Well, maybe not that strange. Filled my shiny, new prescription for Tramadol yesterday. (Also let them leech off three vials of blood for my regular lab work–the doc checks every six weeks to make sure my liver/kidneys/whatever aren’t pitching a fit over the Imuran I take regularly.) I like Tramadol. It’s apparently a non-opiate analgesic, also a non-NSAID. I took the first dose and felt a little dizzy, but the wingstub pain was better. It was still there, but it didn’t trouble me as much. I took a second one, and that did the trick. Pain free. Although it did have other effects. It seems to have given me a bit of a pep. It’s supposed to make me drowsy, but instead it acted as a stimulant. I couldn’t sleep.
But, more interestingly, it had an unexpected benefit to my breathing. I don’t even bother bringing up the fact that I have trouble breathing with my docs anymore. They’ve run all the tests they can come up with and can’t find any structural cause, so as long as I’m not at risk for asphyxiation, I just deal with it when it pops up. But the Tramadol loosened the tension in my chest, and I was able to take deep, unfettered breaths.
Neat! Tramadol can be habit-forming, so I have to use it sparingly, but I’m well pleased to have something that works. Less pleased with the insomnia, but it’s a decent trade off. And it only lasts 4-5 hours, so now that I know it keeps me awake, I can just take it early in the day to avoid that side effect. Theoretically, at least. God, I hope I don’t turn out to be allergic to it.
Writing Stuff
Had to do an abrupt about face on Tangent‘s new “we now review poetry” policy back to “we don’t review poetry.” Unbeknownst to me, Dave Truesdale is adamantly opposed to reviewing poetry. When he came down on my poetry announcement like a dump truck full of lead, no one could have been more astonished than I. No matter how I argued, cajoled, or raged, he refused to give an iota on his “no poetry” stance. Well, crap. I’m extremely disappointed by this turn of events. I’ve already notified the editors I’d previous contacted, and of course gardenwaltz, and I’ll make an announcement on the newsgroup with the next batch of reviews, but I’m massively bummed at this outcome.
Cranked out a several page writing sample for the corporate recruiter guy and sent it off. It’s not exactly fiction, but the effort exhausted me and curtailed any energy I had for working on the novel. It wasn’t easy or fun, so I’m giving myself Club 100 credit for it.
Well that’s a pisser about the poetry. It IS short work, after all.
I totally agree. The line between flash fiction and modern poetry is pretty shaky (mostly one of formatting) yet flash falls into Tangent‘s purview. Fooie.
No Respect, No Respect
What’s wrong with reviewing poetry?
Re: No Respect, No Respect
Nothing, in my book! But my opinion didn’t have any weight. Foo.
Re: No Respect, No Respect
Oh, I know you disagreed–I was just wondering what his problem with poetry is. (I can probably guess–the same reason, I suppose, that SFWA quit accepting poetry published in prozines as credit, for instance.)
Re: No Respect, No Respect
As far as I could figure, his argument against reviewing poetry is that it isn’t fiction. It came down to him saying “Tangent doesn’t review poetry because I say so.” Sigh.
Ooo. They gave me that in the ER for my last kidney stone. Good stuff.
Me likey new pain meds!
Unbeknownst to me, Dave Truesdale is adamantly opposed to reviewing poetry.
Wow, I guess I underestimated the power of poetry. /:->
It seems as though the writing sample for the corporate recruiter would be more a work of fiction than you’re letting on. Since the work that you had from previous employment was proprietary, you’d have to make the content up. And it’s not the kind of imaginative stuff that you’d be able to have fun with as you write it. Beware of slipping into corporate scrivner mode!
Hah! Yeah, I had to come up with a project to describe as well as a database and program modules on the fly, so yes, there was much fiction to it, but precious little character development, plot, or theme.
I take Tramadol for my fibromyalgia when I take a break from the Hydrocodone. Be careful about the dosage. You might want to read up on it. Also, it has a tendency to cause stomach upset. I think the dosage is once a day, no more than 2 in 24 hours. But I might be wrong. My doctor had a fit when I told him I was taking it the same day I took my hydrocodone (during a really bad week). Do you think trigger point injections might help your wing stubs at all? It might not be a bad idea to see a pain specialist. They are better at knowing what to prescribe for what pain and can give you something stronger if you need it.
I suspect it depends on the Tramadol pill size. My doctor prescribed 50mg up to four times a day as needed. I always look up new prescription drugs when I get them so I know what to expect, so I knew I was okay popping a second 50mg dose several hours after the first one.
I’m not sure about trigger point injections. I don’t know much about them. I have considered going to a pain specialist, but I don’t think my wingstubs are severe enough (yet) for me to need more than the treatment I’ve been getting thus far.
Oh yes, I love my Tramadol! It has been the ONLY pain med that has helped me so far, and that includes the nasty opiates. They told me it would knock me out, but it makes me speed like crazy, which is good when i ahve something I need to do, but bad when the something I need to do is sleep…LOL…I am glad it is helping you, though. It is always great to get the beast of pain off the back once in awhile!