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Opioids Withdrawal After 7-8 Weeks on Opioids

AmysteriousmAn said:
Maybe I was direct but that's only CU's I've seen this a million times IRL I'm not trolling I just don't want the op to think he's in the clear when he ain't and ends up making his situation 100 times worse I will be more quiet from now on as I seen to have overstep the mark..
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do that.༼ ༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ༽
 
Well, I am on day 29 of the withdrawal of those opioids I was just on 7-8 weeks. After day 17 or so I thought my withdrawal was coming to an end, but it was not. I could not stand the withdrawal symptoms anymore and went on .1 of Clonidine that my doctor recommended if I wanted it. We added an extra 1/4 a few days later. The first two days it was wonderful and took away almost all of the withdrawal symptoms. However, after that, it was like I was not taking anything. After 12 days on it, and realizing it was making me sick, I started to get hypotension and also had nervousness from it. I was extremely dizzy, lightheaded, felt like I was going to faint all the time, and incredibly weak. My doctor cut my dose in half and then the next day another half. I think getting sick from the side effects from the Clonidine have been almost worse than the first 17 days of withdrawal. At one point, my blood pressure went down to 88!!! My dose was divided up into two doses when I started taking it, so it will be Sunday for the larger part of the dose and Monday before the rest of that medication is out of my body. In case you do not know, hypotension can make you feel very very ill. The symptoms are similar to what you get with withdrawal. Just wanted to let people know that not everyone can benefit from Clonidine and it can make you very ill with life threatening side effects. The only thing it did for me was kept my blood pressure low when it started rising and releasing adrenal hormones, which also make you feel very ill if you are not taking something to treat that. I sure hope when Monday comes, my withdrawal has ended and I feel well again. This has been a f***ing nightmare!!!!!

Well, very late this afternoon, I realized the Benadryl I had been taking to sleep at night, has been causing a lot of the same side effects as the Clonidine that I stopped a few days ago. I can hardly believe that, but I guess I should not be surprised, as they are both anti-cholinergics. I read up on the rarer side effects of Benadryl and could not believe what I read. I had a whole lot of them. Who knows how that medication was interacting with the Clonidine. The good thing is I will not be taking any Benadryl again for sleep. I should not be having any problems with that after it gets out of my system. I already feel better cause 1/2 of it is already out. Going to probably take 1-3 days total. So, while I might have problems tonight with sleep, it should get better and better as the next few days go by. Geez!!!!
 
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Hi Everyone,

An update. Well, my withdrawal took 30 days total from Tramadol, which I did CT. I finally caved in and took the Clonidine on about day 17 and it worked really well for 2 days, then I got hypotension and nervousness and my BP bottomed out. I am lucky I caught it quickly. At one point it was down to 88. I was not on the Clonidine very long 12 days and was taking about .125 mgs. Because of my serious low blood pressure, the doctor had to have me come off it over just two days. The .1 was one day and the .025 was the next. Like the opioid, I have had withdrawal symptoms now for 13 days from that medication. It just does not quit. Anyway, I have read most everything on it and it should not be much longer - maybe one more day. But, I will believe that when I see it.
 
Hi Toothpastedog,

Well, I will let you know in a few days. This should be the last day of the awful clonidine reaction and withdrawal. Unfortunately, from all the stress of this situation, first with the opioids and then the clonidine, I had an activation of my oral herpes virus that started Friday, but I did not realize it was a prodrome (the symptoms you get before the actual outbreak), as they often do not present exactly the same way when they start. And, I felt bad anyway, so was not on my radar. I realized Saturday what was going on and started the 24 hour antiviral loading, so I did not catch it as soon as I usually do. As a result, it did not clear up in 24 hours like it usually does, probably cause I was just too stressed, I was too late starting the antivirals or both. So, while I did not get a full-blown outbreak, the virus has been active for the last 5 days and it makes me feel sick and my mouth sore. I took a few smaller doses of the antiviral on two different days since and I hope I will be ok from that now. Now that I am a senior citizen, I do not tolerate drugs at all anymore. So, the antivirals make me sick when I take them. But, all that is another story, lol. Thank you so much for asking how I was doing. It was really nice of you to do that. I have lots of friends, but no S.O., so this has been a very lonely experience. Glad I have a good therapist and a really good internist.
 
Sheesh, that sounds pretty uncomfortable. I already struggle after using drugs like propranolol and clonidine with rebound hypertension after I’ve gotten used to taking them daily. It’s reallt scary actually. The doctor always forgets to mention the hypertension issues with these meds.

And I do hear you in the loneliness front. That has been the single most challenging aspect for me in recovery. How have you been coping with it?

Even though I too have quite a few friends now, and am held to high esteem in my communities IRL, I struggle to find the kind of relationships (whether romantic or otherwise) where have the oppertunities to cultivate the kind of intimacy my heart desires. I’m not even talking about sex stuff, merely someone/people who feel comfortable with their bodies around me. Iono, I’m a very touch oriented kind of person. It is crazy how even just after thirty second of skin on skin contact with someone oxytocin is produced by the body. There is just no substitute for that kind of thing.

Loneliness can be really hard. Any meaningful connections help a lot with it, like when I’m able to feel comfortable being transparent and authentic with someone IRL, but there is something special about touch. I need to find someone who likes getting massages or something. Iono might come off as creepy, but I’ve gotten pretty good with the boundaries these days. Sometimes it just feels like I’m waiting to meet more people on a similar waylength. Sigh...

Connection is the opposite of addiction, after all.
 
Hi Toothpastedog,

Well, my six weeks has been very hard and there are no words to describe what I went through, but I am sure it is nothing compared to a lot of the people on this site who are addicted to, or recovering from, drug addiction. I am not in recovery, but we all struggle with surrounding ourselves in life with good people. My situation was a one time situation, and I was never addicted to the Tramadol I took for my kidney infection for the 7 weeks. And, unfortunately, the Clonidine I took to help with withdrawal symptoms, namely the hypertension, made me incredibly sick and caused serious hypotension. And, even thought I was only on that for 13 days, I had a two week withdrawal from that. It was a f***ing nightmare. I am a very strong person, and I just handled it. However, I was seeing my therapist at least weekly or twice a week which helped. But, frankly, I was so sick most of the time I did not want to talk with anyone. If I had done drugs in my life and had been addicted at any time, I am sure that getting clean and being in recovery would be extremely difficult to do. My heart goes out to you and what you have gone through getting into recovery, since I am assuming by things you said that you were addicted to something. Getting into good relationships is hard when you have had that kind of an issue in your life. Hey, life is hard enough without ever being addicted.

Yesterday, I said I was lucky cause I have lots of friends, but no S.O. And, while I would like one, I have a full life that makes me happy and I am able to not dwell on the negative. I do try and meet men online, but I can't say that has been very successful. My main sources of friends are people I have met at my athletic club over the last 30 years. I also have a few other friends that I have had since childhood and have met others through them. If you are a member of a health club, try and go at the same time each day, preferably in the early a.m., before work if you work, and get to know the people who work out when you do and start to form a group. We have a group of about 30 people who are all ages and we all interact each morning. They are not always all there each day, but on any given morning, we have about 10-12. We sit down and chat after we all work out. I have always gone early, cause I used to work. I am now retired, but I still go early cause I know everyone and they come too. Some are still working and we have added to our group over the years. These relationships are pretty close, some more than others. So, if you are looking for a way to make new friends, you might want to try this. It just might fill your needs for many things in your life.

As far as touch, I know what you mean. Touch is very important in life and I miss that as well from a significant other. Luckily, I have had some boyfriends the last few years who have helped with the sexual aspect of life, etc. And, you are right, touch does not have to be sexual to be effective, so that is good.

Feel free to contact me anytime on here and talk with me. I am real and very transparent and try to cultivate relationships in my life that also feel those things are important. Anything less, I am really not interested in.
 
It’s good to have you on BL Sam. And yes, I had severe opioid use disorder for about a decade, and have been in recovery for about four years. Actually I’d say I got into recovery like 7 years ago, but it seems to have finally stuck four years ago. Ce la vie.

Clubs and social groups are great. I’m into the secular mindfulness community where I live, and they have been a large part of my support based in recovery (and life).

I have come to lots dating via online. Iono, too many negative experiences. I decided to just wait for the right person while I continue developing personally and professionally. I feel like sooner or later, someone will decide, “hey, I kinda like that guy,” and go from there. I don’t think I’ve ever had a positive experience going out there and searching for love. I’d rather love myself and attract the right kind of person via that. Plus loving oneself isn’t easy, especially regarding addiction, so it’s a fruitful adventure regardless.

Perhaps one day I’ll try internet dating again, but not anytime soon. I actually think I’m supposed to be celibate for the next three years as I complete my graduate training, or that’s what the Buddhist order who owns the school I’m going to wants, but we will have to see whether that actually happens or not. I’m not actually a Budhist or a monk or anything, so... I think I’m allowed to get laid ;)
 
Hi ToothpasteDog,

Thanks for the complement and sharing your history. You seem like you are certainly on the right track now. You should be VERY proud of yourself!!! Sounds like your social circle is helpful to you. I am glad to hear that you have one. I did not know when I read your last post if you were a part of any, so I wanted to give you a suggestion for getting involved easily.

I hear ya, about the dating sites. I go on and off of them, but have not had good luck there, too many assholes and scammers. I can spot the scammers almost immediately, which is good. I guess cause they are basically criminals, they are not very smart and do a lot of dumb things just in their profiles that give them away, lol. I am also very selective on who I go out with. I don't go out just to go out. I don't need that. From my experience, I could go out every night of the week, but with a bunch of people I would not give houseroom to. So, if I never find anyone, that will just have to that way. It is hard to meet people these days as potential S.O.s, but I would prefer to meet people though life like you. But, I guess I am always hopeful that one of these times I will meet a good person online. Actually, I have been corresponding for a month with a guy who lives an hour from me. We have not met yet and I kind of like that we are just really getting to know one another. We have both been sick recently, and I think that is why we have not talked about meeting. What is really interesting about him is that he went through architecture school at the University of Michigan and my dad was a professor there when he went through and would have had him for some of his required classes. Small world. I also have another man on hold that I also met online since I was too sick to meet and told him I would contact him again when I was well. I think he was skeptical, but he said ok. I told him he needed to trust that I was doing what was best for me and that I would get back to him.

Are you going through the Buddhist training? I read a book years ago about that. It was fascinating. It was written by a woman that went through the whole thing. She was a great writer and it was very funny much of the time. I wish I could remember the name of it, you might enjoy reading it. As far as getting laid, that is good for you and glad you are not prohibited from doing that, lol.

What do you do for a living, since I assume you are probably working.
 
Was it Diana Winston or Martine Batchelor or something? There are lots of women among my community, so it really be any number of people :)

After training for three years at the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA (and hopefully the opportunity to continue with them) I got into a master of divinity in Buddhist chaplaincy program do I could continue my personal-professional development and study Buddhist psychology. Basically I’ll end up as a healthcare chaplain. Never even new about the field a few years ago, but learning about it and meeting some inter-spiritual chaplains who have become sort of role models, I just knew I’d love that profession. It isn’t always easy with the whole religion thing, but the work I absolutely love.

At some point I’ll decide whether to go the MFT, LCSW, PsyD, or substance use counselor to further specialize in what I’m interested in. But that will be further down the road. Gotta finish the programs I’m in first ;)

What kind of work do you do? What do you like doing? Passions, hobbies, etc? Those are all so important in recovery.

And btw, it looked like you mentioned you weren’t in recovery. Why do you say this? Seems like you’re getting into it to.
 
Hi Toothpastedog,

I don't think any of those names are familiar. I will see if I can find the book somewhere. It was not a big book, one of those skinny paperbacks.

It sounds like you really like what you are doing, and you have longer range goals for yourself that you are passionate about. All that is really good.

Now, I will say this just one more time, lol. I am not an addict, was never an addict and will never be an addict. I took Tramadol for a kidney infection for 7 weeks and when I stopped it, I went through 30 days of withdrawal when I stopped it cold turkey. I had no idea I would have any withdrawal from it when I stopped it. I am almost 70 years old and for some reason my body got tolerant to the drug. I never craved the drug and never raised the small dose I was on. I was sick with some other things for 17 months before I went on this drug for the kidney infection. My PCP thinks my age and the fact that I had been sick for so long, contributed to what happened to me with the Tramadol.

When I was working I was a psychotherapist in private practice. I treated adults in individual psychotherapy for everything, but mostly for relationship issues. My passions are anything medical, and I help a lot of people with their medical issues, cause a lot of people do not have a clue about anything medical and the medical profession does not always spend enough time with their patients to get to the bottom of what is wrong with them. I also enjoy investing and following the stock market. Since I divorced 7 years ago, I have traveled the world, and now that I am getting better after being sick for 20 months, I will continue with that until I cannot do that anymore, lol.
 
SamanthaB said:
Now, I will say this just one more time, lol. I am not an addict, was never an addict and will never be an addict. I took Tramadol for a kidney infection for 7 weeks and when I stopped it, I went through 30 days of withdrawal when I stopped it cold turkey. I had no idea I would have any withdrawal from it when I stopped it. I am almost 70 years old and for some reason my body got tolerant to the drug. I never craved the drug and never raised the small dose I was on. I was sick with some other things for 17 months before I went on this drug for the kidney infection. My PCP thinks my age and the fact that I had been sick for so long, contributed to what happened to me with the Tramadol.
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Occasionally people get unusual/unexpected results when stopping opioids. Someone could have a relatively horrible experience even after a short duration of use with low doses and every once in a while you hear from someone who can't believe how lucky they got when they had (for whatever reason) 'basically no withdrawals' when they stop after years of high dose use. These extreme things are quite rare though.

Also, the thing with Tramadol is that it's basically two drugs in one pill, it has various other effects besides what a more conventional opioid would do.
 
Hi FnX,

I appreciate your input. I guess I was one of those people who got unusual/unexpected results when I stopped the opioids. I did not know that Tramadol is basically two drugs in one pill. I did know it was a hybrid of some sort, but not until later. And, it certainly had other various effects besides what a more conventional opioid would have for me. Between the Tramadol and the Clonidine, the effects of these two drugs have not completely gotten out of my system yet. PCP said it is going to take awhile to get back to normal, whatever that is, lol.
 
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