OK, Dana, I know you know how to google, but I swear everything I can find just says it's an issue if you have 3 or more drinks every day. Like this: [link]

The final diagnosis from the doctor is a ruptured disc. Treatment is to leave it alone and let the body adjust to it.

Seriously??? Oh Dana, I'm so sorry.

I've never been told not to drink when taking ibuprofen, or at least, not that it's medically dangerous. You're more at risk for an upset stomach, but Tylenol's the one that'll mess up your liver.

Oh geez, I hope you can adjust quickly then Dana.

See, this is why I came to you guys.

(1) That's crap. You can take 800 mg every 4-6 hours. Now, if you need to take such a high dose every day for a month or more, then something's clearly wrong. But you can totally take 800 mg at a time.

He didn't tell me I couldn't take 800mg at a time, but that 400mg more often would be more effective for reducing the inflammation. Which may still be crap.

(2) You can drink while you're taking ibuprofen, though it's best to not throw any keggers. A drink or 2 a day is going to be fine.

Okay. Moderate drinking. Which is probably no further than I'll get. I make big plans around cons, but I usually am pretty restrained. Unless there are those little chocolate bottles with different kinds of alcohol inside.

I know you know how to google, but I swear everything I can find just says it's an issue if you have 3 or more drinks every day.

I'm running around googling three or four separate topics right now, so more information is always useful.

Oh Dana, I'm so sorry.

I can't quite tell if I'm really not upset, or if I'm sort of subconciously depressed and not acknowledging it. I think I had already accepted that my back was never going to be perfect again. I guess I'll just have to see how it plays out, and how often I'm in pain, and how severe it might be.

(1) That's crap. You can take 800 mg every 4-6 hours. Now, if you need to take such a high dose every day for a month or more, then something's clearly wrong. But you can totally take 800 mg at a time.

He didn't tell me I couldn't take 800mg at a time, but that 400mg more often would be more effective for reducing the inflammation. Which may still be crap.

Eh. Having been there myself, 800 mg of ibuprofen every 4-6 hours worked better than 400 mg (and how much more frequently could you take 400 mg, anyway? compared to 4-6 hours, I mean).

(2) You can drink while you're taking ibuprofen, though it's best to not throw any keggers. A drink or 2 a day is going to be fine.

Okay. Moderate drinking. Which is probably no further than I'll get. I make big plans around cons, but I usually am pretty restrained. Unless there are those little chocolate bottles with different kinds of alcohol inside.

Yeah, but you probably need about 25 of those little chocolate bottles to equal 1 drink.

So my supervisor (who is very good and supportive) thinks that going further with my grievance would be "career limiting," and has confirmed that I was screened out on the basis of not having one of the required qualifications. It`s all such BS. Of the people who work at the place I applied to, one of them has the degree that is now required.

I was presented with HR with several options that would involve getting more education. (On whose dime, I`d like to know.) And hey did I mention I just spent 4 years getting a masters degree (on my own time and dime)?

See tagline.

Sorry so stabby, Sue.

Now, you should know how fast and loose I play with my own medical stuff, BUT, Dana, I can only imagine that any medicine where you would have a bad problem from one or two times of having a couple of drinks would have to say that right on the bottle. I mean, right? Lots of people in this country drink alcohol regularly, and many medicines do have a warning about it.

He also said "no alcohol" while taking ibuprofen. I said okay, how long does the ibuprofen have to be out of the system before I can drink. He said ten days.

That's just crazy talk. Though I'm sure Steph got here before me on this.

I just had boxed palak paneer that I bought at a corner bodega for lunch, and it was SO AWESOME. I need to get more of that shit ASAP.

Dear Sue,

Get a job down here.

Love, me