Migraines § W/D

[RobynBanks]

Dr. Do you have any suggestions for dealing with rebound headaches/migraines when detoxing from Percocet. I have a constant throbbing of a vessel on one side of my head and its really painfull; i have a hx of migraines but this is the longest- Its been 6 days. The only time i dont have a migraine is when i sleep. Is there anything I can take apart from anelgesics? Do Imitrex or Amerge work on rebounds?
Thank you

[southernbelle]

my heart goes out to you...those headaches are hell!  i hate that our society and this world in general have made us feel so guilty about our addictions that we can't get any relief when we need it.  headaches like that are hell, and it's miserable.  i don't know about the rebound headaches, perhaps somebody else will have more insight for you.  mainly just want you to know you are loved and understood --- you aren't alone!  peace and love to you!

[southernbelle]

Just wanted to send positive energy your way.  If you are reading this, always remember how important you are.  You are special, and everything will be okay.  No matter what your situation is, you know what needs to be done, try your best to just do it and EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!  DO NOT be too hard on yourself, i repeat --- do not be too hard on yourself.  That will only cause you to feel more guilt, pain, etc. and will make you use more.  You've only got today....do the best you can do today, and don't think about the past or tomorrow.  You are loved and cared about --- take care of yourself and follow your instinct and heart.  They will guide you in how to handle your addiction ---- listen to your inner self.  LOVE TO EVERYBODY!

[Kat49]

Robynbanks, you need to call your doctor and get Imitrex 50mg or Amerge.  It works for migraines!  It's not addictive and gets to the source - is not a painkiller - just zaps them!  I'm a 30yr. veteran of migraines and post on the "addiction fioricet" thread.  I am addicted to fiorinal (a painkiller) that was originally prescribed for migraines before the wonderful Imitrex was introduced.  You will be pleasantly surprised how this works. Sometimes you may need to take one and then another one an hour apart - especially if you've had a banger for 6 days!  Been there done that a zillion times.  Hope I helped you.  Please call your doctor ASAP and get relief now.  Kat49

[Kat49]

Forgot to say that YES these drugs DO work on rebounds while detoxing.  I've detoxed from fiorinal 3 times and each time had a migraine that was indescribable from any others I've had.  So get the Imitrex (Amerge stays in your system longer).  My doctor said to take Imitrex 1st and and hour later if I still have pain, to take an Amerge because they last 8 hrs. whereas Imitrex lasts around 4 hrs.  Good luck! Kat

[The Golden Slipper]

Robyn

I also post on the fioricet/fiorinal thread down below.  I am a migraine sufferer and have suffered from the rebounds.  They are horrible.  Please try to get some imitrex you can get it by injection.  I use the injection and it is not as bad as it sounds.  It goes right into the muscle and is really not that painful when you consider the pain of the migraine.

You could go to the ER and have them give it to you there.  I do know that when I had my first injection they gave it to me in the ER because I had gone there seeking relief.  They do like to monitor your blood pressure the first time.  If you have a history of high blood pressure it may not be the drug for you.

Buy never fear, if that is the case there are other drugs in the same class that you might be able to tolerate.

Please talk to you doctor.  There is no need for you to be in such constant pain.

Good Luck
Golden Slipper

[theGolden1]

Dear Jen ... I had to post here because I was afraid you would miss it. Thank you very much for responding to my concerns about ultram. I have already cut it 1/4 of a tab and I feel a heaviness in my chest. I am going to do my best to keep busy and distracted. You sound like a medical person. BodyMechanic said ultram was "unpredictable" ... boy did he get that right!! I have taken vicodin many times. It was great for pain. I really hate being "high" ... I feel very stupid and clumsy. I feel like everyone is looking at me and I am self conscious. I'd rather sleep it off. I do not have a high pain threshold, so I did use them. My doctor thought ultram would be a better long term medication. I will be cutting back from 4 a day. I am afraid of having a seizure, stroke or heart attack from this. I am not a youngster. After coming here since november, I see how easy it is to get addicted.  Life is so strange. We have a dog that has seizures. My vet gave me valium for him. Now I may be the one who needs it ... I would just rather "step down" from ultram to vicodin and vicodin to valium. I just think it's safer .... ***@****

[FINISHED!!]

JUST A WARNING TO ALL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY USERS: I just spent three and a half weeks in the hospital, two of which was in ICU due to 3 badly bleeding ulcers. After vomitting blood for an entire night, I was rushed to ER to discover that 2 ulcers in my belly & 1 in my esophagus, none of which I knew I had, were bleeding...badly. The doctors are saying the cause is most likely due to close to 15 years of taking Relefan & Motrin. These are apparently VERY hard on the stomach lining & actually have been shown to promote ulcers over long periods of use. Here I thought the Vicodin ES abuse was the ONLY "problem" I had. I'm not a drinker, I've never smoked & I've never abused any illegal substances. This is not to say that these anti-inflammatories are ALWAYS dangerous but over a long enough period of use they can be. I know that the majority of the members here are in chronic pain & I'm sure that at least a few of you are taking these meds. PLEASE be careful & see your doctor at any sign of acid reflux or heartburn. This almost killed me!!! The procedures to rid your belly of blood are not exactly pleasent either. There are other anti-inflammatories that are supposedly not so hard on the gut so you may want to check with your doctors if you do in fact take the above mentioned medications.

[NEW ORLEANS LADY]

I HAD A REALLY ROUGH DAY YESTERDAY--THE HYDRO-CRAVINGS WERE IN HIGH GEAR AND MY ANXIETY LEVEL WAS OFF THE CHART--MY BEST FRIEND WHO IS AWARE OF MY STRUGGLE BROUGHT ME A CARD AND I THOUGHT I MIGHT SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE--IT REALLY HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD-
IT IS A MIRACLE THAT I DID NOT PICK UP A PILL YESTERDAY--23 DAYS AND COUNTING!--PEACE AND PRAYERS


LIFE IS YOURS--TO PAINT IN YOUR OWN COLORS
SOMETIMES THAT MEANS BEGINNING ANEW
CHANGE LOCATIONS--PICK A NEW LIGHT MORNING, DON'T SETTLE 'TILL YOU'VE FOUND THE PERFECT VIEW
STRETCH A NEW WHITE CANVAS.
BUY NEW BRUSHES--PRONOUNCE THE PAST COMPLETE AND SIGN IT DONE
HEAR NEW MUSIC, SEE THE NEW-LIGHT MORNING
UNLOCK YOUR HEART AND LET THE COLORS RUN!

[Rex1]

Hey bud, we have all been wondering where you have been, and now we know.

I too have been taking the Ibuprofren, but for about 4 years on and off. I have recently, even before I heard your story decided to taper on these, and now just trying to take low doses of Tylenol.

I am so sorry to hear about your bout in the hospital. Are you feeling better now? Whats the prognosis?

Hope you feel better each and every day, and hope you will visit here as often as you can comfortably.

God's Grace to you...

Rex

[ChiTownGirl]

Everyone please send me your success stories, I am about to start a detox this weekend and am very scared and anxious about the WD symptoms, I don't know if I can handle them.  I start getting restless if I don't take a pill every 6 hours.  My pill usage is starting to cause trouble with everyone I am involved with and my wakeup call has come, I am at rock bottom.  I feel ashamed, scared, and mad as hell at myself for letting it get this far.   I always told myself, just 1 more refill and I will ween myself down, but it never happened, I kept taking a handful of pills.  Basically at this point, weening is no longer an option for me, because I cannot do it successfully.  Cold turkey is what is has to be.  I have taken some small steps in order to detox this weekend, I have gotten my scripts for clonidine, trazadone and bentyl.  Today I am feeling like I simply cannot do the detox as planned,  especially since I start getting restless if I dont take a pill every 6 hours.  So I need to hear some success stories of everyone who has gone through a detox and survived.  Let me know the details and how you felt along the way.  Hearing these stories will give some inspiration.  Thanks.  CTG.

[FINISHED!!]

I feel MUCH better. Still have a lot of nausea though. The prognosis is probably surgery. I go in for another endoscopy (#4 in the past 4 weeks) on Monday the 13th to see if the meds have shrunk the ulcers at all.

Check this out Rex...I had told you previously that I had started going to church again before all of this happened...almost every member came to visit me...most of which I had only briefly met after the first service. Man I tell ya...I felt the Love, The HOLY SPIRIT & GODS grace every day I was there. I only wish I had a computer to stay in touch with you guys. My Fiance tried to log on a few times for me but was unable to get my password to work. That's how I FINALLY became FINISHED!! instead of FINISHED? I had to re-register.

Thanks for the kind words rex. The light you showed to the path of GOD was not direct but it was YOU that flipped the switch for me. I've never felt happier inside to FINALLY be reunited with my SAVIORS...GOD, JESUS CHRIST, THE HOLY SPIRIT & REX1!!!

THANK YOU ARE'NT WORDS ENOUGH REX...BUT IT'S ALL I HAVE AT THIS POINT.

FINISHED!!

[FINISHED!!]

Chi,
  I was taking anywhere from 20 to 30 Vicodin ES pills a day for 3 years. I would take 5 or 6 at one time 4 to 5 times a day. I quit cold turkey...not due to lack of meds but because I had to for me. I chose cold turkey because I too knew that tapering would not work for me. I had to experience the pain to remind me not to abuse my meds ever again.

My experience was this:
The flu is the best way to describe the symptoms. I was nauseated, cold sweats, feverish, restless legs etc. This all passed after the third or fourth day. I was fortunate enough not to suffer from the depression that frequently follows the physical withdrawls but I did hear that bottle calling my name for about a month after the initial withdrawl. I am a STRONG believer in mind over matter & I convinced myself to stay busy, exercise...A LOT, substitute the Vicodin with Vitamins & to stay clean. The symptoms are REALLY no more than uncomfortable at most...miserbly uncomfortable yes but it does pass after a few days. As long as you are TRULY at rock bottom, you'll do GREAT!!! You have reached a point that many never reach. You are in a position where you have identified the cause of a lot of your problems & you're ready to rectify that situation. If you keep this in mind during AND after your detox, you WILL stay strong enough to keep clean. I have faith in this. I have now been clean for over 150 days & things ARE so much better than they ever were while loaded on pills. Before I got clean, I would read this exact same statement on this forum & think "no way." But take my word for it, IT IS BETTER. It's hard to swallow that right now I'm sure. The anxiety that precedes detox is greater than the withdrawls themself. You KNOW what you need to do. You now know that so many others before you have done it. You WILL BEAT THIS & my guess is that in a month or two, you'll be helping somebody else here that's EXACTLY where you are now. If you need support, you've chosen a great place to be. I have been there as have a great deal of members here. You are fortunate in the fact that you have obtained some meds to help aleviate some of the symptoms associated with detox. I did not. You have chosen to seek the support of this forum. I did not until much later. You have indentified your problem & you're ready to tackle it head on. You've already shown GREAT STRENGTH in this alone. Keep your head up & seek whatever help you need to get clean & more importantly...STAY CLEAN. You are in my Prayers ChiTownGirl.

FINISHED!!

[NEW ORLEANS LADY]

I WAS EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE NOW--23 DAYS AGO--BELIEVE ME I WILL DITTO EVERYTHING FINISHED HAS SAID--FEAR OF COLD TURKEY WITHDRAWAL WAS WORSE THAN ACTUALLY GOING THRU IT!  IT WAS 5-7 DAYS OF THE FLU-I THINK THE THING I DISLIKED THE MOST WAS THAT I FELT "COLD" ALL OF THE TIME--THATS WHEN I LIVED IN THE BATHTUB! I FOLLOWED THE THOMAS RECIPE AND IT REALLY HELPED! YOU CAN COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE--MYSELF AND OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS FORUM ARE LIVING PROOF--YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE DECISION FOR YOURSELF--I WAS SO SICK OF THINKING ABOUT GETTING PILLS-TAKING PILLS-RUNNING OUT OF PILLS--THAT THINKING CONSUMED MY DAY--YOU CAN DO IT! ONE MINUTE-ONE HOUR-ONE DAY AT A TIME--GOOD LUCK--KEEP US POSTED! YOUR IN MY PRAYERS

[NEW ORLEANS LADY]

YOU KNOW I FORGOT TO TELL YOU THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!IT IS WONDERFUL ON THE OTHER SIDE OF HYDRO-HELL--I HAVE NEVER FELT SO FREE--THE FEAR IS GONE--AND A TRUE HAPPINESS IS STARTING TO RETURN--GOOD LUCK--YOU CAN DO IT!!!! YOUR IN MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

[theGolden1]

Dear Finished? ..... ask your Gastro doctor to check your stomach for "H-Pylori" it's the only bacteria that can live in the stomach acid. It can make you very sick. Please do this test. The best ones are done at the endoscopy. Even if he did it last time ..... do it again. I had a trip to hell with my stomach after vioxx. Now I NEVER take anything but tylenol. That's another reason I want to quit the ultram. Never take anything on an empty stomach .... hope you feel better soon, Goldie

[Rex1]

Man it is good to have you back.

Rex

[FINISHED!!]

H-Pylori? What exactly is that? I know the nausea right now is terrible & I wasn't aware that ulcers themselves could cause this but I knew blood in the stomach could. My endoscopy is Monday so I'll be sure to ask my doc about this.

Thanks,
FINISHED!!

[FINISHED!!]

It's good to be back my friend. Hopefully I wont need that surgery so I can stick around awhile.

FINISHED!!

[suzieneedshelp]

hey Gurl!  Welcome to detox!  I am on day 12 from my detox from stadol!  But i did it while taking ultram to lesson the effects and now i will be going off the ultram this weekend.  So...we can chat you know where and stuff this weekend gurl!  You can do it!  Esp with all the Thomas recipe stuff.  If you have any questions ask Thomas the expert!   Or ask me, he's my friend and i can get to him via e-mail.  
You have all you need to do it right.  Do you have anyone with you to support and encourage you?  Take plenty of hot baths too!  Walk walk walk and get outside if  you can to get your system ridding yourself of that stuff quicker.  The more you move the better but you will just feel lkie crawling in a hole and not moving believe me!  
E-mail me and let me know if i can help.  Also you can call me if you like. I will send you my phone number.  Just think this tijme next week you will be rid of that **** and doing much much better.  that devil wil be off your back!
Congratulations for your courage!
Suzie

[suzieneedshelp]

Hey!  I too suffer migraines for years.  The worst culprits that cause rebound headaches are aspirin, aecetomemaphen and ibuprofen.  Do you take any of those daily?  If so stop!  I never can take ibuprofen every day or else i get rebound.  
Imitrex and the other work well for sure.  They go right to your brain at the cause of the migraine headache.   Best wishes to you and your detox!  Congratulations! That is awesome!
Suzie

[teeitup]

Great to hear your words bud! All the best with your problems, I was worried about you!

teeitup!

[lisabet]

Hey bud - how you doing?  I didn't catch where you where from; ever golfed at the "Greenbrier" In West Virginia?  Look it up on the "net" - a golfer's dream!!!   Love, Lisabet

[lisabet]

Hey, sweetie - I've read your posts, but don't think we're ever corresponded....I want you to know that I think you are very brave..I can tell you are scared...In accordance to past posts, the fear of going cold turkey is actually more scary in theory than in actuality. (Although I couldn't really verify that, since I'm too "chicken ****" to go the cold turkey route)..smile.  So guess this cancels out my post---smile...
I just want you to know my good thoughts and prayers are with you; you sound really determined---good luck! Your post could have been written by me - I do good until the 6 hour mark-then I have to have my pill...I know exactly where you're coming from!  Don't be too hard on yourself; you're wanting to do better and that's a giant step!  Keep us posted, Love, Lisabet

[FINISHED!!]

Hey Tee,
Thanks for the concern & well wishes. I'm excited to be back & hopefully I can skip the possible surgery ahead & stick around a while.

Thanks,
FINISHED!!

[teeitup]

I've heard of it! I have family in North Carolina, I'm in a little town called Groves about 100 miles east of Houston on the Texas/Louisiana border. have a good day!

teeitup!

[FINISHED!!]

Hey Tee,
  Forgot to mention that I finally broke 80 on the course before I went into the hospital....of course it was on a par 68 executive course but that's good for me. Ah man...I SUCK AT GOLF...but I'm now addicted to it. Better to be addicted to a little white ball than a little white pill I guess.

FINISHED!!

[ChiTownGirl]

Hey everyone, thanks a million for your kind words and support, it means alot to me to have you guys on my side and exactly knowing what I am going through.  I also have my wonderful husband to support me through my detox this weekend, but its not the same talking with him about my addiction, because hes never been there, ya know?  As of right now, thursday AM, I have exactly 10 pills left, no more refills!  I am getting myself psyched up to do my detox and I feel OK about it this morning, it helps for me to keep reading everyones posts.  I am not so scared about it today, or right this minute I am not scared - In fact when I think about my crazy cycle of taking pills, I would go through a bottle of 30 pills within 24 hours, its absolutely insane!  Why do I do this to myself?  I certainly do not want to die, nor continue hurting those around me that love me.  I have a husband, 2 new beautiful kitty kats that I adore, who always greet me at the door with their wonderful little meows and purrs when I cuddle them in my arms and a somewhat supportive family.  Only my sister knows what I am going through, who didnt really say much when I told her I was battling a prescription abuse problem.  I think about last year when I OD'd on Tylenol 4's, how scared I was that I came that close to dying, laying there in the ICU unit for 2 days while they monitored my vitals and kept giving me that awful charcoal stuff to drink, I was sh*tting black stools for an entire week!  I was able to quit cold turkey back then felt pretty dam good about it, but started up again after getting a root canal treatment this year in Feb.  Alot of you remember my posts back then, I was hesitant to start my vicious pill popping cycle again, but caved in to the urges.
Sorry to ramble so much this morning, just typing out my thoughts.  I will keep everyone posted on my detox progress.  Thanks for being there, and listening and giving me great bits of advice.  CTG.

[FINISHED!!]

Glad to hear that you're feeling better today than yesterday about your upcoming fight. Remember what I said; The anxiety of detox is more often than not worse than the detox itself. You sound READY!!! I'm pulling for you & I have great faith that you'll succeed in your battles. I did it with open prescriptions & pills in the house so I KNOW that you'll do just great!!!

FINISHED!!

[teeitup]

What a day, one of those ones where you just want to come home and get **** faced! But I didn't thanks to the forum! Good to see all the new post over the last few weeks. thanks to everyone for their help!

Finished- way to go on the busting 80, I know people who have played 10 years and can't.

teeitup!

[FINISHED!!]

Hey Tee,
Thanks for the congrats but maybe you didn't see the par of the course I was playing...68!!! I know that's not too bad but for me, but I play at least 3 times a week & I'm at the range at least 4 times a week...& I have for almost 2 years now. Maybe I'm just used to exceeding in all my sports REALLY quickly & golf is so inconsistent...well at least MY game is. I played a little par 31 pitch-n-putt last night & golfed a 59!!! TERRIBLE. That's just 3 strokes away from a total bogey round. I'll be ready to play a few rounds with you in about 10 to 15 years at this rate.

Anyways Tee,
  How've ya been? You're still tapering right? Hope that all is well with that because if I make it out to your neck of the woods this year, we have some golf to play. You're up in the Texas area aren't you? Let me know because it looks like I have a pretty busy travel schedule this year (already) & in June, I'll be in Houston for 6 days.

FINISHED!!

[teeitup]

Good round, yeah I've got the tapering down to 1 - 2 a day wish it was 0. Like you I can't take the anti-inflammatories, thats why I started hydro. I live 100 miles east of Houston off I-10. You have my email, when it gets closer we must set something up. It takes me 1 1/2  hours to get to Houston, I'll take you to play golf! Hope you get better and thanks for all the support!

Ola Lisabet! Hope your doing okay!

teeitup!

[lisabet]

Hi tee - Yeah, I'm doing moderately OK; I've relasped a little bit, but trying to get back on track. This time of year is always depressing to me; between Jan-Feb. I've just been mostly reading the past few days, SO many informative and great posts-I'm just absorbing it all.  I feel so blessed to find this forum; so many good people and a wealth of great posts. Hope you're doing OK - and don't worry about me, despite the relaspe, I'm damned and determined to get through this thing.  Love/Peace, Lisabet

[Rex1]

Haven't forgotten about you girl.

What can I do or say to make you feel better. Take it one day at a time and know that we're here to help - ok?

Praying for ya...

Rex

[teeitup]

Hello Miss Lisabet, I was a bad boy to for a couple of days too.  Got hooked up with a coulpe of old golfing buddies, spent the day with a little drink, a little smoke and of course an extra hydro I didn't need. Why is being bad so much damn fun (fot the moment)? Don't get down, get back up!

What's up Rex? How's the back?

[Rex1]

Hey T, the back is getting better every day.  

Could it be that in effect I have no back pain at all?  Could I have been this dishonest to myself all along?  Could it be that I mentally developed this supposedly severe back pain just to get my precious Vicodin?

Don't answer that!;-)

Because I think I already know the answer.  Yes I probably have some back pain, you know that same pain that everybody on the planet has around the time they turned 40.  The real question is "does this pain require a four-year regiment of powerful narcotic painkillers?".

When I lay the question out this way, it is absurd in its nature.  Of course I do not need painkillers.  And one of the things that bugs me the most is that I am giving a bad name to those folks out there who legitimately need painkillers for real honest to goodness pain.

Tomorrow will be 50 days.  I may not always feel this strong, but for today I can say there is no way I'm going back.

Thanks for asking.

As far as your party goes, I do not really need to comment, do I? You know, something about playing with fire, slippery slopes, mixing nitro with glycerin, living on the edge....  Etc.

I could say all of those things but I won't ;-).

Rex

[lifeisbetter]

What exactly is it about golf and drinking buddies that makes you men go brain dead for a day. I mean that in a loving way...really. :0) Seriously though, my husband smokes pot daily and doesn't really like to drink but if one of his "golf buddies" calls then I know he's getting drunk and probably going to a strip bar. The odd thing is that the whole group tells their wives "I only go because they want to, and I only drink because they are" but nobody ever seems to be the one to suggest it. Just curious, its one of those thorns in life I guess I just have to bear.

[teeitup]

Your absolutely right Rex! You remember the old VanHalen verse, "went to the edge, stood and looked down, lost a lot of friends their baby aint got time to stick around" Well I've always liked being right on that edge and for 43 years have been able to back off in time. Most of my buddies are recovering addicts of some sort, some don't drink but smoke, some drink but don't smoke and so on. We all kind of keep an eye on each other and try not and due to much of anything. We are all blessed with good jobs, family etc.. but just like that little wild streak. I know I shouldn't keep pushing my luck but I'm not going to lie to myself or my friends which I considered this forum and say I'm never going to party, it's just not me right now. But I do owe this forum a lot in that it got me back on track from abusing a drug I could not control.

Lifesbetter, golf is an addiction in itself and if your competitive it's even worse. I live 4 houses from a golf course and try and get on it 3-4 times a week. Drives my wife crazy but she says at least she know where I am. Can't say much about the strip bars cause one of my buddies owns one and I use to go to. One of those stupid guy things I guess. My wife always tells me "I don't care where you get your appetite as long as you eat your meals at the house"! thanks for everyones help!

teeitup!

[lifeisbetter]

You must be one of my husbands golfing buddies! Your answer sounded alot like his. Is there some universal code you guys learn in highschool, invented to confuse and throw your wives off track, that you've sworn never to break? It seems awfully coincidental, that all over the country when asked the same question, men will automatically say "I don't know...guess its  a guy thing!" Since we're on the subject, I'm curious,isn't it kind of a self induced torture to go to a strip bar anyway? You know, look but don't touch? Talk about living on the edge, what if one of the strippers liked you back?

I still don't get the whole thing but thanks for trying.

[teeitup]

Can't argue your point, I married a beautiful ex-cheerleader, homecoming queen the whole bit. It's just a guy thing... I havent been in years because of a bad experince. Went to my friends club, noticed a pretty young girl dancing and it turned out to be another friends daughter whom I changed her diaper when she was a baby!!! With having a beautiful daughter of my own I decided that's one vise I could do without!

teeitup!

P.S. I have to defend the male animal.. it's a guy thing...

[lifeisbetter]

Oh my Goodness! That is great! Yep... that would do it! Do you think that was just a coincidence? Thanks for that visual, I'll be laughing all night!