Opioid Withdrawal anyone?

I've decided to stop my pain meds to see what happens with my head. It's been a tough decision, but I need to give it a try. I am day three into it and am having a tough time, though I didn't feel I was taking all that much.

I'm having some of the typical symptoms like yawning, irritability (no worse then what I have when I'm taking them), nausea, diarrhea, sneezing etc. My worst though, and least managable is the leg cramps and restlessness. The cramps have not been bad during the day but kept me VERY awake last night. UGH

I'm rather suprised about this as I was down to just two emtecs a day.

I'm really hoping this ends tomorrow....or at least really soon.

Milo,

I had been on some narcotic pain pills twice a day for a couple of months. When things got tolerable, I quit taking them and the first night I felt as if I were going to crawl out of my skin. I couldn't sleep and had to get up and just pace the floor. It only lasted the night. I can't imagine your problems lasting more than a few days. Hang in there.

Hal

Due to a pharmacy/insurance foul up that happened to me a couple of months ago. I was miserable for three days til my script went through. Bendaryl helped a little bit with the leg cramps and restlessness, but not much. Night time was terrible.

I was on quite a bit more than two though. It was a shock to me to find out my body was physically dependent. Kind of like the shock I felt when I was 16 and realized I HAD to have a cigarette.

I've never mentally felt I HAD to have a opioid, but it was eye opening when my body was telling me.

What are Emtecs? Can't find it when I google it.

Maybe it was an anti-emetic drug. Emetics cause one to vomit. anti-emetics would help prevent vomiting, which we all have done when experiencing a very bad migraine.

Hal

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the restless legs can actually last for weeks after quitting an opioid. The first time I went off methadone, I had the creepy crawly legs for a long time, and my doctor kept saying that it was withdrawals. She gave me valium in the hospital, where I was for a week, and at home. Finally, after about two months of having this, she concluded that instead, I had restless leg syndrome that had been suppressed by the methadone, which is actually a drug that is sometimes used to treat RLS. Unfortunately for me, going back on methadone later didn't suppress my RLS, so I have to take mirapex for it even now, but the point is that my neurologist wasn't ready to rule out withdrawal symptoms until a couple months! If it gets bad, you might ask for some valium or something similar.

My emtecs are just tylenol #3 without caffeine.

I slept with a sleep aid last night, but it was tough. My stomach feels a bit better right now, but I actually called in sick. UGH

I popped out and bought some potassium for the leg cramps. I also took some L-Tyrosine for the mental fog I'm in.

I feel like absolute crap, but I've not even once felt a need to take another emtec.

I know I should have tapered a bit further before stopping but I was having a "stupid" moment.

Milo,

What is an emtec? I asked a friend that is a nurse and no idea. Why is it called an emtec if it is just tylenol?

Hal

Did you consult with your doctor before going off your meds? Cold turkey is definitely not the way to go!

Hal wrote:Milo,

I had been on some narcotic pain pills twice a day for a couple of months. When things got tolerable, I quit taking them and the first night I felt as if I were going to crawl out of my skin. I couldn't sleep and had to get up and just pace the floor. It only lasted the night. I can't imagine your problems lasting more than a few days. Hang in there.

Hal

I had this similar experience yesterday and last night after stopping ALL pain meds... It is so hard, and my headache keeps coming back so I see no end in sight.. Hang in there! I am told that his does get better

I did it for three months to get the rebound headache, MOH monkey off my back. Turns out it wasn't MOH but it was valuable information to have and worth the miserable three months in the long run.

Plus, when I switched neuros he was able to see in my records that I had been drug- free and he immediately ruled out MOH.

Ok, so all that hell was for not. I came home from work today with another killer headache and needed to take my pain meds. I was so happy to think that I finally got a handle on them that I was willing to cold turkey the wihdrawal.

I'm disappointed in so many ways. ARGH

I'm sorry, Dear Milo.....

Milo,

OK, So you don't get to "Cold Turkey" the drugs. It doesn't mean failure, it means that you might have to taper off. Don't give up.

Hal

Tough situation - to use pain medications for migraine episodes or not? Risks either way.

I am thankful you are such a smart and strong woman. You can deal with the effects either way and will choose what is best for you and yours.

Yesterday was a real struggle for me. I wanted so badly for my migraines to be responding to the botox, supplements and facet blocks. I had at least four pain free days which is a very long time for me.

I fought very hard not to take the pain meds. I struggled as to whether I was addicted to them, but for five days I did without and never once thought about taking them. I obviously have a physical dependence, or I would not have had the withdrawal symptoms.

My wife made the most important observation. She asked why I was not taking any, and if I intended to never take any again. Of course I know I will end up needing pain meds again, it's inevitable with my migraines. So when I said that she asked what the actual point was of me not taking any even though I had a whopper.

Today I don't feel so bad about it. I needed them, I'll need them again. Maybe I won't need them tonight. Maybe I'll go home from work and remain headache free.

I'm thinking cold turkey was a bit harsh though, so maybe next time I'll do a taper. I'm kinda hoping "next time" is today.

I can definitely relate to your situation. I think the withdraws from the narcotic type drugs was the worst for me. I did a week without triptans, then the next week I cut out the narcotics, but I was still taking OTC nsaids/pain relievers.

When I finally cut those out, I had a doozy of a headache... It is the hardest thing I've ever done/been through. I actually ended up in the ER twice over the course of the past 2 weeks when dealing with withdraw because of nausea and pain.

Don't give up, and it does get better!

certainly tough milo. titrating off of these meds that you've been on for a long time is miserable.

i had to cold stop klonopin for 2 days for an inner ear battery of tests and was miserable within 36 hours. i saw a headache doc and he said as soon as the test was over, back on.

with nasty stuff like benzos and opoids, the neuros like to switch you on to another med to lessen the withdrawal.

i know for klonopin, my docs look at 4-6 weeks. not fun.

Klonipn, or what we call clonazepam in Canada, needs a very long taper. We tend to do a taper of six months to a year for those who have been on it long term. Usually we switch over to a different benzo for the taper though.

Wow, 6 months to a year to taper off? Here, all the docs i've seen want to titrate down 0.5/mg per week, while replacing with another medication like a beta or SSRI. I know it gets stored in the fat cells, but that seems really, really long.

I saw a migraine specialist and he wanted to taper down at 0.5/mg a week while replacing with a different beta blocker, i think it was metoprolol. my cardiologist said no way so klonopin (brand name version of clonazapam) has been kept on.

The migraine doc's view is that benzos really screw up the body's response to pain and inhibit how other medications work. I hope I'm getting this right, as during the office visit I was going through heavy withdrawal from Klonopin (for that blasted inner ear test).

It boils down to tapering off these meds is very uncomfortable.

Take care.
mgb

From my experience, benzos and narcotics can be the devils revenge if not tapered off slowly. I learned (and I don't always follow my own advise) is to keep a handle on the amount of meds verses refill time. If I'm running low and have some time left before I can receive a refill I make a concerted effort to regulate how much and how often I use the "good stuff".

Alas, it's easier said then done...

I've most certainly gained a whole new respect for the medications and I am being very cautious in the amounts that I take now, as I never want to have to go through that.

Just to clarify, as I found your post slightly confusing...you do mean Klonopin and not Clonidine right?

Klonopin (clonazapam) absolutely. Two different classes from clonodine.