Opioids PTSD from precipitated withdrawal/opioid antagonists (Narcan, naloxone, naltrexone)

[socio]

Anyone else have this happen (or any other health/psych problem)? Yes, I'm eternally grateful to the doc's for saving my life (multiple times) by injecting me full of naltrexone or naloxone after opiod ODs... but it seems that massive injections of these things, especially when sustained for hours, has dangers of its own.

If it's happened to you, then you know that there is probably nothing else as horrible (it is to ordinary withdrawal what a severed pinkie is to a papercut). Hours of involuntary convulsions, delerium, projectile expulsion of all bodily fluids simultaneously...

One time when I woke up in the process I actually thought I had been captured by extraterrestrials (I was having visual hallucinations, could hear and communicate with the people around me, but I couldn't see them). Another time, in my delerium, I came to believe that I had been captured by an enemy militia and that I must've been gutshot and was now being tortured... (I don't have any kind of delusional mental disorders or anything...just severe withdrawal.)

[Edit: Another issue with this: on more than one occasion, in that state, I tried to escape from and fight back against my captors (not realizing they were doctors and I was in a hospital). Sometimes it took me a couple hours to figure it out...fortunately I was too weak/convulsive to hurt anyone, and they were able to restrain/sedate/anaesthetize me..=

I seriously feel as I have had legitimate PTSD from being narcan'ed. Like flashbacks, including olfactory and tactile sensations, re-experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms... panic attacks, and a severe permanent aversion to hospitals (I'd literally rather be in jail than a hospital now). It's been a few years, and things are much better than in the weeks following each event.

Not blaming the doc's or anything. After all, I obviously kept ODing and they kept saving me. Just wondered: Anyone else? And, doesn't it seem dangerous to overdo it (they don't have to completely detox you, but sometimes they go for it anyway)?

 

[memphiseve]

my PTSD started when my mum abandoned me when I was 14

 

[socio]

my PTSD started when my mum abandoned me when I was 14

Well -- this definitely wasn't the START of my ptsd... That happened when I didn't get picked for kickball. Just one more layer.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

It sounds like you have PTSD from near-death experiences related to opiate overdose(s). Naloxone is what kept you from dying during one of these experiences, though I understand having naloxone injected into you is also a very uncomfortable experience as well.

Have you been diagnosed as having PTSD?

 

[Surrealist-]

No drug will cause PTSD but I'm sure the awful experience of withdrawal they can cause will severely frighten you.

Try to organize this though. Is it the hospitals you are afraid of? Is it the doctors? The drugs? The withdrawals? The drug abuse/overdoses?

They're all related to you but some of them are triggers and one of them is the cause. If it's causing distress in your every day life then get some help in trying to figure out the above and trust me, you'll be better.

I have PTSD/DID and one of the traumas was a recurring thing in hospitals (not exactly the same as you) and it did cause issues for me. Obviously I was much more avoidant of the place. I was aggressive and violent versus submissive and afraid. I was switching. My mind was doing all it could to protect me from hospitals.

But I dealt with it and now I can walk in the places, go to the ER if I break a bone, go see specialists, and I'm okay. I still can't go near the psych units but still... I came a long way lol.

So you sound like you're moving forward too which is good. Try to figure out those things I mentioned though. It helps.

 

[socio]

No drug will cause PTSD but I'm sure the awful experience of withdrawal they can cause will severely frighten you.

Yeah, that's what I mean. I don't think that naltrexone alone causes it, or causes it by chemical means, but that the traumatic experience of deep enough precipitated withdrawal can. I once read an article abstract or report from a medical journal on this, but can no longer find it. Just wondered how common it was. Seems to make sense (t0 me) that it would be common: traumatic experience causes ptsd, severe precipitated withdrawal is highly traumatic, therefore you would expect some people who get narcan'ed to get ptsd.
I guess it is a recognized risk in surgery ("post-operative ptsd").

 

[Surrealist-]

^Then yes, it most deffinately happens all the time in medical procedures. I've seen people traumatised by tonsilectomies. A very simply procedure. Even getting your wisdom teeth taken out. That's a perfect example of people who have phobias of dental procedures/dentists even though they have never had a bad experience. Just the thought scares them.

Thinking about coming out of an OD with narcan/naloxone/naltrexone scares me to death too. Even if I have experienced or not, it's a terrifying thought.

So that said, you experiencing something that physically and mentally overwhealming is one way of saying it was traumatizing.

Hope you're alright and/or getting help.

Take care.

 

[Shambles]

No drug will cause PTSD

I'd say that was debatable. Although the drugs involved in such cases tend to be psyches.

it is to ordinary withdrawal what a severed pinkie is to a papercut

Ha! Nicely put :D

I wouldn't say I had PTSD from naltrexone-based withdrawal (I was once dosed on the stuff for a week concurrently with high-dose bupe - gotta love medical research ) but it was hellish way beyond any other withdrawal I've ever experienced

 

[Z Y G G Y]

Some people are more prone to getting PTSD than others. From what I have read on it I think they found a specific genetic difference b/w those that get and those that don't get PTSD.

I'm prone to it. I've never been narcaned, but I get anxiety from anything that reminds me of withdrawal. I can get a panic attack if for some reason I think I might be wding, even in I'm not addicted to opiates at the time. Its so wierd, but I can totally see why u think it can cause PTSD. It can be such a traumatic experience. I experienced precipitated w/d for about an hour. I can see that if I was ever narcaned I probably would get PTSD from it. If I smell strong sweat odor, which reminds me of w/d sweats I can get sick to my stomach and extremely anxious for hours and it won't go away. If I start getting sick, like a flu, my first thought is w/d and I go into panic mode. After experiencing, just normal opiate w/d, my body is so tuned in to it and so sensitive to it, that I can not imagine what would happen if I got narcaned.

Just asked my friend what she thought about getting Narcan. She said she thought she died and went to hell and was being tortured. She said is was by far the worst experience of her life on par with a burst ovarian cyst surgery.

 

[hum4n]

I know this is an old thread but i recently went through a similar ordeal. Long story short i had been using large doses of heroin and injected suboxone several hours after and immediately precipitated withdrawal (you dont have to call me a dumbass trust me i know). It was single handedly the worst experience of my life, i thought i was going to die...words just can not explain how bad it felt. Now every time i go to my bathroom or anywhere near where it happened i get sick to my stomach, start uncontrollably shaking and sweating and occasionally get "flashbacks" where the symptoms feel real again. It is a grueling physiological response that hasnt gone away. I have seen several psychiatrists and addictionologists who have all been telling me that i have PTSD from the "trauma". It has been so bad that when just talking about it with the shrinks the symptoms return and i end up leaving their office soaking wet in sweat. Just typing it up is starting to make me shake so ill go ahead and wrap this up. So, yah.... AVOID PRECIPITATED WITHDRAWAL AT ALL COSTS IT IS NOT A DEMON YOU WANT TO UNLEASH.

 

[Jabberwocky]

i think it's pretty safe to close this thread now as the OP hasn't replied for a long time.

if anyone would like it reopened for some reason please pm me or one of the OD mods and we'll get back to you.