pain meds

[jacque]

i had a question where is everyone getting their pain meds?  doctors in my area totally refuse to write a script.  and if they do they give you very little.  someone i know that is in the health field said the doctors dont write them that much because most of them use them.  i have inherinted migraines i get every month . i have tried imitrax and midrin everything.  and the only thing that works in darvocet and vicodin.  which i very rarely get them so i have to suffer alot with headaches.  now they are trying me on zomig.  but the only thing unfortunetly is the pain meds.  i can see how you can get hooked on them they do make you feel good and want to clean the whole house.  just wanting to know how people get these for up to 10yrs and taking them every day when doctors wont perscribe them

[Chad B]

J.B.
    Sorry to hear.  I haven't had my liver tested yet, I'm only 24 so far, but I've been through alot in such a short time.  I think that if you take anything in excess you will reap what you sow.  So in that I am sorry to hear about your liver damage.  From what I understand there is nothing you can take, or nothing you can do to repair a damaged liver.  I may be wrong but I don't think so.  Will somebody correct me if so?  I have heard that if you take Vitamin B, you can clean out your liver.  I think that is wrong, I was reading about liver damage and it said "Don't beleive thet lies and rumors about liver damage, if it is damaged, it is damaged" will somebody correct me if I am wrong?  Thanks and the best of luck to all of you.  Chad

[J.B. to Brian and Vicky]

I forgot to mention that I have Hepatitis C which is a virus that literally eats up your liver. I probably got it from a blood transfusion in 1974 while in the military. Another way to get it is sharing needles and sexual contact(rarely). I'm told that the liver does have regenerative powers as long as you watch your diet, don't drink and don't take Tylenol. Most of the people that I know personally with HEPC, found out while donating blood. They routinely test you for it now and have been since about 1992. In my case, I have had the disease for many years according to my liver biopsy and have extensive damage. At least I know what I will probably die from, ha, ha,!

[tom to Ken]

as far as I know, you're a thousand percent correct. Look, there are always people who, for whatever reason, take huge doses of something and walk away from it. You don't want to know about the Tylenol (in Vics) dosages I used to take back when everyone treated Tylenol like it was a breath mint. But people have died from mixing tylenol with alcohol. That's a fact. There probably were extenuating circumstances, but who among us can say for certain tonight that their liver is undamaged from their years of drugging? I'm plain spooked by the idea, backed up by several MDs I know, that you can kill yourself through liver damage and not even know it for days. I think we all assume that we'll get some kind of warning to back off before we do ourselves in with our drugs of choice. If you believe these docs, and I do, the warning scenerio regarding tylenol may not happen. How would you like to know you've killed yourself and have 3 or 4 days to think about it and wave goodbye to everyone? There are ways to get the tylenol out and forms of most drugs without tylenol. Why throw the gift of life away needlessly? By the way, they say Milk Thistle, available at the health food store, helps your liver to heal itslef. I keep meaning to get some. Anyone know about this stuff?

[Chad B]

It's not really that hard to get pain meds. Maybe for some who live in the country.  But I live near DC, Annapolis, Baltimore.  There are a thousand hospitals, 10's of thousands of Dentists if you have bad teeth etc...blablabla  I WOULD NOT suggest going out and starting something you don't want to deal with in the long run though.  It will be very expensive, and cost your whole family a vass array of problems.  You could, ("notice I said COULD") become a recluse, grumpy, broke, tired, mean, edgy drug addict.  I know because I am that way.  Especially when I can't get to a dentist or hospital as soon as I want.  I have VERY VERY bad teeth, so... Let that speak for itself.  I have been, still am, and will always be recovering from Percocet 5, Morphine, Lortab, Lorcet, Lorcet Plus, Oxyconitin, Tylenol 3 + 4's , Darvocet (Weak), anything I can get my little hands on.  Most people won't listen to you anyway, but I can try at least.  
I'm not condoning drug use, ther are millions who are not addicted, even more who are.  There are legitimate complaints out there, and most of these people on here have legitimate problems.  I am just saying please don't even think about starting up. After a while you start to think...Am I taking this **** for my pain?  Or..Am I taking this **** for my pain from addiction?  Because it is pain.

[Leigh]

I feel the need to preface my reply by saying this is not meant as a criticism of your previous message. I always find your advice to be very helpful. But...
Can someone really die from beers and a few Tylenol? Or might there be a pre-disposing condition that is being exacerbated by the acetaminophen and alcohol? In my day, I used to take quite a few Vics or Tylenol with codeine...and I would drink, too. And all my addict/recovering addict friends did the same thing. We never had a problem (other than the obvious addiction). There's been a bit of hype in the press lately about acetaminophen, alcohol and liver damage...but most of the evidence re: unintentional overdoses are anecdotal, at best. There are people who have been taking large amounts of Tylenol for years, and seem to be fine. This would suggest confounding factors in the cases that are not fine--like a co-morbidity of some sort.
Again--this is not meant to be a criticism of your post. I'm just interested in your opinion or some additional information. I must admit, I don't know what to believe. Every now and then, when I take a few plain old Tylenol (ie, no narcotic blend), I feel my lower abdomen jump around a lot. And I actually imagine that it could be my liver protesting. But my doc says that's impossible...

[ken to ronnieg and angie]

If you are taking 2.5 every 3-4 hrs., you are taking way to much tylenol into your system. I believe that would be about 15 to 20 pills a day, so that is 7500 to 10000 mgs of tylenol a day. And the most you are supposed to take is 4000 mgs. a day. Correct me if I am wrong Tom . But Neena if you drink alcohol on top of that then you can do serious damage to your liver.