Pain Medicine

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Hi There

Withdrawing from pain meRAB can, indeed, raise the heart rate and cause anxiety. Many who go through withdrawal do so with a script for Klonodine, which is a blood pressure med. It helps control the heart rate, the anxiety and often the sweating. The Klonodine is stopped once the withdrawal is totally complete and the symptoms have subsided. Talk to your prescribing doctor about this.

I withdrew from first Oxycodone and then Xanax, each by tapering. My own experiences says that it is best not to get antsy and try to rush a taper. Keep the cuts small and each time give the body and brain time to adjust to the cut before making another. So what if it takes time? The point is the final goal, not the time it takes to accomplish it.

As I read your thread, it seems to me that you are not battling addiction as much as you are dependence. It doesn't make withdrawal any easier, but it does make slipping back into using less likely.

Stay strong.. you are going to be okay. Slow and steady, okay?

Best wishes
reach
 
I'm feeling not so good at my desk right now. I debating weather to take 1/2 a pill (5mg of Lortab) to get me throw the rest of the day. My heart rate shot up after eating lunch 120bpm. My heart rate is slowing somewhat now. Weaning off after 2 1/2 months is hard.
 
I've been taking pain medicine since mid Septeraber 2009 for a broken foot. I then threw my back out which was the worst pain I've experienced ever for 4 days. I've been taking Lortad 10/325 for almost 2 1/2 months. I've cut down to 2 pills a day for the last 5 days for my back when I get home from work. I'm concerned I'm getting hooked on them since I'm feeling like I want one during the day. I'm looking for a little direction. How long does it take to get addicted?
 
Thanks for the response. Being positive is helful during this period. I had no clue my body would react this way. Makes one feel not so good about themselves. I must andmit I did take advantage of the drug however I realized myself it wasn'[t right I need to do something about it now. My back was what did it. I was taking them like candy for 2 weeks which I personally feel was the breaking point. I did need them since I could not lay down or move without serious pain.

I have roughly 25 pills left. I hope that's all I need to wean off this stuff. I have a follow up appointment with my Othropedic doctor on Monday. I also hope I'm feeling better by then. If not I will tell him my situation and see what he suggests. I just don't want to be labled...
 
My withdraws just kicked in a I had to take a pill. I'm not sure if it was anxiety or what but my heart rate shot up to 134 and I was shaking. God, I hate this... I'm hoping I won't need another pill today and will make it through the day. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Maybe I will need to wean off a little longer then a few days.
 
Today is Thursday and I'm doing pretty good. My heart rate is lower then it has been all week. It's been around the mid 90's which is about 20 beats lower on average and it's already 10:47AM. Thank goodness...

Last night I took the other half of the pill giving me a total of 10mg of Lortab for the day. I was going through some physical symptoms so it was best. I slept well too. Today I will see how I feel before taking anything. I would like to have a glass or 2 of wine but don't want to drink right now. I would like to be off these things by the end of the weekend. Seems like I'm getting closer to my goal. Time will tell.
 
Just the fact that you wrote this post is a cause for concern. 2 a day does not sound like much, but if you continue it will turn into 3 then 4, etc... I also have concerns about my own Vicodin use. I dont believe I am addicted, but I notice that I get certain negative physical symptoms if I wait too long to take my next dose. It may start out completely legitimate for severe pain as it is in my case and yours as well. I just bought a few books on prescription pain medicine addiction. I have to slowly wean off the drug because I have been taking it longer than you and in higher quantities. It sounRAB like you can simply stop taking the drug now. I really hgope you do, because it only gets worse. I started with 3 per day and now I take about 6 per day. DONT let it get to that point. I am also going to my general doctor this week to help with slowly weaning off this Vicodin. The ironic thing, for me, is that I am going to be having surgery next week. I will need Vicodin after the surgery. It feels like a Catch 22. Stop taking it now.
 
It's 11AM and I have yet to take anything right now. My head is okay, on a scale of 1 to 10 and 10 being best I'm a 5... I don't want to push it but I'll see how I feel.
 
So how are you doing? Have you gone cold turkey yet? Doing it over the weekend is the best since you can usually be alone while you are going through the (nasty) withdrawals, but you should have someone check up on you if you live alone. Hope all is going good for you.
 
I was taking it more however in late Septeraber and all of October. I first started taking what was prescribed 2 every 4 to 6 hours. I averaged 6 maybe 7 or 8 per day. Now I'm down to only taking 2 at around 6PM. I am thinking of weaning down to 1 at night for a few days then go cold turkey even though my back still hurts and I have a lot of pain walking. I'm scheduled for physical therapy this week.
 
If you can get away with stopping on Wednesday, I really hope you can do it. Everyone's body is different and some can handle it better than others. If you do experience withdrawals, try taking 1/2 of a pill and see if that is enough to stop the withdrawals. Good Luck to you!!!
 
Hey there Engineering90 - I was just wondering how the weekend went. Hope you are doing well.
 
I took the pill at 10:30AM and I'm doing okay now but it's only 2:10PM. I called a place that spicializes in recovery and they said I shouldn't feel that bad since I've only taken for a short period. The people that have problems are on it for 1 year or years not 2 1/2 months.

I'm going to not try and take another pill today. I'm hoping to wean down to 1/2 pill in a day or 2. I just want myself back. It's my heart rate that concerns me.
 
If your plan is to be off by the weekend, then you will probably have some rough days with withdrawals ahead of you. Plan for them. People have done it cold turkey from your levels. Opiate w/d can cause tachycardia (high pulse rate above 90 bpm). I believe you are experiencing that. If you are intent on detoxing by this weekend, monitor your heart rate and if it continues to elevate, call your doctor or go to the ER.

Some of the typical w/d symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, cold sweats, yawning, restless legs, the worse flu ever like achy muscles (my worse w/d memory!!), insomnia, goose bumps (that I had for 2 months afterward), and of course tachycardia.

Let us know how you are doing. Good Luck.
 
I was the same way when I started my detox back in January of this year. The drug is powerful and it will control your body. After my first injury, I was on oxycodone for 5+ months and this 2nd re-injury, I was on it 3+ months. I don't even think twice about talking about it to frienRAB. I was (like you are) dependent on the drug, even if you did abuse it for a short period of time. The oxy will make you do that. You're not an addict just like a diabetic isn't addicted to insulin, they are dependent on it. You were dependent on the Lortabs to control the pain.

You have to realize that your body and brain have been modified by the drug. It takes time to recover from that and rebuild your brain. The oxy has been substituting the endorphin production that normally occurs in your brain and you need to rebuild that normal function again. I thought I was stronger than the drug - I wasn't!! It controlled me and kicked my butt and I went through hell for 2 months getting off of it. Trust me! Your doctor knows about Lortabs and what it can do to people. He's not going to label you and think any different of you.
 
As Cowpin8 said, the fact that you are thinking about being addicted and writing on this forum might be a clue. Welcome to the forum by the way. You should talk to your doctor about the amount of pain you are still having and possibly the PT may help. When you said you hurt your back, was is muscle hurt or spine hurt? There's a difference - although pain is pain. After hurting my neck last year and becoming dependent on opiates, I finally got off of them with horrible withdrawals along the way. I re-injured my neck in August and I have been in pain and taking opiates ever since (although I went cold turkey yesterday). But, this second time, not wanting to go through w/d's again, I did it different and I only took the pills when I really needed them and only as much to manage the pain (usually 5-10 mg/day). That seemed to work for me.

You should evaluate what makes your pain worse and see if you can adjust it. If you are sitting all day long, that can put a strain on your back and you may need to get up and walk around more, or even slouch down in your chair to take pressure off of your back. I don't think laying on your desk during work would go over well, but if you can get away with it... ;-) I knew a guy that would lay down under his desk at lunch everyday.

Instead of dropping a whole pill at a time and going cold turkey, you should consider tapering down unless you want to experience withdrawals (trust me they are nasty). The rule of thurab is determine the milligrams of oxycodone you are taking (1 pill = 10 mg in your case) and multiple by the nuraber of pills you are taking per day (2 = 20 mg). That is your starting dose. Decrease your dose by 10-20% every 5 to 7 days. You will have to break pills into pieces and estimate your dose at times. So tomorrow you would want to start taking 16 mg/day and I would recommend taking it in two doses (one in AM other in PM), but taking it all at once in the evening may help you sleep better, so you may want to stay on that schedule. Stay on that dose for 5-7 days and drop next to 12.8 mg. I was using a 20% drop, but assuming from your nickname, you might be able to figure this out. :-) Once you get down to lower than 2.5 mg/day you might want to consider going cold turkey at that point. You would probably have less withdrawals that don't last as long from that point. At anytime if you do experience w/d's, you can go back up to the previous dose and stay on it a little longer before dropping again or decrease the drop.

Tapering is much easier to do. Going c/t from 10 mg/day you will probably experience some nasty withdrawals. I tried it at 10 mg and couldn't stand the w/d's. I went down to 2.5 mg before I hopped off. Let us know how you're doing and ask questions if you need additional help. Good Luck!
 
Last night I took 1 - 10/325 Lortab at 7PM along with a muscle relaxer. My back problem is muscle spasms on my right side which is very painful while walking.

I felt okay with the less amount and slept through the night. I did have a weird dream last night which was based on pain medicine. Maybe because I have been thinking about it lately. It's hard to beleieve after only 2 1/2 months you could get hooked on these things. One thing I've noticed these last few days is my heart rate is a little higher then normal. I am averaging when sitting around 96 bpm and sometimes even a little higher (I have a heart rate monitor watch).

Today my head is in the clouRAB. I don't feel that bad but it's still early. I plan to only take 1 pill again tonight with the hopes of taking nothing Wednesday night. After reading some of the posts of other people, I must admit I'm a little scared. I do know I've been only taking it a little over 2 months but...
 
People can become addicted/dependent after 10-14 days on opiates. I was on it for 5 months and I had hellish withdrawals. I highly suggest you consider the tapering. I know that you will be on the pills longer, but you will have a much less problems with withdrawals. Especially consider this since your heart rate is soaring!! I can't prove it, since nobody saw it, but when I stopped at 10 mg/day, I believe that I had a seizure. I say this because when I came out of it I have all of the symptoms of having one. I just pushed it off and started tapering from there. You should also contact your doctor ASAP and tell them about your heart rate problem. You never know, it might be something different causing it. Let the doctor determine that.

I tried to be smarter than the drug because I did not know how it affects the human body. I have done the research and I know much more now. The people on this forum whacked me in the head enough to let me know that I was doing it all wrong and convinced me to taper properly. I still had withdrawals, but again it was my stupidity of trying to taper too fast. You can't do that w/o having withdrawals. Opiates are powerful drugs and from the very first dose they start to change your body. Please consider tapering more slowly. Good Luck!
 
Update:

I took 1/2 (5MG) a pill Thursday and on Friday. Both in the evening after 6PM. No pill on Saturday and felt okay. I did have a few glasses of wine Saturday evening. Not enough to be drunk. I had some moments where I felt a little uneasy but overall okay. Sunday I went the whole day without taking a pill but I was on my feet for 2 1/2 hours and my back and leg was hurting bad. I took 1 10/325 Hydro at 5PM and felt guilty about it. What was weird when I was sleeping last night I had night sweats which my shirt was a little damp. I do not plan to take a pill today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Where do you think I am in my tapering process. Would you think I'm over the worst part or would you think more to come?

My heart at times is in the low 100's during the day but nothing like it was early last week. I also felt flushed when I drank the wine. My guess is I still have the hydro in my system even though it's so much less. I also feel a little scared but I really shouldn't since I've cut down so much within the last week. I will get by today with no pill.
 
Update: I made it through yesterday until I woke in a sweat at 2AM. I couldn't go back to sleep and I was starting to hurt. I took 1/2 a pill at 2:11AM and was able to relax. This means yesterday between a 24 hr period I needed to take 15mg (1 1/2 pills). I'm not sure how I should approach today? Should I try half a pill in the morning and then the other half tonight. That would give me 10mg or 1 pill. I want to be off these things by the end of this weekend! Mentally I am strong it's my body... Do you think it's possible? My only concern is my heart rate. It's beeen averaging 106bpm.
 
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