Has anyone else withdrawal symptoms returned after using hydocodone?

Hi all! I recently had oral surgery and needed a few Vicodin to get me through the hardest pain part and help me sleep. Last dose was Saturday. Yesterday (Monday) I had the return of head pressure so intense it scared me - like I was going backward. I am now down to 7mg Valium at night and going slowly as it's been more difficult but could the recent set back be related to use of Vicodin?

Thanks, Rascal

I Had a situation where my brothers truck fell out of gear in the driveway and pinned my legs against the house. Luckily nothing was broke but I was given pain meds and I had some setbacks from it. I ended up not taking it after a couple of days in Bc it wasn’t worth the setback symptoms. ( head pressure )

 

Yours could be from pain meds but it could also just be the surgery.

 

After procedures I sometimes have setbacks too.

 

How is your mouth feeling? I hope all went well with that. 

Thanks for your reply and the mouth pain is getting better and better.

 

What IS the head pressure all about? I see that so many of us suffer from it, but it's so blinkin hard to live with (I assume it's inflammation but not sure).

 

And yes, I would prefer to use half a Vicodin to help with a couple more nights sleep but if yesterday is to be the result, I will do without. I was terrified (still am to some extent- can you tell??) that I'm loosing ground.

 

(I hadn't considered it could be the procedure itself, as I've had dental procedures during my recovery (early this year) and didn't feel the setback.)

 

Your situation sounds so frightening!

I just had significant dental surgery as well. ((8/24)And was on Oxycontin for 3 days. Definite kick back. However, I think the trauma of the surgery is also playing a role. It still hurts like crazy, and I have been using Advil, stopping today, because I think it's affecting me too. Going to Tylenol.  I also cant use my coping skills, like exercise, because I am so exhausted from the surgery. Also can't eat solids, been on mostly liquids post surgery.

 

The post Oxycontin has been harsh as far as intense wd, much worse than prior to surgery. Yesterday I thought I was loosing my mind it was so bad. We just have to wait this out.

Well, baddove, thats my experience except that I'm a week ahead of you (surgery date). Thanks for your reply- it's SO very helpful to not be alone with this most lonely of endeavors. Good luck- I'm not able to eat a teeny bit better but am using Advil throughout the day. Rascal

 

wait- I meant I am NOW able to eat more easily- Sorry bout that baddove. Rascal

All good. How funny to find another buddy who just had serious dental surgery!!!

 

The nasty set back will pass, don’t give up. I’m holding my dose and waiting it out.

Baddove…. what are your WD symptoms that have returned (I ask politely in case you prefer not to elaborate)? Mine are primarily head/skull/face pressure, difficulty sleeping, and neck fatigue (feels like it’s takes a lot of effort just to hold this head up!) These things then discourage me and take my mood down.

You sound more assured this will pass

I’m curious how you came about this positive outlook. Can you spare a little??

Rascal

No prob rascal. My symptoms are that I don't feel much overall wd relief from my doses. I have A LOT of symptoms, some are new (sweating and hot like I have a fever. I chalk those up to the surgery. Was told I would run a bit of a fever post op.)  The first 2 days off the opiate I had a massive wave of intense anxiety. The next 2 days were acute physical sxs, I really did not think I could bear it, tried deep breathing, anything I could do, I was in such hard and acute wd. It's vision, balance, all of the head things you have, and I also am not sleeping well. Yesterday was decent, today is harder, it tends to get worse as the day goes on when the first dose of poison benzo does not do much.

 

My attitude is good  because I have gone through this before. Just over a month ago, I cut off the tip of my finger (still healing) had to go to the ER, then a specialist. Got oxy for that adventure as well. Took about a week to get over the pain meds.

 

I quit taking the NSAIDS because the heartburn is killing me, I also think they amped up my symptoms. Am now using Tylenol instead as sparing as possible.

 

My experience wont be yours, remember we are not all the same in how we recover. My experience this time could be different as well. But we will recover. I know people who are not on benzo's, and needed opiates, and went through what they described as mild wd after stopping them. So, us being on benzos is not what's driving the amp, its recovery from another highly addictive substance that helped us when we needed it, but threw our CNS off. And, it tends to have a negative impact on some people who are not on any medications once they stop. I see how opiates can be so addictive, dang!

I could not get through this without yoga. the wd is so acute, and doses only last about 2 hours. The yoga has to cater to my weakness from surgery, so it is heavy on breath work, moderate on motion. Just did 1.5 hours because I was loosing my mind, Felt better while active, I can feel the wd once i finish, but it  is not as horrible.

Sounds like one difference is that I’m only dosing with benzos  at night now, of course I’m so tempted during the day but not giving in. Your previous experience (OUCH!) helped me to hear about. Thank You! Maybe I’ll try my “yoga- like” exercises as my back and neck is so crazy tense this week.  so glad for you that you have this practice 

 

 

 

Yes. If not for the yoga, I don't know how I would survive this. It seriously is what gets me through the hell as it is peaking. And it stays with me a while after. Still in wd, but nothing like where I was at before I did my yoga today.

 

I will be damned if I updose. I have worked to hard to taper to where I am at, and I refuse to go backwards.

Hows it going for you? yesterday was much worse, and I was in wd all night, no sleep. Today is not going well. I am going to make a small cut tomorrow, because I t does help sometimes. Going to take dose 2 down a bit, it's paradoxed both yesterday and today.

I had a contrasting experience with hydrocodone recently. I also had dental work recently (heyyo dental-buddies!) and had hydrocodone for some intense pain. While I was on the hydrocodone though, I felt some symptoms (terror-like anxiety and cognitive issues) somewhat alleviated . It felt like this little bit of magic that made me feel close to normal again. Quite curious.

Hows it going for you? yesterday was much worse, and I was in wd all night, no sleep. Today is not going well. I am going to make a small cut tomorrow, because I t does help sometimes. Going to take dose 2 down a bit, it's paradoxed both yesterday and today.

Hi Baddove- (not sure if I’m using the quote/reply correctly but hope this reaches you). Not going well. Yesterday, as well as the day before, I felt physical pain lessening while emotional distress increasing. Crying. Sense of desperation and discouragement about entire endeavor (WD). Had not felt such nearly intensely for a little while before surgery (mood and outlook was slowly improving almost daily). Don’t know how to get back there.

Thanks for asking.

How bout you?

Rascal

Rascal

 

I too, am completely in acute withdrawal. It amped up hard on 9/1 and 9/2. It went beyond severe. I have not been that bad in at least 6 months. I changed my dosing regimen to smaller doses closer together on 9/3, it did help. I actually slept well last night without being in withdrawal all night. Today, it is still acute. I am in pretty bad shape. It will take my body time to adjust.

 

I find that increasing dosage in these situations is not helpful (for me) but trying to get a more regular flow of the medication is.

 

Here is what I think has happened to us after talking to a few people about it.:

The combined impact of major dental surgery combined with opiates destabilised our CNS and thew  us into hard withdrawal.

Hence our CNS is not responding much to medication, and is prone to (in my case) to paradoxing or doing nothing.

 

I suspect the surgery alone impacted our CNS much more than we could of anticipated.

 

As we have both major dental surgery and opiods in common, then a throw into complete agonizing withdrawal, it's logical that these events destabilized us horrifically.

 

What needs to happen is for our CNS to calm down. What can we do to help it along? That is the crux of it. We really have to wait out the CNS, in agony, until it finds it's way to a calmer state. It is taking a while, so it seems like it's going to take more time. We are not seeing progress yet.

 

What can we do to get through? That is the crux of it. As hard as it is, we need to be as consistent as possible in our dosing, that will help the CNS if it is getting the same regular influx of medication. I am finding that very challenging, but doing my best.  Even if we are able to be spot on and regular with dosing, the CNS will still take time to adjust to the initial trauma that set it off.

 

Next, we need to recognize and act to address that we are severely ill with withdrawal caused by those events. Eliminate any stress we can. We are much more vulnerable to stress reactions right now. If you have to, turn off your phone if calls set you up. Anything you can do to eliminate stress. If this means taking a break from certain events, or turning over responsibilities to others for a while, do it. If you think adding a day dose in will help, try it. I know it's the last thing we want to do, but we are so destabilized, and in this acute stage, if more medication will help calm the CNS , it could be worth it. I am not advising you to do that, I am saying it is sometimes an option that can help. We can work back to our previous dosage after. I found yesterday that reducing my dosage so I could add another one in did help. I am getting lower doses, but more frequently. The benefit is I was going into interdose wd in 2 hours. I am trying to do this logically for how I dose.

 

If you do up, do not beat yourself up. You will get back down. I too, had reached a point of reasonable stability in my taper before I had the procedure, and was very encouraged. Sounds like you had as well.

 

Next, do things that help your body. Exercise, no matter how mild, calms down the CNS. For me, that is yoga. Everyday. No matter how much I may not feel like it. Also, meditation is not helping me right now, so I started doing guided meditations instead (lots of them on YouTube) those were better. Breathing exercises are crucial. Again, you wont feel like it. Do them anyway. They will calm the CNS, even if we don't feel it.

 

Crying is very good, I cry as well, it is one of the bodies ways of calming down.

 

Right now, we are not going to get back to where we were pre surgery until our CNS calms down, It is in a heightened state of withdrawal. But, we will get back there after we weather this crisis.

 

We need to recognize it for what it is at this point. It has gone on without stop since we had the procedure and opiods, it is not a temporary reaction, but rather an extreme one.

 

Talk about it with anyone in your world whom you trust to bounce ideas. If you have no one, we can go to support forums, and we both can stay active here. Hopefully others will come on who have been through this.

 

I know, this totally sucks, it's scary, it's infuriating, and it is agony. We will recover. Again, its a matter of our CNS calming down. We can do the things I talked about to help calm ourselves while we wait.

 

You may come across some ideas as well.

 

Another element, for me at least, is that I cant eat solid food. I have lost my very healthy diet. If you are also not able to eat, that too is contributing. I am using green juice, yogurt, and can sometimes eat a scrambled egg. I did eat pudding, and the sugar amped me up, so be careful about that.

 

Put your focus on doing what is best for your body right now, and follow it. That's where we have the most power. If we can get our body calmed down through the day with the things I mentioned, or other things, do it.

 

Never mind the CNS. That is not something we can fix. But, by putting our focus on the body, we know that we are doing something proactive and beneficial.

 

We just have to wait, survive this, and know it will resolve in it's own time.

 

 

 

Hi again. Yes- acute withdrawal of the emotional kind (for me). I had (Perhaps) the most anguished crying episode (this morning) that I’ve had in a couple or more months.

 

My exercise is walking - daily whenever possible. I live in an area with a heat index over 100 right now, so get up as early as I can to walk. I engage in stretching, diaphragmatic breathing, and enjoy laying on my side, gazing at the many birds and butterflies in my yard as well as the light through the trees. Can be calming.

 

I tried 100 mg gabapentin today plus NAC (N-acetylcholine). I did calm down after about an hour. I don’t have daytime benzos doses anymore and believe such would set me back in a fashion I can’t handle. So I’m staying with 7mg diazepam at bedtime for another week (it will make it a whole month 😟 but I need stability badly).

 

Thanks again. I like staying in touch with you, Baddove.

Rascal

 

Rascal, we are both doing all that is available to us. We will keep in touch. Unbelievable isn't it?

 

I down dosed for 2 days to get in an extra dose. On day 1 it was better, day 2 (yesterday) it was horrible. It was worth a shot, as I started to get paradoxical reactions to my doses. OMG. Back to standard dosing.

 

Hope you start getting some relief, as I hope this is not another lost day for me as well.

 

At this point, the opiates are long gone, so it's the surgery. I cut off the tip of my finger about a month before the oral surgery, and the recovery from the opiates and trauma wore of in a week. My fingernail is now growing back, the tip of my finger is also growing back. But, I am still getting orthopedic treatment for it.

 

This time it's different. The CNS is so whack this time around.

Hi Baddove- yes- much of this is unbelievable (except to those of us who experience this intense world). I’m so grateful to hear from others.

 

By “down dosing to get an extra dose”, do you mean stretching the same mgs throughout the day? I apologize I’m not very familiar with language on the forum (but eager to learn 🙂). And, if you have the patience, what is a paradoxical reaction?

 

I’m truly sorry your strategy ended up with you feeling horrible… how are you now?

 

My day today (Sunday) is much better than yesterday but I have less stressors as well. Gives me more hope and I’m reminded of “oh yeah- here I am- I’m in here still 😊 (the better me)! I

will do my best to hold on to the hope and knowledge that my well self hasn’t been stolen. (I can forget when things go south).

 

Sending some of my hope to you,

Rascal

Hi Baddove- yes- much of this is unbelievable (except to those of us who experience this intense world). I'm so grateful to hear from others.

 

By “down dosing to get an extra dose”, do you mean stretching the same mgs throughout the day? I apologize I’m not very familiar with language on the forum (but eager to learn 🙂). And, if you have the patience, what is a paradoxical reaction?

 

dosing down to get an extra dose means taking smaller doses  more frequently. Exactly what you said. A paradoxical reaction is when the medication amps up your symptoms instead of doing nothing or calming them. Really horrible thing to go through. It's been an ongoing problem for me. It is not terribly common, but can happen to anyone, even those at very low doses.

 

I’m truly sorry your strategy ended up with you feeling horrible how are you now?

I did sleep, but the day is starting a bit rough

 

My day today (Sunday) is much better than yesterday but I have less stressors as well. Gives me more hope and I’m reminded of “oh yeah- here I am- I’m in here still 😊 (the better me)! I

will do my best to hold on to the hope and knowledge that my well self hasn't been stolen. (I can forget when things go south).

I had a better day yesterday too. I did not expect it to last. however it is encouraging. today is already starting rough. I hope you keep feeling better, and don't go back down.

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Sending some of my hope to you,

Rascal

Same to you, may we start to experience healing that sticks and enables to get back to baseline

Baddove…. it’s good to hear you had a better day yesterday. Hope things calm for you today.

 

I have had the first part of the day today (Monday) off work, and have felt only a little rougher than yesterday, so that’s good to me.  I’m headed back to work soon, and we’ll see what happens. Add stress: ah yes. Gotta deal with “things”.

 

Thanks for your explanations…. Makes sense now.

 

I’m going to rest for a bit, watch the birds, then clean up for work.

 

Will catch up with you later.  Crossing my fingers for us both.

Rascal

How are you doing Rascal? I am better. Extenuating circumstances created a situational wave, but I feel mostly recovered from the surgical setback.

Hi Baddove… how are you now?

 

I’m not at all sure I responded to your last inquiry…. Had a death in the extended family so much added stress, flying (during covid 😒), crying, etc. Got off track.

 

Not quite back to baseline but better…mostly head pressure and what feels like high nervousness for. I’m holding for 3rd week at 6.5 V nightly.

 

If life didn’t throw things at us, maybe we’d get better soon?!? 😫 I mean that sarcastically, of course.

 

Where are things for you?

 

Hoping for the best, Rascal

Sorry about the death in your family! Sounds like life really whapped you good. Appreciate the update.

 

I just started getting more stable (stable does not mean I feel good, it means I can dose without paradoxing and function)

 

So I made a cut on the 26Th, no prob, then  on the 27TH (yesterday) every dose paradoxed, and it has been bad. Dose 1 this morning also paradoxed.

 

This has happened before, I have no idea what provokes it, and it does tend to last a few days. I am walking back my cut in hopes that it helps. In the past, going down or up in dose made no difference, it is a wait it out and maintain situation.

 

I feel mostly recovered form the surgery indused wave. It took several weeks (wow.) Now dealing with a paradox wave. I suppose flying pigs is next.

 

Also  hoping for better days and stability as oppossed to agony.

 

 

Boo for the paradoxing!!  I am doing the "wait it out and maintain" as you described for at least another week.

 

I'm too chicken to go up in dosing, but the slowness with going down is discouraging. Must. have. patience.

 

Thanks for you kind words about my circumstances. My entire story (trouble due to benzos) began with the death of my sister in 2020- enough of this stuff.

 

Yes, flying pigs could be coming our way. Don't believe I'd be too surprised, given the givens.

 

Here's to your wave settling,

Rascal