Looking back over my teenage years I can see that I had quite the alternative upbringing. Dad was constantly banging on about the greenhouse effect and the half life of cling wrap long before the term "carbon footprint" was coined. My step-mother, on the other hand, was the less practical more stereotypical type of hippy - she was all about the healing effects of positive thinking, the power of natural energy and our connection to other "beings" sharing our space on the planet (not just other people and not even other animals. Trees and plants were "beings" too because they were full of life energy).
It was an interesting way to grow up, and I'm sure I'll talk more about them in my future blog posts (especially since neither of them are likely to see it - Dad is a techno-phobic who doesn't understand why I can't just print out my blog posts and send him a "real" copy and who knows where the stepmother is. Last seen communing it up on a compound out near Bredbo I think.)
But one of their quirks which has rubbed off is a deep suspicion of any sort of medication. Got a headache? Drink some water and go lie down. Got a cold? Rug up and start chugging some honey and lemon tea. Sore throat? Gargle salt water. Oh yes, and garlic cures everything. The philosophy being that if you're in pain or not feeling well your body is trying to tell you something and you might consider addressing what the problem is before you decide to medicate yourself to hide the symptoms.
In some respects this is a really good approach. I nagged Charles incessantly for two years to go see a doctor or try an elimination diet to find out why he was going to the bathroom seven times a day for 20 minute intervals at a trot. In the end he finally realised he was lactose intolerant because a web comic depicted a character with his issues. The only way that whole incident could have been any dumber is if he'd been forking out for Gastro-Stop or Imodium the whole time to try and calm things down.
I digress. The upshot of the medication free upbringing is that my body has failed to develop any sort of tolerance for medications of almost any kind and I hate the way they make me feel when I take them. One Panadol is the most I'll ever take and even then it will be out of sheer desperation when all else has failed. Charles, on the other hand, feels that the more support we give the pharmaceutical industry by taking their products, the faster they'll get to the point where they can cure cancer. Four Panadol. Minimum.
Toothaches are my exception. You know what the problem is, you just can't always make it to the dentist straight away so you gotta take the pain killers until you manage to treat the problem. Even so I restrict myself to one pain killer just before bed so I can sleep. I've had a toothache for about a week now - a byproduct of a way-overdue crown. So over the past few days I've been downing a Panafen right before bed. Panafen is a delightful little mix of Ibuprofen and Codeine - takes the pain away and doesn't leave me feeling too out of it the next day. It's good stuff. Then I ran out. With nothing stronger than Panadol I turned to Charles' stash and discovered Mersyndol. Pharmacist only medicine, not prescribed. Should be right with one of these, right?
The first hour I was hyperactive. I'm not sure if this was the drug or the lack of sleep I've been experiencing of late thanks to some wicked nightmares. Then, just as I was climbing into the shower to try and calm down so I could go to bed, the Mersyndol which "may cause drowsiness" crashed into my neural network. Everything after that moment is blank. I did not dream. I did not toss and turn. I don't remember anything. At some point I got up and I remember being very determined to go to work. I think I helped Charles get the kids ready and out the door but in all honesty the only thing I can remember is thinking quite repetitively "I've got to go to work" although the reasons for why I should were not entirely clear.
What is clear is that I went straight back to bed after they left and I did not wake up until two o'clock this afternoon. My throat was sore and my head ached with dehydration. Things still felt a bit weird. And just like that Mersyndol joined the list of things I won't take unless I'm desperate.
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