Masking pain for 24 hours to do semi physical work that your future depends on

[preacher1411]

Hello,
I am a 47 year old male that was diagnosed with sciatica which was almost crippling at times.  To may things worse, I was going through a divorce and was removed from my house, lost my job, workers comp fought the claim (even though I had witnesses) and I lived in a horse pasture for a year with no income.  Because of the divorce, I was given a brief period of time to remove personal belongings (work related materials, personal effects).  These items secured me a job so that I could once again eat and feed my two younger children that I won custody of in court.  This had been going on for over a year (with the insurance co.) as they refused to help.  I was layed up for almost a year and taking percocetes and vicodans.  On the day of my right to obtain my items from my house, I could not afford nor did I have any friends to help me pack so Imy two boys 12 and 15 helped. I took 5 percocetes and 2 vicodans, wrapped my back with heat pads and rubbed my legs and back with capsacian and took many breaks.  My question is, like adrenlin, can a large amount of pain killers and heating pads and capsacian help a person to mask the pain and make it possible to work/manage the pain enough to do something like load a truck (nothing heavy)in order to gain repossession of the items needed to be able to accept a job and to get out of debt and to be able to feed his family?  Or would the sciatica win over the pain killers and I would mentally allow myself to lose all my possessions and a job that would allow me to be a man again?
Thank you,

[Red931]

Geminigirl makes some more good points that I would normally have pointed out myself. lol I have been off the forum for sometime and I am a bit rusty.

I know first hand what she is talking about because I have re-injured myself doing choirs beyond my means multiple times and required repeated surgical procedures.

[geminigirl1963]

I just wanted to add my two cents in here.

My concern with both the percocets and the vicodin is not only the combination of the two narcotic ingredients, but also a very serious concern with the amount of acetaminophen that you are getting with these two meds.  Both of them contain acetaminophen (tylenol) and, depending on the amount of tylenol in them, you could potentially be taking a dangerous amount.  The maximum DAILY dose of acetaminophen is 4000 mg and the maximum PER DOSE amount is 1000 mg.  

I do agree with sandee also that quite often pain medications can somewhat "trick" us into thinking we can do more things than we actually are physically able to do - simply because the pain meds help with our pain.  However, because of this, we can sometimes end up doing more damage to ourselves without really realizing it.  So while it's important to help manage our pain, it's also important to remember what our physical limitations are and not overdo it just because you may not be in as much pain at that moment.

I hope that your situation gets better, both physically and emotionally.

[Red931]

I am sorry to hear of your situation and I can relate to it as my wife recently left me citing my pain issues and medication for the reason but of course it is not. It is good that you still have your boys with you to help and you should let them do all the lifting until you can find a way to manage your pain more efficiently.

Taking Percocet and Vicodin at the same time and at those dosages is not advisable as Sandee stated especially if you don't have a tolerance to the opiods. Also when  oxycodone and hydrocodone are used together the oxycodone is usually prescribed in a time released form (Oxycontin) with the Vicodin for breakthrough pain hours in between.

You should speak with your doctor as you describe sciatica pain which sometimes responds better to drugs that are prescribed for nerve damage such a Lyrica.

Good Luck and God Bless.

[sandee1818]

I am so sorry, you have been through quite alot of sorrow and pain.
I would really discourage you to try and "mask your pain" as the pain we have signals us that something is wrong and we need to stop what were doing and get medical help if needed. In alot of ways pain medication does hinder that in it makes us feel less pain therefore making us believe were okay to do things we should not do. This is what we must be very careful in doing things we know that will cause more pain or even further injury.
Taking the amount of medicine that you are asking about is really not advisable and dangerous. It is always best to stay on the prescribed dose.
Your boys at the ages they are should be able to help alot in the lifting and I would ask some friends or family to help with the things they can't lift.
I really sympathize with you and wish I could offer more help.