Withdrawal from Pain meds after surgery

[taylorali]

Hi All,

So I am getting off dilaudid right now. It's been hell to be honest, but I literally am suffering from the worst insomnia of my life.

I've had two bowel resections-crohn's-and I never remember it being this bad!! I literally cannot sleep. I've tried Ambien. Didn't work. Tried some benedryl. Did absolutely nothing. I can't take my normal sleeping meds bc they conflict with the nausea medication (Zophran.)

Does anyone have any OTC things they've taken to help with this?

I also have zero appetite and so I try to eat, but then I get extremely nauseous to the point where I throw up a lot. And all I'm throwing up is "Smart" Water-it has electrolytes so I try my best to drink as much as I can. If I'm not throwing up, I have severe diherrea. It's horrible. (Thank you for whoever invented baby wipes!) I also am having hold/cold chills like crazy-which my doctors thought was an infection, but thankfully it isn't.

I'm also so depressed. Mostly because of the insomnia probably. Being alone that much is so hard. I'm down to 1mg per day, but the doctor said this is going to be the hardest to get off.

Any advice would be so helpful! :rosette1:

 

[Angie10]

Hi! You know I went through something similar with the extreme insomnia when I was first diagnosed with Crohns. They did a bunch of tests. But, what ended up happening is I developed anxiety from the whole situation. And I didn't sleep for weeks! Tried ALL the sleep aids and nothing touched it. Did testing for depression but that was unfounded. So I started with a anti-anxiety/depression med. Took a couple weeks to kick in. But once it did I was perfectly fine. Sleeping returned and things were back to normal. I know how u feel. U think u are going crazy! The harder u try to fall asllep, the more crazy u feel! Maybe because u do feel depressed this might be something to think about? I have tried a few times in the past years to stop taking them because I feel fine! But within a couple weeks of stoping them, right back to insomnia day after day! So, I will just take them and know this is something I can't control and its a chemical inbalance in my body. Hope this helps a little! Hang in there!

 

[shamrock15]

How recently was your surgery? Are you still on some prednisone at this time (this can cause insomnia)? What other meds might you be on?

 

[katiesue1506]

I had insomnia for about 2 weeks after my resection. I was also on dilaudid, however it could have been from sleeping in the hospital and getting used to being awakened in the night multiple times. It did finally go away and I'm also able to sleep through the night without needing the bathroom (that took about 2 weeks too). Today is exaclt 4 weeks from my surgery.

I hope it goes away for you!

EDIT: I just read that you had yours mid january. I was only on dilaudid for 3 days so it might take you longer to get the dilaudid out of your system since you've taken it a little longer.

 

[Dawnmg]

I was having problems with sleeping as well, It was stress from life and the disease. I was put on ambien and that seemed to do the trick. I know you said it didn't work for you, maybe a higher dose (only approved by your doctor) or I have used zquil in the past. It is over the counter and it worked very well. I hope you find some relief!

 

[taylorali]

Thank you all for responding.

I am not on Prednisone. I took that years ago and it turned me into a monster!

The meds I'm on right now are Lexapro (for depression, been on for 6+years), Ambien (which isn't working), xanax when needed, protonix, and I'm starting Humira again this week.

Maybe I will try zquil because I am desperate. They kept me on dilaudid for too long and that's probably the problem. I was on it for 3 weeks! I hate this stupid drug!! Withdrawal is horrible.

 

[Ihurt]

Can you take benadryl?? This can help you sleep. Also maybe your doc can try you on Trazadone. This is an antidepressant that can make you sleep. There are other benzo's like klonopin that can make you sleepy too. I am sorry you are having the insomnia. Does you doctor think it is because of pain med withdrawl??

Thank you all for responding.

I am not on Prednisone. I took that years ago and it turned me into a monster!

The meds I'm on right now are Lexapro (for depression, been on for 6+years), Ambien (which isn't working), xanax when needed, protonix, and I'm starting Humira again this week.

Maybe I will try zquil because I am desperate. They kept me on dilaudid for too long and that's probably the problem. I was on it for 3 weeks! I hate this stupid drug!! Withdrawal is horrible.

 

[taylorali]

Can you take benadryl?? This can help you sleep. Also maybe your doc can try you on Trazadone. This is an antidepressant that can make you sleep. There are other benzo's like klonopin that can make you sleepy too. I am sorry you are having the insomnia. Does you doctor think it is because of pain med withdrawl??

I've tried taking benedryl and literally I feel nothing. I've been on klonopin 1 at night, and it helps a little, but not enough to put me to sleep. My psychiatrist doesn't want me taking more. I've been on lexapro for so long so idk if I'd be a good idea to switch to another antidepressant.

Yeah, I saw a pain mgt doctor last week and he definitely thinks this is why I'm having this problem, bc ambien has always worked for me before this. I'm going to see him and my psychiatrist tomorrow, so hopefully they'll have some answers.

Gonna try zquil tonight! Hope it helps! Thanks so much for responding :ysmile:

 

[M30]

It amazes me how differently we all react to drugs, surgeries.

The only withdrawal I have experienced is with prednisone when it was overlooked during a hospital visit. Even at 5mg I knew something wasn't right. I asked and surely enough they had forgotten. It does suck but now I am tapered down to 2.5mg and will be off in under two weeks.

Dilaudid has never done anything for me for pain. Tylenol was way better. It didn't have the high effect but the pain went away. 4 hours after surgery I tossed my dilaudid PCA out of reached because the nurses wouldn't give me Tylenol. Finally the following morning I got some Percocet with Tylenol. When discharged I never filled the Percocet and rolled with the hydrocodone 7.5 w/ 500 mg of Tylenol.

I feel fortunate that I have escaped dependence on the 'good drugs'. Then again, perhaps my hospitalizations wouldn't suck if the traditional pain killers like dilaudid were effective for me.

Just some thoughts around this... I am confident you will recover. You would be surprised what our bodies can adapt to if you trust it. Drugs are bad, I hate them. It is a battle you can and will win.

Hope.

 

[taylorali]

Just some thoughts around this... I am confident you will recover. You would be surprised what our bodies can adapt to if you trust it. Drugs are bad, I hate them. It is a battle you can and will win.

Hope.

. It just bothers me that I was sent home on so much pain medication. Literally they had me on 8mg every 3hours!! I couldn't take the dopey feeling anymore, so I was like screw this! So I dropped down dramatically to basically only taking a pill when I felt pain! I didn't even know I could go through such withdrawal! I didn't even know it was withdrawal until my Gastro told me it was! I thought I was going crazy!!! I had a catscan and blood work done. I sat in the ER for hours and no one could have just said, I think you're going through withdrawal. Here's how to fix it!

Literally the entire time I was in the ER they're like, do you want dilaudid and I just kept saying no because I wasn't in pain! Like stop trying to shoot me up! Jeez!

Tylenol pills literally do nothing for my pain. And I always end up with elevated liver enzymes if I take it too much. The liquid tylenol they give you in the hospital definitely helps though, but again, can be dangerous in terms of my liver. When I had my surgery they put the epidoral in wrong and I ended up getting severe headaches because they tapped my spine. :ywow: The tylenol definitely helped with that.

I took the zzzquil 3 hours ago and nothing. Not even the slightest bit tired. Ugh! I am so frustrated.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I believe I'll get through this too. But man am I tired of being tired! I just wanna SLEEP!!!! :thumbdown:

 

[katiesue1506]

you said you have nausea too? Maybe they could give you phenergan... That always made me super sleepy

 

[taylorali]

So I went to the doctor today and I am on serequel-I've taken this before and on lower doses, it just makes you really drowsy.

I tried the zzzquil last night and I had no such luck!

If this doesn't work, my psychiatrist wants to try trazadone. I know someone mentioned that, but she said it works good to put people to sleep as it is a terrible anti depressant.

Here's hoping!

 

[Dawnmg]

I hope you find relief soon! I know it can be exhausting and stressful just not being able to fall asleep. I have tryed trazadone, 1/2 pill and it worked for me and kept me asleep. Maybe you could try tramadol. I heard that it helps with withdrawl. I'm not sure if it'll make you sleep however I feel if you can get your withdrawl somewhat under control then sleep would follow. Good Luck

 

[UnXmas]

Hi! You know I went through something similar with the extreme insomnia when I was first diagnosed with Crohns. They did a bunch of tests. But, what ended up happening is I developed anxiety from the whole situation. And I didn't sleep for weeks! Tried ALL the sleep aids and nothing touched it. Did testing for depression but that was unfounded. So I started with a anti-anxiety/depression med. Took a couple weeks to kick in. But once it did I was perfectly fine. Sleeping returned and things were back to normal. I know how u feel. U think u are going crazy! The harder u try to fall asllep, the more crazy u feel! Maybe because u do feel depressed this might be something to think about? I have tried a few times in the past years to stop taking them because I feel fine! But within a couple weeks of stoping them, right back to insomnia day after day! So, I will just take them and know this is something I can't control and its a chemical inbalance in my body. Hope this helps a little! Hang in there!

I've had a similar experience with an anti-depressant lately. It was prescribed for insomnia caused by prednisone. It works so well, I'd be scared to stop taking it.
I also got the fear of insomnia - dreading going to bed. Sometimes if I wake up in the night now (I have to get up to use the bathroom frequently) I have a minor panic in my half-asleep state that the med has stopped working and I won't get back to sleep - but then I do.

After surgery I often get restless leg syndrome which is terrible for sleep too. But I only seem to get it after aneasthetics and it goes away on its own after a few nights.

taylorali - Keep trying, as something will work for you. Hope you feel better soon. :hug:

 

[UnXmas]

So I went to the doctor today and I am on serequel-I've taken this before and on lower doses, it just makes you really drowsy.

I tried the zzzquil last night and I had no such luck!

If this doesn't work, my psychiatrist wants to try trazadone. I know someone mentioned that, but she said it works good to put people to sleep as it is a terrible anti depressant.

Here's hoping!

I think it was trazadone that I once had a bad reaction to. I didn't like the side effects of that med and it didn't help me sleep either. I hope it works better for you than it did for me. But do watch out for side effects.

 

[lukefarrell]

I know its possibly not the answer you are looking for however...

It seems u are very stressed (understandably) by the whole thing and you sound quite anxious. It also seems you are on enough drugs and I agee with some of the above posts - drugs = bad. Maybe you dont need anymore drugs to help you sleep but just need to mentally do everything you can to beat the withdrawal!

I would try and completely relax your mind, try and focus on your breathing and lie down in a comfortable position. Maybe put some music on you like in earphones and try and completely block out the negative thoughts and just focus your thoughts on completely relaxing your body.

Sometimes when I am very stressed with a health related issue the only thing I can do is tell myself being more and more upset and stressed isnt going to solve the problem and I almost force myself to relax!

All the best and good luck

 

[taylorali]

Well, I finally feel asleep last night around 4am after lying in bed for hours. You're right, I was so anxious about NOT falling asleep, that I just had to take a deep breathe and just lie there. So I did. I actually turned all the lights off and just left the tv on. (It helps me fall asleep as I grew up in a big house with lots of noise lol)

But then I woke up around 6:30, and started to throw up. I threw up about 3 times, got back in bed, and feel right back to sleep.

I called my gastro and she said it's a sign of withdrawal-the throwing up that is. Bleh! Yesterday was the first day I was completely off the dilaudid, so I guess maybe that's why.

Gonna try again tonight. I also start my Humira up again tonight before sleep-and honestly, getting the shot usually makes me sleepy. So once again, here's hoping

 

[Dawnmg]

taylorali, I'm glad you were able to get some sleep. It really sucks that the medicine that helps you feel better at one moment can turn around and make you feel so horrible. I am really sorry your going through this. I have some anxiety, especially after work, I notice that a nice cup of hot tea calms my mind a little bit, plus my electric blanket really helps too Hope you get to feeling better soon and I hope you are able to get some relaxation and rest!

 

[Maureen2013]

I am sorry you are going through this. No advice but sending happy and relaxing thoughts your way!!!

 

[lukefarrell]

Well done! Glad you got some sleep. Best of luck for tonight as well

 

[taylorali]

No such luck tonight. :/ I'm guessing his is going to be an on and off kinda thing until this medicine is completely out of my system!

*crossing my fingers*

thanks for all the support!!!!!!