tolerance

I think my body has built up a tolerance to the meds I've been prescribed. That happened with frightening swiftness. One of my "virtual parents" wrote me privately to theorize that the dosage I had been prescribed was probably the maximum allowable dose. If so, that would explain much: because I started off "at the ceiling," so to speak, there was really nowhere else for my body to go, so once my body built up its tolerance to the meds, it became doubtful that more of the same would be helpful.

To explore this point—both because I think scientifically and because I have no qualms about using myself as a lab rat—I did an experiment this evening: instead of taking the evening packet of meds (my pills are divided into "morning" and "evening" doses), I forsook the meds in favor of good old aspirin, of which I still have plenty. And guess what: for the first time in days, my pain levels went down. Yes, it's true: over Easter weekend, I was in constant pain, and the meds seemed not to be helping at all. So it's a bit annoying to have my suspicions confirmed, and to find out that a large dose of aspirin can do what the formerly miraculous prescription drugs no longer can. God, I loved those drugs at the beginning: they did away with 90% of my pain within thirty minutes. But over time, their effectiveness lessened and finally bottomed out. So here I am.

The problem with aspirin, of course, is that it's an NSAID, which means that too much of it will eventually make me bleed out of all sorts of holes. Aspirin also works for only about four hours, whereas the prescription meds are (were?) supposed to be effective for twelve. In fact, I'm probably going to take my "evening" meds tonight around midnight, when the aspirin will have worn off. As a token gesture, if nothing else.

Sometimes tolerance is a bad thing.


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