C3-4, C5-6, C6-7, T1-2 ProDisc-C Nova ADR blog

rhatzy · #1 (**permalink**) 05-28-2009, 06:53 PM

Mark,

You a glider pilot? Besides being an MD80 captain for American, My first love is gliders. It's good to being able to do both.

Mark Martin

mmglobal · #2 (**permalink**) 05-29-2009, 05:07 AM

Hey Mark. I've flown gliders in many different places, but never soloed. I have about 400 hours in lightplanes and 850 jumps. I've taken off in balloons twice, but have never landed in a balloon. Same goes for helicopters.... 2 takeoffs, no landings.

I LOVE formation flying. (photo from my ship.)

Unfortunately, my dad sold the Navion a couple of years ago. Check out the photos on NAvion N4584K. On the Bay Tour page, the photos of the red and white Navion are all taken by Dr. Bertagnoli from the right seat of the orange one. Both the Alcatraz photo and the one with sunset behind the other ship wound up on the cover of the Navioneer magazine.

I love being in the air in any form.... even as a passenger in a big bus. What I really miss is the freefall... getting me knees in the breeze!

This should give everyone some heartburn... Dr. Bertagnoli wearing a parachute!

Maria · #3 (**permalink**) 05-30-2009, 06:22 PM

Mark,
What about a slower taper vs.cold turkey. I can get thru the flu symptoms and even the ghastly GI symptoms but at some point w/my taper I have respiratory problems and feel like I'm gasping for breath or forcing myself to breath. Also the unslaught of pain all over the bod (nerve pain mostly) is just intolerable as is the crippling burning muscle pain I get in the glutes and quads...

I've asked my PM to switch me to Suboxone to help w/withdrawls and as a maintenance med tho he has to get certified to prescribe first and then WC has to authorize...

Here's hoping your withdrawls will be quick and not too nasty but some of the pain that pops up could also be just your body responding to the decreasing amount of pain med...

Cindylou · #4 (**permalink**) 05-30-2009, 11:59 PM

Mark, let me know if you go the cold turkey route. I would like to hear about it for sure. I have been thinking of doing this myself, but frankly, it scares the shit out of me. We'll see.

Good luck if you go this route!

Cindylou

mmglobal · #5 (**permalink**) 05-31-2009, 02:20 PM

I'll have an easier time than last time because of my short duration on opiates and smaller doses. This is just my experience. You should NEVER change your meds or taper off your pain meds without discussing it with your doctor FIRST.

For me, it seems more difficult to taper when you get to the smallest dose of the 'hard stuff' that you are taking without a smooth next step. For Oxy in the US, IMHO, that step is down from 10mg 3x/day. Fortunately for me, I was prescribed the 5mg pills that are available in Europe, so that minimum dose is 5mg 3x. Actually, this time, it was 2x dosing that I could go down to. Instead of something like 7am, 3pm, 11pm; if I could go 8am then take the second dose at 6 or 7pm, I'd be (mostly) adequately covered until the next morning. Stepping down to 20mg/day from 30 came with withdrawals, but they were relatively minor. They are strong enough to make me want to accellerate the taper so I don't feel like crap for weeks to come... but not strong enough to make me worry about accellerating the taper. 20 to 15 was done Thursday. 15 to 10 was done Friday. Saturday morning I took the last 5mg Oxy and moved to hydrocodone instead. My PM gave me Norco instead of Vicodin because of less Tyelenol, but I'll be doing this for such a short time, I don't care about the Tyelenol. I tried quartering the Norco, but it's too much of a pain. I'll use 1/2 Vicodin's today and hopefully today or tomorrow, I'll be done.

The withdrawals are not too bad, but it's hard to tell what is real pain versus withdrawal pain. What seem to be my real post-op symptoms are up. I don't know if it's realistic to be off the meds now. I'll try for a few days and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.

All the best,

Mark

jchebert1979 · #6 (**permalink**) 05-31-2009, 02:25 PM

If you wanted to continue with the oxycodone taper you could try using percocet (5mg oxycodone/500 tylenol). They are not time released, but it is a lower dosage of oxy. Just a thought.

mmglobal · #7 (**permalink**) 06-01-2009, 03:22 PM

I'm doing OK... now taking 1/2 regular strength vicodin just a few times a day. The symptoms are VERY mild... just a little headache/flu like symptoms... but very mild. I guess it will be MUCH, MUCH easier than last time. I still am completely spent and uncomfortable at the end of the day. I don't know if it will be OK to be all the way off the pain meds... we'll see. (Note that I'm still taking Voltaren and don't expect to stop the NSAIDs... I was never able to leave that behind after my lumbar surgery almost 7 years ago.)

Mark