Tuesday, April 26, 2022

the nitty gritty


Fair warning...gross picture at the bottom.

What is today? Tuesday? I've sort of lost track. Friday evening after the procedure, my toe started to become very painful so I took one of the tramadol about 9. Then another at 3 AM, then another at 9 AM. All on an empty stomach. Well, maybe not the first since it was after dinner. I had an uneasy night with bouts of stabbing and burning. About 10:30 Saturday morning I suddenly became very nauseous and barely made it to the bathroom before I started throwing up and even into dry heaves. Needless to say I did not eat my breakfast, waiting for me on the table. I spent the day on the couch and the nausea lasted all day. I think I managed 1 1/2 crackers, four or five small pieces of watermelon, and a piece of dry toast and swore I wasn't taking any more of the tramadol. Even discounting the nausea and now the low level headache it was a hard day, edging into excruciating at times. When I went to bed at 9:30 I took three ibuprofen which got rid of my headache but did not touch the pain in my toe. At three AM, after near constant excruciating stabbing burning pain I got up, ate a banana and took another tramadol which did absolutely nothing. But I discovered when I stood up and used the crutches left over from when I got bit by the copperhead and bent my left leg at the knee like a stork the pain abated somewhat. So for the next 4 or 5 hours I managed to sleep for 20 to 30 minutes and then I would have to stand up for about 5 or 10 until the pain abated and I would get another 20 or 30 minutes of sleep. When I got up Sunday morning, I warmed up my oatmeal from the day before that I never got to eat which I managed to eat about half of before my stomach refused another bite, took another useless tramadol and alternately stood or laid down on the couch throughout the day trying to get some food in me with a little more success than the day before.

Late afternoon on Sunday I was so miserable that I decided to unwrap my toe (wasn't supposed to until Monday) thinking that my foot was so swollen and the stretchy tape was so tight that maybe removing it would get me some relief. No such luck. I got the stretchy tape mostly off and it started throbbing so now it was throbbing, burning, and stabbing. I wrapped it back up and at least the throbbing stopped. At 7 PM I ate another banana and took another useless tramadol which did nothing to alleviate the pain, managed a small bowl of soup for dinner, and about 9 I decided to unwrap my toe again desperate for anything to work. Got the stretchy tape unwound to the same point as I had earlier in the day and miraculously all the pain stopped immediately and it hasn't hurt since. Got a good night's sleep but woke up Monday with another headache, which ibuprofen took care of, and an upset stomach. Mid-morning I removed the bandage, soaked it in warm water and epsom salt and re-bandaged it and by dinner felt normal enough to eat.

This morning, Tuesday, I removed the bandage and left it exposed for about an hour when I noticed it was weeping so I soaked it again and put on a new bandage and that's the routine until it stops weeping fluid. This is what it looked like after I soaked it this morning.

Gross, right? The black is something the doctor put on it to control the bleeding. It will eventually flake off. The white at the top of my toe is my skin so I'm expecting it will peel off.

Oh, and I decided not to take the antifungal medication after further research as it doesn't work that well and is proven to cause liver damage. I may investigate the laser treatment that Georgia from the comments suggested or I may just live with it. I've been dealing with this ingrown toenail for two decades at least but it finally curled up under itself so badly it was like a hook and impossible for me to keep it trimmed down without causing it to bleed hence the drastic measure but in retrospect I'd just as soon not have gone through this. The weird thing is that it didn't hurt walking but even the lightest touch to the tip of my toe where the nail curled under was so painful and certain yoga postures would put painful pressure on it that I let people convince me to have this done. You won't feel it, they all said, they'll deaden it, they all said. And they were right about the removal. Nobody told me how painful the next few days were going to be.

And one last thing. If you are ever prescribed tramadol for pain, don't bother, just throw it away. And here's the real kicker. I was rummaging through the medicine cabinet today and found some acetaminophen 3 (the good stuff with codeine) left over from when I gouged my leg in 2016. Didn't remember it was there and sure wish I had found it three days ago.



29 comments:

  1. That really does look so painful. I hope the healing progresses well and eases any pain you continue to have. Interesting that the pain meds didn't work at all. I'll remember that useless Tramadol if I ever need pain medication. I remember years ago how well Tylenol with codeine takes the pain away. I wish you could have discovered your old supply sooner. Please take care there and be well and pain-free.

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    1. As ugly as it is it really doesn't hurt now for which I am grateful and thank all the gods for. And I have a fairly high tolerance to pain.

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  2. I was going to ask you if the covers touched your toe at night and weighed it down, as that will cause pain. And here it was the freaking pressure bandage, which they then wind too tight!

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    1. Oh, couldn't tolerate the weight of the covers so stuck my foot out from under. I just don't get why the pain didn't stop the first time I unwound the tape. At first I rewound it a little looser but then redid it tighter before the throbbing stopped. I guess it was the blood getting back in there. Anyway I'm just glad it all stopped when I took it off again four hours later.

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  3. Oh yeah... I remember the pain so vividly!!! LOL And yes, Tramadol is ugly. I have it but don't use it. Right now my sciatic nerve across both hips has been giving me utter grief and I've started taking Naproxen for it. It helps quite a bit--a bit more than 2 extra-strength acetaminophen does. Hang in there... it'll get better--truly!

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    1. I'm so glad it has stopped hurting and I hope you get relief too.

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  4. That is just an incredibly traumatized foot there. No wonder you were in so much pain. Why didn't you call the doctor to ask for something that would work better than the Tramadol which obviously does not work for you and also interacts badly with you? You should not have to suffer like this if there is a better solution.

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    1. As ugly as it looks now, it doesn't hurt. Anyway, it was the weekend and I'd get the answering service and who knows how long it would be before or if I got a call back. I figured they would just tell me to go to the emergency room which I did not want to do. I did intend to call first thing Monday morning but didn't need to after all.

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  5. You know, when you talked about the Tramadol I was hoping it would work better for you than it did for me. I'm so sorry you had to suffer through all of that!

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    1. When I go back I'm going to tell that doctor that if that's all he is willing to prescribe for pain he could just save us all the trouble of going to the pharmacy and wasting some money by just not prescribing it.

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  6. What an awful experience! Glad you finally got some relief. Hope your toe continues to feel better and heals quickly!

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  7. Oh ellen, what an ordeal. I hope the pain releases you soon.

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  8. Tramadol is worthless - WORTHLESS! They should have sent you home with oxycontin for a few days. I'm glad it has stopped, and I hope this solves the problem for you.

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    1. No more pain and hasn't been since Sunday night. Actually, right now it's kind of numb.

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  9. That really does look nasty, Ellen. I am glad you found the right kind of pain killer to give you some relief.

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  10. Argh yuk, poor Ellen!!!! Tramadol causes nausea, it works better if you take dramamine 30 mins beforehand. Dramamine stops the nausea. Just for future reference. But I cannot imagine you'll ever do that again. Would you not put ice on the toe and keep your foot up at about heart level-ish?
    Anyway, you live and we are all the better off for that fact. Stay strong, hope it's over and done soon.

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    1. Yeah, won't be a next time. I will never take tramadol again and if some doctor tries to prescribe it I'll refuse. Nausea aside it did nothing to alleviate the pain. I did try the ice and elevating the foot and it just made it hurt more but that was on Sunday. Perhaps if I'd thought of it on Friday it would have been helpful. And I should have thought of it since I had quite a bit of advanced wilderness first aid training when I was doing the river guide thing but that was 20 years ago. Well, it doesn't hurt now, kind of numb actually, just waiting for it to stop weeping.

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  11. What an ordeal. I hope the numbness continues as the healing process goes on. I think you've had enough pain at this point. I can't remember what I was given when I had dental surgery -- oxycodone, maybe -- but it nauseated me and made me so sick I went to alternating extra-strength Tylenol and Advil, and that took care of it. Here's hoping you're back on a pain-free foot soon!

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    1. I took off the bandage completely Wednesday night about 2 AM as it was bothering me and haven't covered it since. The whole toe is still mostly numb and swollen but I guess it's healing OK. The weird part is the skin around the cuticle is black and puffy. I think I'll take a picture and send it to the doctor through the patient portal and see what they say.

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  12. Yeesh. Sorry this has been so difficult. I'm glad the pain has mostly stopped by now! I was afraid maybe you were getting infected but it sounds like that's not the case. It does sound like living with the ingrown nail might have been better! But I guess once this heals you'll be glad to be free of that bother.

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    1. Yeah, I don't think it's getting infected but it's still swollen and black.

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  13. Oh man. I’m glad it’s feeling better but what a painful experience. You have 100% convinced me to not consider this for a similar toenail on my left foot.

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    1. To be honest I think that a lot of the pain the next two days was because the doctor had wound the bandage too tight. Try abrading the center of the toenail from quick to cuticle with a nail file. It causes the nail to sort of grow towards the center instead of curling under at the edges. This worked for me for decades but the last couple of years it just started curling under itself on the outside edge. Also don't wear tight shoes that crowds your big toe.

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  14. Yeah, Tramadol will make you sick as a dog. I learned that the hard way with my back pain. Not taking that stuff any more. I always ask my doctors what exactly they are prescribing to let them know what I can tolerate and what doesn't work for me.
    Your toe looks less of a mess than David's did. He had his big toe nail removed too. I now do all his toenail cutting and he hasn't had another episode since.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.