How much is too much?
"Well, Samantha, it looks like you had a viral infection and the cough is just a lingering side effect." Dr. Tang puts his stethoscope back around his neck.
"Had? So most of it is already gone?" I had to go to the doctor for this stupid cold that has yet to leave me alone. Well, the cough anyway. It had gotten to the point of being so annoying I actually wanted to go to the doctor, which is very unlikely considering I'm not a huge fan of doctors.
"Yep. I can't really do much for you at this point, but I can prescribe some cough medicine that will lessen the cough and make it a little more bearable." He fiddles around with his laptop. Apparently it's all the rage now in the medical profession. I had never seen it before. They do everything electronically on wireless laptops. I was definitely impressed.
"That would be fantastic. I've been taking this Tylenol sinus medicine which does work, but it lays me out. I'm just so tired all the time." My foot is still slightly bouncing around with nerves. I really hate being in a doctor's office.
"Ah, well this cough medicine has a bit of codeine in it, so it may make you a little sleepy. I would advise that you don't drive while taking it."
A bit of codeine? I know what that is. My little ears perk up when this is said.
"No driving. Gotcha."
He faxes my prescription over to my nearest CVS and tells me that it should be ready by the time I get there. This technology is brilliant.
It's not ready by the time I get there. I still have to stand around for about twenty minutes while they prepare it for me. I grab some sour gummy worms and a Butterfinger while I wait. Billy Joel is playing over the radio and I get bored. Very bored, very fast, very easily.
I find a romance novel and decide to flip through it while I wait. Again, I get bored.
The pharmacist calls out my name. I pay for my cough medicine and drive on home. I can't wait to take this and find my happy place. It's been so long since I've had anything prescribed to me. Legally prescribed too for that matter.
After I eat my dinner, I take a teaspoon of the cough medicine. Dr. Tang said that I could take two teaspoons, but considering I'm so small, he thought it would be best if I started out with just one. So, one teaspoon it is. Bottoms up.
Two hours later I was still coughing like a maniac and it was just pissing me off. I decided to take the second teaspoon that I'm allowed to take.
Nothing. It took me forever to fall asleep because of all the coughing. That just pissed me off even more.
This morning I had to wake up and get ready extra early since I was driving to work with Momma. I kept on telling her that I was fine and that the codeine had absolutely no affect on me whatsoever, but she insisted that I ride with her anyway.
I figured that I would take two tablespoons this morning and see if that had a different effect. People mess around with their dosages all the time, and I was to the point I would drink the whole bottle if it would just get rid of this damn cough. It hurt so badly.
"Samantha! What are you doing taking two tablespoons of that? You are going to be flat on the floor at work." Momma was finishing up her bagels while talking about some random guy at work who had taken credit for all of her work that she had done.
"Oh please, Momma. Two teaspoons didn't do anything for me. I highly doubt that two tablespoons will have any kind of effect. I just want to get rid of this dumb cough."
We walked down to the garage and drove into work with me feeling the same and coughing just as terribly.
At exactly 7:45 this morning I had to get up and go to the printer. When I stood up I couldn't feel my arms. Very strange.
As I stood there I thought, "Huh. I guess the codeine has kicked in. Fuck."
On the plus side, my cough has subsided a whole lot and whenever I do cough it's a lot quieter and nowhere near as painful. Unfortunately, my lips and cheeks have gone slightly numb. I've been randomly moving my face around to make sure it's still there. The directions said that I'm allowed to have two teaspoons every four to six hours. I don't think I'll be taking anymore anytime soon, but I know to ease up next time.
Oh yeah, and while they were taking down some of my general information at the doctor's office, I found out that I shrank an inch. Bugger. I'm only 5'1, not 5'2. Way to kill a dream.