want to know if i'm harming myself. not addictive to it. take it for my arthritis

[ebony41]

i've been taking 5omg to 375mg with tylenol once a day for 8mos. am i in danger. i've been taking it for arthris? how will this affect my general health. i've just turn 50yrs. old. been thru stress and depression. and now i've worked thru all that, but i feel find. don't take if i don't need it, but schedule for phyiscal 21st this month. so i will tell my doctor what i've been taking.

[FurballsMom]

I actually tried the Tramadol medication.  I, too, had learned about it here.  It was interesting to me that it could act like a narcotic but wasn't actually a narcotic.  However, there is something about Tramadol my body doesn't like.  Besides, it affecting my speech and making me very drowsy on the lowest dosage, I had to give it up for still another reason:  It started making me itchy all over during the entire time my body was trying to metabolize this stuff.  

I don't feel very good if I take Tylenol either with the weird sensations that are hard to describe to the doctors every time they want me to take the stuff, so that coupled with knowledge that this stuff can damage the liver makes me not want to take the stuff.

I had to come to the conclusion that I am simply very sensitive to pain medications, so I won't take the ones many people take for the very conditions I share in common with many here.

I am wondering if your doctors have ever suggested trying out a T.E.N.S. unit.  This little device is very easy to use and is battery operated.  It is covered by most insurances, so long as the doctor is the one who prescribes it.  My neurologist is the one who ordered the device for me.  Now all I need to do is order the electrodes that the leads plug into and just use it where there is the most pain.  It's not perfect, but it does bring the pain issues down to a much more bearable level, and, most importantly--without drugs.

I do still use LIMITED amounts of Naproxen, but I am limited to how much I can use because I am under care for chronic migraines.  I can't use any of the NSAIDS or usual migraine medications too many times during a week or I risk worse migraine pain due to rebound headaches.  But, I also have to deal with Fibromyalgia.  I don't know if you have Fibromyalgia, too, but many people with Fibromyalgia also have arthritis.  However, this isn't always true.  Some, like myself, have Fibromyalgia and not arthritis.  I do, definitely, have the chronic migraine disorder, too, though.  So, treating the pain from the Fibromyalgia isn't easy.

I do think it might be worth it to you to ask your doctor if he thinks a T.E.N.S. device would help.  There are other types of similar devices called M.I.M.E.S. devices.  I'm not sure how those devices are similar or different from one another, other than I see the word MIMES on the packages for the electrodes all the time, so I know the same electrodes are used on both kinds of devices.

[ebony41]

when this drug was prescribe to me in year 09. this is where i've learn about the drug, but since then when i start having problems with arthritis. i learned that it can be use for that so i start taking it again and it made me feel better to function without stiffness and pain my mom is taking it for other medical reason this is where i get  the pills from. not prescribe to me from a doctor. this is my reason to tell him what i've been doing. self medicating my self have me concern of the harm i may be causing. when this was prescribe to me tramdol 50mg. with prednisone 2.5mg was for 2wks in the year 2009.when i hurt myself.I'm worry about the prolong use without the observation of a doctor. so when i have my phyiscal on july 21 i will ask for liver testing .Now i'm really worry

[ebony41]

it's combine dosage of tramadol with tylenol or just this pill alone tramadol 5omg. tab once a day for 8mos now. response to geminigirl1963 question.

[geminigirl1963]

Am I understanding what you're taking is JUST tylenol?  Or is it tylenol combined with something else (perhaps a narcotic pain reliever)?

375 mg of tylenol is a very low dose - actually ONE adult regular strength tylenol is 325 mg, so I'm not sure how you'd be getting 50mg or 375 mg??  The maximum daily amount of acetaminophen (tylenol) is 4,000 mg daily, so if you're only taking 375mg daily, you are well below that amount.

Definitely let your doctor know what and how much you've been taken (should always do this anyway) - he may want to do some liver function testing just as a precaution, but I don't think you'll have any problem as the amount you've been taken is low (even though on a daily basis)

[SG44]

It's not good to take it everyday because it can harm the liver.