Taking a poll on who wants to see my new bruise!

[Dawn309]

My MH will have a grab bar inside and outside for going up and down the steps. I am going to put one in the shower for Mom. Also going to look to see if she will need another one by the toilet. She has a lot of problems getting up from a sitting position.

[Travelinana]

The trick with bruises is to put ice on it to begin with to shrink the blood vessles so there is less bruising. Then later, after the bruise appears, use hot packs to open up the vessles to encourage to the blood to get released from that area to speed up the healing.

I wish I had known this before as first stage is past but I can start with hot packs (which will feel better too). The Vietnamese girl who does my nails says to boil an egg, remove shell and rub over the bruise. I think the hot pack sounds much more reasonable.
Ellen, this is the cheek that is not exposed thank goodness. I feel like I've been in a car wreck today. It jolted me pretty good.

[OregonLuvr]

Oh go ahead and try the egg.....ha ha ha ha Never heard that one before. How funny. Im voting for the heat. Either way bruises just take their own sweet time reabsorbing into the system. I have a big one on my thigh right now and I remember hitting it somewhere??? and it hurt at the time but heck cant remember where...CRS strikes again. Hot soak or shower for those aching muscles, Ibuprofen and Tylenol cocktail taken at the same time work wonders. It is my drug of choice for most ailments.

karen

[sharon]

I've heard of that cocktail before...how much of each?

[Acadianmom]

Heck, I would just have a cocktail.

Martha

[OregonLuvr]

Sharon, I take 800mg Motrin (4 pills OTC) and 2 500mg Tylenol (2 pills OTC) ONLY every 8 hours as needed now dont get them mixed up!!! LOL I have fixed up many many friends with this concoction. Use it in the hospital as some patients dont want narcs (yup there is a few).Works great.

k

[mtngal]

Oh Nan glad it was only the soft tissue!

Karen, good to know, I would alternate, didn't know it's ok to take together, thanks!

[AlmostThere]

[quote="OregonLuvr"]Sharon, I take 800mg Motrin (4 pills OTC) and 2 500mg Tylenol (2 pills OTC) ONLY every 8 hours as needed now dont get them mixed up!!! LOL I have fixed up many many friends with this concoction. Use it in the hospital as some patients dont want narcs (yup there is a few).Works great.

I was told: 800mg Motrin every 8 hrs, 1000mg Tylenol every 6. So yeh. What Karen said.

[Dawn309]

Karen, I tried the cocktail last night with the Tylenol PM as you suggested. It worked about the same as the Vicodin. Still woke up off and on because of the nerve pain, but was able to go back to sleep in between. Best thing is it is non narcotic and the Tylenol PM kept me sleepy. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Travelinana]

Dawn, I take Neurontin or Gabapentin in generic for nerve pain in my left leg. It works great for me. I also had a thread sometime back about trying to get off my pain meds. My pain clinic has worked with me in doing this but they think now that I have Fibro (which is only felt in left side of my body) I will have to stay on them. I take 1/2 of what I was taking and that is considered minimal. Actually they say it's better for my liver than heavy doses of Ibuprofen. Now that I go to the clinic every three months it won't affect my travel so much. Some of us are just dealt a card that means we must manage pain in our later years.

[Dawn309]

Nancy, I had been taking Gabapentin daily for years for my nerve pain. Also take Nortriptyline for pain management. Had to take myself off the Gabapentin because it was almost $400 a month for the dosage I was taking. As soon as I can afford it, I will be getting health insurance again so I can get back on my meds. Just waiting for the money for this place so I can have enough to pay the monthly premiums. In the meantime, since I am not taking the Gabapentin anymore to turn off the pain receptors in my brain, this is an extremely painful summer. I usually will have bad days in the summer, but not everyday like now. I can push the pain away mostly in the day, but at night, it does not let me sleep much. Seems like it is much worse at night. As soon as I get insurance again, I am going to see my Neurologist for Gabapentin prescription and then have my Lumbar Puncture, then see a pain specialist to get this under control again. I have had a prescription for Hydrocodone for years for as needed use. I am now out of those too. Made them stretch for more than a year with a 60 pill prescription. Also supposed to be taking a new MS med to help me keep the use of my legs as long as possible. Will have to get a new prescription for that too. Whatever insurance company I go with is not going to like me much. Of course, I will be paying premiums to match my pre-existing conditions.

[Travelinana]

I'm not crazy about having enough birthdays to have help with my meds and I was paying ridiculous premiums for my insurance. I might be wrong but I thought Gabapentin was a Walmart $4 drug. Have you checked? I hope you can get the insurance without paying an arm and leg. Living with pain really cuts into quality of life. I appreciate my good days so much and try to make the best of them. I know you do also. Let's remember each other in prayer. Those of you who are in grief have a special place in my heart. I grieved maybe in a different way when my husband fell in love with another and I now rely on my faith in God. There are so many decisions and He has our best interest. He certainly knows what is best for me. I have jumped out there and made some without praying about it and those have been disastrous. I hope you have a very good night and awake full restored. I must have been exhausted last night because I fell asleep reading about 8:30 last night and slept until 10:30 AM.

[Dawn309]

Nancy, I have not checked with Walmart. Our Walmart pharmacy is an exercise in futility. It's horrible, so I switched over to Walgreen's. My prescription has expired though, so will have to wait till I can see doctor again.

All prayer is good!

[Travelinana]

I always call ahead to order my meds and usually have no problem but we are a small town and that might be the difference.
I have a question of our health care professionals. I'm not sure I want to know the answer to this. Last night I started having alot of pain in one area of my hip (from fall). The brunt of the fall must have been on the left area of my left hip. Of course the bruise is horrific. I am hoping this means only a bruised bone and nothing more. I can walk though not comfortably, it hurts more sitting down and if I roll on it in the night. This is not a good time to go get x-rayed and told to stay off it. Please tell me it sounds like a bruised bone, just has to have time to heal and I don't have to change what I'm doing. I have two stepdaughters who are nurses and my daughter does MRI in Seattle but I don't want any of them to know I fell.

[Readytogo]

I would get it checked and Im not a "run to the doctor" person. Just the fact that you don't want to mention it indicates there is a concern as to why you are falling so often. Just my opinion. Wendy