Night of a Hundred $#!+$
Oct. 11th, 2013 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kybearfuzzI woke up around 2 AM Thursday morning with my right foot throbbing. I had drank a pumpkin ale at the bar the night before, which I suspect triggered a gout event. I don't tend to drink much, so sometimes an occasional beer seems to cause this, as far as I can tell. So in the middle of the night, I trudged downstairs to take a colchicine tablet, a prescribed anti-gout medication. Per the doctor's directions, I am to "take one every two hours, as needed, for pain." I was up again at 5 AM and took another and again at 8 AM.
When I finally got moving around yesterday morning, my foot was still aching with each step, so I continued to take the pills throughout the day. Eventually, the pain went away.
Now the nasty side-effect of these pills is that they can cause severe diarrhea.
I was aware of this, but last night was sheer misery. Apparently, the number of pills I took to clear things up were a bit excessive. Every hour I was up again and in the bathroom. And a new twist was added -- vomiting.
While I was up and between bodily expulsions, I looked up the current labeling for this drug online. It seems that the recommended dosage is 2 pills the first hour, with one pill the following hour, FOR THE DAY! Due to toxicity issues, the dosage had been changed to this in 2009 and the efficacy pretty much remained the same with the pain subsiding eventually. I had taken ten over the course of the previous day. I'd overdosed myself, based on the doctor's direction. The vomiting was a symptom of excessive dosing.
I'm in no danger, as the total dose I took was still below what had been known for severe toxicity issues, but I'm irritated that the doctor's direction set me up for this. I'm hoping the rest of the side-effects pass today.
When I finally got moving around yesterday morning, my foot was still aching with each step, so I continued to take the pills throughout the day. Eventually, the pain went away.
Now the nasty side-effect of these pills is that they can cause severe diarrhea.
I was aware of this, but last night was sheer misery. Apparently, the number of pills I took to clear things up were a bit excessive. Every hour I was up again and in the bathroom. And a new twist was added -- vomiting.
While I was up and between bodily expulsions, I looked up the current labeling for this drug online. It seems that the recommended dosage is 2 pills the first hour, with one pill the following hour, FOR THE DAY! Due to toxicity issues, the dosage had been changed to this in 2009 and the efficacy pretty much remained the same with the pain subsiding eventually. I had taken ten over the course of the previous day. I'd overdosed myself, based on the doctor's direction. The vomiting was a symptom of excessive dosing.
I'm in no danger, as the total dose I took was still below what had been known for severe toxicity issues, but I'm irritated that the doctor's direction set me up for this. I'm hoping the rest of the side-effects pass today.
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no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 02:56 pm (UTC)Hang in there handsome. Definitely go for lower dose next time. Bummer to have it triggered by a nice pumpkin ale though. I'm not a huge beer person I do enjoy the pumpkin ales this time of year.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 06:41 pm (UTC)I think you need to go poop and barf in your doc's office and explain that maybe he needs to be more clear in his directions in the future, since this is the cost -- which you just thought you'd share... ;-)
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Date: 2013-10-11 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 08:40 pm (UTC)Good to know for the future so you can treat the medication with caution.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 12:08 am (UTC)Puking is no fun! Get all better soon, Mark!
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 02:54 am (UTC)