Okay, I have to admit it, in the last few weeks of craziness at my work, I've thought dreamily about these first few days after surgery, when I could just lounge in my recliner in a drug-induced haze. Although I typically take as little medication as possible, this time I was going to just let the pain meds do their job and enjoy the mild euphoria. Sounds like a plan, right?
So much for best laid plans. For some reason, the effect of the hydrocodone this time has been very undesirable. For the first couple of hours after taking it, I have a weird sense that I have to take the act of breathing to the conscious level, or I might forget. That's not a comforting thought! And then the next two hours, as it wears off, are filled with a pounding headache (I guess this is what being hungover feels like?). Headache is a common side effect of hydrocodone, so I called the doc on call to see if there was an alternative drug for pain. His only suggestion was that I add ibuprofen on top of the hydrocodone, to treat the headache. Yikes. He asked if I might be dehydrated, and I said I had been drinking a ton of water. He also said that it could be the effects of the anesthesia causing the headache, rather than the drug.
I really couldn't continue on in that cycle last night, and my head was killing me, so at bedtime I switched over to only ibuprofen. Taken every four hours, it seems to be keeping the foot pain at a tolerable level, but my head still feels weird and hurts.
So . . . patience. I know that I'll feel better as time passes. But I can't help feeling gypped out of a few crazy hazy days of drug-induced happy non-responsibility. I get that chance so seldom in my life!
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