Aa
...?
Is it "normal", when WD from opiates, to have deep unstoppable coughing and heavy chest feeling? I have not seen anyone talk about this yet....but lately when I have attempted to WD I have felt this as well as my heart will either POUND or slow down to where I am scarred it wont keep going. as well as it's like I...."forget", to breath in....if that makes sense... When I came of perc's, I did not feel like this...but now I am trying to come off heavy oxi's as well as perc's.
I have asthma. Opiates act as a cough inhibitor, like Codine cough medicine. When I used Hydro I walked around with congestion all the time because i wasn't coughing. I'm going thru WD right now and coughing all the time. Glad you started this thread. Helped me figure that out. Hope you're doing well tonight. Keep the faith.
Your addict brain will ALWAYS tell you taking pills will make it all better.
When you get sick enough of the cycle......you can decide you want to get off the merry-go-round and then you have to not visit the carnival. Your feet will always head back to the merry-go-round because, in the beginning, that is what is comfortable.....familiar.....habitual.
Getting rid of ALL your pills.......cutting off the sources you still have open to get pills......having what you need in place to do a w/d when you know you will be sick......setting up support of SOME kind......until you are willing to do these things......you are setting yourself up to fail.
Secrets sooooo make us sick or keep us sick......
You said you aren't a "church going" person. I need to tell ya.....(not sure what faith you embrace, if any) but "sitting in your garage doesn't make you a car"........anymore than "going to church makes you a Christian".
If you can get to a place where you admit to yourself that you are powerless over these pills and your life has become unmanageable, you can take the next step.
Since you mentioned liking the serenity prayer......I wanted to share what someone in recovery shoved across the table to me at a meeting......this person saw how absolutely angry I was and wanted to help me.....
"God grant me the serenity to accept the PEOPLE I cannot change,
the courage to change the PERSON I can,
and the wisdom to know it is ME".
What we choose to feed...... will grow
What we choose to starve.......will die
I often remind myself "God help me to GET UP, I can fall down on my own". And He is there.... WHEN I ask.......we are all here to help whenever you decide enuf is enuf. Relapse and addiction are second nature to most of us posting here. You can have "our technical support", but you also need to make provisions in your daily home life for "skin on" support as well.
Encouragement.....hugs........accountability are crucial!
Blessings to you
When you get sick enough of the cycle......you can decide you want to get off the merry-go-round and then you have to not visit the carnival. Your feet will always head back to the merry-go-round because, in the beginning, that is what is comfortable.....familiar.....habitual.
Getting rid of ALL your pills.......cutting off the sources you still have open to get pills......having what you need in place to do a w/d when you know you will be sick......setting up support of SOME kind......until you are willing to do these things......you are setting yourself up to fail.
Secrets sooooo make us sick or keep us sick......
You said you aren't a "church going" person. I need to tell ya.....(not sure what faith you embrace, if any) but "sitting in your garage doesn't make you a car"........anymore than "going to church makes you a Christian".
If you can get to a place where you admit to yourself that you are powerless over these pills and your life has become unmanageable, you can take the next step.
Since you mentioned liking the serenity prayer......I wanted to share what someone in recovery shoved across the table to me at a meeting......this person saw how absolutely angry I was and wanted to help me.....
"God grant me the serenity to accept the PEOPLE I cannot change,
the courage to change the PERSON I can,
and the wisdom to know it is ME".
What we choose to feed...... will grow
What we choose to starve.......will die
I often remind myself "God help me to GET UP, I can fall down on my own". And He is there.... WHEN I ask.......we are all here to help whenever you decide enuf is enuf. Relapse and addiction are second nature to most of us posting here. You can have "our technical support", but you also need to make provisions in your daily home life for "skin on" support as well.
Encouragement.....hugs........accountability are crucial!
Blessings to you
No need to beat yourself up. This happens to a lot of us.
Now you have to learn something from the relapse - although your post confuses me a bit, not sure what you mean about the way you found those pills. And you have to get RID of any and all access to your DOC for this to happen. You just do.
If the serenity prayer resonates with you, have you tried an AA or NA meeting yet? What kind of aftercare are you willing to do?
Now you have to learn something from the relapse - although your post confuses me a bit, not sure what you mean about the way you found those pills. And you have to get RID of any and all access to your DOC for this to happen. You just do.
If the serenity prayer resonates with you, have you tried an AA or NA meeting yet? What kind of aftercare are you willing to do?
All of you comments make perfect sence...I guess my Addict Brain is trying so hard to fight me an win. and it IS winning, this morining I woke up after a night full of terror dream that i was driving accross the border to one of the States pain managment clinics (i live in canada, and we dont have those) and i was begging for meds. i woke up frantic and anfry and i could barely function. my kids were just trying to talk to me and i was loosing my mind. I kept trying to think if i had any more med kickin around so i scoweredd the garbages when they wernt looking to check for the dates on bottles, i realized there must have been some cause the datess didnt add up on the ones i found. took me 30 minutes but i found them. i took two haves. I hate myself right now. I am sorry for the bad spellling.i am shaking wwith disappiontment and relief at the same time. I hate myself. I hate this cyle i hate how my addict brain lies to my realself to get me through till my next hit. i hate crying alll the time, i hate being a week human who cannot seem to get her sh** together when I used to be soooo strong. I never used to be like this. these pill have taken my soul. I dont wish this on my worst enemy. god save my soul and all of those suffering. I am not a church going woman but the Serenity poem has helped...strange...but I connect with it deeply...
Sheesh - my response certainly sounded harsher than I meant it to be. I was just trying to say that the pills do a lot of damage to our systems when we're abusing - at least they did for me. And it will take some time for your body to normalize again. But it will. And as I said, if you think it's something more, please don't wait and get checked out by a Dr.
Good luck to you :)
Good luck to you :)
I had the very same things....I did call an ambulance and did go to the ER. In hindsight, I wish I would have just waited, cause my breathing became more even and normal in about 24 hrs. No help at the ER.....just more med bills! And it was a very negative experience for me!
Going into w/d, I found that my heart rate and breathing were both affected.....many, many drugs slow down our respiratory functions; then, boom, we take them away and our bodies are confused. What is she doing to me?? Then add anxiety, less fluids, not having what my body was totally used to by then; it affected my blood pressure, my heart rate, and my breathing (or inability to breath normally) and it was just plain scaring me (that's what sent me to ER was the breathing issues) They told me I was "doing it to myself".....I so totally didn't agree w/them....I had real breathing issues.........but I had read a lot about respiratory failure and didn't KNOW what was happening to me. I did normalize finally after 36-48 hrs. (w/o drugs to calm me)
I found that adding more water.....I drank tons of water while using.....and didn't feel like drinking much when I went into w/drawals.......anyway, more water helped my heart rate, b/p and my breathing. Also, concentrating on deep slow, deliberate breaths.....with a hot pad on the whole front of me.....calmed me. I had no muscle strength to sit in a hot tub.....but I know that would have helped.....used the hot pad instead.
The anxiety you are talking about is a COMMON thing for most of us!
Before I increased my opiate use, I had also been taking Xanex......took too many and my PA and I decided I needed to quit those. She gave me a weaning plan and I didn't stick to it.....so went thru a lot to get off of those 2 yrs before I addressed the opiates.
If you can be as determined to get thru w/d's as you were determined to take mind altering drugs, YOU WILL make it!!
Hope you will just hang on.....and know it gets better.
Going into w/d, I found that my heart rate and breathing were both affected.....many, many drugs slow down our respiratory functions; then, boom, we take them away and our bodies are confused. What is she doing to me?? Then add anxiety, less fluids, not having what my body was totally used to by then; it affected my blood pressure, my heart rate, and my breathing (or inability to breath normally) and it was just plain scaring me (that's what sent me to ER was the breathing issues) They told me I was "doing it to myself".....I so totally didn't agree w/them....I had real breathing issues.........but I had read a lot about respiratory failure and didn't KNOW what was happening to me. I did normalize finally after 36-48 hrs. (w/o drugs to calm me)
I found that adding more water.....I drank tons of water while using.....and didn't feel like drinking much when I went into w/drawals.......anyway, more water helped my heart rate, b/p and my breathing. Also, concentrating on deep slow, deliberate breaths.....with a hot pad on the whole front of me.....calmed me. I had no muscle strength to sit in a hot tub.....but I know that would have helped.....used the hot pad instead.
The anxiety you are talking about is a COMMON thing for most of us!
Before I increased my opiate use, I had also been taking Xanex......took too many and my PA and I decided I needed to quit those. She gave me a weaning plan and I didn't stick to it.....so went thru a lot to get off of those 2 yrs before I addressed the opiates.
If you can be as determined to get thru w/d's as you were determined to take mind altering drugs, YOU WILL make it!!
Hope you will just hang on.....and know it gets better.
IF you're a smoker, you probably smoked more than usual when high on the pills so 9 times out of ten, that will explain the chest "heaviness", AND anxiety is a huge part of withdrawal. If you think it's anything more than that, then get checked out. Otherwise, deal with it for the next few days (weeks for some of us) and it will stop. NOTHING is for free, so most likely, you're just paying the price for your abuse right now.
I had those exact symptoms along with high BP while detoxing. I went on ativan which helped alot, but created a dependancy that I then had to address. Try to go for a brisk walk, this will regulate your breathing. Also the hot bath and steamy shower quieted the cough and helped heaviness in chest. It will go away, but if it worries you and creates more anxiety, go get it checked out. Much luck
I would agree that if the coughing persists to see the doc. Mine went away after a couple days, but the heaviness in the chest is still here a week later. The ER doc said that's part of the anxiety.
I know you feel like quitting. I do too. But we can't. My main reason is that I have come this far and i would NEVER want to go through days 1-5 of wd EVER again!. If you feel you need to come clean to your doc, do it. But don't expect a lot of help. If you are past day 5 they are gonna tell you the worst is over. Maybe prescribe you an anti-anxiety, etc. But if you think he/she could help, you could try. They might surprise you :) And there is nothing (even wds) worse than going back to dying slowly!
I know you feel like quitting. I do too. But we can't. My main reason is that I have come this far and i would NEVER want to go through days 1-5 of wd EVER again!. If you feel you need to come clean to your doc, do it. But don't expect a lot of help. If you are past day 5 they are gonna tell you the worst is over. Maybe prescribe you an anti-anxiety, etc. But if you think he/she could help, you could try. They might surprise you :) And there is nothing (even wds) worse than going back to dying slowly!
Hi ,
Failing is practice for winning in time , Your not loseing , You came here now your going to be a winner again .
You have started to get it back , Just keep fighting want it bad .
Post more DOC & Dose info , How long ?
This site help me get to day#22 no norco , feeling pretty good for were i am at now .
enjoying things , smileing , laughing ,
45 days ago i wanted to die , hated myself , cranky mean always up's & down's every 3-4 hours pills ruled my life . almost Ruined it to.
Well i turned that self hate in to I HATE NORCO and what it did to me .
all that panic is the drugs talking to your brain .it will pass in a few days .
Fight hard first few days are tuff , then it gets better day by day .
Ron
Failing is practice for winning in time , Your not loseing , You came here now your going to be a winner again .
You have started to get it back , Just keep fighting want it bad .
Post more DOC & Dose info , How long ?
This site help me get to day#22 no norco , feeling pretty good for were i am at now .
enjoying things , smileing , laughing ,
45 days ago i wanted to die , hated myself , cranky mean always up's & down's every 3-4 hours pills ruled my life . almost Ruined it to.
Well i turned that self hate in to I HATE NORCO and what it did to me .
all that panic is the drugs talking to your brain .it will pass in a few days .
Fight hard first few days are tuff , then it gets better day by day .
Ron
"deep unstoppable coughing and heavy chest feeling?"
That doesn't sound like w/d symptoms, IMO. That sounds more like bronchitis/pneumonia. I would get checked out, just to be safe.
That doesn't sound like w/d symptoms, IMO. That sounds more like bronchitis/pneumonia. I would get checked out, just to be safe.
Thank you so much, I have been really freaked out that something bad was going on....glad to hear it is normal, I am fighting myself...over and over...back and forth....minute by minute...O want to quit, I need to quit. I keep failing. This site is the only support I have. I just found it the other day...I am battling about coming clean to my doc, or trying to beat this cold turkey on my own....so far I have been loosing...something has to give...cause I can't keep doing what I am doing, this isn't living...this is death in slow motion...
Its tachycardia. I was in the ER with it after one day off oxys. They told me its harmless unless you have an underlying heart condition, the racing lasts more than 20 minutes at a time, or you start having actual chest pains. I was coughing also. And the heaviness is normal too. Relapsing only drags out the wds. Hope this helps :)
Everything you mentioned can be part of the withdrawal process but if it is severe do not hesitate to get to the er.
Are you looking to come off of pills for good? I hope so because it sounds like your body is telling you something. It doesn't get any better with time, only worse.
Let us know what you are doing and we can recommend some things that may help ease the process.
Are you looking to come off of pills for good? I hope so because it sounds like your body is telling you something. It doesn't get any better with time, only worse.
Let us know what you are doing and we can recommend some things that may help ease the process.
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