Opioids Panic attack on Oxy???? wtf?

[chrisalt]

So here is my story and im just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. First off i must say i have really bad PTSD, GAD and panic attacks from my fucked up life. Anyways here is my story..

I have pain issues and I got prescribed oxy again. I stopped taking it the first time because i thought i was allergic. Turns out im just being a bitch and having more panic attacks. I know this now because I went to the ER breathing really hard and fast, numb hands, face numb, chest hurting etc after taking 10 mgs of oxy. They took my heart rate, oxygen levels etc and told me i was just having a panic attack. This was highly embarassing. Has happened to anyone before on opioids? all of my past drugs use was with stims and i have been clean for 4.5 years besides alcohol/weed. I guess i was not prepared for what the power of opioids was....

Has anyone gotten panic attacks from opioids before????

 

[xxxyyy]

frankly, no. and this is the first time i hear of these substances causing panic attacks. i too suffer from a pretty pronounced anxiety disorder, replete with sometimes vicious panic attacks, and back when i had access to it i would take oxycodone in lieu of a benzodiazepine when i had one. worked like a charm every time.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Yep, it's happened to me. Not specifically with oxy but with opioids. For me I think it was caused by subconscious anxiety about using, like I would wonder if I was going to OD or if the drug was mixed with something that could harm me, etc. Then when you start feeling the drug kick in, your brain panics, thinking the normal effects of the drug are a sign of something dangerous.

This seems to happen much more frequently when someone has been clean from drugs for a long time and has a history of panic attacks.

Were you just wondering if this has happened to other people, or are you looking for ways to reduce the likelihood of panic attacks if you use again in the future?

 

[chrisalt]

Thank you so much for your reply.. thats was i was starting to think it was. I DO have anxiety about using/ is it going to harm me etc....and i have been clean from anything hard. I would love to know how to stop this from happening.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

thats what I thought. fuck my life lol

Are you replying to me or to xxxyyy?

 

[Fire&Water]

So here is my story and im just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. First off i must say i have really bad PTSD, GAD and panic attacks from my fucked up life. Anyways here is my story..

I have pain issues and I got prescribed oxy again. I stopped taking it the first time because i thought i was allergic. Turns out im just being a bitch and having more panic attacks. I know this now because I went to the ER breathing really hard and fast, numb hands, face numb, chest hurting etc after taking 10 mgs of oxy. They took my heart rate, oxygen levels etc and told me i was just having a panic attack. This was highly embarassing. Has happened to anyone before on opioids? all of my past drugs use was with stims and i have been clean for 4.5 years besides alcohol/weed. I guess i was not prepared for what the power of opioids was....

Has anyone gotten panic attacks from opioids before????

Only the complete opposite...sorry

 

[chrisalt]

sry dancer i posted that right b4 i saw ur reply, id kill for some info how to avoid this shit.

 

[tricomb]

Listen, if you're getting bad psychological reactions to an opioid narcotic like oxycodone, and are a legitimate pain patient like I am, I'd call your pain clinic and doctor RIGHT NOW and let them know of ALL adverse effects you have to the medication.

This is very important, and even more important is that you DO NOT attempt to make oxycodone more tolerable by adding in anti-anxiety medication, that is the stupidest thing that I've seen doctors do.

They can switch you to another medication, you should not be having these symptoms at 10mg. Oxycodone is probably the worst pain killer of it's category (moderate-severe pain, for example codeine and hydrocodone are mostly for minor-moderate pain), I fucking hate it, I'm prescribed it too and it's nowhere near as good an analgesic compared to other available options.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Thank you so much for your reply.. thats was i was starting to think it was. I DO have anxiety about using/ is it going to harm me etc....and i have been clean from anything hard. I would love to know how to stop this from happening.

First off, are you positive that you don't have any sort of allergy or sensitivity to Oxy?

The best way to stop it from happening, of course, is to not do drugs I would strongly advise you to stay away from opioids unless you absolutely need them for pain and are only going to take them exactly as prescribed, the risk of addiction is not worth the short-term rewards. But I am providing the below advice in case you are going to do them regardless.

The things I have found helpful are mainly things that can help with any panic attack, like recognizing it is just a panic attack and mentally talking yourself out of it. Once you've had a panic attack from a particular drug it is common for it to happen again, because your brain has been conditioned to expect that reaction when you take that drug. So the most important thing is to be able to talk yourself out of a panic attack as soon as it begins, if one does happen. You can also do things to reassure your mind beforehand. Start with a very very tiny amount that you know has absolutely no chance of killing you and gradually titrate up by taking a tiny bit more the next time and so on. This will also help you gradually get used to the drug's effects and be able to recognize them for what they are. What ROA are you using to take the oxy by the way? That can play a big role too, like snorting or injecting a drug can make it come on much faster and therefore be more likely to trigger a panic attack. In addition, switching ROAs may help in another way, because your brain may not have the same conditioning to expect a panic attack reaction from, say, oral use, if the previous way you took it was nasal.

Anxiety and guilt about using drugs, especially when you have been clean for a long time and aren't caught in the throes of addiction, can definitely play a big role too.


EDIT: I wrote this post under the assumption that you were using the Oxy recreationally. If you are presrcibed it legitimately for pain and are using it solely as prescribed then I would strongly recommend talking to your doctor about this and switching to a different pain med.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

even more important is that you attempt to make oxycodone more tolerable by adding in anti-anxiety medication, that is the stupidest thing that I've seen doctors do.

I'm confused, did you mean to say "even more important is that you don't attempt to make oxycodone more tolerable by adding in anti-anxiety medication"? If not, why would it be stupid if it's also important, or what did you mean is the stupidest thing doctors do?

 

[tricomb]

I typo'd hah, I meant to say important that they DO NOT add anti-anxiety meds, the context should have made that clear but a epic typo on my part.

I said it's stupid because I've seen doctors add benzodiazepines to make opioid medication more tolerable. A blatant WTF moment then immediate facepalm.

 

[80mg]

Happnd to me.

 

[ErgicMergic]

Opiates tend to cause anxiety in some people, especially stimulating, thebaine derived ones like Oxycodone. Opioids are a terrible choice for self-medicating anxiety, by the way, due to the large amount of dopamine they release, which breaks down in to Norepinephrine, the NT responsible for causing panic attacks.

 

[pbuilder]

Maybe cause oxycodone is a thebaine derivative, which has some stimulant like properties?

How do you react to stims usually?

 

[chrisalt]

First off, are you positive that you don't have any sort of allergy or sensitivity to Oxy?

The best way to stop it from happening, of course, is to not do drugs I would strongly advise you to stay away from opioids unless you absolutely need them for pain and are only going to take them exactly as prescribed, the risk of addiction is not worth the short-term rewards. But I am providing the below advice in case you are going to do them regardless.

The things I have found helpful are mainly things that can help with any panic attack, like recognizing it is just a panic attack and mentally talking yourself out of it. Once you've had a panic attack from a particular drug it is common for it to happen again, because your brain has been conditioned to expect that reaction when you take that drug. So the most important thing is to be able to talk yourself out of a panic attack as soon as it begins, if one does happen. You can also do things to reassure your mind beforehand. Start with a very very tiny amount that you know has absolutely no chance of killing you and gradually titrate up by taking a tiny bit more the next time and so on. This will also help you gradually get used to the drug's effects and be able to recognize them for what they are. What ROA are you using to take the oxy by the way? That can play a big role too, like snorting or injecting a drug can make it come on much faster and therefore be more likely to trigger a panic attack. In addition, switching ROAs may help in another way, because your brain may not have the same conditioning to expect a panic attack reaction from, say, oral use, if the previous way you took it was nasal.

Anxiety and guilt about using drugs, especially when you have been clean for a long time and aren't caught in the throes of addiction, can definitely play a big role too.


EDIT: I wrote this post under the assumption that you were using the Oxy recreationally. If you are presrcibed it legitimately for pain and are using it solely as prescribed then I would strongly recommend talking to your doctor about this and switching to a different pain med.

I take it for legit knee and back problems and only my ROA is always oral. I don't wanna fuck around with these and end up on H. Also if i switch to say hydrocodone could it possibly not make me freak out?

 

[chrisalt]

Maybe cause oxycodone is a thebaine derivative, which has some stimulant like properties?

How do you react to stims usually?

I have not done stims in about 4-5 years. I used to do about 10-15 pills of E a week. I did this for about 4 years. Stupid as fuck i know... Thats very interesting about the stimulating propertise bit. I never thought of that. Im gonna switch to another opioid and see what happens. Come to think of it. After my knee surgeries i was taking hydromorphone and never had this problem.

 

[ErgicMergic]

Morphine based medications are more sedating than codeine based ones, and the hydroxyl group versions (oxynone) tend to be more stimulating than the hydronone medications, so oxycodone is pretty much as stimulating as it gets as far as poppy-based opiates go other than buprenorphine, which is also thebaine derived.

Also, being in pain prevents a high from narcotics if dosed very conservatively. Legitimate pain patients don't get high off their meds at all if they keep the dosages conservatively low and titrated very slowly upwards, with an oral ROA only. Same concept as not getting high and tweaked with amphetamines if you have legitimate ADD, not getting slow and stupid with benzos if you have anxiety, etc. You're just adjusting a brain chemistry to normal; for example, a brain that's lost its proper levels of inhibitory mechanism (GABA) through anxiety or panic is speeding out of control, and 0.25mg might raise GABA (inhibitory mechanism) just enough to bring it to normal, whereas 2mg will raise GABA too much, getting even non-dependent, legitimately anxious people "sloppy drunk." It's when you overshoot the intended "normal" levels of neurotransmitters and abuse the meds that a high shows up, along with more noticeable side effects of the high, like anxiety from oxycodone.

I believe that your pain is legit, but maybe you are unknowingly on too high of a dosage? Once you are dependent on a high dosage, then you will get rebound pain if you try to go back down to the proper dosage, making you think that it's from the damaged knee and back. The more opioids you put in to your body, the more mu opioid receptors are created, taking more and more opioids to fill in those new receptors to not get sick, not feel pain, etc. Opioids are insidious like this, they trick your body so deceptively that you will never tell the difference.

 

[chrisalt]

Morphine based medications are more sedating than codeine based ones, and the hydroxyl group versions (oxynone) tend to be more stimulating than the hydronone medications, so oxycodone is pretty much as stimulating as it gets as far as poppy-based opiates go other than buprenorphine, which is also thebaine derived.

Also, being in pain prevents a high from narcotics if dosed very conservatively. Legitimate pain patients don't get high off their meds at all if they keep the dosages conservatively low and titrated very slowly upwards, with an oral ROA only. Same concept as not getting high and tweaked with amphetamines if you have legitimate ADD, not getting slow and stupid with benzos if you have anxiety, etc. You're just adjusting a brain chemistry to normal; for example, a brain that's lost its proper levels of inhibitory mechanism (GABA) through anxiety or panic is speeding out of control, and 0.25mg might raise GABA (inhibitory mechanism) just enough to bring it to normal, whereas 2mg will raise GABA too much, getting even non-dependent, legitimately anxious people "sloppy drunk." It's when you overshoot the intended "normal" levels of neurotransmitters and abuse the meds that a high shows up, along with more noticeable side effects of the high, like anxiety from oxycodone.

I believe that your pain is legit, but maybe you are unknowingly on too high of a dosage? Once you are dependent on a high dosage, then you will get rebound pain if you try to go back down to the proper dosage, making you think that it's from the damaged knee and back. The more opioids you put in to your body, the more mu opioid receptors are created, taking more and more opioids to fill in those new receptors to not get sick, not feel pain, etc. Opioids are insidious like this, they trick your body so deceptively that you will never tell the difference.

I dont think my dose is to high though at 5 mg. I am opioid naive but i am a decent sized guy at 6'3 200lbs

 

[ErgicMergic]

At 6'0 and 195 lb, 5-10mg of oxycodone (7.5-15 mg of hydrocodone) would have definitely got me high with knee and back pain, I just had broken ribs (which is excruciatingly painful, feels like getting stabbed with each breath) when I was opioid naive, so I didn't get high or get any side effects from 10-20mg hydro TID, my prescribed dosage. When the ribs healed up, 20mg hydro definitely got me high, same with 15mg, even with a opioid tolerance (30-60mg hydro daily for 1.5 months). The ribs were fine at 1.5 months but my back, neck, and knee pain were worse than ever, which gives an anecdote of what I was mentioning above.

 

[putthefuinfun]

Just my opinion, but it could have been because you psyched yourself out before taking the drug.I suffer from anxiety too. I remember the first time i took a xanax of all things, my HR and RR dropped abit and found it hard to breathe which caused me to freak out. Which is the exact opposite the drug is intended to do. Opioids actually drop your RR and cause respiratory depression even in the smalles doses depending on how often you use them. Opioids should really give you a nice calming euphoric experience. I have experience palpitations from opioids before though, in higher doses that is. But if you reassure yourself that the drug is doing what it is meant to do, you'll get past that mental block and let you enjoy the greatness the drug has to offer just lay back and enjoy brotha.