The story of my life

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I doubt if I would ever forget what happened on Tuesday 22, may 2018, I woke up early and I had dressed for work), traffic had been fair enough and in time, I was already halfway, and phew, I had gotten to the part of the journey where I dread most.., I’ve got to cross this express road as there is no provision of a nearby pedestrian bridge, usually, I would often see a number of people wanting to cross as well, but sometimes, rarely though, I’d be the only one waiting to cross, and so it was on this day, I was fortunate enough that there were nice drivers on the road and it wasn’t much stress crossing over, I had successfully crossed the first two lanes, the busiest, and the last lane usually isn’t a big deal as lesser vehicles trod this path, I wasn’t wrong, the road was indeed free, and I stepped forward to get to the other side…, well, guess what, the plan changed, I didn’t make it to the other side of the road that day, poor me, I had been hugged by a speeding bikeman, I completely forgot that the rule states that “look left, look right, look left again, look right again, look back, look forward, look up, then crawl”, how on earth did I not obey, all I did was look left and right, maybe the bike man had fallen from the sky who knows, all I knew was that he had swept me off my feet, yeah he literally did that because the next second I was on the floor, injured and numb, within seconds, I was surrounded by a group of good Samaritans (nigerians are just so wonderful).

Analgesic. from Wikipedia licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Author : Elizabeth Roy

I was taken to the hospital, I had worn my favourite pants that day and it was ruined beyond repair, the initial numbness had been replaced with pains from sustained injuries and my head aches badly (it had landed on a culvert), the wounds were dressed, but my head won’t just stop aching. I complained about this to the doctor but as there were no visible damages to my head or face, he prescribed an analgesic and assured me that I’ll be fine.

I did take the analgesic, and maybe i did get better, or maybe not, the headache had reduced and the muscle pains were reducing drastically too, I resumed work days after (sorry, I believed I was fine already), but during the course of the day, I constantly felt tired, and sadly, I fainted at work (I’m not an iron bender, or a lumber man, I’m an architect, all I do is sit all day, sketch, design, and work with the goddamn computer).

A New Dawn

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All my life, I had never fainted, I broke the record that day, whats going on? I’m definitely not alright so I need not ask if I am? I’ve been healthy, wasn’t sick before, having no doubts, I said to myself, it’s the accident.

I visited the hospital again, the doctor advised a skull xray, to see if I had any fractures on my skull, I did that right away and in minutes, the result was ready. Well, my skull is the most beautiful, if my face doesn’t make you trip, my skull will. Smooth shiny skull with no fracture!

So what could be wrong then, the doctor then prescribed a brain CT scan to see if I had any internal bleedings, but again dear brain was just living his life with no problems at all, the nigga had moved on.

Then the doctor advised a widal test, but sweetheart, I wasn’t harbouring any of those crazy guys.
So what could be wrong?

Finally he said, can I see the analgesic you used? And yes! That was it.
Orphenadrine citrate is at work!
Well, you may be familiar with the word orphenadrine or you may be In the same category as I am- never came across the word.

No Pain, No Gain!

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[Animations designed by me]

Orphenadrine is a drug belonging to the class of organic chemical compounds that work against the action of H1 histamine receptors in the body, it is used in relieving pains generated from skeletal muscle spasms, especially in cases of very painful muscular conditions.

[Animations designed by me]

In times past, before the invention of newer drugs, orphenadrine was usually administered in cases of parkinsons disease to treat muscle pains and tremors.

How does orphenadrine achieve this feat?
Orphanedrine exhibits parasympatholic actions, that is, it works with the part of the human system responsible for activities that occur when the body is at rest, it acts to block the sending of pain sensations to the brain, in other words, it is an anticholinergic drug, that is, working against the actions of acetycholine in the body, a chemical which is in charge of transmitting a number of signals including pain signals to the brain.

[Animations designed by me]

Apart from being an anticholinergic drug, orphenadrine also acts as an antihistamine, which translates that orphenadrine works in opposition to the activities of receptors that react with histamine in various parts of the body to stimulate a number of necessary activities needed for an individual to be healthy and alive.
In cases of parkinsonian syndromes, where there is a decrease in the production of dopamine and an increase in the activities of the cholinergic system, orphenadrines anticholinergic properties enables an act of opposition against the cholinergic systems thereby reducing the pains of muscle spasms, and reducing the tremor felt by sufferers of parkinsons disease.

[Animations designed by me]

However, it is usually said that there is no gain without pain, we might have to say the same in the case of orphenadrine. Why do I say this?
Orphenadrine helps, but hey, watchout
Remember, in one of the preceding paragraphs, I mentioned that orphenadrine exhibits anticholinergic properties and also functions as an antihistamine which accounts for its ability to treat conditions related to skeletal muscle spasms and pains. However, this comes at a cost, as the disruption of the activites of acetycholine and histamine receptors usually result in a couple of adverse effects, there are a number of side effects associated with the consumption of orphenadrine, ranging from mild to severe and to even much more severe ones. Some of the effects include; mild headaches,drowsiness, nausea, stomach upset, constipation, dry mouth and eyes, itching, dizziness, convulsions, hallucinations, shakes or tremor, decreased ability to urinate, constipation, fainting (as it was in my case), swelling of parts of the body, difficulty breathing rare and much more severe ones like alplastic anaemia and dangerous allergic reaction.

Little wonder why I was feeling constantly tired and had fainted.

However, most of the side effects usually disappears rapidly when the dosage is reduced or when the treatment is completed, in some cases, the body adjusts to the actions of ophenadrine and the side effects are reduced, but in cases of very severe side effects like fainting, convulsions, allergic reactions and the likes, it might be advised to stop the use of orphenadrine.

Dos Et Don'ts

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With all these side effects, it would be germane to mention that there are precautions to note before consuming orphenadrine.

Orphenadrine is a medicament, and shouldn’t be taken without prior instruction from a health practitioner (except of course you have some other plans towards yourself), if you have other food allergies, you should discuss this with your doctor and be sure if orphanedrine is safe for your consumption.

If you suffer from glaucoma i.e high pressure in the eye, ulcer or other stomach related problems, heart problems, a nerve disease known as myasthenia gravis, you may need to stay away from orphenadrine.

And maybe I should mention that if you hate drugs as much as I do, and may not want to have an encounter with orphenadrine, then try to stay away from crossing on dangerous highways and hugging nasty bikes to avoid stories that touch.
Anyway, had the bike not hugged me, I would probably not meet dear orphenadrine, but this isn’t enough consolation, I still miss my favourite pants and I definitely hate these bruises.

Thanks for reading

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