Sunday, April 19, 2009

My New Pain Meds

Not sure what to think yet about my new pain meds, which I am supposed to take every 12 hours.

Yesterday, having taken the new med on my way to bed the night before, I woke feeling more rested and refreshed than I had in weeks. This was good! I had awakened twice during the night, which is the norm for me (I swear my bladder is the size of a thimble!) so I wasn't too concerned about that. But, no pain in my hips -- woo hoo!!!!!!

I went about my day quietly without stressing myself too much, just as my doctor had advised, because I have to give this new regimen three or four days to take effect. But I didn't take the morning dose because I don't see any reason to take more drug than is necessary to achieve pain relief. My reasoning is, if I'm getting the desired result at a given dose, why take more than that? I understand the need for taking medication as prescribed, but until I know what frequency I need, I am reluctant to put any more drug into my body than is necessary. I am more than a little paranoid about developing an addiction. My doctor is aware that I do this with certain of my prescriptions, and he trusts me to make adjustments as required, as long as I communicate the changes to him (his office receives regular faxes from me).

I was delighted with the fact that my hips remained pain free throughout the day. This was beyond good! It was approaching the 23-hour mark (almost my bedtime) before my hips started indicating that they needed more pain relief. I took one of the new pain meds on my way to bed last night.

Fast forward to this morning. As is usual for me, I had awakened a couple of times during the night; but again I awoke this morning feeling rested and refreshed, ready to face the day. The difference today was, by the time I had been up and about for half an hour, my hip was clearly in need of pain relief. It had been almost 12 hours since I had taken the last dose. I have no interest in being a martyr about this; nor do I plan to be stupid and not give this new regimen a fair trial. So, today, I am taking the new pain meds as prescribed. And I will continue to do so unless I start experiencing undesired side effects.

Here's hoping the new meds will work as they are supposed to without rendering me nonfunctional.

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