(no subject)

[the_rck]

Well, Scott's work is, in fact, blowing up this week as we chug on into cider season. It was very near 9 p.m. when he got home yesterday, so he'd worked more than thirteen hours. He got two phone calls during the next two hours. He got up around 5:30 this morning and got a call less than five minutes later. He got another while he was in the shower. Life360 tells me that he got to work a bit more than half an hour before he'd normally leave.

I need to nap later this morning, if I can. I stayed up after Scott left partly because I thought they might call again and partly because I was hurting enough to make sleep unlikely. Hopefully, some Tylenol will help.

I have figured out why my shoulder hurt so much less during the second half of our vacation and started hurting more as we headed home-- I took both Tylenol and naproxen, staggered, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Normally, I just take Tylenol and that only at bedtime. (The only at bedtime part is because pain relief during the time when I'm trying to fall asleep is the most important thing.)

My body doesn't tolerate NSAIs well. The genetic testing I had put ketorolac in the 'use as directed' category, but I have unacceptable side effects from that. Naproxen is in the 'moderate gene-drug interaction' category. Ibuprofen, meloxicam, celecoxib, and diclofenac are all in the 'significant gene-drug interaction' category.

The report lists carisoprodol and cyclobenzaprine as 'use as directed' under the non-opiod analgesics, but I recognize both of those as not NSAIs. (I've got two opiods in the significant gene-drug interaction category, eight in the moderate gene-drug interaction category, and four in the use as directed category.)

I've used naproxen off and on for years, so I'm willing to risk it occasionally. I can't take it long term (weeks/months) without unacceptable side effects, but I think I may need to take it more often now than I have been since getting the test results. The change in pain level was really amazing.

(Most of the opiods that fall into the moderate interaction category are labeled as 'Genotype may impact drug mechanism of action and result in reduced efficacy.' Tramadol has that plus 'Serum level of the active compound may be too high, lower doses may be required.' I'm assuming that that combination would make tramadol fairly useless for me. I don't think I've ever taken it.)

Okay, time to see if I can sleep for a couple of hours...

Comments

[tinfoilvardan]

Medication has been a big issue for me too today.

I am out of codeine and trying to get prescriptions in the nanny state that is the UK is difficult. I am awaiting a phone call.

Tramadol is good for pain relief, but it is one that is very easy to become dependent on and the withdrawal is horrible. I have known people who take these by the bucketload daily and it has "changed" them negatively.

[evalerie]

One of my online friends was disabled with chronic pain, but then started taking something called Kratom. She says it changed her life and made her functional again. It's some kind of herb, I think, imported from out of the country. My friend is always posting that the U.S. government is thinking about banning Kratom and that it's the only thing that keeps her functional, and so she asks us to sign petitions to keep it legal.

I haven't done any reading about kratom and don't know anything about it other than that my friend says it changed her life. So maybe it would be worth reading about, to see if it's something that could be useful.

[the_rck]

I have seen discussion of kratom but haven’t looked into it. I had missed that it’s useful for pain. Right now, I’m reluctant because there have been a lot of recalls coming through the FDA email list for contaminated kratom.