Hey there, I was hoping maybe someone could help me out. :]
I had my wisdom teeth removed in August of 2007, and then in March of 2008 my gallbladder was removed (not because of gallstones, the organ literally stopped working and tried to kill me). Both times I was given Percocet for the pain. For the wisdom teeth, my mother and I didn't know how to get the medicine in me, so we crushed the pills and put them in a milkshake. I kept waking up gasping for air, sweating, shivering, etc. I thought it was just the pills but I realized later that crushing them effectively caused me to overdose... and I did this about seven times. I had NO idea... I know nothing about pain medication.
Anyway, my surgery comes in March and I'm given more Percocet. I'm given a large amount and I don't even use half of them. They end up lying on my kitchen counter for months. I had been having terrible back pain, so in July I'm told that I have two herniated disks in my back. At first I was given Flexoril, but that's a muscle relaxer. That helped at the time, but pain medication works much better. I started therapy for my back during the summer and that helped me a lot... but then classes started again and I quit therapy. Some time in January I aggravated my back pretty bad and ended up taking half of a Percocet. I immediately realized that Percocet worked much better than Aleve. Much. But I don't like taking heavy pain meds because they normally knock me out. I believe I took another half of a pill and then just suffered with Aleve for a few days.
A little over two weeks ago I aggravated my back again pretty badly. Again, I caved and took a quarter of a Percocet. It started to work, so I took the other quarter. When enough hours passed I took another half. This went on for about three days. My problem, though, is that I've noticed I've been having heart palpitations over the last four days. I had noticed I had some back in 2008, probably in the Fall. I didn't really connect them to any drugs I was taking because I figured my body was still getting used to not having a gallbladder. But now, I'm not sure if pain meds aren't a possible cause. I've heard you're not just supposed to take Percocet whenever, but I don't feel like I'm abusing them. I've had these pills for over a year and I only take them when I'm in a lot of pain. I just happened to be a mess for a few days, so I took them. I stopped taking them just as fast as I started, though. I don't feel like I need them now because my back is behaving, but could these heart palpitations have anything to do with starting and stopping the Percocet so suddenly? It's just this weird fluttering in my heart... then sometimes it races a bit. It reminds me of when I took this trip to see a show in Atlanta and my heart just fluttered and fluttered. I was absolutely terrified and I kept trying to calm myself down... but I was also extremely excited. I was seeing a show I had longed to see for months. Once I got back home from my trip everything went back to normal. It's just now, I have the same fluttering as if I'm excited and my world is about to explode. Only, there's nothing to be excited about now. It's just a normal day, no Percocet or shows, and I'm wondering what the cause could be.
So, in short - Does anyone believe this has anything to do with me starting and then stopping Percocet? If not... any other suggestions?
I had my wisdom teeth removed in August of 2007, and then in March of 2008 my gallbladder was removed (not because of gallstones, the organ literally stopped working and tried to kill me). Both times I was given Percocet for the pain. For the wisdom teeth, my mother and I didn't know how to get the medicine in me, so we crushed the pills and put them in a milkshake. I kept waking up gasping for air, sweating, shivering, etc. I thought it was just the pills but I realized later that crushing them effectively caused me to overdose... and I did this about seven times. I had NO idea... I know nothing about pain medication.
Anyway, my surgery comes in March and I'm given more Percocet. I'm given a large amount and I don't even use half of them. They end up lying on my kitchen counter for months. I had been having terrible back pain, so in July I'm told that I have two herniated disks in my back. At first I was given Flexoril, but that's a muscle relaxer. That helped at the time, but pain medication works much better. I started therapy for my back during the summer and that helped me a lot... but then classes started again and I quit therapy. Some time in January I aggravated my back pretty bad and ended up taking half of a Percocet. I immediately realized that Percocet worked much better than Aleve. Much. But I don't like taking heavy pain meds because they normally knock me out. I believe I took another half of a pill and then just suffered with Aleve for a few days.
A little over two weeks ago I aggravated my back again pretty badly. Again, I caved and took a quarter of a Percocet. It started to work, so I took the other quarter. When enough hours passed I took another half. This went on for about three days. My problem, though, is that I've noticed I've been having heart palpitations over the last four days. I had noticed I had some back in 2008, probably in the Fall. I didn't really connect them to any drugs I was taking because I figured my body was still getting used to not having a gallbladder. But now, I'm not sure if pain meds aren't a possible cause. I've heard you're not just supposed to take Percocet whenever, but I don't feel like I'm abusing them. I've had these pills for over a year and I only take them when I'm in a lot of pain. I just happened to be a mess for a few days, so I took them. I stopped taking them just as fast as I started, though. I don't feel like I need them now because my back is behaving, but could these heart palpitations have anything to do with starting and stopping the Percocet so suddenly? It's just this weird fluttering in my heart... then sometimes it races a bit. It reminds me of when I took this trip to see a show in Atlanta and my heart just fluttered and fluttered. I was absolutely terrified and I kept trying to calm myself down... but I was also extremely excited. I was seeing a show I had longed to see for months. Once I got back home from my trip everything went back to normal. It's just now, I have the same fluttering as if I'm excited and my world is about to explode. Only, there's nothing to be excited about now. It's just a normal day, no Percocet or shows, and I'm wondering what the cause could be.
So, in short - Does anyone believe this has anything to do with me starting and then stopping Percocet? If not... any other suggestions?