Opioids Wtf happened to me?

[Woodsong]

So ... last night, I had been laying down in bed, trying to go to sleep, for maybe 15 minutes. I was just on the edge of consciousness, and I had what I can only describe as a seizure. Or something. I think I was having some sort of dream, and all of a sudden this pure sense of terrifying electricity took over my body and I couldn't move. I tried to scream for my roommate, but I couldn't. This lasted only a few seconds, and then it stopped. I could feel the electrical sensation fade away down my legs, and I was afraid to try falling back asleep. There were no convulsions or anything, so I really have no clue what happened to me...

I know that when I try going to sleep while hydrocodone is still affecting me, as was the case last night, I get these odd body twitches as I'm drifting off. I would really hate to think that my favorite drug caused such a thing... Has anyone else had any sort of experience like this with hydrocodone, or can tell me what might have possibly been going on? This really scared the shit out of me, and I'm tired and feeling really out of it...

The only other drugs I've consumed in the past week were a couple Xanax and Dilaudids (both of which I'd never taken before) this weekend, and loperamide... And more hydrocodone, of course.

Edit: On a side note, I went to the chiropractor yesterday and he put these electrical pad thingies on my mid-lower back for about ten minutes or so... Could this have been a contributing factor, maybe..?

 

[Coolwhip]

I am familiar with the twitches when trying to sleep while nodding. More like jerks for me, I will fall asleep for 30 seconds - 5 minutes, and then wake up with a giant full body jerk. Will last for hours, won't get any sleep.

That is where the similarities end, but hydrocodone isn't my DOC either.

How much hydro did you take and is that a large dose for you?

 

[Woodsong]

@Coolwhip
I took 22.5mg (3 7.5's), which is on the low end of a recreational dose for me... I have a fairly high tolerance.

 

[Korn3x]

i've had this happen before. it's like some form of sleep paralysis that seems to be brought about by opiate use or it was some sort of just huge adrenaline rush. i made a similar thread a couple years ago asking the same thing. it was pretty scary when it happened, but it really is nothing to worry about (unless you sleep in a top bunk maybe).

 

[3rd_I_blind]

Sounds a lot like sleep paralysis, which is nothing to worry about too much unless you get this more frequently. But I am not really educated on the effects of opiates.

 

[Woodsong]

I'm reading up on sleep paralysis now. Wow, that's exactly what happened. I forgot to mention the weird beeping/buzzy noises I heard and felt a "presence" outside my window... I swear to god I thought I was being abducted... Scary shit, lol...
Thanks guys. I'm not sure whether or not that really makes me feel any better, but at least I know what happened now.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

sudden terror + inability to move or call out = pretty classic sleep paralysis as has been mentioned. It's not really dangerous physiologically but can be rather scary. The electric sensations are called paresthesias. This is related to hypnic jerks which are myoclonic activity - to put it simply, your breathing starts to slow when you're falling asleep and/or from opioid use and your brain takes this as a sign you might be dying (but you're NOT at all) so it sends a little zap to wake you up. Almost everybody experiences this at some point when falling asleep and opioids increase the likelihood. Hypnic jerks and sleep paralysis often occur in conjunction.

From the wikipedia page on hypnagogia-

Humming, roaring, hissing, rushing, zapping, and buzzing noises are frequent in conjunction with sleep paralysis (SP). This happens when the REM atonia sets in sooner than usual, before the person is fully asleep, or persists longer than usual, after the person has (in other respects) fully awoken.[18] Sleep paralysis is reportedly very frequent among narcoleptics. It occurs frequently in about 6% of the rest of the population, and occurs occasionally in 60%.[30] In surveys from Canada, China, England, Japan and Nigeria, 20 to 60% of individuals reported having experienced SP at least once in their lifetime.[31][32] The paralysis itself is frequently accompanied by additional phenomena. Typical examples include a feeling of being crushed or suffocated, electric "tingles" or "vibrations", imagined speech and other noises, the imagined presence of a visible or invisible entity, and sometimes intense emotion: fear or euphoria and orgasmic feelings.[31][33] SP has been proposed as an explanation for at least some alien abduction experiences and shadow people hauntings.[34]

To sum up -

You're half awake (whether from opioids or not) and falling asleep, your breathing slows, your brain sends a little zap which you experience but you've prematurely started to go into REM sleep so you can't move at all.

 

[muvolution]

I get petit mal seizures (violent sleep twitches) fairly frequently on opiates.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

^ have you had an EEG to confirm that they ARE in fact absence seizures (more commonly used term) or are you diagnosing yourself?

Either way, the OP's description is classic sleep paralysis.

 

[verso]

It definitely sounds like sleep paralysis to me. I've experienced sleep paralysis once before, and it was the scariest fucking thing ever...

 

[muvolution]

I had to get extensive EEG testing after this horrible car crash a few years back... the 3 others in the car with me all died (rip) and I was on fair doses of IV dilaudid (with that little thing you push every 15 minutes for the drip to release some (actually I press it every 2 minutes and hope it's been 15)) and this happened a couple times and the neurologist just said no big deal, he actually said "absence seizures" but yeah... little petit mal twitches.

EEg testing is fucking terrible, btw. "Oh it'll just be a little prick then some tingling. JK, I'm going to shove an 18 gauge needle into your nerve then hook it up to a fucking car battery - have fun!"

 

[Cane2theLeft]

did the absence seizures precede the car accident?

 

[Woodsong]

Thanks for the replies, people. I think I've actually had similar events in the past, come to think of it, but they were of a more, uh ... pleasurable nature...
This one? Not so much...

 

[cj]

its sleep paraylsis hydrocodone seems to cause it for me as well. Other opiates dont just hydro its wierd I dont even take tabs because of it. For me it can happen 12 hours after my dose when im not even high.

 

[Woodsong]

@crimsonjunk
12 hours, really? Damn, I just took some more a while ago hoping it would be worn off by the time I go to bed tonight. That was seriously the most terrifying experience of my life, and it only lasted a few seconds, a total 11 on the terror scale... Scarier than getting in the horrible car wreck that fucked up my back and persuaded me to get hooked on this shit again... I'm scared of my fucking painkillers now!

 

[ColtDan]

sleep paralysis as said

ive had it a few times. usually i awake but paralyzed, wondering wtf is going on, into a weird fit/spams with a noise like a bird flapping next to my head with my eyes rolling around and my body feeling like it was zapping and being shaken violently. makes you panic and its fucking horrible. couldn't breathe or move

 

[MikeySpikes]

I was nodding on dope like that once. Inwas sleeping but consuises at the same time. I heard a devil say were hear were coming and I went to screen and move my hand but couldn't I was soo scares for days It was so real

 

[80mg]

You were abducted by aliens according to the history channel. They obviously want our lemon pies and basebal lcaps but WILL NEVER GET IT -loads assault rifle-

 

[lowdo]

Its sleep paralysis and please don't be scared of your opiates because of it. It was probably the most scary thing that has ever happened to me the first few times, but I get it at least once a week and I know whats going on when it happens. You'll get used to it and its no big deal after the first few times. I usually wait until my last dose wears off before I go to sleep, but If I sleep when I'm still high it happens more frequently. Mine always seems to incorporate noise from the tv screen, like there will be a knock on the door in a movie and it will be extremely loud and pronounced and I'll go into the SP and think someone is knocking on my door. I get it very frequently with the pager for my car alarm too. I think it went off and hear the beeping, but when I check it it hadn't went off. Again though don't stress it, after the first few times it won't scare you anymore and it only lasts a few seconds.

 

[Renz Envy]

I used to get it every night. It's pretty frightening, especially if you're sleeping on your stomach and can't breath.