Hi Jeff,
I'd like to bring up the Ibuprofen again. I had jaw surgery back in January. I was on liquid Hydrocodone at first. Well, first I was on morphine in the hospital, and then they transitioned me to a bit of the Hydrocodone just before they released me home. Once home, I took that liquid Hydrocodone for a couple of weeks (can't remember exactly how long as I was kind of out of it), and once I saw it running low, I had to transition over to the Ibuprofen.
My big red flag came when I saw myself reaching for that liquid Hydrocodone wishing it weren't running low. I would take the Ibuprofen and it seemed to work ok for the pain, but what I noticed was no 'nice' feelings anymore. None of that 'zone-out-La-La-Land' feeling anymore. It just went to work on the swelling mostly, which cut out the pain a little.
Also, I began to notice very negative feelings, feelings of paranoia and some crying and such. All those things went away when I got off the Hydrocodone.
Why not get rid of those cut up pills and get some Ibuprofen?
I think you know it's time to let them go.