Monday, July 17, 2006
Sick AGAIN???
I'm sure it has to do with having a toddler, but I've been sicker in the past year than I have been in forever. Everyone except Mark is once again enjoying a snotty cold. Poor little Chase - I can't give him any cold remedy for another month.
Anyway, the topic of the day is pain medications. I take Tylenol, the extra-strength kind. I don't really understand the idea of normal strength Tylenol. Perhaps it's because I only rarely take any meds at all. By the time I find the bottle, I am hurting pretty badly, the pain is the focus of my life, and I want it gone. Not just a little gone, but as gone as possible. Tylenol doesn't cause me to get tired or make me hyper or anything like that, so I always take the full dosage allowed. I can't imagine the circumstances under which I'd prefer normal strength Tylenol. I think I just have this magical point before which, a pain can be ignored and after which, it consumes me and must be eradicated!
I just saw a commercial on TV for Tylenol - it was a woman cautioning against exceeding the recommended dosage. That got me to thinking about the instructions on my box. Take 2 pills every 4-6 hours, not to exceed blah blah blah.
I happen to know a person or two that weighs 100 lbs, and a person or two that weighs 250lbs+. Is it for real that the same dosage works exactly the same in two people of such different sizes? I guess it's POSSIBLE. After all, even though I have more background in biology than the average American, it is still pretty much magical the way pain medication works in my view.
If a larger person should in fact have a higher dose, I wonder why they don't give weight ranges on bottles, like they do for children's medications. Maybe drug manufacturers fear that people that weigh 100 lbs are not very good at reading charts and so they'd accidentally take the 250lb person's dose. I can only assume that their current dosage (if it is weight dependent) assumes very small people to prevent small people from ODing just by following directions.
Ah well, in any case, my 2 pills seem to do a decent job for me so I'm not too worried about it, just curious.
Anyway, the topic of the day is pain medications. I take Tylenol, the extra-strength kind. I don't really understand the idea of normal strength Tylenol. Perhaps it's because I only rarely take any meds at all. By the time I find the bottle, I am hurting pretty badly, the pain is the focus of my life, and I want it gone. Not just a little gone, but as gone as possible. Tylenol doesn't cause me to get tired or make me hyper or anything like that, so I always take the full dosage allowed. I can't imagine the circumstances under which I'd prefer normal strength Tylenol. I think I just have this magical point before which, a pain can be ignored and after which, it consumes me and must be eradicated!
I just saw a commercial on TV for Tylenol - it was a woman cautioning against exceeding the recommended dosage. That got me to thinking about the instructions on my box. Take 2 pills every 4-6 hours, not to exceed blah blah blah.
I happen to know a person or two that weighs 100 lbs, and a person or two that weighs 250lbs+. Is it for real that the same dosage works exactly the same in two people of such different sizes? I guess it's POSSIBLE. After all, even though I have more background in biology than the average American, it is still pretty much magical the way pain medication works in my view.
If a larger person should in fact have a higher dose, I wonder why they don't give weight ranges on bottles, like they do for children's medications. Maybe drug manufacturers fear that people that weigh 100 lbs are not very good at reading charts and so they'd accidentally take the 250lb person's dose. I can only assume that their current dosage (if it is weight dependent) assumes very small people to prevent small people from ODing just by following directions.
Ah well, in any case, my 2 pills seem to do a decent job for me so I'm not too worried about it, just curious.
