Would a pill work faster if you grind it up first?

[Hobbes' Choice]

My pain is always my own.

As a statement of the bloody obvious this indeed is a rare gem. As a premise from which you can then logically conclude that you are therefore the person best qualified to manage your own pain this statement leaves a lot to be desired..

Not at all. I'm not stupid and am perfectly capable of reading the specs, side effects, and being capable of identifying contrary indications.
Doctors defer for legal and ethical reasons, not because another doctor is better at managing their pain.

[Obvious Leo]

Not at all. I'm not stupid and am perfectly capable of reading the specs, side effects, and being capable of identifying contrary indications.

I wasn't trying to imply that you were stupid and I'm in no doubt that you are perfectly capable of keeping yourself intelligently well informed on such matters. This does not mean that you are better qualified than those who are specifically trained in the field, however, which is what you claimed.

Doctors defer for legal and ethical reasons, not because another doctor is better at managing their pain.

This statement is simply false. There is neither a legal nor an ethical reason why a doctor should not diagnose and treat himself, and in fact some of the more foolish ones do. The smart ones don't and they do this purely for medical reasons. I have many friends who are doctors, and because of my wife's involvement with the profession we seem to have socialised a lot with all sorts of different members of the medical fraternity over the years. If what I'm saying is not true in your country I can state quite definitively that it is certainly true in mine.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Not at all. I'm not stupid and am perfectly capable of reading the specs, side effects, and being capable of identifying contrary indications.

I wasn't trying to imply that you were stupid and I'm in no doubt that you are perfectly capable of keeping yourself intelligently well informed on such matters. This does not mean that you are better qualified than those who are specifically trained in the field, however, which is what you claimed.

Doctors defer for legal and ethical reasons, not because another doctor is better at managing their pain.

This statement is simply false. There is neither a legal nor an ethical reason why a doctor should not diagnose and treat himself, and in fact some of the more foolish ones do. The smart ones don't and they do this purely for medical reasons. I have many friends who are doctors, and because of my wife's involvement with the profession we seem to have socialised a lot with all sorts of different members of the medical fraternity over the years. If what I'm saying is not true in your country I can state quite definitively that it is certainly true in mine.

I've made my point clearly enough. I suggest you chill out with a long cold drink, and leave me to my hot tea and tramadol.

[Obvious Leo]

I suggest you chill out with a long cold drink,

That's why you should take notice of what I say rather than what I do. Self-medication is my specialty, especially when the weather gets hot like it is today.

[Hobbes' Choice]

I suggest you chill out with a long cold drink,

That's why you should take notice of what I say rather than what I do. Self-medication is my specialty, especially when the weather gets hot like it is today.

I've been lucky with drugs I suppose, but then all my friends have. I've only known two people in my life that did not have that inner warning system that they were going too far. One was also addicted to gambling, the second was by mother's choice of a man, a drunken moron who thought he was the greatest person on earth and was violently disposed to prove it.
For myself, I've had Cannabis in ALL its forms, speed of various sorts, MDMA, Coke, Crack, psilocybin, LSD, uppers, downers, twisters and benders: name it! The only thing I've refused in Heroin on account of it's rumoured to be irresistible. I've even brewed and distilled my own alcohol in large quantities. Got it up to 80% by volume (not proof).

I've never been addicted to anything except food and sex. I've not been proper drunk since the early 1980s, except a reminded on my 40th birthday, which was sorely regretted the following day. Drugs I can take them or leave them. I know the signs of wanting more, and deny myself.

Of all the drugs I've had ecstasy was the most fun, with LSD a close second. But I could take them or leave them.
These days, I'm strictly prescription. It's not a rule, just not bothered.