My wife says I'm going to die young. I take two Vicodin a day, three Lyrica, one Inderal, two Prilosec, and the list keeps growing. According to her, my kidneys and liver can't keep up with all the drugs forever.
Let me add that I still have RLS symptoms though not as bad, and I still have constant foot and leg pain that ranges from uncomfortable to pretty bad. The pain has been "diagnosed" as NOT nueropathy. (So that's good, I think)
On top this, I'm not a very good spokesman for Living with Hydrocodone and RLS. Sorry, I hope I don't make anybody mad.
People that know me, know I take Hydrocodone. If they, or any members of my family have hydrocodone that they are not going to take they sometimes give it to me. Someone just gave me the remainder of their prescription...it was 750 mg. prescribed to a person in their 70's...it made them violently ill. So I got it.
It's not like I go..."Oh good, now I don't have to BUY as much." No, I take it on top of my usual dose. So instead of taking two a day, I may take four or five, till THEIR prescription runs out, then it's back to two. I'm generalizing here, and also....believe me, I don't get much extra Hydrocodone. But, when I do, I guess officially I would be considered "abusing" it. But let me tell you, when I do have extra and I can be that much more comfortable...I'm taking it.
My Neuro says I will also die young if I don't sleep at night. He can't really give me too accurate of a statistic on how much these drugs shorten my life by. Two a day plus the occasional extra tablets.
Anyway. My wife is convinced I'm going to die young. I just want to hear everyone's thoughts on that.
Oh yeah, the title...I just thought it would be funny.
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
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Walking After Midnight
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I wouldn't worry about death by Vicodin. All you can do is do things that are (pun intended) in your control like eating right, lowering stress, and trying different things to sleep. Most American deaths are due to bad diet IMO. Vicodin would probably be about #154 on the fatal death scale of terminal deaths.
I would assume that your wife is frustrated about the situation and scared as well since the unknown is scary but NOT taking the meds would be more scary, no?
Take care and always keep the hope for a better and "healthier" drug cocktail. Who knows, maybe there's another lesser known condition that you have that has yet to be diagnosed?
I would assume that your wife is frustrated about the situation and scared as well since the unknown is scary but NOT taking the meds would be more scary, no?
Take care and always keep the hope for a better and "healthier" drug cocktail. Who knows, maybe there's another lesser known condition that you have that has yet to be diagnosed?
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walkindafloors
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I'm sorry you're having a bad week & operating on no sleep ~ I can empathize after going the past 48 hrs. on 1 1/2 hrs. sleep, I had to sleep in my car for 30 minutes before I felt like I could drive home yesterday.
I love the title of this post, and at times truly believe this to be true
But, from a female perspective, I am always hounding my DH about my suspicion of his early death due to improper living so maybe your wife's comments are "just a wife thing?" My DH never goes to the dr but instead orders meds from the pet site and takes them when he needs an antibiotic (his diagnosis) or bribes me out of my pain meds when he has a tooth ache or my Ambien when he can't sleep (usually waking me up at 3 am to tell me HE CAN'T SLEEP after I've been up for 2 days and finally getting some shut eye time!!!). He eats nothing but PEEPS (buying 20 + packs at a time) then a big heavy meal around 9 pm, drinks only pepsi and coffee and in truth, will probably out live me by years... But as a loving wife, I have to make him feel important in my life so a few months ago I ordered a brochure of head stones and left it lying on the kitchen table telling him to pick out which one he'd like me to order for him... Maybe your wife is just letting you know how much she needs you (in our weird wife ways!)
I'm afraid that after we've been sleep deprived for several nights, most of us rls-ers "abuse" whatever meds we can get our hands on just to get some much needed relief. Last night I took my usual dosage of Mirapax, an extended release Sinamet along with two Ultram followed by a whole Ambien to get some much needed sleep (YES, it worked and I slept the full 8 hours!). Good thing too cause today was another day from H- - - at work, having to take custody of another baby. . . So many days in working with these drug families I'd love to ask for a joint but have been able to keep my job in focus and resist the temptation thus far. Maybe I'll get DH to order me some of the dog drugs - want the address
I love the title of this post, and at times truly believe this to be true
But, from a female perspective, I am always hounding my DH about my suspicion of his early death due to improper living so maybe your wife's comments are "just a wife thing?" My DH never goes to the dr but instead orders meds from the pet site and takes them when he needs an antibiotic (his diagnosis) or bribes me out of my pain meds when he has a tooth ache or my Ambien when he can't sleep (usually waking me up at 3 am to tell me HE CAN'T SLEEP after I've been up for 2 days and finally getting some shut eye time!!!). He eats nothing but PEEPS (buying 20 + packs at a time) then a big heavy meal around 9 pm, drinks only pepsi and coffee and in truth, will probably out live me by years... But as a loving wife, I have to make him feel important in my life so a few months ago I ordered a brochure of head stones and left it lying on the kitchen table telling him to pick out which one he'd like me to order for him... Maybe your wife is just letting you know how much she needs you (in our weird wife ways!)
I'm afraid that after we've been sleep deprived for several nights, most of us rls-ers "abuse" whatever meds we can get our hands on just to get some much needed relief. Last night I took my usual dosage of Mirapax, an extended release Sinamet along with two Ultram followed by a whole Ambien to get some much needed sleep (YES, it worked and I slept the full 8 hours!). Good thing too cause today was another day from H- - - at work, having to take custody of another baby. . . So many days in working with these drug families I'd love to ask for a joint but have been able to keep my job in focus and resist the temptation thus far. Maybe I'll get DH to order me some of the dog drugs - want the address
Who took the FUN out of disFUNctional?
Kim <><
Kim <><
ahh geez Are, you are not gonna die young, who would i have to spar with on here????
i worry about all the meds i take too, and what this cocktail is gonna do to me in the long run. the one that worries me the most is the parkinsons med.
i wonder sometimes too how long you can last without sleep, or mainly without restful uninterupted sleep.
leave it up to you Are to come up with some deep joni mitchell type thought!!!!
dee
i worry about all the meds i take too, and what this cocktail is gonna do to me in the long run. the one that worries me the most is the parkinsons med.
i wonder sometimes too how long you can last without sleep, or mainly without restful uninterupted sleep.
leave it up to you Are to come up with some deep joni mitchell type thought!!!!
dee
I feel like a science project!!!
“The syndrome is so common that it should be known to every physician.”
Dr Karl Ekbom, 1945
“The syndrome is so common that it should be known to every physician.”
Dr Karl Ekbom, 1945
I'm no spokesman for Vicodin myself.. The only thing I can say is just watch your acetaminophen intake, it's probably the one thing out of all that stuff that actually could kill you.
I'm no angel myself, I've gone well over 4grams a day at times, and I have to admit - it bothers me less and less each time. But I can't say I've totally given up, as I am currently taking active measures to find other medicines and have cut my total supply down from what it used to be.
All I know is I hope I don't end up kicking the bucket from acetaminophen poisoning, because from what I understand it's a pretty prolonged and painful experience.
In terms of symptom resolution, you could always ask about a stronger time released painkiller, they usually don't come mixed in with other OTC painkillers.
I stopped hiding it from people a long time ago myself.. I will sit down in front of just about anyone and pop eight 5/500's in one mouthful (and yes I can swallow them all in one go), and if they were to say anything I'd probably respond with "yeah, so what are you gonna do?".
I'd rather be overmedicated then "just enough" and still tossing or waking up. I've worked some Oxazepam into my routine though, so it's nice to have an alternative that does work regularly, where all the other stuff (DA's, Ambien/Lunesta) has failed. Sometimes I'll even knock myself out with diphenhydramine... And believe me no matter how much worse it makes things, if you were to go lay down the minute you felt drowsey and watch TV or something, a few hundred mg will put you to sleep pretty quick and you will sleep through the night.. But DON'T go doing that because I do it.. It took a while to build up that kind of tolerance and it's still probably not healthy
I'm no angel myself, I've gone well over 4grams a day at times, and I have to admit - it bothers me less and less each time. But I can't say I've totally given up, as I am currently taking active measures to find other medicines and have cut my total supply down from what it used to be.
All I know is I hope I don't end up kicking the bucket from acetaminophen poisoning, because from what I understand it's a pretty prolonged and painful experience.
In terms of symptom resolution, you could always ask about a stronger time released painkiller, they usually don't come mixed in with other OTC painkillers.
I stopped hiding it from people a long time ago myself.. I will sit down in front of just about anyone and pop eight 5/500's in one mouthful (and yes I can swallow them all in one go), and if they were to say anything I'd probably respond with "yeah, so what are you gonna do?".
I'd rather be overmedicated then "just enough" and still tossing or waking up. I've worked some Oxazepam into my routine though, so it's nice to have an alternative that does work regularly, where all the other stuff (DA's, Ambien/Lunesta) has failed. Sometimes I'll even knock myself out with diphenhydramine... And believe me no matter how much worse it makes things, if you were to go lay down the minute you felt drowsey and watch TV or something, a few hundred mg will put you to sleep pretty quick and you will sleep through the night.. But DON'T go doing that because I do it.. It took a while to build up that kind of tolerance and it's still probably not healthy
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SquirmingSusan
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Wow, I really needed this post! I've been taking that bleeping Requip for about 6 weeks now, and have finally worked up to a whole 1 mg. Still get nauseated and severe chills for about an hour or 2, and last night I woke up at 4am with horrid leg pain and feeling like someone was tickling me all over. I had a suspician that I was already augmenting, and that was the last straw. I've had bad leg pain since about week 3 of the Requip, and have been taking ever-increasing amounts of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Those don't even touch the pain, and a week ago I took a swig of some old liquid Lortabs from a surgery 4 years ago. Ah, blessed relief!
Today I swore off of anymore Requip. I've been taking 2 Tylenols and 2 Motrins every 4 hours or so, rubbing Capsaicin on the legs, massaging the legs, and walking. If it gets bad enough, I've got the liquid Lortabs, and my husband has a bottle of 10 Vicodins, and he says they're all mine.
I tried to call the doc today, but couldn't connect because I just wasn't home enough. I have an appointment on Monday, but really need to talk to him about stopping the Requip. I get nervous about self-medicating with old meds, and my husband's meds, but like someone said, I get so desperate for both the pain relief and the sleep.
I can't believe I'm having the augmentation already, and with so much pain. I worry about taking so much of the OTC pain killers, and I worry that the docs won't give me what I need in terms of non-OTC pain relief.
Thanks for the great support forum!
Susan
Today I swore off of anymore Requip. I've been taking 2 Tylenols and 2 Motrins every 4 hours or so, rubbing Capsaicin on the legs, massaging the legs, and walking. If it gets bad enough, I've got the liquid Lortabs, and my husband has a bottle of 10 Vicodins, and he says they're all mine.
I tried to call the doc today, but couldn't connect because I just wasn't home enough. I have an appointment on Monday, but really need to talk to him about stopping the Requip. I get nervous about self-medicating with old meds, and my husband's meds, but like someone said, I get so desperate for both the pain relief and the sleep.
I can't believe I'm having the augmentation already, and with so much pain. I worry about taking so much of the OTC pain killers, and I worry that the docs won't give me what I need in terms of non-OTC pain relief.
Thanks for the great support forum!
Susan
what ever you do dont take tylenol pm the antihistimine in it will make your legs crazy, learned that the hard way. to be honest and i hate to be the bearer of bad news i never found an OTC that helped. i think if some of these guys chime in about the herbal type stuff that has helped some people. i just can't think of the names of the stuff. i had a tough time with requip also, thought i was gonna barf up my toes! on sinemet now, but i only take it about 4 days a week and rely on pain med the rest of the time because of sinemets high aug rate. but the sinemet doesn't take all the pain away without taking the pain med also. sometimes i don't see the point in the sinemet, but then again i am not a doctor.
good luck
dee
good luck
dee
I feel like a science project!!!
“The syndrome is so common that it should be known to every physician.”
Dr Karl Ekbom, 1945
“The syndrome is so common that it should be known to every physician.”
Dr Karl Ekbom, 1945
Ok, quick post on the herbal stuff. I will do a whole write up in the non pharm section as soon as I get a minute to do a major write up. anyways, for the last month I have been unmedicated due to a ignorant doctor, and have had some really rough times during it, but I have found a herb that works the same way that the narcotics work. It is legal everywhere except thailand and austrailia.
heres two quick links to learn more about it.
http://www.murple.net/yachay/index.php/Kratom
the above link tells you all about the herb, its traditional uses, and the chemical make up of the plant
http://www.jennymacs.com
the above link is to I feel the best vendor out there. she has very good prices, but the thing that makes her stand out is she has hands down the best customer service. I have found the BALI commercial powder to be the best for relieving my RLS, and I ony have to take two capsules ( which I cap myself) every 4-6 hours to get relife about 90% of the time.
the only downside is it can keep me awake at night, but then again , some times the oxycodone did also.
there are a few other herbs I will be trying, and I will keep you guys up to date about them. If anything, even once I have meds again, I will be using kratom to hopefully cut down usage of narcotics in half, by switching off days between them. Hoefully the goverment wont ban the herb before research into its medical uses can be done, but I am not counting on it.
EZ
morgan
heres two quick links to learn more about it.
http://www.murple.net/yachay/index.php/Kratom
the above link tells you all about the herb, its traditional uses, and the chemical make up of the plant
http://www.jennymacs.com
the above link is to I feel the best vendor out there. she has very good prices, but the thing that makes her stand out is she has hands down the best customer service. I have found the BALI commercial powder to be the best for relieving my RLS, and I ony have to take two capsules ( which I cap myself) every 4-6 hours to get relife about 90% of the time.
the only downside is it can keep me awake at night, but then again , some times the oxycodone did also.
there are a few other herbs I will be trying, and I will keep you guys up to date about them. If anything, even once I have meds again, I will be using kratom to hopefully cut down usage of narcotics in half, by switching off days between them. Hoefully the goverment wont ban the herb before research into its medical uses can be done, but I am not counting on it.
EZ
morgan
Ill get to this later
I'm Going To Keep This One As Light-Hearted As Possible
Hey WAM 
My view on life changed when a friend of mine, who used to be a Bank Manager, described the day he had a shotgun held to his head by a bank robber. To make 'lite' of the situation the robber jokingly said "BANG!!! You're Dead!!!"
I've hit absolute rock bottom numerous times. I've thought about doin myself in numerous times. I've read so many 'Consumer Information Notes' on the drugs i've been prescribed that I reckon I should be dead already. I became utterly depressed when one of my past neuro's said that i'd end up relying on painkillers for my RLS; which sparked a full on argument between myself and now ex-hubby who's view was that i'd simply become a drug addict. Gotta luv it!
During one of those 'rock bottom - i hate life' days ... my friend said to me ... "You only get one shot at this ride called life ... so you have to make the most of what you've got". Then he ordered me to go and find a nice quiet place to sit and "imagine that you're sitting under an apple tree and think about oranges" ...
Now that you've done a lil cogitating ... have a gander at this ... A CREED TO LIVE BY ... I think it sums up the way we should live life quite nicely
BTW ... what's with the change in quotes??? Now you're quoting Bon Jovi!!! ... BON JOVI - I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD - LYRICS ... What next??? Take the time to read the lyrics too ... they do fit us quite well in some parts lol.
Mate ... I self-medicate when I'm not feeling quite right, which is more days than I care to think about. 4mg Requip/Repreve is my standard 'prescription' from my sleep doc ... then add to that: clonazepam, codeine (as high a dose as I can stand), and an anti-depressant. But if it means that after all that i've got enough energy to go out and do things with Troy and the girls, then I give up caring about what's happening to my insides. I'd rather live a happy life with the people I love.
Sending you love, (((hugs))) and lots of wacky positive thoughts ...
My view on life changed when a friend of mine, who used to be a Bank Manager, described the day he had a shotgun held to his head by a bank robber. To make 'lite' of the situation the robber jokingly said "BANG!!! You're Dead!!!"
I've hit absolute rock bottom numerous times. I've thought about doin myself in numerous times. I've read so many 'Consumer Information Notes' on the drugs i've been prescribed that I reckon I should be dead already. I became utterly depressed when one of my past neuro's said that i'd end up relying on painkillers for my RLS; which sparked a full on argument between myself and now ex-hubby who's view was that i'd simply become a drug addict. Gotta luv it!
During one of those 'rock bottom - i hate life' days ... my friend said to me ... "You only get one shot at this ride called life ... so you have to make the most of what you've got". Then he ordered me to go and find a nice quiet place to sit and "imagine that you're sitting under an apple tree and think about oranges" ...
Now that you've done a lil cogitating ... have a gander at this ... A CREED TO LIVE BY ... I think it sums up the way we should live life quite nicely
BTW ... what's with the change in quotes??? Now you're quoting Bon Jovi!!! ... BON JOVI - I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD - LYRICS ... What next??? Take the time to read the lyrics too ... they do fit us quite well in some parts lol.
Mate ... I self-medicate when I'm not feeling quite right, which is more days than I care to think about. 4mg Requip/Repreve is my standard 'prescription' from my sleep doc ... then add to that: clonazepam, codeine (as high a dose as I can stand), and an anti-depressant. But if it means that after all that i've got enough energy to go out and do things with Troy and the girls, then I give up caring about what's happening to my insides. I'd rather live a happy life with the people I love.
Sending you love, (((hugs))) and lots of wacky positive thoughts ...
Nadia
My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!
My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!
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ViewsAskew
- Moderator
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Hey, I thought I'll sleep when I'm dead was Warren Zevon - totally underrated in my book. His lyrics were awesome. I think I still have the ALBUM (yeah, large round black disc) with that on it. . .
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Ann
Yes ... I am old enuff (or young enuff ... whichever way you want to look at it) to know what "records" or "LP's" are ... you know ... those big black round things with grooves in them and "grooves" on them?
Personally I think GOOD Rock n Roll sounds better on ye ol vinyl.
I looked up Warren Zevon's - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Lyrics too. Even found a couple of sites which had a sample of the song ... he ain't bad!!!
CD's are great for hanging from fruit trees with fishing line to ward off predators
(that is ... once you've uploaded all the songs onto all the family's computers/MP3's/etc 
) ... the sun and moon shine off the shiny sides very well ... almost too well sometimes 
BTW ... Troy has been standing over my shoulder whilst i've been typing away at this and said to say "HI" to everyone. He'll get over his shyness one of these days and do a post himself. Until then he's happy keeping tabs on what I dribble on about in here
Nadia
My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!
My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!
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Walking After Midnight
- Posts: 649
- Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:23 am
- Location: Portage, Indiana
- Contact:
ViewsAskew wrote:Hey, I thought I'll sleep when I'm dead was Warren Zevon - totally underrated in my book. His lyrics were awesome. I think I still have the ALBUM (yeah, large round black disc) with that on it. . .
Ann...Thank you for clearing that up, and I agree, Warren Zevon is WAY WAY TOTALLY underrated. He is (was) one of the best Songwriters that my generation had...in the Pop/Rock category, I think anyway. I had that Album too, although honestly, I can't remember exactly which one that song was on because I had all of them. I'm a huge Warren Zevon fan and I think it's a shame that they didn't play more of his music on the radio. The one song they DID play was kind of a novelty song..."Werewolves of London". (Which was still a pretty good song) Another one that did receive some airplay was "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and he wrote "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" which Linda Rondstadt sang on the radio.
Hey Sardsy
Thanks for the "whacky positive thoughts". They helped out a lot. Just saying "whacky positive thoughts" makes you feel good don't it?!
Thanks everybody for responding. This whole deal is pretty frustrating. We'd all like it much better if we never had to take another pill for the rest of our lives. My wife just sees that big bottle of 60 Vicodin disappear every month.
Oh boy.
[/b]
Great thread! First I'll b*tch with all of you and say that my oxycontin isn't cutting it at my current dosage... so I do the same thing that everyone else does- I take extra or take a muscle relaxant or benzo in a vain attempt to sleep. God it's awful... I appreciate a thread where we can all be honest about the lengths we have to go to.
Secondly- more importantly, none of the available narcotics or benzos on the market right now have ever shown to increase mortality. These drugs have been around forever and nothing has ever shown up. However, I absolutely agree with what's being said about the tylenol issue. THAT can be extremely bad for your liver and can most certainly end your days. I can't stress enough the need for those who are taking handfuls of vicodin or percocet to go back to your MD and get a prescription for straight narcotic (dilaudid, oxycodone or methadone.... maybe codeine?) Large doses of Acetaminophen get processed by your body to a metabolite that literally adheres to the cells of your liver, causing massive cell death and necrosis.
ps. I'm not trying to get into anybody's business or scare anyone. It's in my nature to be brutally honest about some of the meds on the market.
First I'll b*tch with all of you and say that my oxycontin isn't cutting it at my current dosage... so I do the same thing that everyone else does- I take extra or take a muscle relaxant or benzo in a vain attempt to sleep. God it's awful... I appreciate a thread where we can all be honest about the lengths we have to go to.
Secondly- more importantly, none of the available narcotics or benzos on the market right now have ever shown to increase mortality. These drugs have been around forever and nothing has ever shown up. However, I absolutely agree with what's being said about the tylenol issue. THAT can be extremely bad for your liver and can most certainly end your days. I can't stress enough the need for those who are taking handfuls of vicodin or percocet to go back to your MD and get a prescription for straight narcotic (dilaudid, oxycodone or methadone.... maybe codeine?) Large doses of Acetaminophen get processed by your body to a metabolite that literally adheres to the cells of your liver, causing massive cell death and necrosis.
ps. I'm not trying to get into anybody's business or scare anyone. It's in my nature to be brutally honest about some of the meds on the market.
Josh