OT: Percocet Withdrawl

[squid13]

I've been on percocet for 5 years for spinal cord problems and I'm down to 2 a day for the last 2 years and I really decided that I didn't need them anymore. So 2 weeks ago last Friday I quit taking them and found out that if I needed anything Tylenol worked OK. I"m thru the sick stomach part but this insomnia is really getting to me as you can see this is being typed at 4:45 AM, from what I"ve read it will pass. I was sleeping good until I started this. If anyone has been thru this, how long did the insomnia last for you cause I"m not going to take one just so I can sleep, I was on 10/325.Last time I talked to my pain management about stopping she said at 2 a day to just stop, so that is what I did. Lyrica handles the other problems with my spinal cord and I tried coming off of that but it didn't work out.

[Julie]

Ever tried melatonin? Some take what to me would be large amts (3-10 mg at least half hr before bed) but I find 1 is enough. Congrats on leaving the Percocet!

[squid13]

I'm taking 5 MG of melatonin time release plus 25 MG of benadryl and I get about 4 to 5 hours of sleep where I'm use to 7 to 8 hours. I just thought if anyone has been through this they could give me an idea about how long it last, cause its a side effect of withdrawal and it will pass.

[Pugsy]

This one probably has a huge YMMV sticker with it but what little I found out there for the withdrawal side effects pointed to anywhere from a week to a month or so.

No personal experience though and even if there was I don't know how much of it might relate because everyone is different and also everyone have other factors mucking up things. Like your spinal issues otherwise and even the Lyrica stuff.

Too bad they don't make an extended release Benadryl but if it were me I would be tempted to try a higher dose of Benadryl and see if it helped or not. I found with past experience taking Benadryl to help me sleep that 25 mg didn't do much but I had some luck with 50 mg.

[squid13]

I read that also about a week to a month so I got 2 weeks under my belt so maybe I'll get lucky and it will be over soon. I'll jump that Benadryl up to 50MG tonight and see how it goes. I tried to get off the Lyrica but that didn't work out, I'm stuck with that stuff and it's weight gain. I just thought maybe someone on the forum has gone through this and could give me an idea about how it goes.

[sptrout]

The safest, and easiest, way to wean off Percocet and other pill forms off instant release pain meds is your pill cutter. Just start by cutting a pill in half for each of your doses throughout the day. Do that for a few days, and then cut the 1/2 pill in-half again (=1/4 of a pill) and do that for each dose of the day. After a few days try stopping one of your standard dosage times and do that for a few days. After that it should be easy to stop Percocet. I know that this seems to be a long wean down, but you may be able to speed up the process depending on how your body reacts to each reduction. With this protocol you will not have any withdrawal side effects. Unfortunately, my wife and me both have had to wean off pain meds at various times and the procedure described worked 100% of the time; no withdrawals!

For extended release pain meds a person does not have many options; just slowly eliminate dosage times. IMO, and experience, doctors are not the best person to ask about wean off issues since they have likely never touched a pain pain pill.

[Julie]

I think 2 wks is not long enough... give it 4 and/or look up how long it can take (may even be longer).

[Pugsy]

Lyrica is nasty stuff to get off of which is why I have always refused to start it.
I don't do that sort of medication very well. A 2 week trial with gabapentin last summer was a disaster. The side effects to take it were awful and despite only taking a small dose for just 2 weeks....the withdrawal was bad as well. 4 days and nights of sleeping like crap and feeling like crap.

Since you went cold turkey off the Percocet and have been off it for over 2 weeks now I am extremely hesitant to suggest going back on at reduced dosage. Hopefully the worst is behind you in that regard and I know if it were me I wouldn't want to risk having to even remotely chance having to go through it again. There's no guarantee that a tapered dosing regiment would eliminate the insomnia issues anyway.
Everyone is different on how their bodies respond to stopping or reducing meds.

If it were me and I were in your shoes I would just continue to try to bull through the insomnia part of it by trying more Benadryl and try to be more accepting of the insomnia if it happened and make peace with taking a nap early in the day if I just really needed it.

Bear in mind though that it is also possible that the reason you were on the Percocet in the first place might also be playing a factor in the insomnia. Without the medication covering up that reason for sleep problems the reason for the need for pain meds might be surfacing more and disturbing sleep more. If that's the case....caught between a rock and the proverbial hard place. Damned if you do and damned if you don't kind of thing.
Let's see which crappy sleep or crappy feeling in general is worse....from pain or medication side effects????? Neither a particularly pleasant choice to make.

[squid13]

What ever problems I have a couple of Tylenol takes care of it, other than the insomnia the other side effects are gone so I think I'll just work through it until it's gone. Lyrica takes care of my main problems which is nerves, I don't even want to look at another opioid when this is done.

[sptrout]

I apologize that my earlier post was off target to say the least. I needed to read your 1st post more carefully; I thought that you needed to get off of Percocet, not that you already have. You seemed to have weathered the storm well. Going off a narcotic can be a very difficult road. Good luck with Lyrica I am taking 300mg of that a day an I am not looking forward to stopping that, but 150mg/day did help did help; 300mg no difference.

As for sleep,well that can be a tough nut to crack. My wife and me fight that battle every night. For me amitriptyline works well in very low dosage (10mg) for sleep for many people and can help with nerve pain (it helped my back pain considerably). I take 50mg for both nerve pain and sleep. You may want to give it a try very cheap, and at low dose can be easily stopped; just stop. Your pain doctor can prescribe it as can any doctor. Ambinen is okay, but it will give out in a few months. Melatonin is also a good idea, but at higher dose that what use to be recommended, especially if you are over 60 or so. I am taking 10mg, 5mg instant release, 5mg delayed release (both in one pill). All of the above has worked well for me, but now having sleep issues again; 6-7 hours is tops for me, but pain is what gets me. If a person is in pain sleep is almost impossible; maybe light sleep.

Good luck in whatever you try!

[Julie]

Amitriptylline (Elavil) can cause or aggravate depression... I'd be very careful with that.

[sptrout]

Amitriptylline (Elavil) can cause or aggravate depression... I'd be very careful with that.

Maybe so, I have never seen anything about that type of issue and I have taken it on and off for years (again, very low dosage). Amitriptyline is labeled and originally sold as an antidepressant. It fell out of favor (for depression) with the introduction of newer antidepressants. For depression it was prescribed at around 150 mg and up per day. One of the known side effects at that level was drowsiness. At 10 to 50 mg taken at bedtime the side effect of drowsiness is a good thing with the added bonus of maybe suppressing nerve pain the next day. At the dosage I am using there is no daytime drowsiness and not even noticeable in the evening (works under the radar I guess). Anyway, amitriptyline is very commonly prescribed (off-label) for both sleep and nerve pain. It may, or may not, work for either depending on the individual. Since it is so inexpensive (thing baby aspirin) I think that it is worth a try. For sleep, a person will know the first or second night if it helps. For nerve pain it may take a few days to find out if it helps with that.

[colomom]

Congratulations on 2 weeks without the Percocet! It’s not easy to stop taking opioids, you’ve made it thru the worst part which is an incredible achievement!!!

I don’t have first hand experience, but my Dad had horrible nerve pain because of a tumor in his spinal cord and when he finally was able to get the tumor removed I helped him thru getting off the opioid cocktail he had been on for about a year (Percocet and Oxi). Keep reminding yourself the worst part is behind you, insomnia is brutal but in all likelihood your your sleep should improve soon! You mentioned taking Benadryl to aid with sleep, I take Benadryl sometimes for allergies and sometimes to help me sleep when I am having back pain. We are all different, but what works best for me is taking 50mg before bed, and keeping another pill next to my bed that I take if after the first dose wears off (usually after about 4 hours). If the insomnia keeps up and over the counter stuff doesn’t do the trick, you may want to visit your doc and see if they can give you a low dose sleeping pill that you can take temporarily to help you get over the hump.

Good luck!

[squid13]

I apologize that my earlier post was off target to say the least. I needed to read your 1st post more carefully; I thought that you needed to get off of Percocet, not that you already have. You seemed to have weathered the storm well. Going off a narcotic can be a very difficult road. Good luck with Lyrica I am taking 300mg of that a day an I am not looking forward to stopping that, but 150mg/day did help did help; 300mg no difference.

As for sleep,well that can be a tough nut to crack. My wife and me fight that battle every night. For me amitriptyline works well in very low dosage (10mg) for sleep for many people and can help with nerve pain (it helped my back pain considerably). I take 50mg for both nerve pain and sleep. You may want to give it a try very cheap, and at low dose can be easily stopped; just stop. Your pain doctor can prescribe it as can any doctor. Ambinen is okay, but it will give out in a few months. Melatonin is also a good idea, but at higher dose that what use to be recommended, especially if you are over 60 or so. I am taking 10mg, 5mg instant release, 5mg delayed release (both in one pill). All of the above has worked well for me, but now having sleep issues again; 6-7 hours is tops for me, but pain is what gets me. If a person is in pain sleep is almost impossible; maybe light sleep.

I take 200 MG of Lyrica twice a day so it's a total of 400 MG. I've tried to come off of Lyrica twice an couldn't do it, that stuff is more additive than Percocet. I'm going to try one more time and see how low I can get and still control my nerve pain. I do it in stages with the help of my pain management Doctor. I've used amitriptyline and somehow in my medical records they had me down for depression, I may give it another try and see how it goes. My biggest problem is I have extreme peripheral neuropathy, I'm numb from the hip's down to my feet both legs. I envy people that can just lay down and go to sleep all night. You have to watch that Ambinen it can be addictive.

[Pugsy]

See how much increasing the Benadryl might help. Might just do the trick.
I have been known to take 100 mg (and yes...it is safe to take that much...hell, we used to give 100 mg routinely for the hives in people)...but 50 mg causes me less hangover the next day and does a decent job.

There is a different drug formula for OTC sleep aid available besides the Benadryl (diphenhydramine) called Doxylamine succinate and it might work better for you than Benadryl. I don't know but it is something to consider....I think Unisom uses it and not sure about other OTC sleep aids but you can look at the packages and see which is the active ingredient.