The best answer is to call or speak with your pharmacist. In the past when I was put onto any kind of medication either OTC of script I would run it past them. It has never failed me.

Good luck and Hugs,
Joanne

Taking them on an empty stomach may me more effective. It's usually an hour before you eat or two hours after you eat as a general rule. Unless they upset your stomach then you can eat something small to buffer your stomach. Tylenol #3 is lower on the totem pole of pain meds than most of the other narcotics. They should begin to work within an hour. Acetaminophen is fine as long as you stay under the Max daily dosage which I think the FDA has now lowered to 2400??Mg daily(double check me on that number). More than that can affect your kidneys. Most pain meds at that level contain acetaminophen or a secondary pain reliever like ibuprofen.

As for addiction or dependence..you may need to make a choice about quality of life if the pain is effecting your day to day activities. Just my opinion.

Good luck. I hope you find some relief.

Megan,

It's just like you said in your post, "It's like your not taking anything."

Tylenol 3 w/codeine is the weakest narcotic pain med dispensed, it's 300mgs of tylenol with 30 mgs codeine. And we're not even talking hydrocone which is what it's in Vicodin, it's just plain old codeine a very weak narcotic. They mainly prescribe it for children if they need narcotic meds for things like broken arms or legs or dental pain, etc.

I'm sorry but there is very little chance that it's going to do much of anything for the kind of pain your in. It's just not a strong enough medication.

Codeine was one of the first narcotics that people were give to take at home for pain before all the other "codone" derivatives, such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, slowly became available. There are the same type of opium based drug.....but codeine is just much weaker than it's "big brothers" so to speak.

Megan, I know that you have this addiction fear, we've talked about it...but just because people in your family have had that problem it doesn't mean you will. You have to factor in other things like your intelligence, your common sense, your strength, and the fact that you've went so long without taking anything to deal with this pain. You have the will power to control your situations. And that goes a long way when one is deciding to keep on the straight and narrow when it comes to there pain meds. Your Dr. also plays a big role in it, they keep things very strict, you won't be given extra meds, so it's not quite as easy now days to abuse your meds as it was back in the day, because Dr.'s don't freely hand out scripts anymore. You get exactly enough for 30 days and that's it.

So, seriously think about this okay? If your going to take a narcotic anyway (the tylenol w/codeine) at least take one that will actually help manage your pain.

Take care hon,

Kat

Forgot to answer 1 question, short acting narcotic meds start working about 10 - 15 minutes after you swallow them. So if it was going to have an effect you'd have noticed it.

Kat

Hun,

Kat is right on about addiction. It is not like cancer that runs in families putting you at greater risk. Addicts like the high feeling and take it for that reason.

Taking caffeine with your meds. See if that helps.

Sadly, if its nerves not much will help. Nerves are critical to life. So if something dulled them too much, we could break bone s without realizing.

Hope you feel better soon
Sunny

I was pretty suspicious as to the efficacy of this med after research. It just angers me that they thought that this would help. I mean after the stupid facet injections failed miserably, the Fentanyl the nurse injected into the IV didn't even help me very much. So he thought this med would take even a little bit off the pain? It's completely ridiculous.

I have tried to communicate how much pain I'm in...that I am still shuffling my feet to get around. That I am in massive amounts of pain and have found absolutely no relief. It makes me so angry that these doctors don't take me seriously. Dr Z on Thurs just looked at me and told me they knew the bilateral facet injections would fail...that they had never planned for them to work.

I have to go through all of them just to prove to the stupid insurance company that they will fail. The numerous injections and procedures that failed 5 years ago weren't sufficient to convince Humana I need a spinal cord stimulator for my lumbar region. To try and get some help for some of the pain.

They flat out denied a stimulator for my cervical and head region because it is experimental in their eyes. I had eight injections on Tuesday, I have to go through eight more on the 20th. Knowing they will solve nothing. It's just ridiculous.

Megan,

I'm sorry this is so hard. Dealing with a chronic pain situation and trying to get on a treatment plan that will work and get you stable can take a long time and many different Dr.'s. Right now your Dr. is working on the plan you want, which is to try to get you approved for the SCS, unfortunately the Insurance Co. is a total ass making you jump through these hoops and getting injections that don't work just to prove they don't work. Before your next round of injections I'd either talk to your Dr. by phone or go in and see him and arrange some kind of better pain control. There are med mixtures they can use short term to make you more comfortable. They can also use twilight sedation during the injections so they pain isn't as bad, and it also relaxes your body, which results in less pain afterwards. At times you have to stand up to your Dr. and be firm in what type of care you need, you can't just let them push you around.

I know your parents are not happy right now about the cost and such of the care. But...would it help if your mom went to your Dr. with you and explained the pain your in and that you need a stronger med. or different nerve med? Unfortunately your pain is mostly nerve pain so narcotics aren't going to do much for them but perhaps you can try a different nerve med or use a combo of meds. I know you said Neurontin didn't do much, but there is also Lyrica, Cymbalta, Neuroveen and a couple other anti-depressants that they use.

I know this is hard, I really do, but don't give up hon, your a fighter and you'll get through this. Are you still using your TENS unit? Have you asked your Dr.'s about Lidoderm patches? They can help sometimes. I'm wracking my brain and if I come up with anything else, I'll send you a PM.

Hang in there kiddo, your going to get through this, your a strong young woman, and a fighter and you've got people to support you through this.

You know you can PM me anytime.

Kat