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Q

Re: Avascular Necrosis
My wife has been daignosed with this condition and is in a lot of pain (right hip). Her physician has grudgingly given her tylenol with codeine (the lightest dose of codeine). Since she is allergic to so many drugs, I was wondering if there is something else, such as voltarin (I take it for bunion pain), she could take.

A

Hi herb ... sorry to hear about your wife's pain.

What she requires is a consistant degree of analgesia - any one of a wide range of currently used NSAID's might well satify her need. it would take some time and some discipline to make a good choice.

It sounds as if her physician ia a conservative and careful therapist.

Some facts :- acaminophen (Tylenol) comes in many formulations with codeine -
individual acetaminophen dose from 300 to1,000 mg., max. daily 4,000 mg.
.. codeine dose from 15 to 60 mg., max. daily 360 mg.
doses may be increased to every 4 hours (without exceeding the max.)

Another tenet when changing to a new therapy - always start with a low dosage and, if found ineffective, slowly work up the chain until an effective level is found. Sounds like wife's physician is on that path . Discuss it with him/her.

Best wishes to you and your wife.

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