I'm a lightweight

LignumVitae
LignumVitae Member Posts: 1,972
edited 5. Jul 2015, 17:17 in Living with Arthritis archive
I officially can't handle my drugs. The new codiene to be precise. I trialled the dose of two 30/500 tablets on friday night and they didn't stop the pain enough to enable a full night's sleep. They did leave me feeling like I had drunk eleventeen pints on Saturday morning though :? That isn't a nice feeling at the best of times (such as after eleventeen pints when memories of merriment can at least feel like a trade off) but when alone with two small children and three dogs to care for it really wasn't helpful.

I used my usual over the counter codeine on Saturday and was in a slightly better state on Sunday despite waking up during the night. I've decided that I'm a lightweight so shall use over the counter stuff unless things are desperate in which case I shall use my 'in case of emergency break the glass and press the button' 30/500 codeine. I realise many of you can handle that dose and more but it seems I can't and given the results weren't spectacularly better in terms of pain dulled and night hours slept I'm giving in at the first codeine hangover. I don't need to add anything else in terms of feeling rubbish into my days.

The naproxen seems to be OK though so that's the important result!
Hey little fighter, things will get brighter

Comments

  • dibdab
    dibdab Member Posts: 1,498
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Glad the Naproxen helps. Sorry the 30/500 coco wasn't good, that coco hangover is all too familiar, I only go there when things are extreme. I was advised by my doctor son that if I needed more codeine than available in over the counter stuff, but not so much it made me hung over I could take 1 coco (30/500) and one paracetemol.....it works for me as my normal bedtime dose, I use 2 cocos when I need to but try to be sparing.
    I wonder whether it might help you....might be worth asking your GP/pharmacist about.

    Have a happy Monday with your lovely twins :) ...our twins turn 30 today and I'm feeling very old :?

    Deb x
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm left pondering how you know the feeling of 11 pints on a Saturday night 8) Or, at least, how you can remember it :wink:

    Some of us have long maintained that the stronger dullers work by removing us from the pain rather than vice versa. Being a nosey, control freak, I'm not big on that. Also, being wobbly on my pins when 100% alert, I'm not big on anything that compromises that alertness. I think that was a conclusion I came to when I, too, had small children to look after. It made sense then and it still does now.

    Deb's idea seems a possibility, though. Why not check it out with your lovely pharmacist?
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • LignumVitae
    LignumVitae Member Posts: 1,972
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Happy brithday to the Dibdab twins, how exciting! I hope they have a lovely day and you all enjoy it...are you all in the same part of the planet yet?

    The pharmacist did say about doing that with the dose and using a paracetamol so I think that is possibly the way to go next time. I thought I might as well try the full dose and I've tried it and didn't like it but maybe half a dose isn't quite so scary in terms of the morning after.

    SW - I was a student for a very long time and back then beer was affordable. I don't think I ever got quite into the realms of double figures on pub crawls but I did much better than my current maximum these days of one pint (of neat gin :lol: - it's not called mother's ruin for nothing).
    Hey little fighter, things will get brighter
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    You are no lightweight, LV, don't you dare think that way. We all know on here (well, most of us have some idea) that what works for one may not for another due to differing degrees of conditions, medications and body-types. I know that cocos come in different variations of strength, I began with the 8/500 and then I think I dimly recall a 14/500? :? We have to find what works best for us and that takes time. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • dibdab
    dibdab Member Posts: 1,498
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi LV, our twins are still in different hemispheres, so for the 1st time ever their official birthday date started at different times, and Dave was 30 for 13 hours before Beth got there....she has now labelled him 'old timer' and he called her 'young un'. Happily he comes back to the UK in 4 weeks........can't wait for a proper hug, virtual ones just don't hit the mummy button in the same way :( ; needless to say we have a family reunion planned at the airport, even the puppy is coming to meet him :) .

    xxxx
  • LignumVitae
    LignumVitae Member Posts: 1,972
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thank you all...although I still think I'm a bit of a lightweight. I tried the half dose and paracetamol last night. It seemed to do the trick and I don't feel too rubbish this morning - it's hard to tell where the codeine rubbish feeling starts and the arthritis rubbish feeling ends because having slept deeply I inevitably have awoken stiffer and sorer because I haven't moved as much. You just can't win them all but a partial victory is a good start!
    Dibdab, different hemisphere birthdays must be a little sad for everybody. The older they get the more my two bond and turn to each other (even offering comfort when one has been naughty and told off which is sweet but defies the telling off a little).
    Hey little fighter, things will get brighter
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    having slept deeply I inevitably have awoken stiffer and sorer because I haven't moved as much. You just can't win them all but a partial victory is a good start!

    Yup, that's how it works – heads it wins: tails you lose. It does sound a little better though and that's good. Arthritis hates us to get the little victories as these make us happier and better placed to fight the big battles. It prefers us to concentrate so much on the big picture that we're oblivious to the cumulative little triumphs.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dibdab
    dibdab Member Posts: 1,498
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Glad the half and half thing helped.

    You're absolutely right about the twins apart-it's tough all round but it has been right for him to be away and rediscover his love of life after a difficult year. Our twins have always been amazingly close and supportive to each other, as little ones at school staff often remarked on how they embraced other children who were lonely or distressed, which was lovely, and they could definitely get into all kinds of mischief that single ones wouldn't.....on one memorable occasion as 2 year olds working together to move a huge leather armchair to get into the freezer cupboard, whereon they emptied said freezer whilst chuckling and chattering....enchanting but so frustrating. A little bit of me probably envies you those twin mummy days...mine seem a long time ago, enjoy them!

    Deb x
  • speedalong
    speedalong Member Posts: 3,315
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi, I didn't do well on full whack cocos either. Sounds like you've reached a solution, I did what you did too, but when my pain increased I needed something inbetween. I had a great GP in those days and he prescribed the codeine separately to the paracetamol and there are lots of different mg amounts, so I had a selection to play astound with.

    Speedy
    I have had OA since mid twenties. It affects my hips and knees. I had a THR on the left aged 30 and now have a resurface-replacement on the right - done May 2010.
  • lynnemarie1123
    lynnemarie1123 Member Posts: 295
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hey I know the feeling ! X I too was in the same situation as you ! Couldn't cope with the out of control feeling that 30/500 gave me. Alas a few years down the line 30/500 aren't touching my pain :-(

    Tramadol has been prescribed instead! , I daren't take them tho as I've heard bad things about them x good luck to you and your quest for a less painful affair xx