Opiate withdrawal will cause you to have rebound pain, so everything is real bad right now.how many days has it been. You can also exsperiance sever diahreia.you are comming off both meds at the same time? Could the doc not switch gabapentin to something else? Or are you wanting off all your meds?
As for ideas epsilon salt baths for achy muscles salon pas pain patches for localized pain like one on you knee and so on there are fourth in a pack. Aleeve or motrin might help with the pain. You might need something for nausea.have you become very anxious?prayers

sorry your hurting so badly and that the pain meds are going away....

Why are you reducing the opiates? I take opana er myself. I have reduced mine by 40mgs a day, my own choice. I get immune and meds stop working for me. So I've cut myself back. Yes the pain got worse but after 4 days it mellowed out for me. I'm tolerating.

Use some ice and/or heat when it gets bad. I'm curious as to why your doc is reducing your meds?

Healing hugs

Hi openroad, I have to agree with bmp1. My pain doc explained it to me like this he said when weaning off meds or lowering doses your body thinks it's in more pain then it actually is as it's used to the higher dose. It should start to get better in a week or so. Have you ever tried Lidoderm patches? You need a Rx for them you can use three at a time you wear them 12 hrs on, 12 hrs off. They numb the area and if needed you can cut them in half if it will fit an area better. Provided you have ins it's cheaper than buying the OTC ones. One side note that my pharmacist told me these patches just came out with a generic called Lidocaine patches. More than likely you may need a prior auth but that's usually not a big deal. Hang in there Darlin sometimes it needs to get worse to feel better as stupid as that sounds. Sending up prayers for healing & comfort. Please keep us updated as to how you are doing.

Hugs & God Bless
Lisa

All of what your saying seems normal for what your doing. The one thing I would do is have a conversation with your Dr. about what the plan is so you have an idea of what the deal is and how to prepare yourself mentally and physically.

Take care,

Kat

When I had back problems, many, many years ago before the RSD, I knew little about pain meds but worried that I was taking them. So I cut my own dose of oxycodone. I took a lot of warm baths, took tylenol AND ibuprofen for pain and gas-x for the stomach troubles I got b/c I lowered my dose too much. I would guestimate that I took 10 baths a DAY!

All it did for ME was make me miss work & I did it stupidly, without a doctor supervising. I was not educated about CP back then. Before I realized how stupid I was being, I had made myself terribly sick. But I tell you, add Benadryl to that mix of extra OTC meds, and it helped a lot. I had bought into the idea that prescription meds were bad, and I suffered with the bottle of oxycodone right next to me. Sometimes young people do stupid things and that was one of my mistakes. But I DID learn that other meds (OTC) can help.

If your doc is helping by prescribing something for nausea, you can cover the other bases with OTC drugs & baths until the worst is over. You'll be in pain but if your doctor won't treat you as you should be treated, you're going to have a few things to deal with. That said, I know of 2 ppl in my CP Support group who didn't get terrible withdrawals, even though they expected it and should've had them. They were lucky & maybe you will be, too.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Every time I read a post about someone being forced off meds they need, it makes me angry. And I realize that it could happen to any one at any time.

I hope your lowered dose will work out and that you don't suffer. But if so, hopefully you can substitute OTC meds to take the edge off. I just don't know what these doctors are thinking. When CP affects your ability to parent, to work, to pay the mortgage, cutting someone's dose is no joke. I have to believe in Karma when I read these posts.

Good Luck & God Bless!
Jen :)

Why in the world is this doc weaning you from BOTH meds at the same time? Unless its a matter of something serious and the Gabapentin MUST be reduced now... its something you could do at different times!

You may want to call the Doc and tell him/her that you need to slow down the taper a bit. If you are just reducing to reduce and no other reason... you really don't have to suffer. Its not an "exact science." If your body feels its too fast for YOU then let the doc know-- They really don't think about it unless you tell them.

You might be able to fix this and soon feel better. Everyone that has gone off a opioid med ( either abruptly-- or fast taper) knows how HORRIBLE it is!

I feel for ya kiddo.

Hi, I wanted to lower the fentanyl since I was way too used to it and it wasn't working all that great but I want to stay at 75 longer than the one month he wrote my scrip for so I can slowly get used to it. I also wanted to drop the gaba since when I went on it I got really bad joint pain but I'll drop it slowly. I'm at 600 now and I'll stay there for a while too. I've been taking aspirin and gravol when I need the gravol but as long as I go slow now I think I'll be ok. I'll drop to fifty on the fentanyl later on and go through it all again I guess. Oh yeah, he raised my oxy 5/325's to four from three a day but I've had a mixup with my pharmacy and they're just now renewing my scrip with the new dosage. Good thing too since I've been taking the four a day anyway and I just ran out of my old scrip. Hopefully the new scrip of ocy's will be good enough to cover the deficit left by the fentanyl as long as I wait long enough.
Thanks for all the thoughts guys, I appreciate it. I'll lower the oxy's once I've come down to 50 on the fentanyl and I'm used to it but that will be slow too. I'm in no hurry to drop everything and get withdrawal sickness any worse than it is.
Thanks

Sounds like your being smart and have a plan. As the amounts of narcotics regulate in your system the rebound pain will lessen and you'll deal more with your actual pain. It just takes time.

Take care,

kat

Good! Slow and steady wins the race... yeah?

I use the 50mcg patch and Norco, 8 per day, or 2, every 6 hours. I have consistent pain, it never goes away. My pain level is usually a 7 but reaches a 9 on the second day of the patch. I know how frustrated you must be. I am so sick of being on pain medication.
Hugs GB

how are you doing?

hi bmp1,

Not doing too well to tell the truth. The pain in my knee joints is way out of line right now and there's not much I can do about it. I've got about six weeks of 75mcg patches left but I worry what will happen when I go to fifty. Also have a hernia that hurts from my testicles to my stomach right now and my bipolar depression is getting worse so it's not a good time for me. I suppose I'll find out how much REAL pain I'm in when I go to fifty right? I think it's going to be a lot. Still feeling nauseous and aching in my joints so I'm going to drop my gaba to 300. I'll ask about something else to take it's place.
Things in my life are not very great right now so the pain is just another step on this ladder. A very big step but not the only one.

I'm so sorry you are suffering right now...I had a forced med change last week and those days were just terrible so I can somewhat sympathize since my knees are my problem joints as I wait for this cadaver cartilage transplant surgery. Knee pain is so far the worst pain I've experienced...and I had TWO natural births!

I really hope your body adjusts to the change soon...are you able to talk to your doc to see if he can give you something to help with the change...like valium or something? To make it a little less stressful and "shocking" to your body. I have no idea if that's possible but I know when I talked to my doc's PA frankly about how I was feeling, they were able to make some changes to help me feel better while I wait to get into the PM doc.

Regardless, I sincerely hope you are able to find some pain relief and that the change to 50 isn't as bad as you anticipate.

(((HUGS)))

~Michelle

The road is bumpy right now..hell it downright Sucks! Hopefully things will even out soon and you'll find some relief. Sometimes being on a bad med that makes you feel worse is worse than the pain your trying to treat, so hopefully you'll get off the Gaba soon and get that part out of the equation.

As a fellow BiPolar I know how that depression can come up and smack you upside the back of the head when pain ramps up and things get difficult to control. I hope your taking care of that part, seeing your Pdoc, doing your therapies.....need to nip that in the bud before it gets too bad.

Hang in there and if you want to rant, you can PM me.

Kat