$#@!&^% Generic Drug Labels

Ibuprofen or acetaminophen ---- which one is the anti-inflammatory? This is critical to me at the moment I am in pain and I forgot my super-strength painkillers at home so am left at the mercy of the office-supplied generic brands and can't remember which one to take. Name brands I know; generic medicinal terms? not so much. ARGH!!!!!!

How I came to be in this predicament:

Maggie and I have 3 basic routes we take: the regular, the long and the oh-my-god-I-slept-in-and-still-have-to run-the-mutt. The first two start out the same and where I turn right for the regular, which takes about 40 minutes in the morning, I turn left at night, turning it into an hour and a half for after work and weekend mornings. The third one is a total cop-out, but does the trick in 20 minutes.

Anyway, last night I got to the turn around point of the long route and decided what the hell, let's take this route all the way and head down to Ambleside. I started running again this week after a 3 month break and was feeling pretty good, so off we went. The mutt was thrilled and the trek down and back actually was not too painful; nice and cool out and I actually love running up hill. Maggie got lots of swims and chased a few bunnies and other fauna and the two of us arrived back at the manse slightly muddied and pooped, but feeling pretty good about life in general.

Then THE PAIN set in. At about 10 o'clock last night there were not enough drugs or ice on the planet to make me happy. The major flaw of the house I am living in right now is that it doesn't have a tub. I am not a huge bath taker (I actually have a hard time sitting still for that long) but at times like last night, all I wanted was a huge soaker tub with tons of hot, hot water and Epsom salts. Not happening. The washer/dryer, dishwasher, fireplace, 10 ft ceilings, etc do make up for the lack of tub. Most of the time. Not last night. I bound a gel-pack around my damn knee with a tensure, popped some pills and hoped for the best.

I managed to get some sleep (Princess Snoryface wasn't having any of these problems, snuggled as she was on the floor at the foot of my bed) and felt just a little stiff in the joints. Nothing too major and it worked itself out on the "regular" walk this a.m. Hence, I neglected to pack the pills in my purse when I came downtown. Which brings me to the dilemma at hand: which damn pills do I take???? I'm opting for the ibu and hoping for the best.

Getting old SUCKS!!!