Cofounder and head of product at Imzy. We should be friends! :)
6 1/2 weeks later: leg comparison (also: that time I became a drug addict)

One has a calf muscle and an ankle. One has neither of those things. Or, rather, a swollen ankle and significantly atrophied muscles from still not being able to put any weight on that leg a month and a half later, so that they're basically the same size.
This picture actually makes it look like there's still more muscle than there really is, but that teensy little bump is just my flesh getting squished since it's lying flat on the bench, haha.
Also, my right leg is not actually as sickly yellow and pale as it looks. It's just that the purple and red discoloration of my left leg makes it look more tan and my other one look pasty.
The final ankle update is that it turns out I'm a drug addict. Or, I guess, recovering drug addict now?
Don't break your leg three ways at once. Because when the doctor gives you percocet and the prescription says you can take 1-2 pills every 4-6 hours, that will translate to maximum dose of 2 pills every 4 hours (or, spaced out better as 1 pill every 2 hours). And you will make sure to take one right before you go to bed and one when you wake up at night to go to the bathroom, and you will also set an alarm 1-2 hours before you need to get up to take a pill so that you can function and get ready for work in the morning when your alarm goes off for reals instead of just lying in agony.
And then a month later, when you get a boot and get out of an insanely uncomfortable and painful cast that put your ankle in a bad position and you drop your dosage from 10 pills a day to 4, you will go through withdrawals that make you feel ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE and kind of like you're dying.
And then a couple weeks later, when your leg is continuing to do even better and you try to drop your dose to 1 or no pills a day, you will get withdrawals like I did this weekend that are so bad that you can't sleep at all and just lie in bed wide awake until 5 am literally rocking and shaking and squirming until you finally give in and take something.
I think I'm finally out of the weeds, since my last dose was a half pill just over 24 hours ago and I'm not currently shaking.
Don't do drugs kids. For reals.
Also, just to make it EXTRA clear in case anyone thinks I'm for reals a drug addict: I was taking all these drugs within the prescribed allowance and decreasing because I didn't feel I needed them anymore even though I still had them prescribed by the doctor, so I'M NOT REALLY A DRUG ADDICT DON'T REPORT ME PLS. If I were a drug addict I wouldn't have horror stories of withdrawal symptoms to share.
Next week I get X-rays, and if all goes well, I'll be allowed to start putting 25% weight on my left leg. Which I'm hoping doesn't mean I'll start being in a lot more pain again and need more drugs. :/




FWIW: The first time I had a MRSA infection in my leg (6 infections total, so far; "only" 2 MRSA) I left the hospital with a prescription for morphine and a very, very strong antibiotic. I was very strict about sticking to the schedule: Both meds every 8 hours (long-acting morphine), for over four months.
At first the pain was so bad I was taking short-acting pills in addition ("break through pills") from time to time. By the time the fifth month rolled around, I decided that the morphine was overkill and I wanted to step down to something more realistic. So I stopped it cold turkey.
Big mistake. Oh, my god. I thought caffeine withdrawal was bad. This was 1000x worse.
After 12 hours I took another pill, then called my doctor and said, "You got me onto this shit. You get me off!" They got me more short-acting pills and told me how to wean off.
At my next doctor's appointment I bitched about becoming "addicted" to morphine. I was told two things: What I'd been is dependent not addicted. While addicts can be dependent, you can be dependent without being an addict. When you're legitimately taking pain pills and your body doesn't want to quit, that's dependence. When you have no medical reason for the pain pills but are taking them, that's addiction.
The other thing I was told was that I had been in so much pain they thought I'd be on the morphine for life.
It took about 10 years to become completely free of morphine. For the first 2-3 years I was taking about 10 pills a month. After that I was down to 1-3 a month. Last year I didn't take any.
The important thing, btw, is that you don't refuse yourself pain pills when you have legitimate pain. Pain causes stress. Stress can make you more vulnerable to other illnesses, cause weight gain, high blood pressure, and more.
I was using Tramadol instead -- until the frikkin DEA made it a scheduled drug and harder to get. Thanks, Obama! (j/k) Some people can become dependent on Tramadol -- it was never an issue for me. You can also take it "as needed." If you need stronger than OTC stuff, ask about it.
/babble :-)
Whoa, rough!! You've had it much worse than me. I'm so sorry. :(
Yeah, I know I'm not literally an addict because if I were an addict, I wouldn't be having the withdrawal problem in the first place because I wouldn't be withdrawing, haha. But it still just kind of caught me off guard to realize that 5 weeks of taking pain killers in what I thought was a totally responsible way could have that much repercussions.
10 years is a crazy long time. Glad you finally managed to get to the point where you were don't need it as much. Thanks for commiserating with me. ❤
I felt bad after making that comment... then forgot I did it. I didn't mean to play "Crappy Leg Olympics"! :)
Crap happens. You're young(er than me); you'll heal, and when you're old and gray your leg might ache because bones are stupid.
Just remember my motto: Whatever doesn't kill me pisses me off!
I remember these days when I broke my foot... Hated rehab!
Bleh. How'd you break your foot?
Dirt Bike :)
Best way
Best of luck with your follow up appointments. And yes pain killers are no joke but sometimes so so necessary!