The Story of the Pill

I was in a lot of pain yesterday.  My hands, forearms and elbows were tied for first place with my knees a close second.  My hips and back were a distant third and forth respectively.  I also haven't been sleeping well for several weeks now due to the steady increase in my pain levels.  I'm now averaging 6 hours with the pain forcing me out of bed in the morning.

I had some percocet left over from when I twisted my ankle.  I think I took one or two half pills back then so I still have most of the bottle left over.  I hate taking pills.  I particularly hate taking the newer meds because I always react to them strangely.  I've had all sorts of side effects from various meds docs have tried to foist off on me over the years.

So last night in all my pain and tiredness I decided that I was going to try taking a percocet and see what happens. I had nothing to do today and no where to be so it was perfect timing for an experiment.  I had already tried aspirin and that didn't touch the pain in my hands so at about 1am I took one percocet and waited.

About 2am I got horribly tired.  My hands still hurt but I couldn't stay awake so off to bed I went.  2am is early for me.  I typically go to bed between 3am and 4am.  I slept heavy.  I do remember waking up and being in pain but I couldn't stay awake.  I immediately fell asleep again.  This happened repeatedly until 2pm today.  I finally managed to stay awake.  I hurt everywhere.  A lot.  It was the I-had-been-in-bed-too-long pain.  I recognize this from years ago when I got deconditioned.  It normally makes sleep impossible and forces me to get up much earlier than I intend to.  BTW, I normally get up around 11am so this was a marathon sleep session for me.

I'm still groggy and it is 3:30pm.  I'm still waiting for the after effects to wear off.  My stomach is upset with me but that is probably because I haven't eaten anything for over 14 hours.  I'm still not coordinated enough to make food yet.   The granola bar isn't cutting it and no one is home to cook for me.

I had vivid and strange dreams.  My husband and kid had hung slings on tracks all over the house to help me get around.  The house was under construction so wires were literally hanging out of the walls including the shower stall I was showering in.  I remember thinking that electricity and water don't mix and the water will weep into the walls from the shower.

All in all, the experiment was interesting.  The pill didn't touch my pain.  I still had lots of pain and it still woke me up.  However, I was too tired to care.  The pill did keep me asleep for 12 hours and make me groggy today.  I don't think this med will be the answer.  I need something different.  Maybe I'll double my Celebrex dose.  I'm seeing the doc Thursday so I'll discuss it with him and see what he suggests.