"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com wrote in message
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"Smitty Two" wrote in message
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The patch that my terminally ill friend is using is more powerful even
than morphine. But for those who hope to recover from their ailments,
even things as apparently as innocuous as ibuprofen can be pretty hard
on the body, permanently damaging the liver in a very short time, for
example.


You cast a wide net with your claim. I'm not saying it's not possible,
but I was taking 2400mg of Ibuprofen a day for 2-3 years along with
aspirin with no apparent GI bleeds and normal liver labs. Eventually I
got my hip replaced and stopped all the meds, without any apparent long
term harm.


I have another friend with severe neck and back pain who is on an ever
increasing daily dosage of oxycontin. Besides being highly addictive, a
lengthy course of narcotics *permanently* reduces your pain threshold.


My experience once again is different: I was on Vicodin (hydrocodone,
Lortabs) several times a day for several months when I first became a
multitrauma back in the late 80s. As things healed, I stopped taking them
and had no trouble quitting. They still work for me today when I take
them for more recent injuries/complaints.

As for my pain threshold, it was high before; it remains high today. When
I looked at the inside of my forearm in cross section... just hanging by
some skin and a bit of muscle, I was able to carry on a normal
conversation. I was not in agony like you'd think. It just ached. Three
or four years ago when I had my hip replaced I didn't ask for anything for
pain until 48 hours after the surgery. Frankly, it hurt worse before the
surgery.


It's nice to have the heavy artillery in the arsenal, but it marks
either a short road to recovery or a long road to hell, IMO.


It is possible to take the long road; maybe I was just lucky. I think a
big difference is that I didn't ever take painkillers recreationally. I
get people like that in my practice and you could hook them up to a 55
gallon drum of morphine without getting rid of their pain. Too bad...
they've had their fun. I prefer to have the use of the drugs when they're
needed. If I want to alter my view of the world, I drink single malt
Scotch.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

Ditto your experience right down to the single malt scotch. I was on
Tylenol three days after heart surgery. 24 hours after breaking my back.
Still, though, the nurses would come in, I'd request Tylenol or a Lortab,
and they'd look at the chart and say, "Oh, don't you want some morphine.
You can have morphine. I'll go get you some morphine. Let me go talk to
the doctor and make sure you can have tylenol." Right now, it's a
rollercoaster with my pain meds. I take them when I need them. I can't
imagine anyone taking them for fun. If I take two too close together, I
vomit.

Today is a bad day, and I have to drive to Vegas, and tomorrow sit on a jet
to Kauai. I'll make it. I'll be thinking of you all.

Yeah, right.

Steve