MrBaconHawk
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2017
- Messages
- 113
TLDR: I am giving an idea of my drug situation and 1) asking for any tips/advice and 2) sharing my little victory here, if you can call it that haha...
I have terrible sciatic pain from a herniated disc, I regularly take very high doses of multiple meds, including Suboxone, Lyrica, Cyclobenzaprine, I've taken Hydrocodone, then Oxycodone, Morphine, Ketamine, and they finally moved me to Suboxone which initially helped, when combined with Lyrica.
Well, on December 1st, I had emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder, they were very concerned cause we knew I had to get it out but because of the Suboxone, I wouldn't get ANY pain relief no matter what they did. They had hourly IV Fentanyl and Ondansetron for nausea, I went home and it's now been nearly 4 weeks... I have had nausea and vomiting nearly every day, spent my Birthday (Christmas day) puking while my wife's family hung out opening presents... I gotta tell ya, not being able to eat ANYTHING and just trying to very slowly sip water hoping I keep it down has not been pleasant by any means...
Then again, this is probably because of having no pain meds for a few days and already experiencing terrible withdrawls from stopping ALL those meds cold-turkey. Most people stop one med at a time and taper down from what I understand... Even with that the withdrawals can be rough, so it's safe to say my Pain Clinic was highly surprised I was able to stop cold-turkey and tough it out at home instead of getting admitted to a Recovery Clinic cause withdrawals from these meds can apparently be potentially life threatening, especially at the levels I was taking.
For those who want to know, here's what I was prescribed vs what I actually took.
Prescribed:
8mg Buprenorphine 3 times a day (FDA max recommended dose)
150mg Lyrica 3 times a day (50% over the FDA max recommended dose)
Taken for the last 1-2 years now
Actually taken:
450mg-900mg of Lyrica, well beyond where anyone should be taking
16mg-32mg buprenorphine once or twice a day, sometimes up to 96mg of Bupe which is ludicrously high, most people could OD with only 8mg, they typically start you at 0.075mg (75 micrograms), so I was taking up to 1000 times the starting dose in a few occasions, with very little effect... It didn't help my pain anymore so I just had to quit it. It sucks to be in pain but why take such ridiculous levels of drugs when they weren't helping me anymore?
I mainly want any tips/advice regarding the best way for me to get control of my health. I have been having extreme nausea, occasional diarrhea, constant and almost unbearable hot flashes, headaches, back pain, sciatic pain, extreme irritability (I had to set my daughter aside today to apologize for being so quick to anger the last few weeks and obviously feel terrible for it...) I've had 2 or 3 days where I didn't puke and for a decent number of hours I felt almost fine but only if I vaped a decent amount of THC, but I don't have access to any more at the moment and I'm pretty broke since I haven't been able to work for many months...
I feel like I'm doing all I can, and I'm really hoping I'm at the tail end of this. About 5 days in I felt good enough I thought I could try taking the Suboxone and Lyrica again but realized it just kept resetting the time of withdrawals, so I had no choice but to stop cold turkey and I don't want to start again if I'm gonna feel like this. I sip on water or try to nibble on bland stuff, once in a while I can eat half a banana or half a cup of juice/fruit smoothie to combat the hot flashes. Are there other things I can do? I'm stuck in 85 degree "winter" weather in Hawaii and the only time I get complete calmness from hot flashes is in a cold shower. The moment I step out, I'm on and off with the heat again.
My other question is if anyone thinks I should go back to taking Lyrica at a normal dose or just at night to help me sleep, cause I'm hardly sleeping a couple hours a day from the hot flashes, nausea, and TONS of leg pains (imagine sciatic pain from moving around, but you can't stop moving your legs cause of "Restless Leg Syndrome" type of withdrawal symptoms from the meds I stopped, basically a Catch 22 of nerve pain). If I take Lyrica, it could cause me to go through withdrawals all over again, but it could be that only Suboxone is causing it... I just need some sleep but I don't want to go back to taking meds just to delay the discomfort.
For good news, I guess this means I'm sober for now (unless I decide I have to use Lyrica again, or THC) and I might be able to stop taking Testosterone injections (cause all the opioids fucked with my hormones and I had essentially no Testosterone at all). With THC, I know all my symptoms (potentially not the hot flashes though) can be well-managed with it, but should I really go back to using a different substance? Do I tough it out and hope I can slowly improve my back without the pain reduction? I guess I'm just curious if you guys would personally go to Lyrica or THC for that pain relief or if you think that's counter-productive.
I have terrible sciatic pain from a herniated disc, I regularly take very high doses of multiple meds, including Suboxone, Lyrica, Cyclobenzaprine, I've taken Hydrocodone, then Oxycodone, Morphine, Ketamine, and they finally moved me to Suboxone which initially helped, when combined with Lyrica.
Well, on December 1st, I had emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder, they were very concerned cause we knew I had to get it out but because of the Suboxone, I wouldn't get ANY pain relief no matter what they did. They had hourly IV Fentanyl and Ondansetron for nausea, I went home and it's now been nearly 4 weeks... I have had nausea and vomiting nearly every day, spent my Birthday (Christmas day) puking while my wife's family hung out opening presents... I gotta tell ya, not being able to eat ANYTHING and just trying to very slowly sip water hoping I keep it down has not been pleasant by any means...
Then again, this is probably because of having no pain meds for a few days and already experiencing terrible withdrawls from stopping ALL those meds cold-turkey. Most people stop one med at a time and taper down from what I understand... Even with that the withdrawals can be rough, so it's safe to say my Pain Clinic was highly surprised I was able to stop cold-turkey and tough it out at home instead of getting admitted to a Recovery Clinic cause withdrawals from these meds can apparently be potentially life threatening, especially at the levels I was taking.
For those who want to know, here's what I was prescribed vs what I actually took.
Prescribed:
8mg Buprenorphine 3 times a day (FDA max recommended dose)
150mg Lyrica 3 times a day (50% over the FDA max recommended dose)
Taken for the last 1-2 years now
Actually taken:
450mg-900mg of Lyrica, well beyond where anyone should be taking
16mg-32mg buprenorphine once or twice a day, sometimes up to 96mg of Bupe which is ludicrously high, most people could OD with only 8mg, they typically start you at 0.075mg (75 micrograms), so I was taking up to 1000 times the starting dose in a few occasions, with very little effect... It didn't help my pain anymore so I just had to quit it. It sucks to be in pain but why take such ridiculous levels of drugs when they weren't helping me anymore?
I mainly want any tips/advice regarding the best way for me to get control of my health. I have been having extreme nausea, occasional diarrhea, constant and almost unbearable hot flashes, headaches, back pain, sciatic pain, extreme irritability (I had to set my daughter aside today to apologize for being so quick to anger the last few weeks and obviously feel terrible for it...) I've had 2 or 3 days where I didn't puke and for a decent number of hours I felt almost fine but only if I vaped a decent amount of THC, but I don't have access to any more at the moment and I'm pretty broke since I haven't been able to work for many months...
I feel like I'm doing all I can, and I'm really hoping I'm at the tail end of this. About 5 days in I felt good enough I thought I could try taking the Suboxone and Lyrica again but realized it just kept resetting the time of withdrawals, so I had no choice but to stop cold turkey and I don't want to start again if I'm gonna feel like this. I sip on water or try to nibble on bland stuff, once in a while I can eat half a banana or half a cup of juice/fruit smoothie to combat the hot flashes. Are there other things I can do? I'm stuck in 85 degree "winter" weather in Hawaii and the only time I get complete calmness from hot flashes is in a cold shower. The moment I step out, I'm on and off with the heat again.
My other question is if anyone thinks I should go back to taking Lyrica at a normal dose or just at night to help me sleep, cause I'm hardly sleeping a couple hours a day from the hot flashes, nausea, and TONS of leg pains (imagine sciatic pain from moving around, but you can't stop moving your legs cause of "Restless Leg Syndrome" type of withdrawal symptoms from the meds I stopped, basically a Catch 22 of nerve pain). If I take Lyrica, it could cause me to go through withdrawals all over again, but it could be that only Suboxone is causing it... I just need some sleep but I don't want to go back to taking meds just to delay the discomfort.
For good news, I guess this means I'm sober for now (unless I decide I have to use Lyrica again, or THC) and I might be able to stop taking Testosterone injections (cause all the opioids fucked with my hormones and I had essentially no Testosterone at all). With THC, I know all my symptoms (potentially not the hot flashes though) can be well-managed with it, but should I really go back to using a different substance? Do I tough it out and hope I can slowly improve my back without the pain reduction? I guess I'm just curious if you guys would personally go to Lyrica or THC for that pain relief or if you think that's counter-productive.