Friday, November 30, 2012

Crack is Whack


I grew up in the dawn of this new century when the dangers of recreational drugs were starting to surface. You couldn't go a month in health class without being shown diagrams and statistics of the horrible life you would surely lead if you even sampled any of this illegal street fare. 

I remember debating with a fellow 13 year old about marijuana. I couldn't tell you a pot plant from a dandelion but I fought my case with conviction that smoking the poison would surely ruin life as you knew it!

As we got older the drugs we were warned against suddenly got equally deadlier and more accessible. We were signing pledges to not sniff aerosol cans, overdose on cough medicine, or mix up a big ol' batch of meth with household cleaners. 

All the while I was at home popping narcotics to ease the pain from my interstitial cystitis. I’m sure high school health classrooms everywhere now have life size posters with giant red slashes warning this decade’s kid against the very drugs I was regularly taking…  I should point out, after taking heavy narcotics for 10 years I still don’t get the allure of taking them just for fun…

My pain meds have always been closely monitored by my mom. (She must have heard the thing about taking one pill and next thing you know you're living on the street next to a hooker named Davenport.) We had long discussions weighing the good and bad before every dose I took. She never let me stay home alone when I was "under the influence" and she kept my medicine bottles in her bathroom. It wasn't that she didn't trust me... It was just that... Well I'm not sure... There was definitely a good reason. 

Over the last 10 years and 20 surgeries I have been on Vicodin, Percocet, Dilaudid, Fentanyl, Morphine, and even had an Opium suppository before a DMSO treatment. Thanks to my Mom’s incessant lectures and completely thought through decisions I learned to respect the drugs, not to take advantage of them, to use them sparingly and only when absolutely necessary. 

Five years ago after an especially treacherous surgery, I stopped taking pain meds suddenly when the pain seemed better and I had three days of intense withdrawals. Hallucinations, vomiting, shivering, sweating, the whole shebang. I have also learned to wean. 

Through all the years of taking different pain medications I had never found my perfect narcotic match. The drug that I could carry around and take in case my pain appears out of nowhere and a shower is not accessible. The pill that I could take without taking an antinausea pill or vomiting. The medicine that takes the edge off but doesn't make me fell fuzzy and drugged. 

Until now! It’s called Nucynta… Of course it's pretty expensive and so new that there isn’t a generic yet but it's magical and totally worth it! It doesn't make me nauseous or constipated. It helps the pain without sending me directly to sleep. It does make me feel a bit drugged but I can manage to still do most things. (I haven't tried driving while on it yet, for the safety of others!)

I had another cystoscopy with hydrodistention and Botox procedure on Monday and it’s been an expected hard recovery. The pain in my urethra from the catheter has been excruciating and my sad bladder just aches from being poked, prodded and literally stretched beyond capacity! BUT, thanks to my new wonder meds its actually been tolerable.

I am in no way advertising the glories of narcotics! I hate them. I take them as seldom as possible. Unfortunately there are times in an IC captured life that pain medication is a necessary evil. This particular blog is really just for my fellow IC sufferers that struggle with pain as a main symptom. Debating the merits of narcotics isn't an enjoyable topic for me but I have to share the news about this drug in the hope that it will help others the same way it has helped me.

Side note… I was telling my sister about this blog post and she asked why I named it Crack is Whack. I replied smartly that it was about drugs. She then informed me crack is a specific type of drug… who knew? I thought crack was just a term for drugs… Apparently I didn’t pay that close of attention in Health class… Anyway it’s still a fun title…