"Jim Thompson" wrote in message
I found out the hard way about the shock. Five years ago, after hip
replacement surgery, in spite of Tylenol being noted on my chart as an
allergen, a dumb-ass nurse gave me a big dose :-(
My previous experience was only a "woozy" feeling when taking Tylenol,
so I avoided it.
I just had hip replacement surgery on Earth Day April 22, and the pain
medications of choice were Tylenol and Oxicontin or oxycodone. I used very
little of either, and I'm not even sure if they "worked". Somehow the ads
calling Tylenol the "headache medicine" created an association that it would
cause a headache.
I'm also not sure if anti-inflammatories are even good to take. IMO the
human body reacts to injury and irritation by producing inflammation that
may have the beneficial effect of warning the brain to take it easy on the
joint to allow it to heal. Reducing the inflammation and using pain-killers
interfere with the body's normal feedback mechanism and allows the person to
work (or play) harder, causing more damage.
The opiates and opioides are actually much safer than the NSAIDs for pain
relief, but are often avoided because some people (IMHO of weak character)
are prone to addiction, and may become hooked on their euphoric effects and
use increasing doses to the point of physical dependency or overdose. But
heroin and morphine are well tolerated at moderate levels and cause little
harm to the body as long as one also maintains a proper diet.
I suspect that the reason for the failed "war on drugs" and the
concentration of so much wasted effort on recreational substances such as
marijuana is that the effects are contrary to the Puritan work ethic, while
possibly much more dangerous drugs such as nicotine and caffeine (and
NSAIDs) are allowed because they allow people to work through pain, injury,
lethargy, and difficult circumstances. Most recreational drugs (other than
the likes of Meth and Cocaine), induce the user to curl up in a big easy
chair dreaming of Wonderland, rather than working long and hard hours jacked
up on stimulants and causing long term damage to the body and psyche.
I do not support outright bans on most items that may be harmful. A better
way to control such items is through high taxation and clear education on
the deleterious aspects of things such as anti-bacterial soap, incandescent
(and CFL) lamps, big gulp sugary sodas, disposable plastic bags, styrofoam
food packaging, etc. It would be much better for the government (i.e., the
citizenry), to obtain income from taxation and prosecution of tax evasion,
than making felons out of people who lack the skills and ethics to be
productive in mainstream society. Much better to allow them to exist in a
nearly perpetual blissful state of harmless euphoria, rather than
warehousing them in prisons at a cost of several good salaries.
Paul
