July 6, 2014

High Doses

My neck is doing better. We had gone down to my father's a couple of days ago and my neck was still fucking with me. As a result my dad asked me if I wanted any ibuprofen. I said yes and so he handed me 800 milligrams worth. He knows how I am. After all he used to have to deal with it as I was growing up. That may sound like a lot, especially since I'm only 5ft1 and petite but for whatever reason I normally need a high dose of pain killers. It may be because of the fact that I've been dealing with fibromyalgia since I was a pre-teen. And I use to take some strong shit for that and my horrible migraines that would literally knock out my vision. I don't remember what I was taking for the migraines.... The name of the drug escapes me. And since I'm allergic to codeine I would have to take high doses of ibuprofen because Vicodin and all that has codeine in it. I found out that I was allergic to codeine the hard way because I was taking Tylenol 3 with codeine and nope.. I was sicker than a dog.

Over the years my body just picked up a tolerance to normal doses of ibuprofen when I was in a lot of pain. As a result I had to up the dosage over and over again. Hell even with "normal" levels of pain require higher dosages. Unless it is to the point that I think my neck is going to lock I normally do one of the following:

  1.  400 milligrams of ibuprofen
  2. 1,000 milligrams of Tylenol
  3. 200 milligrams of ibuprofen and 500 milligrams of Tylenol (Sometimes mixing the two works better.)
For some reason Tylenol doesn't work as well. Not sure why. No clue.

And yes, I know that a lot of people will warn you about it harming your stomach or your liver, etc. and so on but what else can I do?

If I take anything less than that it doesn't even begin to put a dent in it. And all of my doctors in the past have told me to take the high dosages due to my tolerance and even when I go to the ER for my neck they give me 600 milligrams of ibuprofen. And it's not a small bottle they give me. If I could take medication with codeine in it I wouldn't need to take a high dosage. But I can't. Well, I could but only if I want to be throwing up constantly and possibly break out into hives. I've had some doctors try to tell me those are side effects rather than an allergy. Fuck that noise.

But since I took that 800 milligram ibuprofen and Master works rather hard on my neck I feel a lot better.
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2 comments:

  1. AlysonJuly 7, 2014 at 1:35 PM

    Tylenol isn't an anti-inflammatory so if some of your pain comes from inflamed muscles, it won't actually reduce the inflammation. Tylenol is better as a fever reducer and with codeine-based meds it extends the effect of whatever the main med is (since these days most meds we think of as being codeine based aren't actually codeine). I have no idea if it also extends the effect of ibuprofen. Tylenol does do something that can help reduce pain, but it's far less effective than NSAIDs like ibuprofen, naproxen, and asprin. Tylenol is safer for pregnant women (I think NSAIDs bring a higher risk for birth defects) and people who can't actually handle the NSAIDs since they can be hard on the stomach.

    I have to admit I'm slightly amused by your concern that readers might think 800mg was overly excessive because a doctor first put me on a single dose of 800mg of ibuprofen when I was 9 and smaller than you are now (for migraines and back pain). Tylenol (acetaminophen) scares me far more than ibuprofen. It's in so many things that it's easy to accidentally overdose and when someone does OD, it damages faster and in ways that are harder to treat. In case you didn't know, the concern is if an adult has more than 4000mg in a 24 hour period. (Unfortunately, my fear doesn't just come from knowledge of what can happen, but from knowing someone who died from an accidental OD.)

    I'm glad your neck is doing better! I hope it continues to feel better and that you avoid another flare for as long as possible :)

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    1. UnknownJuly 8, 2014 at 3:20 AM

      Thanks Alyson! I normally only take Tylenol if we don't have Advil in the house or I am taking it with the Advil. I figured someone might be amused by that. It's not so much that I was "concerned" about readers thinking it was overly excessive, I think I was just being a tad bit defensive as my mother-in-law tells me such all the time. I think it just amazes her since Master, who is 6ft4 and a brick wall, doesn't take as high of a dose as I do unless He is in a lot of pain. I honestly don't think I have to worry about taking more than 4,000 milligrams in a 24 hour period.. Honestly, my stomach would hate me. I am sorry that someone you knew, and were possibly close to, passed away from an accidental overdose. :(

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