It sometimes takes forever for the pills to kick in and completely cut off the pain issues. It's especially noticible at night for some reason, likely because I would normally be trying to get at least a little sleep and the stabby McOwOw makes it hard if not impossible. There's nothing to do but wait it out, shifting positions and trying to find something to occupy my mind whether it be audiobooks or videos or whatever. As long as whatever it is doesn't require any real thought or concentration, which usually rules out posting or reading something extensive.

The funny thing is that while I spend all these hours waiting for the pain to go away, it's often a surprise when it does. It's like it sneaks up on me and there's always a moment of surprised realization that it's gone and things are spiffy again. You would think I would then take advantage of the respite to get to sleep, after all that's what the pain had been preventing, but that's almost never the case. It's as if somewhere I feel like it'd be wasting the pain-free safe zone I've been granted and that I should actually use it to do something. It's usually at least a few hours down the line before exhaustion builds and catches up with me. This phenomenon no doubt has contributed to a lot of the sleep disturbance I've experienced over the years. Of course, it was a lot more problematic back in the days where I had a daily schedule and things I needed to get done. Now, it's just a point of interest and explains a little about why my activity cycle always trends toward the nocturnal.