Battle with cancer left me with an opiate addiction, or so i think...please help

[Kent.MatthewT]

Hello everybody,

This is my first time posting on bluelight. February 2010 I was diagnosed with cancer, being only 24 years old this was a huge shock to me and really altered my life. To make a long story short I had 6 tumors in my chest that caused a great deal of pain which I was given 2MG dilaudid IV every four hours for about two weeks. When I was released from the hospital i was given a script for basically unlimited dilaudid through this process. Chemotherapy shrunk the tumors to the point where it wasn't really painful and I would occasionally take a 2mg Dilaudid from time to time (nothing like the IV). I started to notice that things became more enjoyable and relaxing on dilaudid, I wouldn't get "high" but i would get that calm feeling like all the knots were taken from my spine and i had a nice calm buzz and i developed a habit. Knowing the dangers of opiate addiction and how much it would suck I have done everything within my power to keep my habit to 2mg orally when i wake up, and 2 mg orally around 10 PM this has been going on for 5 months. With my cancer treatment ending and looking successful, I wont be getting any more scripts soon...so my question is (and i know everyone is different when it comes to this) will my withdrawl be real bad at this dose, or should i not worry? (I have had days without taking them between scripts but since i was getting chemotherapy there wasnt really a time where i felt good so its hard to know if i was feeling withdrawal symptoms).....bottom line, what should i be expecting? thanks to anyone who can offer advice/support.

 

[pukingcells]

Your habit isnt huge and the length of time is short, so you will likely have minimal withdrawal. Nontheless, any withdrawal is uncomfortable, but in comparison to some, a cake walk. Be happy when it's over. It should only last 3 days maximum and should not incompacitate you prolly sleeplessness, and some rls and fatigue which may last a while.

I thought when used for pain as prescribed opiates generally are not that hard to come off.

 

[Help me please]

Hello everybody,

This is my first time posting on bluelight. February 2010 I was diagnosed with cancer, being only 24 years old this was a huge shock to me and really altered my life. To make a long story short I had 6 tumors in my chest that caused a great deal of pain which I was given 2MG dilaudid IV every four hours for about two weeks. When I was released from the hospital i was given a script for basically unlimited dilaudid through this process. Chemotherapy shrunk the tumors to the point where it wasn't really painful and I would occasionally take a 2mg Dilaudid from time to time (nothing like the IV). I started to notice that things became more enjoyable and relaxing on dilaudid, I wouldn't get "high" but i would get that calm feeling like all the knots were taken from my spine and i had a nice calm buzz and i developed a habit. Knowing the dangers of opiate addiction and how much it would suck I have done everything within my power to keep my habit to 2mg orally when i wake up, and 2 mg orally around 10 PM this has been going on for 5 months. With my cancer treatment ending and looking successful, I wont be getting any more scripts soon...so my question is (and i know everyone is different when it comes to this) will my withdrawl be real bad at this dose, or should i not worry? (I have had days without taking them between scripts but since i was getting chemotherapy there wasnt really a time where i felt good so its hard to know if i was feeling withdrawal symptoms).....bottom line, what should i be expecting? thanks to anyone who can offer advice/support.

Start here and pray you don't get all the symptoms. I have only ever been on doctor prescribed opiates and have tapered so low but cannot face another bout of full blown Wd again. Don't listen to people that try to tell you your "habit" was nothing compared to theirs. Any opiate addiction or dependance causes WD. Ask your doctor for clonidine patches which will help with the WD. The insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and anxiety are the worse symptoms. I just found a large lump under my armpit and if it's cancer I'm done. I'm too tired to fight anymore

Acute morphine and other opioid withdrawal proceeds through a number of stages. Other opioids differ in the intensity and length of each, and weak opioids and mixed agonist-antagonists may have acute withdrawal syndromes which do not reach the highest level. As commonly cited, they are:

Stage I: Six to fourteen hours after last dose: Drug craving, anxiety

Stage II: Fourteen to eighteen hours after last dose: Yawning, perspiration, lacrimation, crying, running nose, dysphoria, "yen sleep"

Stage III: Sixteen to twenty-four hours after last dose: Nose running like faucet and increase in other of the above, dilated pupils, piloerection (gooseflesh), muscle twitches, hot flashes, cold flashes, aching bones & muscles, loss of appetite and the beginning of intestinal cramping.

Stage IV: Twenty-four to thirty-six hours after last dose: Increase in all of the above including severe cramping and involuntary leg movements ("kicking the habit"), loose stool, insomnia, elevation of blood pressure, moderate elevation in body temperature, increase in frequency of breathing and tidal volume, increased pulse, restlessness, nausea

Stage V: Thirty-six to seventy-two hours after last dose: Increase in the above, fetal position, vomiting, free and frequent liquid diarrhoea which sometimes can accelerate the time of passage of food from mouth to out of system to an hour or less, involuntary urination and ejaculation which is often painful, saturation of bedding materials with bodily fluids, weight loss of two to five kilos per 24 hours, increased WBC and other blood changes.

Stage VI: After completion of above: Recovery of appetite ("the chucks"), and normal bowel function, beginning of transition to post-acute and chronic symptoms which are mainly psychological but which may also include increased sensitivity to pain, hypertension, colitis or other gastrointestinal afflictions related to motility, and problems with weight control in either direction.

Just found this re your drug:

The short length of action of hydromorphone and other metabolic factors mean that the abstinence syndrome (withdrawal) is brief but intense; a heavy and/or long-term user of hydromorphone opting or otherwise forced to quit "cold turkey" can expect a withdrawal syndrome as intense as that of morphine but much more severe in that it is compressed into a spike, which will peak in 14 to 21 hours and resolve in 36 to 72 hours, provided the user was not taking other longer-acting opioids, or have abnormalities in drug metabolism and/or liver or kidney function. All of the effects of hydromorphone and its attendant withdrawal syndrome can be significantly lengthened by such factors. Possible but less common is the opposite: Some patients require oral doses of hydromorphone as frequently as every 90 minutes, and the withdrawal syndrome would compress into an even more violent spike, which can peak in as little as 9 hours.