Sunday, October 24, 2010

Painkillers

So, I've been asked a few questions lately on http://twitter.com ( you can follow me @RyanneSiobhain) about painkillers. Good old painkillers.
Sadly, being a Hemophiliac has caused me to need many, many painkillers over the years. My favourite is percocet. Morphine is stronger technically, but I like percocet because it doesn't make me nauseated like morphine, codeine, Demerol and dilaudid.
However, not all pain is created equal. For example, when I had a chest bleed I found that over the counter robaxacet worked better then morphine.
Sometimes, ice, heat and rest can also help.
There are also going to be times when pain killers just won't work. About three years ago I had an iliopsoas bleed. It was the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. A CT scan revealed that I had a muscle bleed that was bigger than a fist. This mass was irritating my muscles and nerves to the point where I thought I was going to go crazy from the pain. All the morphine in the world did not seem to even take the edge off. Finally they gave me Fentanyl, it's a very strong narcotic and it's actually used sometimes during child birth.
This medication helped take the edge off but I was still in a huge amount of pain.
Painkillers are not the answer though, they have a lot of side effects and can be highly addictive. Sometimes the use of these medications can not be avoided in which case I would recommend taking them in moderation and only when absolutely necessary. Of course, I am not a doctor just a patient with 27 years of experience!

3 comments:

  1. true... Painkillers are always the last resort... Only if the pain becomes so unbearable. Never think of it as a precautionary dose

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  2. Thanks for a good, common-sense look at painkillers. So many people think they're all basically the same. Not true! Awesome post.

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  3. Thank you both for reading and thank you both for taking the time to share your comments! I really appreciate it!

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