Do you ever take drugs (legal ones)?

When I injured my rotator cuff, I had x-rays and a cat scan done.

He has me scheduled for an ultrasound, an xray, an arthogram and a shoulder cat scan. And a bunch of lab tests. May 17 and 19th.

I'm not moving it much and if it hurts, I stop what I'm doing. The pain lets you know how not to aggravate it, so I don't mind it. It's not constant - only when I move it the wrong way. Hence I don't really need to take pills. Just when it gets sore from too many mistaken moves or a sudden, sharp one.

BUT:

Don't you think the doc should have looked at it or asked me some questions??

Truthfully, no.

I think if a patient is coming with something that they've been trying to self-manage for 20 years, I think it's best that he looks at what the scans show up before he touches you at all.

It certainly is not standard of practice here for doctors/physios etc to physically examine patients with diagnoses like yours. They could inadvertently make things worse. Twenty years of a shoulder injury - and you think they're gonna touch it? they'd be a bit nuts to do that. I don't think any doc carries enough insurance for that - even in Canada.

Oh good, re the tests.

I take a small dose of fluoxetine (AKA Prozac) and something for cholesterol.

I also take the occasional pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream as a dietary supplemental for my soul.

I take Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey when I need a lift. The movie theatres over here sell it - you can get two scoops with hot fudge sauce for £2.95.

I'm with TTH in terms of the pain killers. Once I had a ski incident in which I literally flew head forward into a snow bank. By the end of the day, I was crying with pain as I ate my chinese food on the way home. My husband, who can prescribe, prescribed some sort of muscle relaxant/pain killer. I took it at the prescribed dose and I was high and incapacitated for the entire day. I had two school-age children, he was at work, and I literally couldn't get up to do what I needed to do.
That's the last time I took narcotic pain killers. I think some people have a sensitivity to narcotics. I know I do...so I keep away.

I'll take naprocen (ibuprofen) or paracetamol during those few and far between episodes of headache - probably twice or three times a year - but other than that I stay away from pills because I think I could very easily get addicted. The one or two times I was in the hospital - I LOVED the painkillers and sleeping aids - that pretty much convinced me that I'd never want to take them without supervision.

Hey, thank you. That's an interesting perspective, and one I hadn't considered. I've just never had a doctor NOT touch me when I explained things. I'll keep an open-er mind in future, so I appreciate that.

One time, when visiting a sister, we were in Ottawa, and I sat up all night reading, as we are sometimes wont to do, and when I got up, I was all stiff and sore but thought , ah, well, I'll be over it by breakfast. But I wasn't. It took about 2 weeks. In the meantime, I could barely walk, I was hunched over, shuffling like a 95 yr old, and in a great deal of pain. My sister offered me some Robaxacet (sp) which I refused, thinking it was a prescription for her. Needless to say, I was in a-gon-y. Mucho. Mucho. Mucho!!! Later, I wish I had taken that Robaxacet. There you go, though... pride, or whatever, goeth before a fall.

I've been fortunate enough to have excellent health my whole life. I've never had any prescriptions until recently, and that was just for vitamin D (because I work during the night).

I will take OTC pain killers, but usually they just make me sleepy.

A
R
The pain is gone when I wake up though!

I don't think it is weird - I also try to avoid taking drugs for pain. I will if it lasts or gets really bad, but besides that I avoid it.

I remember when I was pregnant and the doctor asked some general questions. I did mention I had a headache (it hurt but the pain was liveable) - she said why don't you take some tylenol (or whichever brand was ok when you were pregnant) - I said I'd prefer not to - especially as I was pregnant - my doctor told me it would not hurt the baby and why wouldn't I want to be painfree?

Um. for me.
Advil .. good.

Esp after 10-15 miles.

Tylenol ..useless.

ehbeth is correct re the MD doing all the tests first, they can tell a lot more than poking around on your perfect bod.

Joe(that's my job)Nation

Tylenol and Aleve (naprosyn) don't work for me.

Advil works best for most things.

Mame I am glad you are going to see a doctor. The technology today is so much better than it was 20 years ago. I hope the doctor can diagnose what the problem is, offer a solution and hopefully you can be pain free.

i'm pretty sure you meant

My experience is that if the narcotic makes you "high" then you are taking just enough.

if you feel you're not high enough i suggest a little to really kickstart things

< that looks like someone drinking tobasco

close, i prefer to wash my narcotics down with

I've got some experience with drugs and rotator cuff problems. So from what I can see, all the advice here is right on.
Ibuprofen, anti-inflammatory is great.
Just be cautious of the effects on your liver. Of course, make sure you've eaten before taking them.
Stay away from tylenol.
I took them for my rotator cuff quite a bit, works pretty good, like most all medicine, it only provides temporary relief.

I confess though, I misread the title of this thread, though it was about illegal drugs, usually I don't stick around for the legal ones...haha

dj tsk tsk tsk

Narcotics + Alcohol = BAD!!!

I tried to take no drugs if possible. I don't believe in modern medicine.

I took ibuprofen for 11 months and it didn't appear to help. Just did what my doctor told me. I did go in for blood tests on a regular basis so they could check my liver. All was good.