Dutchessgoldan PLEASE HELP

[road2recovery]

Duthess, iDON'T think  i am healthy..i man i was before ths surgery..I hope you had read my email about how i almost died after the surgery..i will tell you a little..I lost have the blood in my body all night from a slow bleeding blood vessel in my stomach..But the nurse didn't call my doctor until the next morning,a nd they had to give me 6 pints of blood, and i had a small hear attack from lost of blood..Then i just got out and i don't have any to take..BUT now talking reading your email i don't think my body can take anymore..I am 38 and weigh about 110..What do i do?
thanks

[DutchessGolden]

Whoa! the nurse didn't call the doc till the next day? that is insanity!! You are at a good weight and you are still young, but your doctor might not want to take any chances with you going through w/d so soon after a mild heart attack. Most people who die from opiate withdrawal are very unhealthy. Over 97% of my husbands patients at the methadone clinic are HIV & Hep.C positive, and most are on benzos and other meds for anxiety and depression so they are a high risk group in opiate w/d. How long have you been off of your meds? and are you taking anything now? What were you taking and for how long? I definitely think that you need to see your doctor asap, see if they can squeeze you in tomorrow so if your doctor does not think you should chance w/d in your condition right now you can work something out with the doc. to taper yourself down off of your meds. A friend of mine Dr. Scott is a surgeon that works the ER a few days a week and he sees people in your situation all the time.

xoxo- D.

[DutchessGolden]

Oh sweetie, I just read your post below. You won't suprise any doctor if you tell them that you have a high tolerance to opiates b/c you have been taking them a while. And being in post-op pain your doctor should have no problem refilling them. Take what you can for the pain, your body is trying to do a lot right now. Losing that much blood is no small thing that's major and your heart is still trying to "heal." Once you are out of pain taper the meds sloooowwwly! Or talk to your doctor about a plan to taper off of the meds.

xoxo- D.

[road2recovery]

thanks so much..i use to take them just here and there..But about now about 2 yrs..i got up to 10 a day, before that it was like 3 or 4 a day..i never knew about withdrawls until i came here..i started with pain also.
i also take ativan and have been for a while for panic attacks and lexapro for about 2 yrs..
My Doctor says i have a hugh lawsuit for what they did, BUT i can't think about that right now becasue i really have been through hell.. i don't want to go to another hospital again..They realy almost killed me..All i can do is cry..now this !! Then i think i did this to myself..the guilt..i don't now what to do..Right now i have sweats and anxiety , no dirreah yet..i have only lasted about 2 days the lst time and stayed in the tub all night..Should i call my doctor today even if it is sunday? so scared for tonight.

[DutchessGolden]

You have nothing to feel guilty about, you DID NOT do this to yourself. You were taking medication from your doctor for pain. When you take opiates dependence is only a matter of time as well as tolerance. Doctors know that you will build a tolerance when you take meds regularly for hronic pain and will have to take more to get pain relief. When you start taking more than what you need for pain relief is when there is a problem. Even though 10 a day is a lot, there are people that can only get pain relief from that amount. What's important is that you don't exceed what you need for pain. If you find yourself taking them to get high that's a problem. You might want to call your doctor tonight or ask the pharmacist to find the doctor on call for him. You might even want to go to urgent care and tell them you just had major surgery and how much blood you lost and that you are withdrawing from pain medication. They might give you a prescription for a few days or a shot to last you through the night but many urgent care and ER docs are terribly incompetent. It can sometimes be a lose-lose situation. You don't want to lie to them tog get meds but you don't want to put yourself at risk because they are not familiar in addiction and withdrawal (especially with opiates) and want to send you out the door with some motrin-of course unless motrin helps your pain. Have you tried taking NSAID's like motrin 800mg or naproxen before? Also. I was talking to Schatzie about her ultram script that she is scared to take. She suffers from anxiety and is on ativan. Some people get high off of ultram but I do not know many people that do. I don't feel any type of high with ultram, I'm completely clear headed and completely pain free.I mention ultram because it does not bind so "tightly" to your mu opiate receptors like hydrocodone does. And it also increases serotonin and norepinephrine so in conjunction with your ativan this could be a great combination for pain and anxiety and or depression. If you are very concerned about tonight don't take any chances--call your doctor and/or go to urgent care. You have been through a major ordeal and your body is getting possibly more than it can handle right now.

xoxo- D.