Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
idk who needs to hear this rn but suffering is not noble. take the tylenol
One time when I was younger I was refusing to take headache medicine and my mom said “the person who invented that medicine is probably so sad you won’t let them help you” and now every time I find myself denying medicine I just imagine the saddest scientist making those big wet eyes like “why won’t you let me help” and whoop then I take the medicine
This is how vicodin addictions begin…
Vicodin is an opiod (specifically, it is the opiod Hydrocodone mixed with acetaminophen so that you can give people a lower dose of the hudrocodone and have it still be effective.)
Opiods are a whole other situation than just OTC painkillers. Opiod addiction is a complex and tragic thing- a mix of unresolved chronic pain, lack of social support networks, and the chemical dependency that opiods create in the body.
It is unhelpful fear mongering to suggest that taking Tylenol when you have a headache or period cramps is a gateway to opiod abuse.
Even when talking about opioids a lot of chronic pain patients do not take their prescribed medication unless things are absolutely horrible, exactly because of this rhetoric! People deserve to have relief without always being side-eyed about addiction. AND people with addictions shouldn’t be your fucking boogey man prop to scare people out of taking medication when they need it.
Anyway, back to pain. Especially chronic pain.
It is harder to calm a body down than to keep it from getting to the breaking point in the first place. If you let your pain get to a fever pitch before taking you medication, you’ve already done damage and the opioid may not be able to bring you back from that.
So some people think they need to take more to make it work, except they shouldn’t take more, they should have had it time managed so that their pain doesn’t explode to the point where an opioid would do little to help.
Toughing it out can also compound complex issues.
For example: You are in pain. You feel you should be “used to it” by now, or some other nonsense. So. You don’t take your pain meds, so you feel more tense, so your muscles spasm more, so it’s not safe for you to do normal activities (cooking, driving, etc), so you do something safe and more passive, like reading or goingo n the internet, so you develop a tension headache or even trigger a migraine, so you stress out your joints, your body gets put on alert mode, you feel mentally stressed, your focus is harder to draw away from the pain, the pain and one’s perception of it, increases. You now have to spend a full few days in bed because you tried to tough out your body when it needed help.
Addiction can ruin lives. But so can chronic pain.
Folks need to stop scare mongering about medication in general. Take your meds, use them when needed, if you think there may be a problem, talk to your doctor and help manage things. Don’t be scared to take your medication.
If you are in chronic pain, taking your meds as prescribed is medically necessary. If you are concerned about addiction, tell your prescriber. If you’re taking it as scheduled but having breakthrough pain, ask your prescriber about solutions. If you are meant to take pain meds ‘as needed’, talk to your prescriber about what that means.
If you are prescribed prescription pain medication, you’re not just taking an otc like it’s for a temporary ache, you are being treated by a medical professional who has a pain management plan of care, with which you are meant to comply.
i love u transhets, i love u heterosexual aromantics & asexual heteroromantics, i love u straight nonbinary people, i love u straight polyam people, genderqueer straight people, and any other straight people who identify as queer for any reason. i love u
and if anyone gives u shit for ur identity u get to pelt them with rocks. it’s easy it’s cheap it’s free and it’s legal. i support u
idk when we decided that explaining yourself shouldn’t be part of an apology but like. if someone was a dick to me and apologizes but I still don’t understand why they did it I’m not gonna feel any better
“Sorry for hurting your feelings earlier. I was trying to say x, but I guess it came across wrong. I don’t think you’re stupid.”
or
“Sorry I snapped at you. I didn’t get enough sleep last night so my patience is a little low today.”
is a better apology than
“I want you to know that I am sorry that my actions offended you. I take full accountability for my actions and I am listening and learning. I hear you.”
Oh I know this! It’s because any explanation was taken as trying to excuse one’s actions and garner sympathy from the one being apologized to thereby negating their own hurt feelings.
omg imagine being born and you are on a spaceship and everyone aboard is sooo so mad at you just because you burst out of some guy’s chest to be born. like um sorry i’ve not been alive before i didn’t even know that’s not allowed please be nice to me um the spaceship floor is cold is no one going to knit me some little booties i am calling child protective services
