eftychia: My face, wearing black beret, with guitar neck in corner of frame (pw34)
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posted by [personal profile] eftychia at 04:41am on 2006-12-14 under ,

My long Monday finally caught up with me late Tuesday afternoon. Most of Wednesday I felt like I was only half-here. Seeing doctor on Friday, hope to have some paperwork (aid applications that request info I don't remember where I filed, and notes regarding latest drugs we're trying) finished before then, so hoping I'm nearly done recovering from Monday. I missed 3LF rehearsal again, and the day just ended was a near total loss (the one "accomplishment" having been that I watched several television shows, which isn't really any sort of accomplishment but it does free up crucial tape for more shows.[*] This was a lot easier to take emotionally once I realized that the day was going to be a loss and that I'd recover faster if I just gave in. I'm often too stubborn (or too scared of impending deadlines, or just too busy) to do that, so I remain all frustrated and annoyed about it the whole time. This time I cued up the VCR and distracted myself. (Tho' it took until sometime in the afternoon for that realization and decision to be reached, so yah, I had a grumpy "why can't I get stuff done" morning.)

The "surprised I got all the way through that (and really glad I did)" Monday came on the heels of a "stayed in bed not able to do much, and slept a lot" Sunday that was the result of a "gig with way too many flights of stairs involved" Saturday night I did manage (barely) to stay awake long enough Sunday to see the Ravens win, which Dr. Housemate had trouble believing when it came up in conversation Monday, because the single game he's ever seen was one in which the Ravens played like crap against a team that they maybe shoulda' beat except that the other team failed-to-play-like-crap. (I told him they were clearly having a bad day that day ...)

I should probably take the fact that it took so long to clobber me as a good sign. (I didn't crash-and-burn Monday evening, and I actually felt pretty good when I woke on Tuesday, until about 16:30 when I started fading very badly.) It may have been a fluke, but I could use some good signs so I'll file it in that category while awaiting additional data.

I think the decision to take Ultram at least twice a day (on waking and at bedtime) without waiting to notice that I've been hurting that badly was a good idea. I think it might actually be more effective if taken before the pain gets "bad enough for it" than if I wait until I'm hurting worse -- I think its effects last longer if taken early, too. Anybody else have the same experience with Ultram? (There are other factors recently changed too, so I can't be certain that's it, but if this turns out to be a common phenomenon, that would be a pretty big clue.

Hmm. I wonder what he'll think of the monniker "Dr. Housemate"? He doesn't read this journal, so I'll have to remember to ask him.

[*] Did I mention getting teased by a cashier, while I was paying for videocassettes, for still using a VCR in this day and age?

There are 4 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 
posted by [identity profile] blueeowyn.livejournal.com at 02:51pm on 2006-12-14
From what I have gathered, in general with pain medications, you want to get them into you before the pain is bad. For a chronic pain condition getting the level correct means that overall less medication is used (thus less stress on the liver, fewer side effects, etc.) with better quality of life (a seriously win-win situation).

I think it has something to do with once the pain sensors are flooded it takes more drug to get them to calm down AND when you hurt, you get other inflammation going which also is 'pain' and has to be addressed by the drug.

I know some of the other people who have chronic pain, once they get on the right dose they have little/no pain most of the time AND no real side effects (though for some drugs it can take awhile to get the body adapted to the drug so that the effects aren't overwhelming).
 
posted by [identity profile] unix-vicky.livejournal.com at 09:58pm on 2006-12-14
I too am stuck in the "VCR stone age". I've thought about getting a DVR, but I don't like having someone else controlling it (cable/satellite company, or even the DVR company for listings), so I've been wanting to build my own, based on the MythTV software. Alas, time (and money) is an issue as always. The time may be less of an issue if I use something like MythDora, a pre-configured MythTV package on top of Fedora Linux. But I still have to buy a compact PC, with tuner card, bug hard-drive, etc.
 
posted by [identity profile] unix-vicky.livejournal.com at 09:58pm on 2006-12-14
That's big hard-drive, of course.
 
posted by [identity profile] blumindy.livejournal.com at 05:12pm on 2006-12-18
FWIW, I have been on the pain/pain meds merry-go-round since the mid-80s and over and over the doctors have all told me the same thing: meds almost never can 'catch up' once the (chronic) has escalated to interfering with normal daily functioning. This is why things like Ultram and Celebrex were developed: chronic pain patients need a regular daily regimen or the pain quickly becomes unmanageAble and we are forced to wait it out with no semblance of normal daily functionality. The additional problem with fibromyalgia is that standard pain medication frequently isn't very helpful, so a LOT of individual experimenting has to be done and often with no insurance because the fibro has already taken over and cost the person hir job & insurance.

I start with this premise: If I had unlimited access to meds, would I be taking something right now or waiting? I found that it was money/availability that was stopping me and that meant I wasn't getting good medical care.
Hope any of this was helpful.

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