Saturday 5 March 2011

Piroxicam and diclofenac

Another obvious sign of ageing is when the medicines your doctor prescribes you increase in variety. Previously you may just be familiar with paracetamol, ponstan and maybe one or two cough syrups. You wouldn't bother with the names of antibiotics because there are just too many of them. More often than not, you never finish the full antibiotic course as what was prescribed because you have this attitude of : Alaa... dah baik dah. Takyah nak makan ubat tu lagi...

Well... time is catching up on you, my friend. If you don't take care of your health, then be prepared to familiarise yourself with a host of new medications whose names would put you in a tongue-twisting exercise. There are hundreds of thousands of drugs and medicines out there. More are being discovered everyday. Pharmaceuticals is a very huge business.

So why am I talking about drugs today?

I had a severe attack of gout last night. The initial build-up to the pain around my left ankle was felt at about noon time yesterday. I chose to tough it out because there were outstanding items at the work site to attend to and that I would be driving back to Johor Bahru later that night. The plan was for me to see my regular doctor in JB the next day (today).

By the time I left Kuala Lumpur at around 9pm, the pain started to feel worse. Good thing it is the left leg... if it had been the right, then driving would've been impossible. I tried to make it a non-stop trip so as to reach home as fast as possible but my bladder wasn’t co-operating. I chose to make a pit stop at the small Yong Peng rest area where the toilets are not far from where we can park our car. It was a struggle to get out of my car to walk the 10 metres or so to reach the toilet. I couldn’t put any weight on my left leg and had to hobble the distance mostly on one leg. Quite embarrassing, really… Good thing the only other people watching this comical scene were the toilet cleaners.

I reached home in JB at around 1 am. My son acted as a crutch to help me from the car into the house. I downed two tablets of paracetamol, hoping to relieve some pain to last through the night.

No effect. The pain became unbearable and I couldn’t sleep. It was 3 am when I asked my better half to take me to see a doctor. Luckily there is a 24-hour clinic not too far away from where we stay. The last time I went to a clinic outside normal hours was ages ago.

The doctor took one look at my swollen ankle and immediately asked if I wanted a pain-killing jab. Yes, yes… please! She prescribed two medicines for me and her parting advice were two simple words : Jaga makan…

Yeah, doc… I hear you. But stubborn old me always give in to temptations when it comes to food.

Pic borrowed from -> Drug3K.com
Feldene (piroxicam) and Voren 50 (diclofenac sodium) are two medications used to relieve pain, tenderness, swelling and stiffness caused by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. They are also sometimes used to treat gouty arthritis (attacks of severe joint pain and swelling caused by a build-up of certain substances in the joints). They both fall under a class of medicines known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs)… see, I told you they are going to be a mouthful.

So today shall be a total rest-at-home day with limited mobility. Time to catch up on blogging and blog-hopping. And also to reflect on the problem of how to control my makan…

15 comments:

hazeleyed lady said...

Ass-salam Mr. Fadhil Isma

i had a prolonged headache for the past 2 weeks...and much to my surprized...your type of medicine is similar the one one that my doctor prescribed to me i.e diclofenac Sodium...which i believed is meant for migrane and nerve pain...

BTW...
Wish you a speedy recovery.
Take care

Nin said...

Diclofenac is a painkiller. Also used to reduce temp when one has a fever, if paracetamol doesn't work. My daughter for instance, tends to have very high temp when she has fever. Doc prescribed a suppository voren, cause in her case, paracetamol doesn't do much.

Get well soon, oldstock!

Lili said...

Get well soon, lepas tu boleh makan asam pedas minus the tomatoes! ;)

mamasita said...

Take Care Oldstock! Get well quickly..
Makan ubat and pantang makan!!

Fadhil said...

Salam Lady Hazel,

Perhaps the doctor gave you diclofenac for the nerve pain. Hope you are much better now.

Normally for me, headaches are easily treated with paracetamol. I have them stored everywhere... in my car, in the drawer at my office etc..

Fadhil said...

Nin, I remember those days when my youngest son was still a baby. Kalau demam selalu temp panas. So much so the doc gave us extra capsules of the medicine yg cucuk kat belakang tu, for use when the boy gets a high temp at homw the next time. Lupa dah nama ubat tu...

Fadhil said...

Lili, asam pedas is not the culprit. More to do with sambal ikan bilis dan tempe..

Bila lah nak merasa asam pedas awak tu ye...

Fadhil said...

Pantang makan tu la yang susah mamasita... pantang dengar ada kawan cakap tentang tempat makan sedap, mesti nak pegi try. Like the previous week I pergi Restoran A Hassan kat Cheras.... sedap betul gulai kawah daging dia..

Zendra-Maria said...

aiseyy oldstock, with a nickname like yours, what do you expect?

Fadhil said...

Hehe Kak Zen, I knew it was coming... in fact the opening paragraphs of this post are a reminder to self :-)

Mamaboyz said...

i'm errr restraining myself from saying many things...(although very very tempted to give a lecture to somebody with gout who likes to eat nasi beriyani kambing)

take care!

Fadhil said...

Oops Dr Wati.... I'll probably be testing your patience if I'm your patient, hehe...

But I'll try my best to go slow on the beriani kambing... but it is going to be very, very difficult you know...

Anonymous said...

Dear Oldstock...

Mesti nak kena pantang makan.. esp ikan bilis, kicap, kekacang & apa2 yg sewaktu dgn nya.

I ada patient kat rumah.. sama penyakit sama jenis ubat..
kekadang penat jugak kena jadi jururawat.. tapi no complaints la...

Take care.
Miezarra

Fadhil said...

Dear Miezarra,

Long time no cerita from you... apa khabar?

Yes, I agree about the part yg kena pantang makan benda kekacang tu.... tapi kan, bila nampak sambal ikan bilis dan tempe, how to resist? Hehe..

Hope your patient at home is coping well. You jaga dia tu kira ibadah tau :-)

Anonymous said...

Dear Oldstock,

Kabar baik, Alhamdullillah.
Biasa la, been bz here and there, hardly go online nowadays.

Thks for the doa, my patient tu, he's getting better, rajin makan ubat & pantang.
takut dgn "nurse" yg garang ni, hehe..

I understand your plight.
It's not easy to resist those food.
but you've got no choice.!!
Bak sepatah kata PCK..
"Die die must try".

Miezarra