Back pain meds and a FART

Hey Boys, It has been a quite long time since I have posted.  It has been just over 19 months since I had surgery and I could not be happier! A few stats: I have lost 155 lbs  That's HALF of myself Lost 24 inches off the waist Lost 6 inches off the neck There are women at the office who never really talked to me.  Now, they chat me up in the hall all the time! The best is when my wife catches women who I've know for years (and never wanted to date me) checking me out. I walked into my wife's office(in a very nice suit and tie) a couple of weeks ago and after I had left she had all the ladies  coming up to her making all sorts of comments!!!  It's great!  And it makes my wife happy too! The reason I  was wearing my suit, by the way, is the fact that I had just came from a job interview-with my local Police Force!!! I am happy to say I am in the final stages of my dream being fulfilled! How aewsome to think 19 months ago I could not bend over to lace my shoes to now passing the physical and all the other stages to become a cop! You all have been  great support to me over the past couple of years!  Thanks so much. The other question is...I have killed my back moving a sofa bed and wondering what I can take for the pain?  what muscle relaxers? Thanks for any and all advice.  And to those who are going through this: keep going, it is worth all the crap along the way, trust me.  I had no support other than you guys and my wife(eventually) Take care and talk soon! Mike

I didn't recoginize you till I saw your profile!!  We had surgery the same month.  It's been a wild ride...Enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Brian

Concerning the back...I believe it would be ok to take at least 1 Ibuprofen.  I would take it with milk before (coat the pouch) and with food.  2 may be ok also.  I believe doctors are more open to Ibuprofen after awhile (3-6 months out).  It can be really hard on the pouch and lower intestines.  Remember milk or food with it big time.  Brian

Thanks brother, I appreciate you help. BTW you're looking great!  What  a difference, eh?  Keep it up!

> The other question is...I have killed my back moving a sofa bed > and wondering what I can take for the pain?  what muscle relaxers? Well, the bible states "No NSAIDs ever."     Just Tylenol (acetaminophen, APAP, paracetamol).  I know that in Canada (at least as of a few years ago), you could purchase analgesic tablets of aspirin (ASA) or APAP whi*****lude up to 8mg of codeine per tablet--you'd want the ones with APAP.  That's barely enough codeine (if you take 3) to make much of a difference pain-wise, but it may help more than plain APAP. If you MUST take a NSAID like ibuprofen or naproxen, it would be safest if you took it concurrently with a therapeutic dose of a PPI like Prilosec (omeprazole) to protect your stomach.  In the US, omeprazole is available OTC; I don't know about Canada. Canada also sometimes sold "muscle relaxant" tablets OTC such as chlorzoxazone (Parafon Forte), sometimes in combination with APAP.  Others include methocarbamol, metaxalone and orphenadrine.  None of these drugs show much efficacy in treating back strain, but none of them are contraindicated after WLS, either. Your pharmacist should be able to guide you to a product that can help you. /Steve

Congrats on your success I know what you are talking about.  I actually went to the police academy when I was younger. Grade #1 in the class Defensive tactice #1 or #2 All the live scenario practices I was near the top. Physical agility, couldn't complete the events fast enough, caused me to fail out.  I hate that damn climbing wall.  Still have another 60 pounds to lose.  I think I might go visit the wall again once I get down to goal and see if it is any better. Again congrats on accomplishing a dream. Scott

I got some Tylenol 3 as a pain reliever after having my ankle scoped about 20 years ago. I never took it for pain, but occasionally I would take it for insomnia. It made a hell of a sleeping pill. I heard they sold it OTC in Canada and the last time I was up there I went to a pharmacy looking for it but couldn't find any. I was to paranoid to ask the pharmacist. It's probably a good thing I couldn't find any. I'd have probably **** my pants at the border trying to be all cool about it.

Tylenol #1 contains 8mg of codeine and 325 mg acetaminophen. Tylenol #2 contains 16 mg of codeine and 325 mg acetaminophen. Tylenol #3 contains 32 mg of codeine and 325 mg of acetaminophen. Tylenol #4 contains 65 mg of codeine and 325 mg of acetaminophen. 8mg of codeine is just barely enough to act as a cough suppressant and/or anti-diarrheal, but it's virtually a homeopathic dose (i.e., too little to be of use) for pain relief.  65 mg of codeine alone only seems to be as effective as aspirin or Tylenol for pain relief, but when taken together, the two pain relievers' effects are complementary, and are additive or supra-additive. A version of Tylenol #1 with some additional caffeine is available OTC in Canada, but it's behind the counter, and you need to ask a pharmacist.  (At least it was the last time I looked, which admittedly was 20-odd years ago.  I've been back since, but never bothered to look!) Tylenol #3 is Rx-only in both Canada and the US. I would have said that the border narcs have better things to do than bust folks for bringing a bottle of Tylenol #1 home, but now that the US has to protect ourselves from hordes of Canadian immigrants and their low-cost prescription drugs, thanks to Bush and his minions, I'm not so sure that's still the case! /Steve Here's a blurb from Urban Dictionary:

Tylenol 1

20 up, 6 down

A Canadian analgesic with 325mg Acetaminophen, 15mg Caffeine, and 8mg Codeine. Available without a prescription, but one must ask for it at the pharmacy counter. A generic version is also available. Tylenol 1 and its Aspirin counterpart, AC&C, are popular purchases for Americans visiting Canada Tylenol 1 is NOT to be confused with the much-stronger Tylenol 3, available only by prescription in both the USA and Canada.

This was in Feb of '01 that I was in Canada. The WTC was still standing and the Pentagon was intact. Although, as I recall, the USS Cole had a big hole in it, Khobar towers had been trashed, and acouple of our embassies in Africa were smoldering a bit. All unavenged. Unless you count lobbing a couple of misiles at an empty terrorist training camp in Afghanistan as vengeance.

Huh? /Steve