Stopping pain meds

     Hey Bill

 

    *huggs*

 

     I say call both. Present your delima to both. (might even want your primary care in on it too) Tell them both to communicate with each other. Place it in their hand to discuss amongst each other and tell them to call you when they come up with a plan that meets your goals. Then you can decide if their ideas are worth a try.  I think you are well within your rights to ask for such a plan. In your case thou... would be important to have your primary care aware and on board with your plann

 

     *huggs*

       dani

Dani and Frances, Thanks for the thoughts and ideas.
I believe the last surgery helped with the rib pain I was dealing with for so long. My old surgeon thought it would help once my stomach was in the correct position and the pressure was removed from my diaphragm. So far that has been the case and the reason I am wanting to stop the meds.
Take care,
Bill

Hi, Bill,
Glad you posted over here. (BTW everyone Bill has been a great help to me with this Barrett's esophagus issue over on the GERD forum).

Frances has given you some good advice. I would start with whoever prescribed the medication, but I have found sometimes surgeons aren't so great at helping with pain meds. You might get lucky and have one who knows how to help you through withdrawal. If not, I'd contact your other doctors, and ask for a consult with a pain management specialist.

With Pain Management docs, it's important to find out if they work with medications or just do the high tech procedures like epidurals and nerve blocks and such. A lot of them are going that route. Another possibility if you're really having a tough time is an Addictionologist, if you have someone local. That's a doc with a specialist in addictions (obviously!) and they may really know how to help you taper. But as has been mentioned if you have too much pain it may be you're not ready to wean off. You also may need some other medication to help with the pain as you're withdrawing from the hydro.

Keep posting here and we'll support you through this!

PaLady

Hello, like Palady said, an addiction doctor doesnt just deal with people with 'addictions' but also dependence and can help you taper as that is what they specialize in. I see one for dependence, and he knows I'm not an addict but he is helping me taper off of all pain meds. I was worried that he may not see me since I never abused my meds, but he said he's got like 6 patients on suboxone (including me) that arnt addicts but just need to be slowly tapered off of meds as aour doctors that got us on pain meds where not able to help us. I just think I should throw that out their since you dont have to be addict to see an addiction doctor, just have to be dependant on pain meds and willing to taper off.

-hellokitty

Bill,

I don't believe I've had the chance to make your acquaintance. I'm very sorry for your trials and tribulations, but applaud you heartily for stopping the opiate-based pain medications.

First of all, talk to both your doctors. They will be able to give you good advice from their respective perspectives. I would feel that the surgery doctor that prescribed the actual medication has some responsibility to give you advice at this point, no?

Second of all, the road of withdrawal is different for everyone - sometimes it is bumpy and long - sometime short and relatively well maintained - sometimes you feel like you drop off a cliff and land flat on your face. I've had several friends go through withdrawals, and it's never been pretty.

The most extreme way to do it is to either "quit cold turkey" or to take an opioid antagonist, like Naltrexone. This will almost immediately kick all the opioids out of your opioid receptors, allowing for an intense 12-18 hours where you vomit, urinate, and make bowel movements uncontrollobly. This is usually only used in an emergency room or hospital setting.

The best way, I've heard, is to ween yourself off and start doing it as soon as possible. One of your doctors may recommend an addiction specialist or psychiatrist/psychologist. They would most likely ween you off and have you take Suboxone (a combination of a synthetic opioid and Naltrexone). I had one friend that has been off his opiate medications for 4 months, but still takes a Suboxone every now and then, as needed. Although the first option is much more intense, many report the entire experience lasting quite a short amount of time compared to this second method, which can take months or years, depending on the depth of your addiction.

Once again, I'm sorry for your misfortune, but glad you're taking the step to get off those opiates. I also sincerely hope that any pain you feel can be at least modulated by NSAIDs or the like.

Logan

I agree with PA. I thought that Naltraxone was only used either for an emergency like respiratory distress or for addicts. I would definitely get a second (and maybe third) opinion before listening to a Pain Specialist or surgeon who suggested that a patient who was taking a responsible amount of narcotic meds exactly as prescribed be given Naltraxone. It comes with its own set of risks (from what I saw a friend go through) & I can't imagine going through that for a less serious situation.

Bill,
If you do end up seeing an addictionologist, please be sure to ask ahead of time whether they handle patients who do not have an addiction problem. Some addiction specialists only treat addicts. They will not allow others into their practice unless they agree to be treated the same as the addicts. I have talked to people at my PM's office who went that route with their prior PM's & some really benefited from it, while others said they were refused access to meds when in severe pain, were belittled for wanting pain meds, etc. There are some people, apparently even within the field of addiction medicine, who do not differentiate between addiction & dependence. There are some really great practitioners out there who understand the needs of CP patients getting off/cutting down on narc meds. I'm not trying to discourage you, just suggesting that you find out ahead of time how they view that & whether they have worked with non-addicts in the past. :)

take care,
frances

PaLady and Frances, Thanks for the great information. I returned to work last night and unfortunately the rib nerve pain has returned full force. I was afraid it would when I lifted the heavier parts at work. Very disheartening. I think I am going to call my other doctor and see what he thinks.

Take care,
Bill

PAlady,

I have a pretty neutral view of opiates most times, and I definitely didn't mean to suggest anything in general terms (it wasn't about you or anyone else's use, just Bill's). I always try to consider a concept or situation from every possible perspective. I was just trying to lend some support to Bill specifically, as he stated he wanted to stop using the opiate-based medications. One of the worst things about opiates, though, is the low LD-50 that most of them have compared to many other pain medications. I had a friend die from an overdose of opiate medication.

Bill,
Many people here who are still working wouldn't be doing so without the medication. That's what it's for. As long as it doesn't make you groggy or something else that would endanger you with the type of work you do.

Better to take the medication and have your body relax a bit.

Take care!

PaLady