Obligatory disclaimer: I AM NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR.  SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE AND TRAINING.

There's really no good way to start an article about the epidemic of opiate overdoses and deaths in the United States.  It's a terrible thing.  Unlike a lot of articles out there and stereotyping that happens, a nontrivial number of opioid deaths are due to accidental overdoses of painkillers taken by folks who are trying to manage chronic pain.  I say this as someone whose dental health history reads like Hellraiser fanfic.  If you're in so much pain that you can't even think straight most of the …

As I've been talking about lately (probably to the point of annoyance), I underwent my second root canal last Friday, and I've been laying low to give myself a chance to recover. Dental work always knocks me on my six for some reason, probably due to elevated levels of stress hormones and my body trying to deal with all of the unusual chemicals that winds up in it. I've been cutting back on the amount of Motrin I've been taking, in particular - for over a week I'd been taking twelve to sixteen 200mg tablets every day to keep the pain …

After a long day of being utterly unable to concentrate for longer than five minutes at a stretch due to what I suspect is dental work going bad, I finally made it home with Lyssa, who promptly put me to bed to sleep for a couple of pain-free hours. Earlier today I managed to make an emergency appointment with a dentist recommended to me by Hasufin who seems to have more than half a clue for tomorow morning to get my dental work looked at. I'm going to have to pay it out of pocket, but given a choice between …