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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Benzos and opioids

T

TessaBella

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 14, 2019
Messages
23
I take norco 10s, 6 a day and klonopin.75mg at bedtime for the savage burning nerve pain from transverse myelitis, inflammation of the spinal cord. My pain is entirely under medicated for the unspeakable electric fire and my doctor recently reduced my klonopin from 1mg to. 75mg because he says that people are stopping breathing and dying in their sleep. All of a sudden?? I've been taking both for 15yrs with no problems. I'm forced to take as directed so no fun being had. If I take more, I run low before refill time. Please, you guys, have any of you heard of this horse shit about the dangers of this combo? Is there any validity to it?
 
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The DEA is cracking down on doctors. I can understand where they are coming from. But like you I get it. I'm no longer tempted with opiates and 6 Norco a day is not small. Have you tried other options like Lyrica or Gabapsntin?
 
sonicwhite said:
The DEA is cracking down on doctors. I can understand where they are coming from. But like you I get it. I'm no longer tempted with opiates and 6 Norco a day is not small. Have you tried other options like Lyrica or Gabapsntin?
Click to expand...
Yes. Cymbalta and Lyrica. No help at all. I'm reading more and more about new studies that show that opioid pain meds do help with pain from nerve damage and diabetic nerve pain but, unfortunately, the articles I've read talk about testing patients with oxycodone, not norco, and my doctor would never prescribe me oxy. I also use cannabis but it only helps me mentally. Keeps me wanting to live.
 
Are you registered with a medical mj card. Why I ask is pain management frown on this like that. Just curious.
 
TessaBella said:
Yes. Cymbalta and Lyrica. No help at all. I'm reading more and more about new studies that show that opioid pain meds do help with pain from nerve damage and diabetic nerve pain but, unfortunately, the articles I've read talk about testing patients with oxycodone, not norco, and my doctor would never prescribe me oxy. I also use cannabis but it only helps me mentally. Keeps me wanting to live.
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The pregabalin didn't help at all? At what dosage were you given and for how long did you try it?

To be honest, your Dr is right to be cautious with your original script. If you did decide to exceed your doses then you are at very real risk of respiratory depression and with you having been on them for so long your tolerance will be raised and you will be tempted to up your dose of your own accord.

Do you have access to pain management? In the UK, the pain management clinic would refer you for something like a nerve blocker.
 
Pain mgmt at Kaiser Permanente wanted to stop all of my current meds and put me on methadone. Pain specialist said that it has been shown to help with severe nerve pain. I said, no, and my doctor agreed with me. I researched methadone and the risks far outweighed any short term relief. I say short term because I belong to a group of people with transverse myelitis and some have tried it and they all say that it helped immensely for 3-6mos and then it didn't. Getting off of it was hard and the pain came back worse than before. The gabapentin must help somewhat because if I forget to take a dose, the electric burning, shocks, sparks, and spasms become even more horrific. I live with level 8 pain almost 24/7 and people say, you can't possibly live with pain like that and I say, you can if you don't want to die. That's how I live with it. So many people in my group get relief from oxy but my doctor says no.
 
TessaBella said:
I take norco 10s, 6 a day and klonopin.75mg at bedtime for the savage burning nerve pain from transverse myelitis, inflammation of the spinal cord. My pain is entirely under medicated for the unspeakable electric fire and my doctor recently reduced my klonopin from 1mg to. 75mg because he says that people are stopping breathing and dying in their sleep. All of a sudden?? I've been taking both for 15yrs with no problems. I'm forced to take as directed so no fun being had. If I take more, I run low before refill time. Please, you guys, have any of you heard of this horse shit about the dangers of this combo? Is there any validity to it?
Click to expand...
My chronic pain doctor will NOT prescribe my vicodin while I'm simultaneously prescribed my klonopin. I am forced to choose between one or the other. It sucks. But, I believe there is validity in the potential increased respiratory depression since they both act on the CNS and people ARE dying. They need to cover their asses. I'm sorry you're suffering.
 
My doctor changed my klonopin from 1mg to half a milligram. I've been taking both norco and klonopin for many years with no problems and I need both for my condition, transverse myelitis. The norco helps the constant burning and the klonopin stops the electric shocks, sparks, and spasms. I gotta have both.
 
Yeah - low doses of methadone work for many. 10mg BID would do more than Norco and NO euphoria. Just a level plasma level.

You won't need much 10mg BID would be more than enough. Methadone for pain comes as tiny white 5mg tablets so 2 of them twice daily might be the very ticket.

If methadone puts you off, rethink how you view opioids. Their is NO good opioid.

There are ways of catching a buzz even with those pitiful amounts, but you WILL pay for the buzz.
 
Benzos and opioids are generally a bad combo for the uninitiated but if you've been on that regiment for years, it sounds to me like your doctor is just caving to dea pressure to lower doses, which is basically criminal behavior because I don't think you pose any risk unless you took a ton of them at once. But you use this for severe pain and the alphabet soup is taking your medicine away. I would be aware that he could take more doses away, of either the Norco or the Klonopin.

It's really hard to find a doctor willing to adequately treat chronic pain, but if your doctor goes on the wayside maybe hunt for another one, someone who specializes in your condition they might be more amenable.

This is why the overdose epidemic exists.
 
That is why you absolutely must take your medicine as prescribed and not mix it with other drugs. So many people died because they sought an even stronger buzz by mixing. In MOST fatal ODs, polydrug intoxication is the true cause, but the US media just listed every case in which opioids were found.
 
sonicwhite said:
The DEA is cracking down on doctors. I can understand where they are coming from. But like you I get it. I'm no longer tempted with opiates and 6 Norco a day is not small. Have you tried other options like Lyrica or Gabapsntin?
Click to expand...
Yes, I take the max dose of gabapentin and baclofen for the electric spasms in my legs and feet. Only 2 in 5 million people have transverse myelitis so no one can understand this level of pain. Humans are not equipped to handle this electric fire 24/7. I'm lucky I have a compassionate doctor who continues to prescribe narcotic pain meds for me. My son just picked up 30mg MS Contin that my doc prescribed because the hydro 10s stopped working altogether. I'm hoping that the upgrade helps me. Feels like I've been set on fire below the waist and have lost a few layers of skin. Shit, I wish I could get high but I only get a 30 day supply. Dammit.
 
I think the upper limit for gaba is around 5600mg. You're already this?
 
The BNF lists 1600mg [TID[ for focal seizures. It does seem the UK uses gabapentin for quite a few things. Six different dose regimes for six different indications.

Strange though, The BNF states that gabapentin is a CNS depressant but doesn't caution about respiratory depression. So maybe the doctor is obeying the Hippocratic Oath. Primum Non Nocere (first do no harm),

Also, the only BNF-listed indication for prescribing clonazepam in adults is to treat myoclonus.

Is their some reason clonazepam is chosen?
 
So you're on 1800mg a day?. I'm pretty sure the standard max dose is 3600 but can be up to 5600 in special circumstances . Id imagine yours could be doubled if need be without issue .
I know some ppl on here say it potentiates opiates effects .not sure about that myself .is it something u notice with the oxys?
and yes to alsotapered GPS love to give it out for everything in the uk. It's a very abused drug by kids now due to the amount in circulation.
 
phall said:
So you're on 1800mg a day?. I'm pretty sure the standard max dose is 3600 but can be up to 5600 in special circumstances . Id imagine yours could be doubled if need be without issue .
I know some ppl on here say it potentiates opiates effects .not sure about that myself .is it something u notice with the oxys?
and yes to alsotapered GPS love to give it out for everything in the uk. It's a very abused drug by kids now due to the amount in circulation.
Click to expand...

It was pushed to make it a 'blockbuster' and our GPs struggle along on a £108,000 salary and are quite openly bribed by some pharma groups. Not cash, but a free 14 day 'seminar' in Bermuda. The 'seminar' consisting of two 1 hour presentations, genrally one on day three, the other on day 12.

An anonymous survey of GPs revealed that 0% had prescribed a medicine because they had been influenced by the makers, but 72% said they knew a GP who DID. Other studies confirmed the lie.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125177/
academic.oup.com

Influences on GPs’ decision to prescribe new drugs—the importance of who says what

Abstract. Objectives. The aim of this study was to understand the range of factors that influence GPs’ uptake of new drugsMethods. A total of 107 GPs selected p
academic.oup.com academic.oup.com

Just don't believe the BMJs own article... which conflates the facts but still does not deny it. Disingenuous but not downright lying.
 
AlsoTapered said:
The BNF lists 1600mg [TID[ for focal seizures. It does seem the UK uses gabapentin for quite a few things. Six different dose regimes for six different indications.

Strange though, The BNF states that gabapentin is a CNS depressant but doesn't caution about respiratory depression. So maybe the doctor is obeying the Hippocratic Oath. Primum Non Nocere (first do no harm),

Also, the only BNF-listed indication for prescribing clonazepam in adults is to treat myoclonus.

Is their some reason clonazepam is chosen?
Click to expand...
I've taken clonazepam for years for panic disorder and now it really helps the spasms in my legs and anxiety.
 
Why yes I have heard and experienced first hand that opioids and benzos can and does kill.
Please be safe,
J
 
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