About the meds

Last week I mentioned that I had been given a new Rx and instructions from my surgeon to take the meds he prescribed to me 3 months ago.  (I can be a bit stubborn on occasion).  I can now say I've had a few days of them under my belt and I'm so glad I (finally) listened to him.

This is another case of not knowing the pain I was in until it was relieved.  I have a prescription for Vimovo (a prescription strength NSAID, or anti-inflammatory) and nighttime Flexeril (a muscle relaxant).  I've been taking them since Thursday night when they were prescribed to me.

The Vimovo is definitely taking a big edge off the constant pain. I had been feeling like this pain was pretty manageable, but looking back now it certainly wasn't welcome. I can't say that it's gone completely, but it's a big improvement.  When it's nearing the end of the day, I can tell that it's wearing off and time for the evening dose.  The pain in my joints is less, and when it flares, as it tends to do seemingly without cause randomly throughout the day, it's also less and seems to happen more infrequently.  I occasionally was getting ear pain, almost like the feeling of a pin being pushed through your eardrum, and that's less severe and less frequent too.  Dr P also  mentioned that it would probably help my tooth pain, and it certainly has.  I would take it for that reason alone, since not only is it painful, but I get very anxious about my teeth when I can feel them aching all the time.

At first I wasn't sure if the Flexeril was helpful, I am cutting the pills in half and I still feel like it knocks me out pretty strongly at night.  I have woken a couple of mornings with shoulder/neck pain, which feels as if I've slept in a poor position. I thought perhaps that could be because I was so relaxed and knocked out that I actually was sleeping in an awkward position. I wasn't feeling a big change in muscle pain in my head, so this just seemed to add to my pain....no thanks.  But I've persisted for a few nights (3 now) and I do think that despite the neck stiffness, my head muscles are more relaxed in the day and therefore not as vice-like.  Of course, if I touch my temples at all they are very sensitive but I'm going to keep trying it and see if it helps to keep the tension headaches at bay.

I do get my upper braces wire changed and lower braces put on Thursday afternoon, so I really hope that this helps to keep the pain to a minimum.  In any case, I've booked Friday off of work so that I can just stay home, not have to worry about going to work in pain, and rest up.  I'll obviously be writing a post about the first day with a full-on set of metal mouth!