First: I'm really sorry that you have to deal with this kind of pain, and this kind of stress over your attempts to deal with the pain.
Then: A friend of mine (K) actually lost a friendship a few years back after getting a text that essentially said "All of your friends are worried about your vicodin use". She has migraines. Only thing that helps is vicodin. End of story, but somehow this friend (A) felt that it was HER business, and somehow felt comfortable speaking for "all" of the friends, and threw so much random shaming on to my friend K that she ended up in pain for ages, going back and counting her pills and checking her prescription history online just to make sure that she didn't really "have a problem" (yes, she does have a problem - it's called "migraines", but anyhow). Fortunately, my friend K let A the text-sender float on out of her life, but it was still a horrible thing to do, in my opinion.
Last: I ended up in the emergency room with pleurisy a month or so ago - chest pains that stabbed like a lance every time I breathed. I could barely walk. I told the ER doctor "the last time I had this, in 2007, they gave my hydromorphone, but I hated it because it made my arms itch and tingle. Vicodin screws up my stomach and a bunch of other stuff, too. I'm really just here to make sure that it's not a heart attack." They asked if I'd taken any advil, and I said that my neurologist had warned me that analgesic overuse could lead to a rebound headache (which is what I typically take it for), and since I'd taken advil the day before for a headache, I hadn't had any that day for the pleurisy.
The ER doc told me that only narcotics give rebound headaches (?). Then she made a point of telling me about five times that they didn't feel the need to give me narcotics.
I hadn't asked for narcotics. I had listed two narcotics that I'd been given in the past and why I didn't want them. And asked if advil would do the trick, or if they had any painkillers that wouldn't get me high. So she kept talking about narcotics. I wanted to scream at her. "I am in PAIN. I am not here to get HIGH. I am not asking for DRUGS. I am seeking MEDICATION. Shut your moralizing mouth and give me something that makes it feel like I'm not having a heart attack".
She gave me a shot in the butt of liquid advil, as far as I can tell. It mostly worked. Except that it's been more than a month, and I'm still in frequent pain, and still pacing out my advil usage.
In other words, the system is ridiculously broken, and pain sucks, and I'm sorry for all of the judgemental, panicky people who feel the need to tell you how to take care of yourself. Also, I completely don't understand the people who tell you that getting to the point of "no pain" is somehow unnecessary or undesireable. The hell? Since "no pain" is kind of my goal on an all-the-time basis, I'm not sure why it shouldn't be an option for you, as well.
no subject
Then: A friend of mine (K) actually lost a friendship a few years back after getting a text that essentially said "All of your friends are worried about your vicodin use". She has migraines. Only thing that helps is vicodin. End of story, but somehow this friend (A) felt that it was HER business, and somehow felt comfortable speaking for "all" of the friends, and threw so much random shaming on to my friend K that she ended up in pain for ages, going back and counting her pills and checking her prescription history online just to make sure that she didn't really "have a problem" (yes, she does have a problem - it's called "migraines", but anyhow). Fortunately, my friend K let A the text-sender float on out of her life, but it was still a horrible thing to do, in my opinion.
Last: I ended up in the emergency room with pleurisy a month or so ago - chest pains that stabbed like a lance every time I breathed. I could barely walk. I told the ER doctor "the last time I had this, in 2007, they gave my hydromorphone, but I hated it because it made my arms itch and tingle. Vicodin screws up my stomach and a bunch of other stuff, too. I'm really just here to make sure that it's not a heart attack." They asked if I'd taken any advil, and I said that my neurologist had warned me that analgesic overuse could lead to a rebound headache (which is what I typically take it for), and since I'd taken advil the day before for a headache, I hadn't had any that day for the pleurisy.
The ER doc told me that only narcotics give rebound headaches (?). Then she made a point of telling me about five times that they didn't feel the need to give me narcotics.
I hadn't asked for narcotics. I had listed two narcotics that I'd been given in the past and why I didn't want them. And asked if advil would do the trick, or if they had any painkillers that wouldn't get me high. So she kept talking about narcotics. I wanted to scream at her. "I am in PAIN. I am not here to get HIGH. I am not asking for DRUGS. I am seeking MEDICATION. Shut your moralizing mouth and give me something that makes it feel like I'm not having a heart attack".
She gave me a shot in the butt of liquid advil, as far as I can tell. It mostly worked. Except that it's been more than a month, and I'm still in frequent pain, and still pacing out my advil usage.
In other words, the system is ridiculously broken, and pain sucks, and I'm sorry for all of the judgemental, panicky people who feel the need to tell you how to take care of yourself. Also, I completely don't understand the people who tell you that getting to the point of "no pain" is somehow unnecessary or undesireable. The hell? Since "no pain" is kind of my goal on an all-the-time basis, I'm not sure why it shouldn't be an option for you, as well.
It's more than OK to take the vicodin.