Effect of vicodin on coumadin

I'm in a bit of a plateau the past two weeks...started at 203, now 191. Last night I put on clean jammies and the bottoms fall down! They weren't tight before I starred, they fit just fine. Woohoo!
Now my question....do opiate based pain medications effect the efficacy of sema? I'm having neck surgery on the 24th and the pain until then is getting worse so I was prescribed vicodin to help tolerate the pain. The PCP who prescribed it also prescribed the sema, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know everything about it. He thinks it's a great medication and will change the landscape of weight loss. Does anyone have any insights?
Thanks!!

I just started daily Lovenox injections in order to conceive with a Protein S deficiency. Looking for advice and tips on how to function with this new medication.
Also wondering if people have experience with Lovenox and cannabis (I smoke for anxiety and take CBD oil/gummies for cramps). Since I'm not pregnant right now I'm wondering if I can still use cannabis on Lovenox. I never had any problems with it on Elliquis.
Background: had a DTV 16 years ago in my neck/shoulder area (3 clots) and nearly lost my right hand in the process. I was on Warfarin/Coumadin for about 7/8 years before switching to Xeralto for a short while (intense side effects) and have been on Elliquis/Apixaban since. I never had any other clot. I had Fragmin injections early on and three other times while switching between other meds. So far, Lovenox hurts a lot less than Fragmin but I've only had one shot of Lovenox at this point.

Anyone switch over to the old classic warfarin? I had a bad reaction to DOAC (eliquis xarelto) and been on lovenox for 2 months. I am constantly fatigued and nauseous. My doctor said we could try Coumadin/warfarin. My hematologist doesn’t want me on it simply because of the testing. I’m scared to change again, but maybe it has less side effects? Just wondering how anyone has managed side effects of blood thinners? Jealous of everyone on here with no side effects.

hello i am 22 and i have a large inoperable tumor in my spinal cord. i have bones removed from my spine, i have kyphosis of my cervical spine, and ive been maxed out on proton radiation. i have had an EMG that found evidence of both radiculopathy and neuropathy, both of which are progressive, before i even turned 20.
i am currently completely bedridden. for 3 months recently, my primary care and neurologist had me on a regimen of 2700mg gabapentin, 10 mg baclofen, 10mg oxycodone as needed maximum 3x per day. i’m now in pain management and they changed every single one of my pain meds, even though i was functioning more than i had in over a year. my depression was better, i was regaining muscle tone in my back. now my pain doc has me on 100mg lyrica 500mg robaxin. i asked for a breakthrough med and first she gave me tramadol which did nothing. now she’s given me vicodin which is also not helping in the slightest. my nerve pain is the worst it’s been in recent memory, i can’t even sleep because the pain is in my ribs and abdomen so every time it happens, my muscles clamp down in my chest and i have to sit up and hunch over to get through it. i had already told my doctor i was on lyrica before and it didn’t work, and i never even asked her to touch my gabapentin. i didn’t have a problem with it. i only asked for help with the baclofen because the dose wasn’t working anymore even though it was super effective in the beginning, and my neurologist said i still had room to move up. but pain doc said 10mg is the max dose so i have to try something else.
i’m asking for advice because i need to know if this clinic is worth staying at. i know yall cant know for sure but i feel like im seeing some real red flags. like, she wouldn’t let me take oxy for a little longer while we figure out a long term solution, but she feels fine giving me a bottle of tramadol and a bottle of vicodin, even though both are addictive and have their own varying side effects (ex: i have constipation and the tramadol made it so even 2 caps of miralax a day wasn’t enough, and i ended up being in even more discomfort with no relief). also, the fact that she changed my nerve meds unprovoked and is giving me a different max dose for the baclofen than my neurologist did. i’m very much considering just looking for somewhere else & having my neurologist prescribe the gaba & baclofen until i can find another pain doctor.
edit: just wanted to add that the reason i need to ask for breakthrough meds is because otherwise i am completely unable to do almost anything. i can’t take care of myself right now. i can’t brush my teeth, i can’t shower, i can’t put a sandwich together to eat. if i don’t have a breakthrough med my pain spirals and spirals until i feel like im on fire for days on end. hence where i am right now.

i (19) got my icd implanted today. was told everything went great. now back home, i get some moderate/severe pain in the area while going from laying to sitting, and sitting to standing.
basically, is it common to not get painkillers after? was told to just take tylenol, but i see some people on here got vicodin and similar stuff. my mom really tried to get them to prescribe something but they wouldnt. i dont have any history of addiction or adverse effects to painkillers (never been on them)
unrelated, but something similar happened when i was 4 and got ear tubes. just crying in pain after surgery and the doc tried to tell my parents i was just emotional :/ at least then my parents won and they gave me more

Hi, my dad (78) has AS which he’s been dealing with for the last few decades. He’s in a good spot now, he used to take Vicodin all day and the pain was so bad he had to retire early but now he’s on Humira and manages his pain very well with topical creams and self massage, lots of stretching and lots of weed (retirement sounds nice lol). He also went vegan which helped a lot with inflammation.
Anyway, now he’s got a new problem. About four to five times a year he’ll have intractable nausea and vomiting for about a day and a half. He wasn’t that concerned about it but it’s gotten more frequent, now it’s twice a month. At his age it takes him a couple days to recover after and I’m worried he’s going to puke up all his electrolytes and have a seizure or something. He’s gone to his doctor and they just shrugged. He’s got an appointment with his rheumatologist in a month and I’m wondering if it could be related to his AS or a side effect of his Humira.
I figured you’re all experts at AS and have done a ton of your own research, I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this or knows anything about it.

23M
This post is to ask for general advice: What do I do now? How should I change things in my life so that I want to continue living? What would you do right now in my position? I tried to not ramble, but this is my whole life summarized.
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I have a chronic health condition that is mildly limiting as an adult, but did require my mother to care for me when I was a child. She had to quit her job as a doctor to begin caring for me when I was 5, since my father worked full time. I grew up in an abusive household until I was 9. My mother had enough and called the cops after my father beat her particularly badly. He stopped living with us after that, but then we had no income because his job was our only source of money. I didn't hear from him after that. I was in food bank lines often as a kid after that, we had food stamps, and what paid the rent is my mother getting government money for taking care of me.
In spite of this, I did well on tests in middle school but my grades were bad because I didn't do homework. After middle school, I got into one of the top specialized high schools in my state because of doing well on those tests. I didn't do well in that school, I had a chip on my shoulder because I felt like a lot of the other kids looked down on me for being poor. I got into fights, starting smoking pot, then doing pills, xanax, oxy, vicodin, whatever I could get my hands on. I tried a bunch of other drugs after that but I got lucky that I'm not a habitual user. My mothers doctors license was no longer valid because she had stopped practicing 9 years ago at that point. Because her degree was issued in another country, the state had to verify that it was real, and they told her that her degree was a bachelors in liberal arts, instead of a doctor. She decided to go back to school because she didn't want to work a minimum wage for the rest of her life, and started going community college to become a nurse. Our relationship started to strain badly during this time. I was staying out late, I came home high as fuck a few times and she knew. The school was calling her to tell her about my bad grades, fights, etc. I had a few suspension hearings as well, which she had to come to. During this she was doing school full time, while on a shoestring budget because she wasn't working. We fought a lot during that period, she kicked me out a few times because it was too much to deal with. I would go stay with a friend and his family for a few nights until she would cool off.
I think at this point that I started to become tolerant of having a bunch of lies floating in the air at once. I would have to tell my mom where I was, what I was doing, and all of that had to be made up. I also started to lie to other people around me. I would make up wild shit and say it to people to see if I could get a reaction. I wanted money, because I wanted to buy the dumb shit all the other kids my age were buying. I started to use the deepweb to buy bulk of whatever was popular at my school and at the parties I went to. Around this time I started to have suicidal thoughts. A lot of the standard teenage angst was turning into, "I'm a fucking loser and I'm going to be a loser my whole life, I should just kill myself." I never made a plan to do it, but when my friends got transferred to other schools or kicked out and I found myself with no more social group, the thoughts got louder. I sold xans and oxy for a while, mostly ignoring school aside from to show up so they wouldn't report me to CPS. I had a few talks with people who were going to college, and gradually my mindset shifted to wanting to graduate. Also, my mom said if I failed high school she was going to kick me out, so I got motivated then. I finished selling most of my supply, and threw out the rest. I also decided to try and be sober, I had spent most of 4 years being high, and I felt it had warped my perception of life.
I worked hard during senior year of high school to graduate, but to be honest a lot of it was my teachers taking pity on me. I was a senior who was exclusively in junior or sophomore classes. I did manage to graduate at the end, by the skin of my teeth. I applied to a few colleges, albeit late, but I didn't have much choice aside from community college. I felt really good about myself though. It felt like things were mostly ok, and that I had salvaged a really bad situation. Although, I had grown more asocial. My "friends" stopped talking to me because they had found a new person to sell them xans. I had been playing a lot of GTA online to fill time now that I wasn't hanging out or going to house parties. After graduation I built a PC. I remember that summer I probably clocked 1k hours in various games, mostly no mans sky and elite dangerous. I rarely went outside.
After starting college, I guess I didn't learn my lesson because I blew that off to no-life on the computer. I made a few new friends and didn't feel so alone. I also failed half of my classes that semester and told my mom I was doing fine. The next semester my friends were in different classes than me, but I kept spending an insane amount of time on the computer. The feeling of being alone was starting to come back, along with the thoughts of being a loser and killing myself.
At the end of my second semester in college, I had failed too many classes and would be taking effectively the same courseload next semester as the last. I gave up, I guess. I thought to myself, "I'll just take a gap semester and figure it out in a few months." So my time on the PC increased even more, as did the need to lie to my mom about what I was doing, because me not being in school or work would've guaranteed her kicking me out for good. I bought a laptop, and would go out with my bag and sit in a starbucks or in a park for a few hours and watch something or listen to podcasts. So to my mom, I was still in school. I kept up this lie for everyone around me as well, so my friends both online and offline. It's been almost 6 years since I graduated high school, I went back to college for 2 more semesters, both spaced by a year. I'm currently on a full year of telling people I've been in school again. It feels like my mental stability has been steadily degrading. Every time she or a friend asks me about how its going I feel like I'm cutting a little more of my sanity and integrity away when I make something up about my "classes". I got part time job a year ago, which has let me help with rent and house expenses.
To some extent, I've fulfilled the thoughts I had at 16. I am a loser. I don't have very much will to continue. My dopamine is sustained by new game releases and endless content from youtube and twitch. I am disgusted and exhausted by having to remember exactly what lie I've told every person about my life. The bad thoughts are very loud, and hard to keep to myself anymore.
I don't see a good way forward that doesn't make everyone in my life despise me, rightfully so. But like I said at the top of the post, I would like to start making changes. This is not sustainable.
Thanks for reading.

I had Tonsillectomy and Deviated Septum fixed today around 11 AM
To my surprise the most painful I have felt is probably the puncture for IV. Which itself was very quick and smooth.
I haven't taken any pain meds since surgery (other than what was given at OR ). Delayed taking it to drive my vehicle from Hospital. We came back and was feeling better after 4 hours and brought car back.
After surgery the drug effect was equivalent to being completely drunk 😂 (say 6-8 drinks). So wanted to clear up so delayed Pain meds.
But haven't felt need for pain meds till now. Had some coconut water, yogurt and a Jello cup.
Already my throat and breathing are better and I'm pumped . Occasionally liquidy cough but it's not bad.
Nose feels as if got a hard Covid test buds in your nose.
Day 2-5
Uneventful for me in terms of Tonsillitisctomy. Bleeding from nose because of Septoplasty and cleaning it up was most of work. Started taking pain meds (Vicodin as liquid).
Was able to eat ground rice with yogurt, rice +dal+ ghee (soothing) and I even ventured into some spicy food.
Slowly stopped pain meds on day 5
Day 6
Couldn't sleep through night from day 4, general pain and shivering. Vicodin fixed it but definitely feeling worse in terms of throat pain.
Started taking some licks of analgesic lollipops. Definitely helping. If I stay awake the pain seems to be less. went to sleep with relatively low pain. Took 200mg Advil twice between 2 hours before sleeping.
Day 7
Couldn't sleep through the night, around 6 hours after sleeping woke with sharp pain in throat . Took Vicodin again to get back to sleep.
Lollipop and Vicodin one more time. Throat seems to get bad after sleeping. Struggling to drink water and cold jello today. But rice +dal + ghee paste was soothing I think it coats the throat and makes feel better.
I had some food. Had few bottles of water thanks to the lollipop.
I feel if I take water or food closer to body temp it feels better. At 9 PM on day 7, feels good.
I had some spicy 🔥 biryani tried a bit and was able to eat a cup full of spicy rice and chicken (not blended).
I'm planning to set alarm around 5 hours from sleeping to take some pain meds. I feel night time is worst and want to preempt .
Started working on day 5, so want to keep it going.
Also have stents removal for septoplasty tomorrow (Day 8).
No more bleeding with nose. Hopefully it goes well.
Day 8
Stents removed.. finally the breath of fresh air through both nostrils :D
Not much throat pain as Day 6 or 7.
They checked my throat and said some swelling is still there and to go with soft foods for a while.
**** Day 11 ******
Woke up and still alive 😂
Day 8, 9 and 10 I was able to sleep whole night without need to wake up for painkillers in middle of night (Maybe the 8 hour extended release ) acetaminophen helped.
I started eating normal solid food on Day 9 ( Still nothing spicy or too hot).
On Day 10, I can feel my throat pain/spot have reduced to probably to size of penny. So most of sensitivities have reduced.
I'm writing from bed on Day 11 morning , I don't feel any noticeable spot inside throat 😄.
I will still go slow till maybe next 2 days. I'm planning to start running and play some sports on Day 12, will update.
For me pain was worst between Day 4-7 if I have to put a number
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My advice DO IT. Only disappointment is why didn't I get this done earlier.

Hello all. Hopefully my username is displayed properly as SirParadox not the random generated 'No_Rub_3862. I recently started posting here on that username but today switched to a new account to better relate to me.
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I've long pondered writing a book about Addison's, and what I've learned, along with some other random medical tidbits. I've bought any book available and wow they are so lacking some really important information. I've also always looked for a good online forum or this or that, and even found this reddit years back but it wasn't very useful then. A few weeks ago I visited here again and am happy to see the forum lively. However. It's shocking to me some of the questions. Some of the perception about Addison's, etc. Thankfully it seems any time I read a question and think to my self 'wtf your going to die if you do that', some good commenter says in a much nicer way, don't do that. It seems questions are sometimes scary here, but answers are pretty spot on imho.
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I can write pages and pages and pages in just a few minutes. So, laughing, here is the short short short version of my introduction and what I might add to a book, I apologize in advance for how long this became. I can also easily segway into story time at any point... Bad habit... but most folks enjoy it. Most folks? Yeah I break all thoughts of self privacy and post on FaceBook all my medical adventures for others to learn from. "Patients log, Day 3 in the hospital, ... " like from star trek, heh.
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I look forward to any and all feedback, good, bad, ugly, tear me apart if I say something silly, etc. :)
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I'm Ryan, aka SirParadox(tm). born 1977, age 46. I have Addison's Disease, (Schmidt's syndrome) with Hypothyroidism genetically via some family relation 2nd cousin twice removed from JFK.
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Totally normal childhood, few medical issues, only issue was not focusing in school yet I'd ace any test. Then...
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I fell ill on summer break between 6th and 7th grade. They had no clue what was wrong. Tested me for everything. I was so fatigued I could not get out of bed so I spent our 3 weeks at the shore camped in front of the tv in the family room, getting good sunlight, and playing Nintendo, eating bowls of pickles like it was ice cream. Wow did I get tan that year. We assumed it was just me sitting in the fam room surrounded by windows, but that's another symptom of Addison's disease onset, tanning. 4 years later I passed out in school. My PCP had just read an article about Addison's so he tested me. ding ding. After spending 4 years of spiraling downward, coming home from school to only pass out, I got the hydrocortisone 25mg, and within days I was able to run a marathon without breaking a sweat.
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Some 35 years later and I feel as if I have the most information possible about Addison's and all it's interesting quirks that are often overlooked. Addison's is not a simple disease in any way shape or form. Thanks to Addison's I'm the only cardiac patient that is given caffeinated coffee and sugar with my breakfast. Why? Caffeine stimulates the brain, which excites it, which the brain gets concerned about as it doesn't like being excited from unknown sources, so it fires off a yellow alert, stimulating the fight or flight, "Squirting out" a little bit of adrenalin, which in turn stimulates the heart, which raises heart rate. If you have no adrenal glands, caffeine cannot effects the heart/lungs. Are you on a beta blocker such as metoprolol? Go ask your doctor how that medicine works, and why you're wasting money on it.
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For 20+ years I was an engineer, programmer, at the top of my field working at a regional datacenter company in the North East US, with a side hobby of writing a few online mmorts games. I also have Asperger's. One of my Asperger's given passions/addictions is, you guessed it, Medicine. Along with Space of course.
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With that In mind I have engaged hundreds of doctors, nurses, other patients. Absorbing information, sharing information, learning something new every time, sharing my mistakes, learning from others their mistakes, etc. etc. Hell I didn't even realize the caffeine and beta blocker link until a year ago when I was doing research on my wonderful new heart failure (Addison's -> diabetes -> major heart attack -> 2 stents installed in the wrong place, half my heart muscle died). All the times I went to routine checkups, post stent install, my HR would be 120+. The nurse/dr would ask 'Did you have coffee before your appointment', and I'd say yeah of course to be fully alert for our conversation. Sadly this was a major sign my heart was in trouble, and no coffee caused my HR levels.
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I'm currently medically disabled. It sucks. One of the wonderful side effects of Addison's, is you take a steroid. This suppresses the immune system. This can lead to bad bacteria (SIBO) in your gut. This bacteria blocks most if not all dopamine production. This leads to major disabling depression, a total lack of any motivation, and no sense of joy in completing any task. Yet before that I worked 60-80 hours a week non stop, loving every moment of it. Now I struggle to convince myself to shower or brush my teeth. Fortunately diabetes immediately brought on terrible foot pain from neuropathy. In the middle of the night my feet are on fire and the only thing that aleve the pain enough for me to sleep is a hot steam shower, so that's a win. Fortunately this SIBO often makes my belly hurt from the excess hydrogen gas. And sometimes nausea. And on really bad days vomiting that gives no relief. Antibiotics are used to kill SIBO, but any time I take a regiment all bacteria good and bad is killed, and as soon as I stop, with the suppressed immune system, the bad bacteria is able to regrow with a vengeance. I have only found one medicine that suppresses 80% of the upset pain, oddly it's an anti-anxiety medicine called Pristiq. The non-generic form of Effexor. And no Effexor does not have the same effect. Pristiq has an extra molecule that is snipped off and it becomes Effexor. For some reason this makes Pristiq an awesome medicine for many reasons. I can take it on-off start-stop at will as opposed to Effexor which gives massive withdrawal nervous system electrical zaps. Sadly I have tried 25 different psi medicines for my depression. None of them do a damn thing as my problem is lack of dopamine, not a serotonin or whatnot issue. Caffeine boosts dopamine just a little tiny bit. It's worth while but chuging coffee all day is pointless after the first cup. Sadly I discovered the Captain Morgan spiced rum kills the bad bacteria restoring dopamine production, and also boosting dopamine production, which is why I drink way way way way too much. My doctor says I'm the strangest addict he's seen as I can easily choose not to drink, for years and years if need be, e.g. when mom was battling cancer for 9 months, or me with mono for 19 months, or me fighting depression for a few years. I think the opioid receptors in my brain don't function correctly as even pain relief medicine hardly do anything. Vicodin just makes me feel sloppy, no sense of wow this is great I should become addicted.
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Wonder if you have SIBO? Easy test. When you get up in the morning have a non-carbonated, sugar free, carb free energy drink and nothing else. 30 minutes later are you burping? What? No carbonation, why the burps? Well caffeine promotes bad bacteria growth which produces excess hydrogen gas, and now your burping. Also you fart allot, but they never stink :P
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One thing I can recommend, is given the chance, take .5 mg of dexamethasone versus 3-4 doses of hydro a day. Hydro has a half-life if 12 hours. Taking 3-4 doses a day gives you a wild ride of energy versus fatigue. Dex has a 48hr half life. This smooths out those rides. It also means you can miss a day or so before anything negative starts to set in. I use to be on 1.0 of Dex, but as I hope you know, corticosteroids causes your body to release excess sugar into the blood system. This is why diabetes with Addison's is all but guaranteed. Generally 10 years after starting the steroid. I somehow managed to squeeze out 20 years before my A1C went from 5.1 to 12 in just a month followed by a massive heart attack. You might be thinking of updosing all the extra steroid you desire. The more you take, the less the brain fog, and less the whole body inflammation, with the downside of progressing towards diabetes faster. I also noticed that taking 1.0 dex in the am, 0.5 in the afternoon, 0.5 in the evening I became a little logical mr spock, but was a jackass to people. I don't recommend that. When the cute girl in the office comes to you asking for help changing the printer paper, and you bite her head off for not knowing how to change printer paper, and are a jerk to her, only to realize later she knows exactly how to change the paper, she just wanted to see you. So too much Dex is fun, but only if you're not around people.
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Hydrocortisone is a very natural pill, this is why doctors usually stick to it. Dex is synthetic, and has some initial issues. e.g. week one of taking dex you loose your shit mentally. Then you're ok. I suggest steering clear of Prednisone at all costs as it's side effects are significantly worse.
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Synthroid. anywhere between 150-200 mcg a day. With Schmidt's syndrome you are very very fatigued. The steroid does not give you energy, it just prevents your immune system from going crazy, which wears you out. Also this is why Epstein-Barr aka mono is a cluster f' for Addison's patients. With that in mind, Synthroid is the thing that gives you your real energy. If you can somehow manage it, and I never have been able to, I would take your Synthroid at 6am (assuming you work at 9am).. I had my dad change his time from 9am to 6am, which is easy as he's 85 and gets up to pee allot. Within a week his overall mood was much happier, and he was noticeably more energetic in the critical parts of the day. I use to take 150 and then swap to 200 in the winter months as for some unknown reason my TSH goes wild out of range in the winter. I also tried taking extra to see if it would induce hyperthyroidism as a cheater weight loss plan. Yeah I lost weight, but my eyes became totally blurry, so I decided that was a lose-lose idea.
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Fludrocortisone. We don't need more then .1mg a day as far as I am aware. When covid hit the nation had a shortage of Fludrocortisone. I was able to go 3 months without it before my electrolytes went into the red. I honestly don't know what taking more would do. Perhaps spike your sodium too high and cause heart issues?
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As I said above, caffeine, doesn't effect your heart. Stop buying $4 energy drinks as you are not feeling anything even close to what everyone else does. :( (takes a break from typing to sip some of my monster)
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Just like caffeine, beta blockers do nothing for you. If you have heart failure, or an elevated resting heart rate, take Corlanor instead. Most likely you'd have to be prescribed a beta blocker first for a few months, before insurance will approve Corlanor. But oddly the copay was only $10. I kinda expected with all the hoops to be put on it for it to cost $500+..
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I am going to make a wild suggestion. Within your first 10 years of a steroid? Have zero signs of diabetes? Convince your PCP to prescribe Jardiance. It's a diabetes medicine. It causes your kidneys to filter out excess sugar and you piss it out. I am hoping some scientists do a several decades long study to see if taking Jardiance can postpone/delay the onset of diabetes in someone with family history, Addison's, etc... Sadly it costs $400-$500 for 90 days. But with Addison's, all the medicines are critical and just a cost of living.
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Diet. Do what you want. That's the best I can suggest about diet. Having Addison's disease, we have a suppressed appetite. Add to that hypothyroidism, your even more suppressed. Add a corticosteroid your even more suppressed. I actually didn't experience hunger pains most of my life until after diabetes. It was a very strange sensation. Now. All humans have cravings. Most of the time we don't even notice them unless they are enhanced. Take a pregnant women. Her cravings are over the top and clear as day (I want ribs! Who cares its 3am!) With no appetite, we actually become acutely aware of our cravings. Love eating pickles, and drinking the juice? You're low on sodium. Craving olives and drinking the juice? You're low on Iron. Follow your cravings. Your body craves things for a reason.
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Speaking of Sodium. Our body uses sodium differently. It's not just that we waste it away, our bodies do something different. Sodium is like a super awesome immune enhancer for us. As a kid any time I was sick, flu, cold, etc., the doctor would tell me to stop and get some wonton soup on the way home and add more salt.
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You're on a steroid. You have anxiety. Even if you don't notice it because its super subtle. With Addison's our body isn't chemically able to relieve stress which leads to anxiety. It can easily build up. You might be a smoker because you learned that smoking relaxes you. This is due to the direct way we smoke, short long inhale, hold, deep exhale. That is a normal anti-anxiety exorcise. I got addicted to Clove Cigarettes as when I was 17 and my adrenal glands were still around 5% alive, the clove would stimulate those adrenals and I'd feel a nice warm happy energetic feeling along with a sense of relaxation. Therefore I recommend after about 10 years of steroid you to take a generic anti anxiety medicine. I highly recommend Pristiq. But others are just as good. Even a benzo is sufficient however I dislike the sedation feeling of a benzo.
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Get plenty of Vitamin-D.
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B-12 is great too!
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Adderall / Ritalin won't do a damn thing for you except cause headaches. Speaking of headaches, someone recently asked here what a low cortisol headache feels like. I was shocked to hear what some folks said as to it's severity, and wonder if they have other conditions. A general, back of the head, dull, constant headache happens often. In fact. We with Addison's will often experience all sorts of general pain. Joint pain. Headaches. Fatigue. We learn to just live with it and learn to ignore it. Often I have to stop, sit down, and ask myself 'How do I feel?' Oh shoot, my headache is bad today or my knees really hurt.
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Epstein-Barr "Mono". This is a terrible thing for us. Your body doesn't know how to fight mono, so it goes into hyperdrive producing every antibody it knows how to. This totally drains you into nothing. I suffered for 19 months, was not working for that time which really wasn't nice to my employer but I was a rock star at work and they knew I was doing everything I could to get back up and going again. The fix was to raise my steroid by 2x. Within 2 days, after 19 months, I was cured. Yet I had been to my endo, infectious disease, rheumatologists, the works, and nobody ever suggested a prolonged updose.
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Speaking of doses. If you are on hydro, not dex, you probably need to take an extra dose more often then you realize. Micro updosing dex is tricky as its so damn powerful and lasts 2 days not just a few hours of a boost. Have a stressful bad day at work? You need more. Went to the gym. You need more. Just paid your taxes today? You need more.
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Your annual blood labs will generally always report an elevated Sedimentation Rate, and C-Reactive (CRP) proteins. Both mean nothing, and there is nothing to change or worry about. Your sodium will go in and out of range, nothing to worry about unless it's really wonky. Potassium loves to go low. I keep forgetting 'Take a potassium supplement before I go to the ER for any reason' as while I'm there they will insist I take this horse pill of Potassium and it tastes nasty. Even with a great diet your Cholesterol will almost always be out of range, the good is low, the bad is high.
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Are you in crisis? Signs are feeling really lousy. Random body temperatures. With Addison's our normal body temperature is about a degree less, around 97.6. So you might suddenly have a 96, or even way lower. Or 99. I was in the hospital last year for heat failure. Out of nowhere, 2 days in, my temp went to 101. They panicked thinking I was going into sepsis. While they panicked and flooded me with antibiotics and iv fluids, I kept saying, nah, I just need more steroid please. They eventually agreed with me and gave me extra and my temp went away. Other signs of crisis are Cold feet, literally much colder then the rest of your body. Cold hands. Generalized abdominal pain. Upper back pain. Profuse sweating. Major lack of appetite, way more unusual then your usual lack of one. Wounds easily lead to infection at the site. Out of range low sodium. Elevated white blood cell count. Low red cell count. And the killer, overall cognitive decline. Not brain fog, but a lack of the spark of thoughts. Goto the bathroom and forget why you're there. If you have more then a few of these, you don't need to goto the E.R. unless your about to pass out, but I would always recommend doing so anyway. All you need to do is take a stress dose of 4x your steroid and within 8 or so hours you'll be back to your normal self.
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In crisis or headed that way, the cognitive function degradation is the kicker. We with Addison's are generally on top of our shit when it comes to our heath. We've studied, learned, experienced so much, that "We've got this shit" right? Well. When your in the onset of crisis you will suddenly forget all this. Forget the warning signs you know oh so well. And when you realize or are diagnosed and take the meds, and fix right up, you'll be pissed off at yourself and the world because you knew this! What happened!
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Any time the hospital gives you a stress dose, or you do it yourself, about two days later expect a massive hunger. For anything and everything. Holy Jesus! I recently had an ICD defibrillator installed in my chest. The surgeons were so afraid of doing surgery on me, my endo had said quite clearly 2.0 before, 2.0 after. They went full 4.0 before, 4.0 after, and then I was wide awake for 2 days in the hospital, craving five-guys. I generally gain 10 pounds just after a hospital stay.
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Speaking of weight. We Addisonian/hypothyroidism patients shouldn't generally be overweight. But its super easy to happen. It's also super easy to loose weight. You don't need to goto the gym or run on a treadmill. Either you have a nice datacenter you can walk the perimeter of, every hour or so, while enjoying your smoke break... or your visiting your family member at the hospital, so take a random route to the exit, then do a lap. I can easily drop 20 lbs. if I do this at least every other day.
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Young, in your late 20s early 30s. This is your time to shine. You are the healthiest you will ever be in your life. You've got all the meds. Your energy is boosted / helped / restored with the meds. You're brain is sharp as a tack. This is the time to burn the midnight oil. Push that job. Work your ass off to boost yourself in your career. This is the time to go all in. Because when you reach 40.. and 50.. besides normal human getting old bs, Addison's and the steroids have beaten the crap out of your body for so long that things really start falling apart often.
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Aflac short term, and Long Term Disability Insurance. I highly recommend both. With Mono and later Depression Aflac was a cake walk. Just had to get all the doctors to reply to them and the extra $2k ( I think) a month really helped. LTD is also very wise as it's super easy for us to totally fall apart for one reason or another. Heart problems.. Liver problems. Kidney problems. Depression. Other diseases. However two things. Screw Guardian LTD. They screwed me both claims. First time was mono. Even if you're paying them for 15+ years, they calculate your benefits based upon the last calendar month of the last calendar year. I got the Mono about 6 months after my mom passed from cancer. December of the previous year I was out on bereavement, and also recovering from being her quarterback doctor / advocate, on the job 16 hrs a day, for a year. So what did Guardian do? They said I had $0 for the next year. On top of that my employers general manager neglected to save a copy of my FLMA form. Had I had that, I would have been able to skip the December requirement. Fun thing is not preserving that form is something like an automatic fine and lawsuit win in NJ. UnFun thing my employers were my best friends, family, and my attorney was their attorney. I was never going to sue them. They already were so helpful during my sickness.
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Second to Disability is be careful what medicines you take. e.g. I took Pristiq for its anti-anxiety properties. In 2017 after a medical event, coma for 12 hrs, bla bla, I slowly sank into deep depression. Guardian denied my claim saying Pristiq also treats Depression, so my Depression was a pre-existing condition. So any anti-anxiety medicine, you have your pros and cons. I would still have taken Pristiq if I knew LTD would deny me. Fortunately Federal disability approved me so since LTD pays you the insured rate minus any federal disability, so in the end, I am only missing out on like $200 more a month. Still pisses me off though.
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Find a good life partner. Educate him/her that anything common for others, quite often, is from Addison's for you. My mom drilled into me 'Its Addison's. Its Addison's.' From bad grades, to a prolonged cold. Alcoholism. Fatigue. Sudden weight gain? Sudden weight loss? I argued for years with my gf over this. Sadly after 9 years I fired her. I was going through a rough unknown. Things were just not right for several months. Less then 12 hours later I passed out into a coma and crisis. She would put a common persons perspective on everything. Sure I just ate burger king 5 days in a row, but my weight gain is not from that... went to doctor... my TSH was screwed up, I had all sorts of numbers out of range. Not sure why I gained weight as a result, but like I said what's common for others is often a sign of something abnormal for us. Be on the lookout! Ask your partner to keep an eye on you. Ask you 'How are you feeling' because that that will force you to stop, and think, and it helps catch any issues sooner.
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I think that is enough for today. I was on fire, motivated, ready to rock when I started to type this today. However thinking of Addison's and the last 37 years, actually physically fatigues me.
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Remember. With Addison's, Everything about you is different. What foods do what things to you. What stimulants work and don't. I always get the side effects of any medicines and hardly ever the desired effect. I sweat on diuretics and mostly stop peeing, how backwards!

OB discovered a 7cm cyst on my left ovary during a pregnancy ultrasound (which unfortunately resulted in a miscarriage, but that’s another story). She was back and forth about whether or not to remove it but I kind of insisted since I’m still on a TTC journey and don’t want anything messing with my ovaries. This was never noticed before because it didn’t cause me any pain, I’m assuming I must have been born with the cyst or it grew slowly enough to not affect me.
Surgery was scheduled for 10 AM, arrival for pre-op at 8:45 AM. I needed to fast, no food or water, for 6 hours so I just had dinner last night and nothing since going to bed. They also had me take a pre-surgical shower at home with a special antiseptic soap to reduce the risk of infection.
Pre-op was pretty basic, they inserted an IV catheter, took one vial of blood, took a urine sample, and started me on saline. I had to sign a bajillion consent forms acknowledging that there was a risk I could lose the ovary, and had to describe in my own words what I was going to be going through so they knew I understood the nature of the procedure. My husband was able to be with me this whole time, right up until they wheeled me to the OR.
They brought me in and had me scoot myself onto the OR table and bring my rear-end near the end of a large foam pad. The anesthesiologist started telling me that she was going to put a mask on me and have me breathe in some oxygen — but I do not remember ever doing that, because I was out like a light about 1 minute after hopping onto the table. Probably Versed. At some point during the procedure, while I was asleep, a breathing tube was inserted and then removed. I was also informed they used a tool inserted into my vagina & cervix to be able to “manipulate” the uterus, and move it around.
I woke up in recovery and was informed the procedure took a little over 3 hours, which was way longer than expected — I was quoted “anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on what kind of cyst it is.” The cyst ended up being a large dermoid (the kind with hair and teeth), larger than predicted but I’m unsure by how much, which they were able to remove without any damage to the ovary. They also removed a smaller dermoid from the right ovary while they were in there. The procedure was done laprascopically — one incision in my belly button, which I believe was for the camera, two tiny incisions on the left and right sides of my lower stomach, and one larger incision in the center of my lower abdomen, where it connects with my pelvis. I also appear to have several tiny holes that appear to be from injections? That I haven’t not had the opportunity to ask about yet.
My OB did promise to take lots of pictures so I can see it all post-op :)
I feel like I was in recovery for all of 15 minutes (though I was probably sleeping much longer), they kicked me out pretty quickly, as soon as I showed I was able to walk to the bathroom and pee. Husband had picked up my painkiller prescription (Vicodin), RN gave me some ibuprofen for the ride home, disconnected me from all the IV stuff, and sent us on our way.
Ate a quick drive-thru lunch, came home, and walked myself upstairs to immediately sleep for 3 more hours. Woke up and came downstairs to rest on the couch. Have been taking Vicodin on a 4-hour rotation, stair-stepping with Ibuprofen in between to stay on top of the pain. Also started a stool softener in anticipation of the constipation caused by anesthesia.
All of that said, this being my first real surgery (as in, getting cut open, I’m not counting wisdom teeth or d&c), everything is very uncomfortable and sore. All of my pelvic floor muscles feel weak, and peeing & coughing hurts, bad. Shifting into different positions is uncomfortable, the incisions burn a tiny bit, and walking, I kind of have to stoop and waddle. No desire to eat much, and there is a weird side effect that isn’t often talked about — the air that is used to distend your abdomen during surgery gets trapped in the abdominal cavity and floats up to your diaphragm, which has a nerve that causes referred pain in the shoulders & neck. A heating pad helps a lot.
I’ve still got a ways to go but just wanted to share my experience so far in case any of y’all might be going through the same thing in the near future. I was very surprised to learn just how common these cysts are. I’d also love to hear others’ experiences if you’ve been through the same things! I’m very relieved to have all that gunk out of me, and grateful to have had my concerns taken seriously!

So all of this is sort of odd but as the post said I experienced primarily hallucinations as a child and then manic episodes as a teenager with occasional hallucinations that went away going into my 20's, which I do find strange as it tends to be the opposite for most people. As I kid I'd have all sorts of vivid hallucinations, mostly at night and when it was dark or dim. It gave me severe anxiety, especially in the dark though that mostly subsided going into high school as the hallucinations went away. I've never met anyone who had this problem though when I read William Burroughs he talks about having the same thing exact thing happen to him and I also became a heroin addict for a bit so make of that what you will. Going into high school I started to have serious manic episodes. I always had a social disconnect from people, in middle school I was short and fat and totally socially isolated then as high school came along I became taller and rather good looking and suddenly got all this female and social attention and I don't think I knew how to handle it originally. If that hadn't happened I probably would of slipped into inceldom as I became very bitter towards woman in 8th grade.
I developed a bit of this narcissism that I'm still working on and presented itself within my manic episodes. I'd think I was a sort of God with solipsistic delusions and would stay up for days at a time, a week being my peak and become incredibly hypersexual. I had lots of audio and visual hallucinations but I knew none of them we were real. I also started taking a ton of downers around this time to calm myself down but they didn't seem to work, I consumed and endless amount of xanax, vicodin, lean, ambien, ect and nothing would chill me out. I would hear voices that were mostly cool but time to time they could be dicks. I remember I could play songs in my head by thinking of the first part then letting the rest go on and it would just play perfectly or at least it felt perfect to me. I was actually diagnosed with bipolar, the first time my psych had ever diagnosed it to a 17 year old but got considered misdiagnosed around 22 and it was taken off.
At one point the voices even helped me find a missing friend, a buddy of mine James got into a fight with his parents and went to an other friend, Ben's house as his bike was left there but we couldn't find him anywhere. That ben guy was very interesting, his dad was a hippyesque guy from a rich family who agreed to study law and divinity at hardvard only to never practice law and use it to fuck over the police, he actually trained his son and his friends, including me, how to be effective criminals, but that's a whole other story. So later in the night ben went to sleep and I was on his couch taking more pills trying to get some sleep and kept hearing voices of my classmates insulting me for doing all this to myself and taking all those pills so I ran out of the house, he had this long driveway filled with a bunch of wrecked cars as the family got into a lot of car crashes and the voices started telling me people were in the woods and to hide in this old crown vic so I hop in and guess what? That missing friend was sleeping in their all day, he was instantly down to chill for the rest of the night into the morning and completely grounded me while I was freaking out.
So past all the past, I'm currently 26 and don't really experience any of this anymore. I still suffer from narcissism and never got a lick of real help from therapists but since getting sober and working the steps they honestly help all of this, a lot. I still get a bit manic occasionally, especially with certain relationships I form with woman. I'm also not completely sane, occasionally in public I like acting a little antisocial in conversation with strangers, I really get a kick out of that, especially out with friends to add them to the embarrassment. I'll also drive a little recklessly when no one is around. So I'm far from perfect haha, but overall I'm doing about as well as you can expect and it seems each year my manic behavior goes down and I haven't had a hallucination that wasn't drug induced in years. The worst part though, if I'm being honest? I kinda miss it.

So all of this is sort of odd but as the post said I experienced primarily hallucinations as a child and then manic episodes as a teenager with occasional hallucinations that went away going into my 20's, which I do find strange as it tends to be the opposite for most people. As I kid I'd have all sorts of vivid hallucinations, mostly at night and when it was dark or dim. It gave me severe anxiety, especially in the dark though that mostly subsided going into high school as the hallucinations went away. I've never met anyone who had this problem though when I read William Burroughs he talks about having the same thing exact thing happen to him and I also became a heroin addict for a bit so make of that what you will. Going into high school I started to have serious manic episodes. I always had a social disconnect from people, in middle school I was short and fat and totally socially isolated then as high school came along I became taller and rather good looking and suddenly got all this female and social attention and I don't think I knew how to handle it originally. If that hadn't happened I probably would of slipped into inceldom as I became very bitter towards woman in 8th grade.
I developed a bit of this narcissism that I'm still working on and presented itself within my manic episodes. I'd think I was a sort of God with solipsistic delusions and would stay up for days at a time, a week being my peak and become incredibly hypersexual. I had lots of audio and visual hallucinations but I knew none of them we were real. I also started taking a ton of downers around this time to calm myself down but they didn't seem to work, I consumed and endless amount of xanax, vicodin, lean, ambien, ect and nothing would chill me out. I would hear voices that were mostly cool but time to time they could be dicks. I remember I could play songs in my head by thinking of the first part then letting the rest go on and it would just play perfectly or at least it felt perfect to me. I was actually diagnosed with bipolar, the first time my psych had ever diagnosed it to a 17 year old but got considered misdiagnosed around 22 and it was taken off.
At one point the voices even helped me find a missing friend, a buddy of mine James got into a fight with his parents and went to an other friend, Ben's house as his bike was left there but we couldn't find him anywhere. That ben guy was very interesting, his dad was a hippyesque guy from a rich family who agreed to study law and divinity at hardvard only to never practice law and use it to fuck over the police, he actually trained his son and his friends, including me, how to be effective criminals, but that's a whole other story. So later in the night ben went to sleep and I was on his couch taking more pills trying to get some sleep and kept hearing voices of my classmates insulting me for doing all this to myself and taking all those pills so I ran out of the house, he had this long driveway filled with a bunch of wrecked cars as the family got into a lot of car crashes and the voices started telling me people were in the woods and to hide in this old crown vic so I hop in and guess what? That missing friend was sleeping in their all day, he was instantly down to chill for the rest of the night into the morning and completely grounded me while I was freaking out.
So past all the past, I'm currently 26 and don't really experience any of this anymore. I still suffer from narcissism and never got a lick of real help from therapists but since getting sober and working the steps they honestly help all of this, a lot. I still get a bit manic occasionally, especially with certain relationships I form with woman. I'm also not completely sane, occasionally in public I like acting a little antisocial in conversation with strangers, I really get a kick out of that, especially out with friends to add them to the embarrassment. I'll also drive a little recklessly when no one is around. So I'm far from perfect haha, but overall I'm doing about as well as you can expect and it seems each year my manic behavior goes down and I haven't had a hallucination that wasn't drug induced in years. The worst part though, if I'm being honest? I kinda miss it.

From the Wall Street Journal:
People who are suffering from severe pain but don't want to risk addiction to an opioid are closer to a new option for treatment.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday reported positive study results for its closely watched non-opioid painkiller. The drug lowered the moderate-to-severe acute pain reported by study volunteers, a sign it could be the first in a new class of painkiller to be approved for use.
But the experimental medicine is more likely to provide an alternative to opioids, rather than supplant them, because it didn't work better than a widely used opioid drug sold under the brand name Vicodin.
Vertex said it would file for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the middle of this year.
"If and when this medicine is approved, it will offer a new option for patients who need pain relief but who do not want to take an opioid," Vertex Chief Scientific Officer David Altshuler said in an interview.
Vertex released the results in a press release, not a peer-reviewed medical journal. The company said the researchers who conducted the studies would publish their results in a journal later this year.
About 80 million Americans are prescribed a medicine for moderate-to-severe acute pain each year, according to Vertex. They can choose from a variety of treatments. Many of them take opioids because they work so well.
Yet opioids are highly addictive, and their widespread use has fueled an epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths in the U.S.
To avoid addiction, many doctors, patients and health authorities have sought an alternative that provides as much relief from pain without creating the dependence on use.
Vertex's drug, code-named VX-548, belongs to a new class of medicines that targets molecular mechanisms involved in feeling pain. Researchers have pursued this so-called NaV class for years but experienced repeat setbacks.
NaV refers to the channels through which sodium flows in and out of cells. VX-548 blocks the flow of sodium through a channel called NaV1.8, which plays a role transmitting pain signals to the brain.
The drug, in other words, works by blocking or diminishing pain at the source before it heads to the brain and creates the feeling of pain.
Boston-based Vertex studied VX-548 in three late-stage, or Phase 3, trials that enrolled more than 2,400 subjects with conditions causing moderate-to-severe acute pain.
Two of the trials compared the efficacy of VX-548 against a placebo and Vicodin among subjects who either underwent a "tummy tuck," or abdominoplasty, surgery or a bunion surgery.
The third study measured its efficacy among a range of surgical and nonsurgical acute pain issues .
Study subjects didn't show any serious adverse effects in the three studies, the company said.
Vertex is best known for its blockbuster cystic fibrosis treatments. The company received the first U.S. approval last month for a therapy that uses Crispr gene-editing technology; the drug, called Casgevy, treats people with sickle- cell disease.
VX-548 could open a new, potentially multibillion franchise in pain for the biotech company, Evercore ISI analyst Liisa Bayko said. "It's a totally new class of drugs that have never made it this far," she said in an interview before the company released the trial results.
If approved, however, the drug will face heavy competition, including from low-price generics, according to analysts. To gain traction, Vertex will have to build experience and relationships in the market.
Stuart Arbuckle, Vertex's chief operating officer, said the company aims to sell this new class of medications across different pain types. Last month, the company released positive results for the drug reducing pain caused by diabetes-related nerve damage.
Note: OP owns shares of VRTX (and has for a long time)

(TL/DR. Went on ketamine troches after 20 years of pain horror and so far it's helped a whole bunch.)
Hey my fellow sufferers,
First time posting here but I'm a veteran in the pain wars. I got into a bad wreck in my 20's (I'm 46 now) where I merged into a semi truck, got dragged 50 feet or so and then spun around and slammed into a concrete wall at 45 MPH.
I was standing up on the brake at the moment of impact, so all that force translated up my leg and basically twisted me like a balloon animal. I spent 3 years more or less crippled then got surgery that helped "enough" that I could at least try to live my life. 11 straight years of a whole lot of yoga (and 16 hours a day stretching and SLOWLY untwisting myself) you'd have no idea at all there's anything "wrong" with me if you met me...
But I'm still largely in pain town and over the last year (as I've gotten closer to "fixing" myself as much as that's possible) it got REALLY bad again...
Spent a lot of time screaming in the basement as my internal organs started to align themselves properly. Fascinating stuff, really. Luckily I'm really good at dissasociating at this point.
ANYWAY...
About a month ago I reluctantly went to a pain clinic here in Seattle. (I was reluctant because I've tried EVERYTHING and spent a LOT of money on this shit over the last 2 decades and the only thing that ever really helped was me taking control and figuring out what would help on my own. When I tell doctors about my injuries they tend to look away with impotent horror. It's funny.)
ANYWAY... I went to a pain clinic and they put me on K. (The doctor asked me if I've ever tried K before and I said "I mean, not legally.)
It took about a week to really start doing anything, but so far it's helped A LOT. It's not the same as vicodin or oxy, which I was on years ago but stopped taking out of concern of getting addicted, but it turns out K has a tremendous anti-inflammatory effect (plus some nice anti-depressant properties.)
It's calmed things down enough I've been able to make a lot of progress in my rehab (Probably only 3 or 4 years to go!) and has taken my pain levels from an 8 down to a 3 or so (my scale is pretty high. 5 is "A shark is chewing on my spine." 9 is... you don't want to know what 9 is.)
Anyway, it's done wonders for me and with opioids harder and harder to get I thought I'd pass along my experience. It won't work for everybody, obviously, but any port in a storm. If it's avail where you live, check it out, it might help.
(My wife has Ankylosing Spondylitis which really destroyed her life for 6 years. She went on k 3 weeks ago and every single one of her symptoms has dramatically improved. Like I said, your mileage may vary depending on your condition and genetics, but check it out.)

Something has been bugging me for a while, and I'd like to share about it to see if some of y'all can relate.
I've had inconsistent access to medical care for a long time. I applied for disability in 2014 and got approved in 2017, almost exactly three years later; prior to that, I had no insurance coverage of any kind since being on my mom's insurance, and that stopped when I was 20, in 2009. I do have Medicare and Medicaid now, by way of UHC Dual Complete Regional PPO. I only get about $950 a month from disability, because I'm 34 and first applied for benefits around age 24. The years I worked didn't pay much into it, which is one reason why the payment is low. I mean, it started out around $750, so I'm glad it's not that low anymore, but still. I have insurance, is the point, but the drug formulary only includes generics of pain medications like tramadol and oxycodone. And I clearly don't have the scratch to pay the cash price for brands like Ultram and Percocet.
Trouble is, the generics are hit and miss. Bizarrely so. Because of shortages, when I'm able to get a prescription for pain meds, I usually ask for a paper script. I don't know how it is in other states or countries, but I live in Florida, and if your doc sends a script that's on the controlled substances list, above a certain tier, it is literally impossible to transfer it between pharmacies. Laws change all the time, though; it used to be that you could transfer it once, and the other day, a pharmacist at Publix told me that they can transfer a Percocet script to another Publix, if the pharmacists at each of the stores is okay with it. I found that out because my partner goes to a pain clinic and gets oxycodone prescribed regularly, and he had to go out of town, but he would run out of his meds before he came back, and it was too early to fill it here before he left. And I feel like this is obvious, but if you've been taking that kind of medication every single day for years, like he has, you DO NOT want to go off of it cold-turkey. At best, it's extremely unpleasant.
Anyway, the other week I was having muscle spasms in my right arm/shouldeside, and I took some oxycodone I had leftover from a dental thing, and it helped, but I only had a couple leftover, so I ended up in the ER. They gave me hydrocodone and a muscle relaxer. Generic hydrocodone softens the pain a little bit and kinda makes me feel like I mind less that I'm in pain, but it's still excruciating. Go back to the ER, and they give me oxycodone, and it's a type I hadn't seen in a while, little round pills. Usually, when I've had that in the past, it's an oblong tablet. These round ones? Useless.
I end up going to a primary care practice after that. I'd been there before, but the doc I'd been seeing had some medical issues, quit, and has since passed away. I ended up seeing a doc I'd never met before, and you guys... It was like he didn't even care if I was in pain. He wasn't worried about what worked for the pain and what didn't, how severe it was, or even how it happened. He wanted to throw ibuprofen at it and send me on my way, but I can't take ibuprofen or aspirin. History of ulcers, and they always give me uncontrollable nosebleeds. Naproxen doesn't, but I had tried that already, because I had some on hand at home. If that or acetaminophen on its own was gonna get it, I wouldn't have been there.
He gives me tramadol. Utterly fucking useless. I try one, then two, and at one point, out of desperation, I took six. No impact. Go back to the doctor, tell him this, and his eyes pop out of his head like he'd never heard of such a thing. He was concerned I would need emergency medical attention like right that moment, but it had been days since I'd done that, and there were no effects whatsoever. I tell him this, and he's more concerned with why I didn't get the MRI he ordered yet. During all this, my cat had gotten very sick. She's on the mend, and we think she'll be okay, but for a minute, it seemed like she might die, and literally all my energy was focused on that.
So he gives me Fioricet, which I hadn't had in years. It's a barbituate. It did almost nothing for the pain, and it sent me into an emotional tailspin on top of that. And the only reason he was willing to give me that was because, on top of everything else, I'd gotten a flu shot the last time I was there, and I was having a bad reaction, including full-body aches and one of the worst headaches of my life. And it didn't even help the fucking headache.
I know how all these meds affect me. But especially with the tramadol, it was sometimes like there was no medication in the tablets in the first place. Like I might as well have been eating pieces of chalk, for all the good it did. So either there's a counterfeit pill operation of some kind going on, or I don't effectively absorb it for some reason, when I get the generic version.
And I can't help but think that I can't be the only person dealing with this. The other day, in line at the pharmacy with my partner, I thought about that show House, when Cuddy replaced his Vicodin with laxatives. He goes, "I know when my Vicodin isn't Vicodin. Do you know when your birth control pills aren't birth control?" The point being, it's really obvious with pain meds, because you're in pain, and if they work, you tend to notice a reduction in pain. That's the whole point. And I know it's not just me, because my partner has been through similar experiences, and I've heard similar things from others in passing.
Edit: to clarify, this is also not the first time this has happened to me, by a long shot. I just wanna be clear.
But if this is happening with pain meds, don't you have to wonder if it's not happening with other types of medications? Supposing the pills actually contain the drug they're supposed to, in the correct amount, it may be that there's something in the way some generics are manufactured that gums up the works somehow. That's all I can figure. Or maybe there's something I can do to make it so that my body absorbs it better? I don't know. I have no idea what to do, but I just feel like this is wrong. The whole damn system is a mess, but after you jump through hoop after fucking hoop to get a prescription to give you some kind of relief, probably after waiting at least a few days to get in to see a doc unless you go to the ER, you have to find a pharmacy that has it, and then maybe you have to pay cash for it, and the prices are often extortionate on their own. The hard part is supposed to be over after that. Right? Apparently not.

This is my little thesis paper on why Tritter and Vogler are the worst characters in the show.
let me preface by saying I think they are both performed very well by their respective actors, and basically none of this criticism falls on them.

1. They do not fit the character writing/direction

House is a show with VERY strong characters. They all feel real, relatable in some ways, and like they have very understandable struggles and motivations. Vogler and tritter break this mold, to bad effect.
Vogler is a cartoonishly, comedically, lex luthor level of evil. He wants to turn a functioning hospital into a working business, he wants to make a profit with his drugs, he's all money. Nothing else. He lacks depth and substance, and he just doesn't have good dynamics with the characters. Considering fox literally demanded he be added, it makes sense he feels shoehorned in.
Tritter, by comparison, fits in more naturally with this world. he doesn't feel like a comic book villain. The problem is that he is a TERRIBLE nemesis for house. His function as someone who is just as good at house, at a job wherein he can hurt house, and who is just as petty, works in concept. however he is written and directed to be SO goddamn BORING. He is stonefaced and dead. this is fine, but house and it's cast of sassholes DESPERATELY need people to play off of. Every scene with him feels like they're trying to bounce a brick off a wall. it's BORING and exhausting!!
It's one thing to say they're supposed to be hated, and they are, but the reason they're hateable isn't because they're written effectively within the paradigm of the world, and they fit while still being disliked. the problem is they don't fit. I don't hate the characters, I fucking hate watching them. At least in part. I hate them normally too lol.

1. They don't attack house, they attack the things that make the show work

Vogler isn't as bad here, but his failure to have a believable personality really kills the scenes he's in. it's hard to take him seriously and he kills the immersion.
Tritter here is much worse. I'm largely restating, but he just is so badly directed that the fun snark sarcasm of the tone that keeps people hooked on the show is ABSENT. He really sucks the life away.

1. They fail to effectively be villains for HOUSE.

Vogler is Cuddy's nemesis. He's only houses nemesis cus they dislike each other, and he gets in houses way, but never in a way that really matters. It never leads to character development or insight, he's just a dick, and he's a pointless attempt at a villain for a rich and complicated protagonist. Voglers lack of personality and lack of real ambition towards house personally makes him fall terribly flat.
Tritter however is different. in some regard he's a lot like house. A recovering addict (nicotine) who is just as skilled at his job and just as petty; only his job allows him to hurt house. They're supposed to be a battle of the egos, but this misses one essential thing about house: His main personality trait isn't his ego. It's his pain. Even before season 5 and 6s real dissection, we know by S3 what house is about. The vicodin, the misanthrope, we can do the math. He's in pain mentally and it's physical because he doesn't believe in change. The problem is that tritter only really exploded and challenges the external world of houses pain, AKA the less interesting part. Houses drug use was never the most interesting thing about him, it was WHY is he using, why is he REALLY using, and tritter just never attacks that question, he's too busy pulling team shenanigans and freezing bank accounts. Tritter just focused on the wrong thing.

1. Season 5 did Tritter better

This part isn't about vogler but like fuck that guy idc
Let's look at the other antagonistic force who attacked houses drug use, and dissect why she works FAR better. Hallucination amber (I'm just calling her amber) Is an EXTREMELY effective antagonistic force. Not only is Anne Dudek a star, but it's not even amber. The best part of that character is that it's not amber, it's houses subconscious with an amber reskin. She's able to directly attack house, we actually get to see him challenged in a way nobody else could and that we've always wanted to. We've waited for a villain to get into houses head. ofc it's only house who could do it. But she just works far better in that she goes after what actually matters with the show and character. Vogler has no real connection to house, and tritter fails as a foil sense the most essential part of houses character isn't addressed, but who better to be a true antagonist than, well, house!
Overall the 2 villains are just fucking wack. their portions of the show, tritter especially, are complete drags and are arguably the worst parts of the show. you could argue amber doesn't even count as a villain, she's an antagonist at worst. Which leads me to my final point:
5: WHY DOES THE MEDICAL DRAMA NEED A VILLAIN.
No really. WHY????!?!? it's a medical drama! houses self destruction is the villain! disease is the villain! racing the clock episode by episode to save lives is plenty of stakes, watching house decline is plenty of worsening status quo, WHY DO WE NEED VILLAINS!! Now, could a villain have worked? NO! The show doesn't function on hero and villain roles, it doesn't function in a paradigm that would allow that to happen! Tritter comes close but again his utter boringness and failure to actually attack house makes him pointless.
overall, just skip those episodes lol

If someone who has chronic pain that can't be fixed surgically is at a healthy weight and has no history of addiction gets a prescription for an opioid, would it still end up being a problem if they took it exactly as directed? Do issues usually arise because the person liked the way it felt and took more than they were supposed to? Does the painkilling effect normally lessen over time vs weakeOTC medications like acetaminophen (and if so, why is this?) Does it lower your pain threshold?
I've seen many people in chronic pain and disability groups complaining about addicts, saying they've given their medications a bad rap. People in these groups argue they've been on Vicodin, etc. for years, even decades without issue and that it's what allows them to live normal to normal-ish lives, however, I've also seen many people outside these groups, including those in the medical field, saying this class of drugs is never a good solution for pain long term, only briefly after surgery or for people with cancer who won't survive. I've seen people on medical subs say they won't even prescribe opioids.

Brief Backstory
I found I was pregnant on December 1st during a hectic week of finals (last week of my masters program). My last period was on November 4th, so I knew I’d caught it very early. My boyfriend and I already knew we weren't in a position to have a family yet, and had discussed our options if this were to happen.
I immediately called my gynecologist and she referred me to another gyn in their office who would be able to prescribe the pills for a medication abortion. The appointment was booked for December 14th (11 days after positive pregnancy test).
It was a rollercoaster of emotions, mood swings, extreme fatigue, and some nausea leading up to the appointment. I was also very anxious to finally get an ultrasound to confirm how far along I was.
Day 1: Ultrasound and Mifepristone
The ultrasound confirmed I was just under 5.5 weeks. There was no heart beat yet or even a fetal pole, just a yolk sac. The doctor told me this was a good thing and that my pain might not be as bad.
The doctor gave me the mifepristone in the office, and sent a prescription to my pharmacy for Zofran (anti-nausea), Vicodin (for pain), and Cytotec (misoprostol). The only side effects I experienced from the mifepristone was mild cramping that evening and the following morning, along with fatigue (but that was already there before the mife).
It took 3 tries at different pharmacies to get someone to fill the Misoprostol (a story for another day), but finally CVS did. No luck with the Vicodin sadly, so I just had the Zofran and the Miso.
Day 2: Misoprostol
Exactly 24 hours after taking the mifepristone I prepared to take the miso. I stocked my bedside table with Advil, Zofran, Pedialyte, water, saltines, and heating pads. I also wore a pad to prepare for the bleeding.
I decided to let the miso dissolve in my cheeks because I heard that they absorb and kick in faster this way compared to vaginal insertion. Plus, I wasn’t nauseous from the mifepristone so I thought I could handle it.
I took 800 mg of Advil and 4 mg of Zofran and set my timer for 20 minutes. Then, I let the miso dissolve in my cheeks for 30 minutes. It was grainy and bitter for the first 15 minutes, but then I got used to it as it dissolved. I tried not to swallow too much of it while I waited to ensure maximum absorption and minimal nausea.
Start of Symptoms
Let me tell you, the miso woks fast. The cramps started before the 30 minutes were even up. The pain inched up to about a 6/10 for a half an hour, and then I got a break for about 30 minutes. An hour after taking the miso, the cramps returned and I began to bleed. The next 2 hours were quite painful - varied from a 6/10 - 8/10. But I had minimal nausea, and no diarrhea thank god!!
About 3.5 hours after taking the miso, I passed the pregnancy. I first passed a couple moderate size clots into the toilet, followed by the gestational sac. I immediately got off the toilet and stared at it for awhile. It was a quarter sized milky colored blob with no recognizable fetus. After saying a few words in my head, I flushed. Felt strange.
I hoped that the cramping would subside after passing the pregnancy, but it did not. I continued to pass small clots and bleed over the next several hours. The cramps stayed in the 6/10 - 8/10 range. They weren’t constant, but close to it. It helped to breathe with the pain, moan, and tell myself that “pain is subjective.” It hurt like a bitch, but it hurt worse if I held my breath or tensed up my body. Slow exhales and “labor breaths” helped me get through it. That Vicodin would've been reeeeal nice though.
It helped to alternate between putting the heating pad on my low back and my low stomach. I ate some pita and hummus to keep something on my stomach and continued to sip on the Pedialyte throughout the process. Luckily I didn't have any vomiting or intense nausea - I was sure I would.
My boyfriend stayed with me throughout it all, rubbed my back, cracked some jokes, and made sure my cats were tended to. It really makes a difference having someone there with you, so if you have the ability to have a friend, family member, or partner keep you company - do it. If someone offers to help you, let them. You deserve it.
I took the miso at 11:50 am and finally fell asleep at 11 pm with Tylenol PM. When I woke up the next morning, I was still experiencing cramps but they were much milder. The night after taking the miso, the cramps ramped up again to a 5/10 and felt like a bad period. I’m writing this 48 hours after taking the miso and just have what feels like a heavy period with bad cramps, but nothing I can’t handle.
Tips and Final Thoughts
If I were you, I would prioritize rest, self-care, and self-compassion. I've learned that whatever you may be feeling (guilt, relief, anger, sadness, confusion, nothing) is valid and normal. There’s no right or wrong way to feel. Take care of yourself while you process this experience, even if you don’t feel any strong emotions about it. Your body is still recovering from a big event, so treat it well!!

I am experiencing breakthrough pain on a small dose of kratom (4 grams twice a day) and I do have a weeks supply of Vicodin prescribed by my doctor, but I don't want to waste it if kratom will stop the painkilling effects of the hydrocodone.
How long after taking hydrocodone can i dose with kratom?
And conversely, how long after taking 4 g of kratom can I attempt a dose of hydrocodone?
or
Can I take them at the same time?
I experience intermittent severe rectal pain as I await surgery next month.

During my first pregnancy, my hips popped a lot which is kind of normal as the body loosens things up and gets ready to carry and deliver a baby.
Unfortunately, that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Afterward, I noticed a mildly irritating pain in my left hip.
Eventually, I went to the doctor who sent me to the chiropractor and physical therapist. Being who I am, I scheduled those appointments on the same day. Fortunately, husband came with me because by the time I left the hospital that day, I could not walk.
What had been mildly irritating was now a full scale, 8-9 level pain.
I went back for more, they were supposed to be making it better. One physical therapist would pull my left leg out each time with resounding “thunk” and told me he could do that everyday because my body just winds itself back up and the left leg ends up a little shorter which, as you can imagine, begins a domino effect that results in so many other problems.
Weirdly enough (sarcasm) addressing the symptom of the problem only made things worse. I wound up with major inflammation and pain that wrapped all the way around from that original small hip pain to the side of the hip joint fluid sack to my back and major lower lumbar pain.
I would ice it, exercise it, stretch it-everything they told me. But it didn’t ever get better and it certainly continued to get worse. I wouldn’t be able lay on my left side for years and years, let alone sit or stand or still for any length of time without pain.
I got shots into the bursa sacks. Awful.
One doctor tried to prescribe me anti-depressants, which I kindly refused.
That same doctor prescribed me Vicodin (hydrocodone). (Again, treating symptom not the problem). At the age of 23, I was put on refills for a narcotic.
And I took it, because at that time I still trusted doctors. I had no idea it was addictive or just how loopy it was going to make me.
I feel bad for the team I was working with at the time and of course my husband. I really don’t remember much from those few months. Kind of made a crazy girl even crazier. I do remember, eventually, sitting at my desk thinking…I don’t think this is making me better, it is just making me so loopy I don’t think about the pain.
Then I did some research and realized, ummmm, this could become really bad. And I was really tired of my brain being constantly fuzzy and my emotions (already an emotional girl y’all) were all over the place.
So I quit cold turkey. Praise God it was that easy, as easy as a decision along with His support.
Long story long, another pregnancy eventually led me out of the maddening cycle and I started understanding my body better and figuring some things out on my own.
Eventually I realized the overall strength of every single muscle surrounding the area would bring great relief, along with not constantly poking and prodding it. (🙄) I was, especially after Ayla, able to lay on my left side again! I’ve been able to workout and run without a lot of problems so long as I stay in pretty good shape.
However, every once in a while it would get so excruciating I would have to go to the chiropractor or doctor to try to get some relief. I am also getting older, have three kids and working out two hours a day is less possible. 🥵
Fast forward to sitting at the library with my business partner a few months ago in these incredibly uncomfortable wooden chairs. I couldn’t walk for a week! I thought, “Enough is enough.”
Went to another doctor and sat through yet another MRI, this one being one of the worst experiences of my life because of the position my hip was in for 30 minutes. It was so painful I was deep breathing and praying the entire time hoping to not tap out!
Then, you’ll never believe it, somehow I ended up at the referred specialst doctor and the physical therapist in the same day again!! (I’m obviously smart 🤓)
My physical therapist poked and prodded and stretched and gave me homework to help my “rotated pelvis.”
The doctor put two big ol’ shots directly in my hip this time to help with the newest theory which is hip impingement, meaning the ball and socket are continually rubbing against each other cause a whole host of domino effects that cause pain and swelling.
Either way, here I am writing this at 2am because I’m in enough pain that I can’t sleep. Again.
I have a few more stories like this…one of which being that my doctor had me on contraindicated medications for over a year before the pharmacist called me directly to say, “You shouldn’t be taking these together.” I said, “Oh! What are the outcomes?” She said, “Gall Bladder disease.” To which I said, “Awesome, my gall bladder is scheduled to come out next week.”
The even more fun part is that my body kept having phantom attacks after it was removed. Of course, the doctors tried to prescribe pain meds and had no answer for me. Fortunately, Praise God, in the deep bowels of the internet I found that the body has muscle memory and that these attacks were happening twice a month, very specifically when I was ovulating or menstruating. And when I stopped taking birth control, poof! Literally never a problem again! (Did have a baby about a year later 😂)
All of this to say…I realized I have a lot of trauma / mental drama when it comes to this particular medical issue and doctors overall. I ignore this pain until I literally cannot walk because it brings so many painful memories up. And then I go repeat the cycle every so often just for good measure. And I don’t do well in the appointments because I have some weird problem advocating or asking questions. I did ask this doctor if he thought I should be doing physical therapy, to which he said no.🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️
I’m hoping this is my deep bowels of the internet post and maybe someone has advice that has actually worked. This latest doctor was a man of very few words so I am not sure what the next step is. He told me the amount of swelling and what not (and a cyst) I was walking around with was “impressive.” I am hopeful perhaps the shot (which I never wanted another of anyway but was presented with no other options 🤷‍♀️) will begin to take effect soonish. I know a few things I am going to try that have worked in the past.
Medical advice from highly qualified internet doctors? Anyone?❓😂 I am thinking maybe I should take my mom to the doctor with me. 😂 Will that help? What else?

Hi everyone! I guess I’ll provide some background since this is my first time posting here. I (23F) have had three clots. I developed two superficial clots in my arm two years ago shortly after starting birth control. My doctors didn’t want to pursue further testing at the time because the clots were considered provoked and just had me stop taking birth control. They eventually went away and I was clot-free until this September when I developed an unprovoked clot in my jugular vein. This time I was in the hospital overnight and have been taking Eliquis. I finally got to see a hematologist at the beginning of November and she ordered genetic testing, believing I have a clotting disorder. Some of the results came back early and she squeezed me in last week to tell me that my labs are consistent with antiphospholipid syndrome. I’ll have to be retested again in ~12 weeks to receive an official diagnosis, but she’s switching me to Coumadin.
Now I’ll get to the point— I was aware that blood thinners could cause heavier and longer periods, but I didn’t know it would be this bad. I have iron-deficiency anemia, so I really can’t afford to be losing this much blood. I don’t know what my options are to help myself. Obviously, I can’t take hormonal birth control. I know there are non-hormonal implant options, but I’ve heard way too many stories of those having the opposite effect on periods. I would be open to surgical intervention as I have no interest in having children, but I doubt I could find a gynecologist willing to do that (also pretty sure that requires HRT, so might not be a viable option for me anyway). I don’t know what options that leaves me with. I’ve been receiving iron infusions to treat the anemia, but the periods themselves are extremely difficult to deal with. I am soaking through my clothes despite using both pads and tampons. It’s miserable and I need something to change. Please let me know if you have any ideas or experience with this, thank you!