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Sobierty from opiates and increased pain sensitivity.

Black Rabbit of Inle

Black Rabbit of Inle

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So I have always had a pretty high pain threshold. Been through broken bones, serious car accidents, sports injuries etc and have never been in a condition that I'd consider 'agonizing'. However since cutting back on my opiate habit I've noticed that the slightest pains will be amplified quite a lot.

Since my run in with a car on the weekend, even though I only have bruising and scratches, I can honestly say that the pain is multitudes worse than any broken bone I've had.

Has anyone else experienced heightened pain after quitting opiates?
 
Yeah I've definitely had that as well since cutting down on opiates, but I still can't figure out if it's because I'd gotten used to being on painkillers all the time, or if I genuinely have an increased sensitivity to pain now...this doesn't really apply to isolated incidents but there is definitely such a thing as rebound pain when coming off opiates, but that's usually more in the cases of chronic pain. Not quite sure what the reason is for situations such as yours but yes, I can definitely relate. I expect it probably does get much easier with time, although I don't really know for sure :\
 
i had heightened pain sensitity during withdrawal and the weeks following but after that i had LESS pain than i had when i was taking opiates..opiates were making my pain worse overall...
 
It's most likely the emotional factor of not being in pain for a lengthy period of time, and then jumping full-on into the river. If you haven't used a drug in a while, your tolerance to it lessens. The same applies to pain. Everyone's different, but generally the more physical pain you experience, the more you can tolerate it.
 
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Yes. That describes me to a T.

When I stopped using opiates, my pain was amplified-- back pain, joint pain, menstrual cramps, etc.

I'm going to do more research on this to see if I can find a reason as to why that is the case.
 
IMO the brain has a homeostasis that it likes to be at.. with the addition of certain drugs that effect this it will adjust to try and return to baseline including the drug, tolerance. One of the main symptoms of drug abuse usually entails Inordinately high or strong emotional response.. Pain can be looked at as a localized emotion and thus as the body adjusts to try and amplify the pain emotion over the damping of the drugs, it would naturally in increase the pain to compensate for the drugs. suddenly remove the drugs and you would then only have the greatly increased pain sensation. But the brains desire for homeostasis works in reverse so the pain sensations should ramp back down to adjust for the removal of the drug. I would consider the time table for resolution of the PAWS to be right in line with the pain returning to its normal state. It took over a half year for my pain to dissipate completelly. I was lucky that I was able to eliminate the source of my pain. I would love to hear people opinions with a year or two of clean time, who also has or had a pain issue that was treated with opiates as to how they would compare the pain they have now compared to both the pain right away in acute withdrawal but also in comparison to their pain levels at the very end of their opiate treatment, or right before they detoxed.
 
Very insightful neversick. I knew you'd have a good reply and know the reasoning behind it ;)
 
The body actually increases neural connections to nerves that sense pain. As we use opiates/opioids and increase the dosage and duration the body continues increasing these connections. When we stop using the opis those additional connections are still there so pain is increased. Also sensitivity to temperature changes is increased. I am less tolerant to cold and pain now being clean (very common for recovering opi addicts).
 
I've thought myself as having a high pain tolerance as well, I've tore ligaments, had surgery's, gotten tattoo's etc. and seemed to deal with it better than most, when I initially quit opiates I was incredibly hypersensitive. I'm coming up on 9 months sober and my tolerance to pain and other things is about on par with what it was before I started using opiates, I feel as I approach the 1 year point I'll be 100% but right now I feel like I'm 90-95% there. As far as the temperature thing goes I used to boil up when using opiates right before I went to rehab I was sleeping with the windows open in my basement in early January and I live in Canada lol . . but, now it looks like my internal temperature gauge is on point with "normal peoples"
 
Thanks for all the replies, I didn't even remember this thread till now :\

Sero, I've always been intollerant to the cold, with constant arthritic pain during the colder months when I was growing up. But I'm also one to wear hoodies and jeans in summer, so I've never noticed opiates changing my reaction to temperature.

My main issue now is my back and RLS coupled with the feeling like I have shin splints again (it's not a crawling/itching feeling, it's more like someone is scraping my shin bones with a pick).

Ah well, not quite back to square one, but I'm back to a week without opiates. Soldier on, as they say.
 
IMO shin splints aren't a normal reaction to the opiates.. I had all the pain of what you are experiencing. The lower back and RLS is a normal withdrawal or reaction a normal reaction as tolerance increases but dose doesn't. For the shin splint pain I found relief when I determined it was the result of vitamin D deficiency so I would consider taking a daily supplement of this to see if you can find some relief. It is pretty common for people who use opiates or other drugs to experience this and there is clear connections to vitamin D deficiency with limited sunlight exposure and possible ones to sleep disorders. My relief, of the symptoms associated with the vitamin D deficiency, happened really quite quickly when I added the vitamin D to my regiment. The other symptoms really state that you may be physically dependent at this point to the opiates. The drugs that work best on this for withdrawal purposes are the Neurontin and Lyrica (benzos can also help.. but wabit I'm sure you are aware of their problems).

Hope this helps BRoI:)
 
Thanks NSA, I'll grab some Vit D supplements and give that a try. Working at night and not being social during the day doesn't help.

I didn't think the shinsplints were part of the opi withdrawal, the pain from it just overshadows any irritation from the RLS. I've had them most of my life from skateboarding... My ankles and knees are as good as a 60yo's.
 
same thing happened to me, i used to have a pretty high pain treshold, but now after being a smack heed for close to a decade, tiny things hurt waaay more then they used to. like getting stuck with a needle, i used to never mind it, not when i have to give blood i ask if i can do it bc i know how to make it not hurt. never happens tho lol, must be some kind of liability issue. i have to tell them what veins to get, since i have scar tissue in certain spots and they end up just digging and it jusrts like a monther fucker. i dont exactly know the science behind it, but id imagine it has something to do with your brain not making enough of its own endorphins after being flooded with extra painkillers, so in a sense they deregulate. at first i thought i was going crazy, but one dya after working out at the gym, and not even a hard work out, just light weights and cardio, i was sore for days. its strange. hopefully some bler with a big brain on this kind of stuff can chime in and give a more detailed explanation bc id love to know.
 
the body adjusts to not experiencing much pain while on opiates, now it needs time to adjust back to where it was. desensitization and all.

obviously there are some scientific terms i could be using to explain this much better, but i forgot them all.. lol
 
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