Friday, August 27, 2010

Thank goodness for Solpadeine......



For those of you who don't live in Britain it is a fantastic pain killer that I swear by.  We cannot get it in Canada as it contains a banned substance called paracetamol.  No idea why it is banned in Canada, but it is. 


On Wednesday night when I went to bed, I started to get muscle spasms in my leg and could feel the bottom of my back throbbing.  Luckily when my brother came over he brought a couple of boxes of Solpadeine with him, so I popped a couple of those to help me sleep.  When I woke up on Thursday morning, the spasms were still there, so took some more.


What is neat about Solpadeine is that you dissolve it in water and so it gets into your system faster.  For the British people reading this, don't panic I won't get addicted to them, as they do have an addictive quality about them.  I only take them when my back is bad or when I have one of my nasty headaches; and as I only have 64 pills in total I use them sparingly.  It gives me a break from using liquid Advil.  I can't take Tylenol as it doesn't do squat for me and Tylenol 2 or 3 kills my stomach for some reason?


No idea what I have done with my back this time; and it has been a while since it has given me problems.  I had a herniated disc operated on 12 years ago, so my back is my weak point, especially my lower back where I had the operation.  Every now and then though it flares up.  Normally it repairs itself after a good nights sleep, but this time a good nights sleep didn't help?


I wrote the above first thing on Thursday morning.  I decided to just get on with the day.  Got the rest of the grass cut on Thursday.  So that's it for at least a couple of days.  I managed to weed one of the flower gardens, and pulled the weeds out of the footpath by the front deck.  Pulled off a pile of leaves from the tomato plants, to encourage them to ripen!!

Got the linen closet shelves put up and filled it with things.  Really pleased with it, it's exactly what I wanted.


I found the blue "storage" basket on clearance at Michael's the other week.  It's perfect for there.  I have yet to decorate the bathroom.  I am going to wait until my brother leaves, and then paint it.  It's going to be the colour of the closet walls.

The bedroom closet is also complete.  I haven't taken a photo of it yet.  There is still the odd job to do in the bedroom, but nothing too exciting.  I will post photos tomorrow.

13 comments:

JohnD said...

Paracetamol is toxic to the liver 10 grams will cause irreversible liver damage if urgent help is not obtained. Unfortunately some silly people, many children/teenagers, use it for a faux suicide gesture so some countries banned it.

Recent studies have shown that paracetamol, by itself, taken in regularly interspersed intervals, is far more effective an analgesic than all the compound paracetamol mixtures. It is recommended for intractible pain in between doses of more heavier analgesics like tramal or endone.

Tracey said...

That is my chosen drug! The only thing that works!!!! Those Canadians are a bit weired sometimes aren't they?? xxx

Unknown said...

That is strange! Paracetamol banned.. why on earth!?! I only ever take painkillers if I have a headache, which is very rare, usually if I get one it is self-inflicted! ;( and then I take a paracetamol! (Makes me wonder why they are banned now!) Take care of that back! You always sound like you do such a lot of hard heavy work around your place, so it must be hard to avoid hurting it I suppose! WIll look out for the pics! Have a happy weekend! Susie xxx

landcuckoo said...

I do hope you feel better very soon. Stange thing to ban, paracetemol, it is so useful if used correctly of course.
Take care and don't do too much!!!!
Sarah x

MyBulletinBoard said...

Well. . . . . it's just a nasty fact of aging that the things you used to snap back from when you were younger lose their snap when you get older, especially when you are pounding your disks down to paper thin bouncing around on that bloody tractor. I listened to the "always before this a good night's sleep always put me back right" speech for two years while DH was going to the neurologist and the orthopedist and twice to the physical therapist recently. The drugs they were giving him made people in the clinical trials commit suicide. The CS and I took turns standing watch over him one weekend when he decided to stop one drug cold turkey. Scary stuff. So, please start figuring ways to manage your life to beat the pain and slow the degeneration. End of lecture (since you were expecting it!).

FREE ADVICE: I have a bad knee. Actually started when I was in high school and slid sideways on a polished floor. Age is catching up with it. To make a long story a little shorter, my mother's vet recommends glucosamine chondroitin. It helped her and both of her aging dogs. The dog who had been unable to jump up on her bed could jump up again after taking the stuff for two months. I started taking it for my knee. I can go up stairs now without pain. I'm sold on it. It helps plump up the cartilage in the joints. It's over the counter. You might check into it just for general purposes. But I should add, I'm not a doctor and have never played one on TV.

Maybe you could strike a deal with the farmer across the way to farm your back five in exchange for mowing it once in a while out of season. Keep it planted in winter wheat, or something?.

Please do take care of yourself. And the closet is nice. Come do mine, would you?? I'll even throw in a bathroom to sweeten the deal.

Liz, Almost awake in Texas

Iris said...

Is it muscle spasms that you have in your legs or cramps? If it is night time cramps, you can buy magnesium that you can dissolve in a drink to get rid of the cramps. My mother tells me that it works like a charm when taken daily. It comes in a citrus flavor and makes a nice drink.

John Going Gently said...

that sky shot on your former blog entry is quite wonderful....gone with the wind!!!!

Janny said...

Hi Gill,

You could look for the active ingredient named acetaminophen, which is the same as paracetamol. If you can buy Panadol in Canada, the active ingredient is also paracetamol.
Hope this helps!

Janny

Stella Jones said...

My doctor always said to me: 'if it hurts, rest it and if it doesn't hurt, exercise it'. I think that is good advice.
Paracetamol is a very common pain remedy here in Britain, as you know. It is kinder on the stomach than aspirin but needs to be used with caution, just like all drugs. I like Ibuprofen very much. It helps my aged aches and pains. If you look on my Blog post today, you will understand why I, like you, have a sore back today.
I hope you get a good nights sleep.
Blessings, Star

JohnD said...

Glucosamine chondroitin is excellent - and you can obtain glucosamine compounds over the counter. Must be taken regularly - daily and sometimes twice daily - requires a while to 'build up' in the system and is only contraindicated if you are on certain anti-hypetensive medications like Adalat/Nifedipine.

Rose said...

you always sound so busy and like you get so much done...it makes me hang my head in shame.

I have never heard of those pills...for the longest time tylenol never ever helped me either. At least as far as headaches...and now it does and I don't know why. I still tend to take ibuprofin.

CannedAm said...

paracetamol is just acetaminophen. It's not banned in Canada...just not imported as Paracetamol -- we have Tylenol instead. Yes, it's the same thing. You can get powder forms in the states. I haven't seen any in Canada. Acetaminophen is very toxic to the liver. Taking two a day with a beer is detrimental to the liver in the worst way.

Anonymous said...

Paracetamol is NOT banned in Canada - they use the US name for it: acetominophen. Codeine is the reason you cannot buy Solpadeine (called Tylenol 1,2,3 or 4) over the counter in Canada. I pick up mine when I visit the UK although they now seem to have limited the size of the packets you can buy.

{{{SIGH}}}

Tuesday was a mixed bag type of day. Had the appliance repair guy come again to install another circuit board in the fridge.  When hubby got...