Thank you

[tammymarie1971]

Thank you to all beautiful ladies for responding to my "need encouragement" thread! I was able to get treatment yesterday as well as a blood transfusion which has given me some energy today! I am so grateful to those who give blood! Last night however was a nightmare...I had decided a few days ago to stop taking pain meds.. slow release morphine and faster acting dilaudid...Well I felt like I could just crawl right out of my skin..it was awful I had to keep rocking and pacing I wanted to smash my head into the wall!! My arms couldn't keep still..I was in pure agony..not pain but i just wanted to jump out of my crawling skin!!My poor husband didn't know what to do...He went on the internet and discovered that I was going through withdrawl!! I than took a dilaudid and one of the slow release morphines and made myself cream of wheat at 5am and started to feel human after awhile...I never want to go through that again!!! Who knew that after only a couple of months your body becomes so dependant, well I guess if I would of if I had given some thought to it I might of realized. DUH!!!..So I will ,continue with the pain meds at a reduced dosage I just don't think I need as much anymore. My GP also prescribed xanax for three times a day to help with anxiety which i think is better than the ups and downs of ativan wearing off, taking more, having it wear off etc etc...I think the steady stream of a light dose should probably work better..
Anyway I guess I learned not to stop taking anything cold turkey...It was shear torment!!
Hugs to you all my fellow sisters!!
Tammy

I still can't figure out how to update my signature, but I will keep trying..

[NEDenise]

Oh my!
Note to self...cold turkey...NOT good!

Except with a little mayo and cranberry sauce! :)
So glad it all worked out okay! Be careful, my friend! And rest easy.
Denise

[StephN]

TM - sorry you had to find out the hard way that some of us are VERY sensitive to meds of any kind, especially opiates.
There are various classes of pain killers that work in different ways. Some are non-addictive, and most docs try to keep us in that realm. When we need to step up to a more addictive class, that should come with all sorts of printouts and warnings from our pharmacies.

It is necessary to read those and pay attention. We are not always in a place to make those decisions for ourselves.
Even though I still have pain in my leg, I just put up with it rather than keep taking even low doses of pain pills - I had plenty this fall.

Take care and good luck with the lower doses. Hope that will hold you.

[sarah]

It's not only opiates that you can't stop cold turkey, many other drugs have to be taken in lower doses before quitting.
take care
sarah

[caya]

Glad you got your treatment, not so glad you went through that withdrawal. It's true that many meds, not just opiates, have to be whittled down slowly. Glad that you are back on track.

Wishing you a smoother road to recovery.

all the best
caya

[BonnieR]

Let me add that Xanax is not be taken lightly either. It can be habit forming and needs to be discontinued gradually. Voice of experience!
Keep the faith

[CoolBreeze]

Everybody is different too. I have been taking pain meds regularly but if I don't take them for a day or two, I don't get any side effects. It's strange as I would have thought by now I'd be dependant but apparently not. I went ten days without something I'd been taken for 30 years (for a different problem) and didn't even notice!