PAINKILLERS OR JUST…….KILLERS?
PRINCE has died, and so have too many others, from overdose
of painkillers. It is termed an
epidemic, and that is scary. My
experience with these drugs is minimal, but I do remember the time I needed Vicodin most. It wasn’t after
surgery. It wasn’t after
childbirth. It wasn’t when I suffered a
shoulder injury, or tennis elbow, though in each of those instances my doctors
handed me prescriptions for the hard stuff , though I assured them Tylenol has
always been sufficient for me. I have a
healthy respect, even fear, of those drugs. Addiction
runs in my family; too many of us have DNA that has made us vulnerable. Apparently, I am not one of them, because all
those pills ended up sitting in my medicine cabinet for years, until long after
their expiration date, and then in the trash or down the toilet, to somewhere
in the environment.
The one time Vicodin was appropriate for me was due to an episode
of excruciating pain on one side of my lower back. I called my orthopedist, whom I had seen in
the past for other relatively minor problems, including back pain, and couldn’t
get a quick appointment. I couldn’t
wait; the pain was so bad I took to Lamaze breathing and exercises from
long-ago birthing of four 10-pound babies.
It didn’t help much, but gave me something to do while on the way to the
ER and the wait there to see someone. I
begged the ER docs to just give me an injection of some kind (thinking of how
astonishing the epidural was in childbirth) but they said, no, that wasn’t called
for in this case. They X-rayed me, and
found nothing but some wearing down of cushioning between discs. They gave me Vicodin and told me to rest. It
helped. A lot. They prescribed a bottle full. I went home and slept, and the pain
subsided. I didn’t like the sleepiness,
so for the next two days I cut the pills in half. I got better quickly. Once my head cleared I wondered if my problem
had been a kidney stone, because I have heard that is worse than the pain
of labor. I followed up with my orthopedist, who
brushed it off as back pain from growing older (I was 53 at the time, not
exactly ancient).
This happened nine years ago. I kept the bottle of
painkillers for years after, and took it with me every time I traveled, for
fear of that debilitating pain’s return.
Luckily, I have never experienced
it again. If it ever returned, I would once
again take those drugs that are so dangerous.
However. I would still cut them in half.
