thlh

As I have too much time on my hands this month, I've been ruminating on pain killers. I take a lot of them due to my lack of cartilige and constant muscle pain. My shoulder joints (weight lifting) and knees (running) are really bad and I have to reset my thumbs (football) when I wake up in the morning.

I take plain aspirin all of the time (8-12 a day) and supplement with various others when I have them.

As a rule I don't take Tylenol (acetaminophen) because I've heard it can damage your liver. Occasionally I will take Tylenol PM (diphenhydramine) to sleep, but I avoid it because I can never wake up the following day. Tylenol 3 (codiene) works very well, but as with all opiates, you just kind of sit around half-cocked until it wears off, so it's best saved for those really bad days.

I was given a couple of free samples of Excedrin (acetaminophen/aspirin mix) and it really works, at least for now until I build up a tolorance to it (good-bye liver).

I was given a shot of dilaudid (hydromorphone) at the hospital this winter and I would not recommend it for any pain. I'm pretty sure the nurse gave me way too much. Yes, the pain went away with my consciousness. I had to struggle to breathe.

Now, I should say, I never get headaches (gee, really?). This is strictly for self-induced pain. I have found one other thing that actually works better than all of these: eating tons of food and drinking gallons of water. When I go to my parents house I usually eat twice as much as normal and the entire time I'm there, I feel fine. My real problem is vanity. I don't want to get fat. Most men my age (and younger for that matter) look like crap. I'd rather not be lumped in with them. So, I will keep the pharma-gods in business. As Fernando used to say, "It's better to look good, than to feel good." Right