Darvocet Recall- Good and Bad

As a chronic pain sufferer who was on Darvocet for years, I have mixed emotions about this. There is so much pharmaceutical drug regulation when there are so many OTC medications that can kill you and kill many each year with misuse.  The problem with the lower dose narcotic medications is that they have tons of Tylenol in them. Because they have such minimal narcotic amount, you can easily take a couple at a time or maybe one extra a day to manage your pain relief and not really feel high at all. You can function pretty well but slowly you could be killing your liver.

I was going to the hospital and being seen for ailments that were miserable and showing elevated liver enzymes as a result of the Tylenol in my Darvocet. I was honest about how much I was taking and never took more than the prescription would allot for. But no one, including myself, ever did the math on the Tylenol amounts + the time frame I had been on it and how it could be contributing to my misery.

But sadly the life threatening side effects of Darvocet don't end there. For decades, pharmaceutical professionals have been aware that you can stop breathing when you take seemingly non-toxic amounts. The narcotic ingredient can suppress your breathing particularly in your sleep. You start breathing more shallow and more infrequently to the point of death.

As horrible as those two things sound....it is also responsible for irregular heart rhythms for some people. So those in charge of recalling medications decided the risks far outweighed the benefits associated with Darvocet. But for chronic pain sufferers who were able to function on Darvocet are now at a loss. Which is why I'm torn on how I feel about it.

I wouldn't go back on Darvocet, but plenty of people are able to take it and not have problems. But apparently enough people did. Regulations on meds seem to be weird and strangely timed when the powers that be knew all along but waited so long to jump in and investigate.

My final say is: For every person who suffered long term or life threatening problems on Darvocet there will be hundreds going on higher dose narcotics to get pain relief. What will result because of that?

-Shara
AutoCommunity Creator

Staphing Issues

Staphylococcus. What you should know as a human being. What you should know as a patient. What you should know as a frequent patient of the ER and other medical facilities.

There is a stigma associated with any communicable skin disease. When I thought of staph, my face made an expression similar to the one I made when I heard the word ringworm. I thought it was a yucky, unhygienic problem. You don't have to be dirty or a bad hand washer to get staph. All you need to do is be around any surface that can't be cleaned with bleach or hasn't been cleaned with bleach since staph has gotten on it. Which pretty much accounts for everything. Hospitals try their best to keep it at bay, but this is likely where you will get it.

Facts about Staph

• It has about 40 different strains.
• Up to 60% of people have it in their nose all the time without symptoms. This area is called nosocomial.
• 20% of the population are long-term carriers of the bacteria.
• If you are alive, you are prone to getting it and giving it to others.
• It can be deadly if it becomes septic. Once septic, your chances of survival is about 20%.
• Toxic Shock Syndrome is a form of septic staph.
• There are two classifications according to medical professionals- community acquired and hospital acquired. Governmental health organizations like to keep track of the statistics of both so they can combat the spread of staph.
• Staph that is not responsive to antibiotics is called MRSA.
• It can manifest itself on the skin, inside the organs, bones and even as food poisoning.
• It can grow in food, especially food stored improperly.
• Abdominal surgeries have a higher risk of post-surgical staph infection.
• It can make its way into your body via breathing it in or getting in from the skin.
• Our skin normally protects against it but when barriers of the skin are broken, staph can creep its way in and multiply quickly.
• Anyone with a skin disorder, diabetes or other immune disorders are more prone to getting it. Dermatitis, severe acne, folliculitis (infections of the follicles around the hair), dark and warm places on the skin, especially where hair grows is prone to opening up an area to receive the bacteria. Those with eczema are also in this category.
• Staph can take over the body and large areas of skin can look sunburned. The skin matrix that holds each cell together is attacked and damaged and large parts of the skin can slough off, opening the person up to more infectious problems and dehydration. Think of a severe burn and how the damaged skin can make a patient sick for a long time because of exposure.

Things to look for:

• Be aware that any boil or abscess, pimple or bump could be a manifestation of staph. Furuncles and carbuncles are commonly what staphylococcus aureas will look like. It could also appear as a small ulceration of the skin.
• It can look like an ingrown hair, mosquito bite, poison ivy, spider bite and be itchy.
• Redness, swelling and heat over a joint or any large area of the body (particularly the abdomen) should be examined because internal staph or MRSA can have these symptoms. Particularly if you have an infected looking spot on the skin or an injury in that area.
• Skin staph can ooze a yellow or white discharge that can turn crusty.
• Pretty much anything that looks angry and red and/or hot to the touch should be looked at.
• If you are running a fever, high or low blood pressure, nausea/vomiting. Any of these signs could indicate sepsis infection and you should go to the ER as soon as possible, especially if you have recently had a surgery.
• Any sunburn looking rash accompanied by any of the above symptoms, even no skin eruptions, should be looked at if you have not been in the sun that day.

Treatment

Don't be scared to get it checked out. I was in denial about having staph that I acquired from a surgery. Luckily I caught it early and a simple round of antibiotics and topical cream was all that was needed to get it under control. Even if you don't have medical insurance don't hesitate because it could mean your life. Many people each year allow a reddened area or bump turn into something that is not medically manageable. Take care of yourself by observing unusual changes in your skin and you could prevent a lot of yucky things.

Create Awareness by commenting and sharing your own stories on this subject.
For more pictures of staphyloccocus, click here and here.

Take care!
Shara
AutoCommunity Creator

Blown Veins, Blown Patience

Anyone with chronic medical problems is all too familiar with difficult to find veins. Whether they be from dehydration, malnourishment or scar tissue....IT HURTS! In my personal experience there seems to be no shortage of nurses looking to make me their trophy of success for the day. They want to be able to prove me wrong when I tell them that they won't have any luck with that arm. They also don't want to have to tell the doctor they weren't able to get a line. The doctor has a list of things to do that do not include stopping to do IV lines on a sickly patient.

I've been told by ER doctors to refuse an IV if it is not necessary for the illness I am being seen for. I thought I could muster up the courage to stand up to them next time. But I'm generally VERY sick if I'm in the ER. The last few visits have been for pancreatitis, hundreds of gallstones requiring emergency surgery or other metabolic issues that require an IV line to treat. I also have had 4 major surgeries in the last 18 months and there is no way to get surgery without an IV. Each hospital visit or blood draw could take up to 7 tries. They eventually go for the weird spots after I've told them each and every poke of the previous experience I've had (where they, too, had to go for a strange area to find gold).

I am a veteran at needles of all sizes but I have not been very good at standing up for my rights as a patient. After querying my doctors, I have determined that the doctors would not mind asking a physician or anesthesiologist in the facility to come and do it for you in your vein of choice. But I will not hesitate in the future to demand this. I will wait as long as I have to, within reason, to get someone to do an exterior jugular line. For those who aren't familiar this is in your neck. Yes, your neck, like a horse and they use a larger gauge needle. But don't fear....an IV is likely going to hurt regardless where it goes and the neck might have success first try. I'd rather have a little more pain and only be poked once.

The vein is larger and often not scarred up as much. In school they teach you to do it in the more common areas and that is what you become comfortable with. But those who are comfortable doing it in the neck are probably better at it in general. It's just harder to mess it up like the more delicate veins in the arms/hands.

So next time you are being poked on...stand up for yourself. You know your body best when you are a frequently sick patient. You find yourself dreaming up ideas of doing your own IV's at home so you can be more comfortable. You cover up your bruises in embarrassment of being gawked at by strangers. You can rest assured that there are other areas that are the first options for you even if they aren't favored by the nursing staff.

Please feel free to share your own experiences with IV lines, PICC lines, blood draws and the like. Remember sharing is helping others become aware!

-Shara
AutoCommunity Creator
Hobbies Include: Camping, skating and being operated on ;-D