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(Independent) Interesting The average person takes 373 painkillers a year   (news.independent.co.uk) divider line 170
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E5K1M0 [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:40:31 PM  
Is beer a painkiller? If so, I am above average.

 
sokeri [recently expired TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:42:45 PM  
those of you who don't take painkillers, I pick up your slack.

 
Epsilon [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:43:44 PM  
No way, that's more than one a day for every single person. Maybe I'm below avarage (apparently) but I take about one or two a month.

 
Alexis 2005-11-20 07:45:00 PM  
I took 1500+ percocets prior to and following my surgery this year.

Since then, maybe five. Except for a certain anesthetic, but that's not for painkilling purposes.

 
KazamaSmokers 2005-11-20 07:50:04 PM  
I didn't take any this past year... so that means someone took 746 painkillers.

 
my_links_never_get_greenlighted [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:50:46 PM  
If I took what the dr told me to I would be way ahead.
My scrip is for 120 10mg Hydros
1 every 4 hours or as needed.
One refill does me close to a year.

/had 2 disks in lower back replaced with metal cages.

 
JJ Money 2005-11-20 07:51:03 PM  
I'm a pill can!~!!!!!! *GOBBLE*

/not really

 
eo000 [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:51:30 PM  
KazamaSmokers: I didn't take any this past year... so that means someone took 746 painkillers.

I'm pretty sure my dad killed that number. He's a big guy with a bad back. Always chugging 4 extra strength tylenol.

 
elvisaintdead [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:52:55 PM  
submitter: The average person takes 373 painkillers a year


If by 'painkillers' you mean 'kittens' lives', wellllll.........
I am a TF'er, after all.

 
Doc Daneeka 2005-11-20 07:54:20 PM  
I take a couple extra-strength tylenol when I have a really bad headache or something, maybe once every couple months. So maybe I'll take a dozen pills total in an average year.

The bottle I have has lasted a long time. Come to think of it, it's probably expired.

 
CtrlPhreak 2005-11-20 07:55:12 PM  
That study was done in the UK, I wonder what it is here in the US. I know we have some of those huge gazillion pill bottles of extra strength tylenol here in my apartment.

 
Chariset [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 07:55:44 PM  
Does that include weak over-the-counter medications like aspirin?

Does it include medicines which are billed for one purpose (cold medicines) that have painkillers in them?

Does it include cramp medication for us wimmens?

 
munchkinette 2005-11-20 07:57:36 PM  
I don't take a lot of painkillers but I take about a brazilian other prescription meds.


/mmm, candy

 
South Carolina BigFish 2005-11-20 08:01:57 PM  
"urged doctors and pharmacists to be on the look-out for patients who take too many."

Great! As it is today, many ppl who need pain killers don't get them because many doctors are afraid to prescribe them D/T crap just like this. Man.....

 
leperboy69 2005-11-20 08:02:01 PM  
Bugger me, the strongest thing I take is paracetemol, about five times a year.

 
TheChaz 2005-11-20 08:02:06 PM  
OOOh thanks for the reminder, I've got a percocet in my bag that will go beautfully with this wine.

 
glenlivid 2005-11-20 08:06:33 PM  
They forgot to factor out Rush Limbaugh, who blew the curve for everyone.

 
Shadow Fairy 2005-11-20 08:34:13 PM  
There's always one week a month that I take 3 a day.

 
Gdiguy 2005-11-20 08:37:02 PM  
Depending what they mean, I could see how it would be accurate, though it's the common problem of "average != median"... my mom takes somewhere from 3-6 advil per day for rheumatoid arthritis, so something like that (or like someone taking pain meds every 5 hours after getting teeth pulled) will skew the statistics

 
vitaminP 2005-11-20 08:37:43 PM  
Nubain. And a good book.

 
SingletonFactory [TotalFark] 2005-11-20 10:18:57 PM  
Finally, I'm above average in something....

 
And-1 2005-11-21 12:09:59 AM  
From TFA: women are more than twice as likely to take painkillers as men

Sample of TFettes:

sokeri: those of you who don't take painkillers, I pick up your slack
Alexis: I took 1500+ percocets prior to and following my surgery this year
Shadow Fairy: There's always one week a month that I take 3 a day
Gdiguy's mom: takes somewhere from 3-6 advil per day

Sample of TFers:

Epsilon: I take about one or two a month.
KazamaSmokers: I didn't take any this past year
leperboy69: Bugger me, the strongest thing I take is paracetemol, about five times a year.
Doc Daneeka: I take a couple extra-strength tylenol ... maybe once every couple months

Um, yep.



XXX

 
pseudowho [TotalFark] 2005-11-21 12:11:20 AM  
That's disturbing. I don't think I've taken more than ten in the last five-six years since I had my eye surgery. . .

Of course, if people actually exercised, ate good quality food, and generally took care of themselves, maybe the number would go down.

But it's easier to just take pills.


/gives exception for women at that time of the month, of course
//fish oil (pharmaceutical grade) helps if you have arthritis, or generally want better health.
///yes, I know fish oil comes in pills (capsules); I meant drugs, and you know it.

 
And-1 2005-11-21 12:12:45 AM  
XXX = ...?
a) I love youse guys
b) This post full of pr0n goodness
c) I screwed up with Farkit and need to preview before I post
d) All of the above

 
Ferretcushion 2005-11-21 07:57:17 AM  
In the last 2 years I can safely say I've had 1 paracetamol.

 
mugen. 2005-11-21 07:58:32 AM  
wtf? i don't take 10 aspirins in a year. they don't do shiat anyway. if they were going to sell me morphine, otoh ...

 
Robbage 2005-11-21 08:02:24 AM  
I gave my wife pain killers but they didn't work. She's still a pain.

 
Scattershot 2005-11-21 08:03:27 AM  
"Percocet is a helluva drug."

 
meepmeep 2005-11-21 08:07:00 AM  
Wusses. Broke my right femur in Jan, don't think I've even got to half the average this year. Wonder what the median is?

 
dieSchafe 2005-11-21 08:08:47 AM  
pseudowho, Tom Cruise called. He wants his argument back.

There's lots of reasons to take pain killers that diet and exercise won't help. Granted, people taking six OTC pills at a time need to look at what they're doing, but don't tell people with chronic (sometimes disabling) pain that if they'd just work it out they'd be fine.

/about the only person left in my family without a permanent prescription for muscle relaxers and pain killers

 
Cyle 2005-11-21 08:10:22 AM  
Man, I could actually save time if I just took a full year's worth of painkillers now!

Thanks, Far

 
AJCrowley 2005-11-21 08:11:41 AM  
Note: opiates/opiodes are bad, m'kay?

 
MinkeyMan 2005-11-21 08:12:58 AM  
That means I have to take 370 painkillers before the end of the year?

Christmas and New Year are going to be a blast.

 
ChuckRoddy 2005-11-21 08:13:01 AM  
What's the number when we DON'T include Courtney Love in the calculations? 173?

 
tobyclick 2005-11-21 08:13:31 AM  
Back in August I had a medical problem and filled an Rx for 20 Loritabs. I used maybe 4, and have since kept all the others for emergencies, like if I accidentally hear Whitney Houston or my guests are slashed up by velociraptors.

 
FastJeff 2005-11-21 08:14:53 AM  
I average maybe 6 to 8 a year. And that's tylenol. After a major surgery they gave me a big giant bottle of pain killers. Since I wasn't in pain they went to waste sitting on a shelf. But after a few months and I was up and around for the first time i wished I had them because when I took long strides my side would feel like it was ripping in half. Of course I did the guy thing and ignored it until it went away.

No wonder women live longer, they're not as dumb as us guys. Me anyways.

 
fuligin 2005-11-21 08:15:11 AM  
Prior to this year, I would take maybe two ibuprofen annually. Major dental problems cropped up, had two root canals so far, and I've never seen anything like it with the doctors and their reticence to prescribe pain medicine. With all the pill poppers running around out there, I do have to wonder where the hell they're getting them from because it isn't my doctors. Note that I don't even ask for or want narcotics. I don't get the fun effects and I do suffer the crappy side effects in full force. However, they are effective pain control.

Even after major complications, the endodontist wrote me a script for 10 hydrocodone. They made me puke, so I made 'em last about a month.

I'll tell you, though, nothing pisses me off more than a doctor who says, "you shouldn't be in that much pain" or "I don't usually prescribe narcotics". Both are irrelevant unless you think I'm a lying drug-seeker, in which case man-up and say so and we'll have a discussion about that. Otherwise, your ability to write a sane prescription should cover your ass with the DEA, all right?

 
LudditeAndroid 2005-11-21 08:16:41 AM  
I used to work in a drug store. Frankly, I'm surprised it isn't higher. Oh, it's Britons they're talking about at the link. Ha, a measly 373 per year is nothing compared to what our good ol' American vicodin fiends can skew the number to. USA NUMBER ONE!

 
stiletto_the_wise 2005-11-21 08:16:46 AM  
Look at the average American (or Briton, in this case). Wakes up at 6:00AM in dullsville suburbia, drives 2 hours to work, sucks his boss off for 8 hours for a meager paycheck, drives 2 hours home, finds his wife has just spent double what he makes in a week, orders a pizza, sits on his rear for 6 hours watching loud advertisements interrupted by the occational TV show, wondering where the American Dream went, and passes out from a mixture of exasperation and boredom.

Is it any wonder our society needs pain killers?

 
bastaroid 2005-11-21 08:17:18 AM  
i had 3 reconstructive knee operations over the past 4 years and you could tally up all the pain killers from all the operations and you wouldn't even come close to 373. what the hell are the rest of you doing if you need that many pain killers?

 
DIGITALgimpus 2005-11-21 08:20:09 AM  
Must be most of you people. I take a few Tylenol a year. Maybe 5 times total.

Even after getting my wisdom teeth removed. Just 2 vicodin and that was it.

IMHO your all sissy's.

/real man

 
thisispete [TotalFark] 2005-11-21 08:20:51 AM  
I had a toothache earlier in the year, I had about 12 paracetamol/codeine tablets (it came on a Friday night) for that until I got to a dentist on Monday.

 
Indoobitably 2005-11-21 08:25:01 AM  
"Does liquor count as beer?"

*popped aspirin like it was nobody's business.. until he discovered the wonders of Imitrex for migraines*

 
radioberlin 2005-11-21 08:28:16 AM  
Mark me down as another zero pills consumed annually. So it seems that either you're a popper or you're not. More than one a day all year or none.

 
Atreyou40 2005-11-21 08:29:30 AM  
My dentist 'forgot' that he didn't give me a root canal three weeks ago when I went to have my temporary crown removed last Friday. The crown wouldn't come off normally, so he had to cut it in two with a drill.

Needless to say, I think I swallowed 373 painkillers this weekend.

My eyes are watering just thinking about the agony I was in. Auuuughhh.

 
fuligin 2005-11-21 08:33:42 AM  
Yeah really, the headline should read "pain pills". If liquor (or food binges, or huffing, or multi-state killing sprees) don't also deaden pain for some people, I don't know what does.

 
nach 2005-11-21 08:34:30 AM  
Remember that the average rheumatoid grandma and knee and gouty grandpa don't necessarily check in at Fark.com. People surfing the web are likely to be below the average.

The "survey" really should have said how much painkiller each of those 300+ pills are. The average 5mg/325mg Percocet doesn't affect pain much even in a non-drug abuser. That's why the typical prescription is for 1-2 pills every 4-6 hours as needed for pain. So the normal case can get 12 pills a day.

/new spangled doctor

 
Espertron 2005-11-21 08:36:03 AM  

Personally, I don't use analgesics all that much. Hardly at all.

However, my rule is simple, if you have pain, take something to relieve it. If it reoccurs, try again. If the pain still returns, consider seeing a physician. But nobody needs to suffer.

While on the topic, I went to a CE (continuing education) on narcotics and abuse and the speaker made a couple of interesting points to which I will share with you:

1. Narcotics for Pain Relief: It is better to addict a patient to narcotics than to let them suffer. After all, addiction can be treated, the memory of pain and suffering rarely do. Narcotics are one of the most underprescribed medication in the USA because prescribers fear they will addict the patient.

2. A medical practitioner (MD, OD, DDS, PA, NP, RNM, etc...) CAN be sued for under-prescribing analgesics to a patient. It is the responsibility of the practitioner to make sure their patient is adequately medicated so they are relieved of pain.

3. Keep good records. Interact with your patient frequently and DOCUMENT it. Find out their level of pain (scale 1-10) and prescribe accordingly. If a pain clinic/orthopaedic clinic, go one step further and have your patients their score. DOCUMENT YOUR ARSE OFF.


 
CAPTSKI 2005-11-21 08:36:57 AM  
Better living through Chemistry!

 
Euler007 2005-11-21 08:39:15 AM  
I'm up to about 11 lifetime tylenols, somebody made me take 3 of them last weekend because I was shivering and had a bad fever. I told her I could walk it off, but I was too weak to stand up.

It worked, I'll try to think of it in 5 or 6 years when I actually need another one.

 
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