jaminkw Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Thought this was worth a post. In the course of our chit chat this morning, my daughter gave me quite a talking to. It was kindly delivered. For those of you who know me, you may remember my daughter is an RN who works on an oncology floor in FL. Think she's been looking for this opportunity for awhile. Wendy is concerned that since I stopped taking my daytime Arthritis Strength Tylenol, my pain is affecting my quality of life and making me think I am getting sicker. My reasoniny is to save my liver. She asked if my onc told me I needed to save my liver. Well---no. While I was talking to her, I went in the BR and took two Tylenol. I've been restricting myself to two Tylenol PMs at night. I not only have pain from probable inflammation from where I had/have malignancy and extreme build-up of fluid (left lung, chest wall and abdomen), I also have extensive arthritis confirmed with my bone scan. O.k., she's right. I am miserable with constant pain that I think I should just endure as she says because they identified (years ago) a "seemingly benign cyst" on my liver that she says has probably been there for 20 years or more. She asked me to talk to my onc about pain next visit. I will and in the meantime I'll go back to ASTylenol or Aleve when needed. Will see if it improves my attitude and I get back to my inherent optomism. What a precious gift my daughter is. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joppette Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Judy, it sounds like you needed this "talking to". It is amazing how much abuse our livers can take. My Mom had problems with her liver, but she was taking over the maximum amount of tylenol a day and she drank a lot. It took years (she was 58 when it broke down) of abuse before it finally broke down. I think it's a great idea to talk to your doctor about it. Or if you use Aleve, or Ibuprofren, both of those don't have the adverse affect on the liver that Tylenol does. I take at least 800 mg of Ibuprofen a day because of my issues. Judy in MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Baker Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 KW Judy, I'm right there with you. I've been on NSAID's for my back for years. It has improved enough in recent years that I'd cut my dose in half, knowing that NSAID's long term aren't good for you. After I mentioned the shoulder pain I was having to my doctor, he diagnosed it as bursitis and told me that, other than the physical therapy he was prescribing, the best thing for it was the NSAID's I was already on for my back. Oops. I started taking the full dose again. Sometimes the drugs are better than not taking them, even if we don't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ts Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I'm thirding (fourthing?) the reminder. The past two weeks were pretty awful and I am not really good about taking ibu or anything else. Sunday afternoon was awful, but after all the stuff I did to prepare myself for going out, it worked - no doubt largely to the ibuprofen. Didn't take any yesterday and woke this morning not at 100% pain, but a mighty thud in the side. First thing I did was take a couple of ibus. Hope that works because I was not happy with the pain. M says he almost has to force-feed me my prescribed ibus or (heaven forbid) narcotics. I'm still not taking those regularly! There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding Alimta and ibuprofen - I went to the study and read it. NSAID's can slow the removal of Alimta from the kidneys, but it was not shown to be a problem unless you already had significant kidney disease. Even my multiple kidney stones last year don't establish a reason to avoid ibuprofen. My ibu's are by prescription and on all my paperwork the last three years and not a single doctor or pharmacist has questioned the continued use of it except in surgery prep and recovery time (and I got them to say okay during recovery anyway!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thanks guys. I'm afraid I don't know what NSAIDS are but I will google it later. I met some family for a 4-hr lunch yesterday and took Aleve before I went. That was my drug of choice before dx but am sure they told me not to take it at some point. I will ask the onc about it when I go. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Baker Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thanks guys. I'm afraid I don't know what NSAIDS are but I will google it later. NSAID = Non-Steriodal Anti-Inflamatory Drug. The Aleve you mention is a NSAID. So is the etodolac I have a prescription for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joppette Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 ibuprofen or motrin are also NSAIDS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 So, I will ask my onc what to take otc and if she thinks a script is better, I'll be a good girl and take it, sigh. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.