses of morphine, then they should get them, no question. If they can manage well enough on Tylenol, then they should get that, is my take on it. And with either drug, the dosage should be stopped when the pain ceases, with proper medical support for any withdrawal issues for opiates or benzos or whatever.
I don't think we're that far apart - I want people to have whatever they need. I just want that need assessed properly and the actual use of the drug monitored responsibly. Since that's not even close to being a given, I prefer to remain very concerned about the potential for addiction, abuse and toxicity, that's all.
Nursing 101
Pain is a pure subjective symptom. One can examine, and try to determine if the person has pain and where it is coming from, but unlike say a fever or heart attack there isn't a certian clinical test to say "yes", this person is in pain.
Thus medications are dosed based upon assessement and reactions. However someone keen to get their hands on medication for pain for other reasons can often "fool" the most trained health care professional. It does not help that for years pain meds, even before such substances as morphine, and other powerful, but highly addictive durgs could be obtained without a doctor's consent.
To crack down on what the United States government felt was too many drugs being misused and diverted, there has been a concentrated effort to charge and prosecute doctors and others who "abuse" script writing. Every doctor, nurse and such knows the classes of addictive pain medications, and work to strike a balance between treating pain, but not allowing the patient to become "hooked", however again it is hard to tell when a person is truly in pain or just looking for a fix. I could whack your hand with a mallet, and you could not utter a sound, much less flich, but does that mean you are not in pain?
What has resulted from all the legal and judical prosecutions of doctors and nurses, is that many are loathe to give out anything stronger than Vicodin (Schedule II version) or similar mild pain medication. You can forget getting Percodan or any of the other real powerful pain meds unless one is terminally ill, and even then.
Problems with OxyContin diversion is the most recent of a long list of problems of good pain meds going to bad purposes. The result of which means those really in need of the medication have a very difficult time obtaining it if at all.
Despite my post above, when you have 70 year old grannies filling their scripts for OxyContin, then selling the pills, things are bad.
The other problem is today far more home care goes on than in years past, well say since modern hospitals began replacing being cared for at home. Today one has persons suffering from all manner and sundry of illnesses and diseases being cared for either in their own homes or in a home like setting. This means all their perscriptions, including any Scheduled II,III or higher drugs are not locked in a cabinet at the nurse's station, and subject to counts and verfication. Anyone in that household, or access to it can get at those drugs, this includes the home help.
Pain is a pure subjective symptom. One can examine, and try to determine if the person has pain and where it is coming from, but unlike say a fever or heart attack there isn't a certian clinical test to say "yes", this person is in pain.
Thus medications are dosed based upon assessement and reactions. However someone keen to get their hands on medication for pain for other reasons can often "fool" the most trained health care professional. It does not help that for years pain meds, even before such substances as morphine, and other powerful, but highly addictive durgs could be obtained without a doctor's consent.
To crack down on what the United States government felt was too many drugs being misused and diverted, there has been a concentrated effort to charge and prosecute doctors and others who "abuse" script writing. Every doctor, nurse and such knows the classes of addictive pain medications, and work to strike a balance between treating pain, but not allowing the patient to become "hooked", however again it is hard to tell when a person is truly in pain or just looking for a fix. I could whack your hand with a mallet, and you could not utter a sound, much less flich, but does that mean you are not in pain?
What has resulted from all the legal and judical prosecutions of doctors and nurses, is that many are loathe to give out anything stronger than Vicodin (Schedule II version) or similar mild pain medication. You can forget getting Percodan or any of the other real powerful pain meds unless one is terminally ill, and even then.
Problems with OxyContin diversion is the most recent of a long list of problems of good pain meds going to bad purposes. The result of which means those really in need of the medication have a very difficult time obtaining it if at all.
Despite my post above, when you have 70 year old grannies filling their scripts for OxyContin, then selling the pills, things are bad.
The other problem is today far more home care goes on than in years past, well say since modern hospitals began replacing being cared for at home. Today one has persons suffering from all manner and sundry of illnesses and diseases being cared for either in their own homes or in a home like setting. This means all their perscriptions, including any Scheduled II,III or higher drugs are not locked in a cabinet at the nurse's station, and subject to counts and verfication. Anyone in that household, or access to it can get at those drugs, this includes the home help.
I think it all depends on the person taking the drug. Besides the intended dulling sensation Vicodin provides, I feel no other serious side effects so it's difficult for me to even consider it addictive. Any sort of "feel good" effect on people likely stems from the pain relief. Wouldn't anybody be in a better mood if their pain level was significantly decreased or masked over completely?
I don't think pain killer addicts consider Vicodin much of a thrill. I would think they're more into muscle relaxers like Flexeril, which I only took once. I was a zombie for the better part of the next day and swore I'd never take it again.
Ralph
P.S. Yogi, thanks for the e-mail. I guess we didn't kill off Jeff's thread after all!
I don't think pain killer addicts consider Vicodin much of a thrill. I would think they're more into muscle relaxers like Flexeril, which I only took once. I was a zombie for the better part of the next day and swore I'd never take it again.
Ralph
P.S. Yogi, thanks for the e-mail. I guess we didn't kill off Jeff's thread after all!
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.
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.
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.
We all know we should not swap drugs, but we do.
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.
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
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2009
- Messages
- 275
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.....
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.....
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.
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!
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
Well-known member
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.
"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.
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
Ralph
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.
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.
