OH! Gaz, I cannot BELIEVE that I forgot to mention this:
To save yourself a LOT of nausea, eat something when you take your meds, and avoid hot showers and baths until at least an hour after dosing yourself.
I didn't have a problem with the hot showers, but three people in my family got REALLY nauseous when they took hot showers right after taking pain medication. We aren't sure why, but it happens.
Food will settle your stomache and your nerves.
Also, the food on your stomache will keep you from waking up STARVING because you have been avoiding the less painless foods. I HAVE done this, and it's a LOT better to eat every time you dose than to wake up with gut pains from not eating. See, one of the more common side-effects of vicoden and tylenol 3 is that it sometimes makes you feel like you aren't hungry, even when you ARE needing food. Then, when the drug wears off, all that hunger hits you at once. Not fun. So, even if you don't feel at all hungry, munch on SOMETHING. It doesn't have to be a lot of food, but you need to have a few dozen calories on reserve.
Anyway, no worries. Clearly, you're doing well, and after awhile this will be a funny story to tell your grandkids.
