Help, no sleep for three nights!

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:31 pm

I was just thinking. . .maybe the Vicodin didn't so much "quit working" as the Requip caused augmentation and the Vicodin couldn't handle the extra RLS. Now that you are off the Requip, the RLS may settle down quite a bit, and then the Vicodin may be just as effective again.

desertgirl · Post by **desertgirl** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:10 am

Wow, I wish I would have thought of that! It does make alot of sense. I got my new medicine today and it is way to strong for me, so I am cutting them in half, maybe I will go back to the vicodin? I finally fell asleep around 7:00 this morning, my legs got so bad during the night that I just starting punching them (I know sounds wierd) but I have not really slept in about 10 days. What do you take to help you sleep?
Jennifer

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:29 am

I take methadone. It took a lot of tries and many docs. . .am glad I have something that works pretty consistently now. I remember all too well what it's like to be awake day and night, with no relief in sight.

Give it a little while and see. The augmentation can take a few weeks to work its way out of your system. Then you might be OK again on the Vicodin.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:32 pm

What's the new medicine you're taking now ? Do you think they're gonna work for you? Hope things go better for you this evening. I think at this point, it's better to have to cut your meds in half because they are too strong vs the opposite

desertgirl · Post by **desertgirl** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:16 am

The new medicine is percocet, and I am only taking about 4 halfs a day, and what a difference, I finally got a great nights sleep! I am afraid of building up a tolerence to this one too, so taking things slowly. I am still going to ask my doctor for Ultram when my blood tests come back. I have to get back to work and I think I could if I took the Ultram.

becat · Post by **becat** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:26 am

Hi Jennifer,
I take Percodan and like you feel the need to go slow with it. Somedays I do! LOL

If you feel it is too strong you right to ask for something less. From the looks of things, the less you have to take the better......cause it fight be a life long path.
O, and I also take sleep meds.... that is how I sleep if I'm going to.
The weather here is rainy (yeah we need the water), but it sure makes for uncomfortable legs.

I hope sleep finds you tonight and you get some healing rest.

Lynne

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:40 am

You will eventually build up a tolerance to the percocet, everyone does. Especially in your case, since it is so difficult to control your symptoms.

Even though you start slow you will notice those overwhelming feelings start to decrease.. The important thing is to watch and see if your relief decreases at the same dose as well. Eventually you will become used to it and you will be able to function normally as long as you don't keep upping your dose.

The first time I had Oxycodone I thought I was going to die.. I took two that night.. I think they were 5mg, so 10mg.. I felt kinda different and out of it, bu well into the afternoon the next day.. I would lie there in bed and feel like I couldn't breathe all of a sudden.. or short on breath or something.. and then it would pass.. It was probably mostly in my head cause I knew I shouldn't have taken so much, but like I said. You do get used to it.

Just watch out for addiction.. It is very powerful stuff, and you WILL reach a point where you still get buzzed, but you can function 99% normally.. This is the MOST dangerous time for you, as the temptation to up the dose becomes more and more appealing.

I think you will be fine once you adjust, as long as it is controlling your pain. Chances are if Vicodin wasnt working for you, the Tramadol may not either (it's weaker in some respects, if not totally. Pretty much the weakest morphine-derived drug on the market and it's not even a controlled substance)

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:20 am

I don't have time right now, but I could have sworn that I read just the opposite - at least about Methadone - in relation to RLS. That there is little or no tolerance to opioids for use with RLS if the dose is right to start. But, I'm tired and on my way to sleep and could be remembering wrong... I'll look for it tomorrow if I remember.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:07 pm

There is always a baseline level of tolerance you reach as your body adjusts to a new drug (which is why most opiates make us "loopy" at first until we become used to taking them). Especially if you take something chronically, ever day. I think what is being said about tolerance relating to RLS is that users don't find much of a need to increase their dose for relief of actual symptoms. Which is correct.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:35 pm

Got it. . .for some reason I misread the post and thought you guys were talking about tolerance related to RLS symptoms (ie, I am tolerant of the drug and now need more of it), not the ability of the body to get used to the side effects and have them seemingly go away.

desertgirl · Post by **desertgirl** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:17 am

thanks for all of the replies. ann I have a question about methodone. my doctor suggested i take that at my last appt. because it is a very cheap pain medication. i told him no because of all of the horrow stories about it. do you think that methodone would work better than ultram?

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:03 am

It does work better the Ultram for a couple of reasons. The main one is simply that it lasts for about 12 hours, so most people only need one dose a day. It has been studied more than any other drug we take, can actually be used during pregnancy, is used at a much lower dose than anyone else using methadone for pain or drug withdrawal, causes no high, and like your doc said, is cheap. Oh, and add to it that when I talked to Dr Buchfurer about it, he said that many patients have very little problems stopping it, unlike the benzos we take, or even the other opioids. That's probably because of the very low doses and the fact that we take it once a day. At higher doses and used several times a day, stopping it is not easy.

So, for all of those reasons, I think it's great.

But, there is a huge stigma, you can't get refills, and you have to make sure that you don't go on vacation when you need to get a new script (like I did last month

).

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 10:15 pm

Just to point out, there is a time released formula for Ultram.. I forget if it is 12 or 24 hours, but just thought I would throw that info out there.

desertgirl · Post by **desertgirl** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:15 am

Hello All,
Thanks for the replies. The percocet worked fine, but I am tired of taking that and vicodin. I tried the Ultram and it did not work at all for me. So now I am taking Methadone 4 times a day at 5mgs each. Today was my first day on it, so I am waiting to see how it works for me. I am only going to take it when I really need it because it still kinda scares me. And it was alot cheaper than the other ones I had been taking. Next month I FINALLY get my hormone injection and I am looking forward to feeling better and not needing meds anymore. How is everyone else doing?
Jennifer

Flying_Jim · Post by **Flying_Jim** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 9:31 pm

So far Mirapex is the only drug that works for me. I was on a one and half milligram dose, but it almost killed me. I've managed to get that down to 0.75 mg a night, which enables me to get some sleep, the leaves me nauseous for 2 to 3 hours in the morning. I tried to get off it the with the same results -I couldn't lie down or sit down for four days straight.