Thanks--yes I am aware of the Ibuprofen/Tylenol piggybacking. I do not find Tylenol to be very effective, although Ibuprofen is a wonder drug! I am seeing a new dr this am, a female, who is closer to my age and hopefully will have some empathy. I think, IMHO, that 400-600 mgs of Ibuprofen and 1/2 of a Lortab or even a whole Lortab, and I am pain free...opioids have their place! As I said, this first doc would not (actually, could not) prescribe much of anything. Also he is barely 30, and when I was 30, I was invincible, too.
I'm not comfortable taking that level of Ibuprofen/Tylenol on a daily basis. And then to have to add an antacid on top of that...really, just too much for me. Oh--and I have been taking Estroven for the hot flashes, etc., since I cannot take hormones. It's ok, not awesome, but it does help. This doc that I saw said those OTC herbal things were "crap"...well, my doc put me onto them, and they work, even tho I am not particularly into alternative meds. I'm going to keep taking it. "Sucking it up" while going thru menopause is pretty heartless advice.
Thanks for your response.
Well, I understand your frustration. You can certainly find another doctor, goodness only knows there are plenty of us out there; or you can try managing some other way. Are you taking an appropriate dose of Motrin? You can take as much as 800mg every 4 to 6 hours and alternating it with Tylenol 1000mg every 6 hours (so you have something to take every 3 hours) does the trick for a lot of people. You should also take something like Zegerid OTC once a day if you are taking NSAIDs to protect your stomach. Don't cut your activity level, may be changing the type of activity will suffice. Hope this has been helpful.