Weaning off the meds!

[Rob]

For whatever it's worth I'm still weaning! I completely stopped my final reduced 5/500 hydrocodone Rx on Sat 6/26 (1-week & 1-day ago). As of tomorrow I'll be exactly 16-weeks post-op.

I'm fine during the day with no real issue. However going to sleep is another story! After I lay down I'm okay for 10-15 minutes then I start to get a cold chill on the outside of my arms and legs. This causes me to try and rub out the cold but really to no avail. This is followed by a cold sweat. It gets bad enough that I have to get out of bed and go do something, like write this thread at 1:30AM!

These chills and cold sweat prevent me from getting comfortable enough to fall a sleep. As a result I end up with very little sleep. I typically am in bed at ~11PM and, because of the lack of sleep, I don't get out of bed until 9-10A. When all is said and done, out of the 9-10 hours of time commited I believe I'm getting ~4-5 hours of sleep/night. Believe me I'm thankful for that!

I just did a bunch of internet reading. My symptoms (highlighted) are pretty limited based on what's listed on some of the sites and noted below:

·Restlessness
·Muscle pain
·Bone pain
·Insomnia
·Diarrhea
·Vomiting
·Cold flashes
·Goose bumps
·Involuntary leg movements
·Watery eyes
·Runny nose
·Loss of appetite
·Irritability
·Panic
·Nausea
·Chills
·Sweating

According to most sites the symptoms can start 12-24 hours after stopping the Rx, build for up to 72 hours and then be gone in 1-3 weeks. So... hopefully this to will soon pass!!!

[KBear]

I had many/most of those withdrawal symptoms too. No fun, but a necessary evil!

[linda]

Congratulations Rob on completing your weaning process. I hope the cold chills/cold sweats goes away soon and you start sleeping better. I believe my medication is really doing a number on me. I really enjoy reading your posts as they have helped me a lot.
Linda

[rsaylor8326]

How are you doing with the narcotics are you still off of them if so awsome if not PM me I can help. Best of luck

[Rob]

HI rsaylor8326,

Thanks for asking. I'm doing well. I've been off the meds since 6/26. The withdrawal period last ~3 1/2 weeks. The symptoms were mostly cold chills on my arms and legs that made it almost impossible to sleep until the exhaustion would overcome the symptoms.

I'm still taking Ibuprofen before going to sleep to help with minor discomfort, likely from the stabilization hardware.

If you have something that could help others you may want to post it for their reference. We all go through the weaning process at some point and it's REALLY not fun!

Thanks again,

Rob

[rsaylor8326]

Well what I had to do is use Suboxon I was on the narcotics for over 9 years narcorics like oxy for back injury the doc said I may not ever be able to be with out becouse I have rewird my brain in a sence and he said I would with draw for months even years the Suboxon is a narcotic it self just not like oxy or vics. So I do get pain relofe from poiets just not the high. I'm having a fusion in 3 weeks after thats I will go back on heavy narcotics for pain becouse the Suboxon does lget your tolerance very high but if you are off thats not for you just for those that have lots of trouble geting off of them. I happy for you and best of luck in the future.

[cheryl stewart]

I will keep this short. Getting off the meds is scary hard. But you need to give your body a break from them and see how you feel for a few days. Way to go!!! Best regards, Cheryl

[rsaylor8326]

I will keep this short. Getting off the meds is scary hard. But you need to give your body a break from them and see how you feel for a few days. Way to go!!! Best regards, Cheryl

Are you still on narcotics

[cheryl stewart]

I was on Gabapentin, Flexeril, and Demerol. I just got off my meds 3 months ago and my 3rd surgery was last Oct. I was having some sever side effects from the Gabapentin with my vision. So then last last few months anti inflamitories but they stopped working....

[KBear]

Your right Cheryl, we just don't know how you will feel without them until you go without. I weaned off everything (excluding Cymbalta) before getting preggo. I really didn't think it was true that the pain I was still feeling could be from the "narcotic effect." I was stunned to find myself in no more pain than I was in with the meds.
I then went off Cymbalta and the pain was back with vengeance, so went back on narcotics to deal with that (apparently a common side effect of getting off some antidepressants) I was up to 3- 7.5 ng hydrocodone a day- which is nothing compared to what I was on. I'm now working on going downt to 2 a day and so far doing good. I actually woke up today and didn't need anything for 5 hours (which made a total of 18 hours since my last dose)!!! I'm wanting to get to none or 1 a day. It's hard while I'm pregnant because I can't take ibuprofen, muscle relaxeds or any of the other meds used to cope with pain (I can't even use my TENS unit.) they prefer the hydrocodone over all that, so coping with heat and lots of hot baths.