posted
So... our car died. Someone rammed me in the passenger side a few months ago, and the car was just never right after that. So we got a minivan.
It's a cool car, really. But apparently violent. We'd put the back seat down to get some stuff in, and the next day, it squeaked a little, so I pulled into a 7-11 parking lot and went to put the seat up.
I expected a lot more resistence.
Apparently, they have springs in them, or something, because the seat slammed forward with all my weight behind it, and then stopped. I took all my weight on my thumb.
This was a couple of weeks ago. It was like stubbing a toe, but a lot worse. And the pain didn't stop. So I went to the emergency room, and got it x-rayed. It was broken.
Who breaks thumbs? I mean, other than guys who work for loan sharks. It's a horizontal break, behind the nail. And it's on my right hand, which made typing a real pain for the first week or so.
I've gotten a lot of movement back in it, and the bruise on the pad of my thumb going down to the bottom joint has faded away. But I've been taking a vicodin each night. As the doctor put it, when you go to sleep, there's no computer, no TV, no kids. There's just the thumb. He was right.
But I can't take one during the day. I don't know how Greg House functions like that. Well, I do. He's fictional. Rumors to the contrary, I'm unfortunately not.
And this morning, I woke up with pain shooting down the thumb, and it's driving me buggy. I've already yelled at Tova, at Havah, and just now, at my Mom (on the phone). Granted, my mother was being incredibly annoying (she thought it would be helpful to point out that it was basically my fault, which: duh), but I usually deal with that a lot better.
I can't take ibuprofen, because it gives me hives. Big nasty ones. And tylenol is blah.
Any suggestions? Bear in mind that I'm a programmer, and I have to retain at least a modicum of critical thought.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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What about some of the prescription meds like Celebrex? Are you allergic to those as well?
What about good old asprin?
quote:But I can't take one during the day. I don't know how Greg House functions like that. Well, I do. He's fictional. Rumors to the contrary, I'm unfortunately not.
Greg House being fictional aside, if you take narcotics long enough you build up a tolerance. I know someone with chronic pain who is on both morphine and methadone doses high enough to make doctors heads spin. Most of the time she is surprisingly clear headed.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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I didn't know Aleve was related to ibuprofen. It's naproxen sodium, not ibuprofen. I always use Aleve (well, when I'm not pregnant) because Advil makes me feel sick. How are the two related?
Posts: 1635 | Registered: Aug 2002
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So is aspirin. That doesn't necessarily make them related. But yes, the two are chemically related -- they're both profens.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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No suggestions, just sympathy. I dug myself a new fingernail going the wrong way on the back of my left pointer Monday night (trying to open a clamshell package with a rotary knife - basically, a Darwin test failure). At least with a thumb, you don't need it to type. Keeping it comfortably warm may or may not help. But that two weeks of using it broken -- eep.
I've had a broken toe before and could believe how much that sucker hurt.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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As for people getting by on vicodin prescriptions, I think it's just that the adverse reactions vary from person to person.
I, for one, have had many occasions where I was prescribed vicodin (kidney stones, oral surgeries (yes multiple), etc.), and usually the worst side effect is drowsiness. With me, the first one is the one that puts me out quick, but subsequent doses don't affect me all that much and I have typically been able to get on with my day. Unfortunately, the vicodin wasn't *quite* potent enough for the kidney stone pains that I had (eventually I got admitted to the E.R. and was given codine through I.V. Ah...blessed relief!).
At one point, I was prescribed percoset. Now THAT stuff was potent. I was out so cold that armageddon could have happened and I'd have slept through it.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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That sucks. Would good old fashioned ice work? Chamomile tea? There's tylenal, Is that an NSAID? i cut my thumb using the potatoe peeler the other day. It wasn't even the dangerous scary small knife that has sliced fingers on several occassions.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I had percoset after surgery once. I think I might have been addicted. I was livid when my doctor cut me off, cold turkey.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Call up the doc about the pain issues and Vicodin side effects. Maybe you can try something atypical like Ultram (tramadol). I've seen excellent results with less sedation with that.
Aspirin may be effective, but do take it with something to eat so it won't hurt your tummy too much.
Does it help to ice it or apply heat?
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I don't know. I've been outside today, and going out in Chicago today is like icing your whole body.
It's not usually bad. It's just that today it's really bugging me. Havah thinks it might be nerves knitting, or something.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Both of my brother's have broken thumbs. One by shutting it in the hinge side of a classroom door in elementary school. His thumb is still significantly flatter on that hand, about ten years later.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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