Phenergan...and scared

As you guys know I'm off the suboxone...20 days now...that's been really easy not taking or even craving suboxone or codine (was the drug of choice).

The thing is I've been taking Phenergan every night for the sinus side of withdrawals, allergies and mozzie bites (they can get upto the size of a tea cup saucer)...anyways when i do take them i get a bit of that "feeling" you know what i'm talking about...the relax...the relief and just feeling chilled out. I have done a little research on them and they don't appear to be addictive, but part of me is getting scared.

Does anyone else have any personal experience similar to mine? or is there any advice anyone can give? I know the long time clean people will say get into some aftercare...i know your right...

[Jaybay]

Any drug can be abused, including phenergan which is typically prescribed for nausea.  It has a sedating effect on most people and yes, you are abusing it.  You're still in the mindset of reaching for a pill to calm yourself down and help you cope with life.  That's the behavior you need to change and why aftercare is so important.  Break the cycle.  Flush the phenergan and get yourself to a meeting!

[vicki595]

Hey...you're taking the Phenergan for the wrong reason. It's not for sinus or bug bites or allergies. Go buy an antihistamine and get rid of the Phenergan. Jay's right. This is addictive behaviour!

Good luck and great job on those 20 days!!

[paying_it_forward]

Well my pharmacist told me phenergan is an antihistamine and when i was a kid i got it given to me when i got a really bad reaction to mosquito bites. Here you don't need a perscription for it...it's sold over the counter. I'm not trying to make excuses, obviously because i have made this post and i can see that i am abusing it...

Oddly enough i take Xanax for my anxiety...but i only ever take it when or if i need it and i don't exceed my perscribed dosage. As you all know it Xanax can be addictive and abused...i don't abuse that, but i take phenergan?

I'm not going to head down the path i did with Codine...I won't.

[LeaAnn807]

Hi!  IMO anything that sedates an opiate addict is dangerous to take!  We just don't have any gray area.  We like to feel "chilled out."  You are obviously aware that this behavior isn't healthy, so why not quit taking it?  Even an OTC med can be abused.  Why take the chance on going back through what you went through before?

Big, huge congrats on 20 days!  Way to GOOO!

[paying_it_forward]

I know your right. OTC meds are addictive...my DOC was an over the counter medication so i really do know how dangerous they are.

For my sake and others...i have to stop taking phenergan. Plus i can't go back down the road of addiction if i'm going to be the person to help addicts with the course i'll be starting next month! I used this course as motivation to get off suboxone so i'll use it again it keep off phenergan.

p.s arrghh i have a mosquito bite the size of my palm! just had to get that out!

[madtram]

Although antihistamines are essentially similar in their chemical pathways, they can have different effects on the central nervous system.  Some of the older anti-anxiety meds are antihistamines which is probably why you are getting this sort of effect from phenergan.

You could treat your allergies & bites with a non sedating antihistamine such as claratyne or zyrtec as these do not cross the blood brain barrier to the same extent as phenergan & would not have the same CNS impact.

Best wishes.

[paying_it_forward]

Well i went to the pharmacy and showed the pharmacist my mozzie bite and he was like "oh my" lol. I said i had been taking phenergan for it since i react so badly and he said that was the best thing i could take for it. I told him that i had a previous codine dependence and that i was a little concerned about repeat behaviour with phenergan. He said it was the best way to treat my allergic reaction to the bites but also pointed out some other non drowsy antihistamines which he said won't work as well but...i brought them. I only have a few phenergan left so once they're gone...thats it. I will justify my use of them right now only because of the severity of my bites.

Though you'll be happy to know i went out and brought some heavy duty insect repelent that i'll be using all summer! Hopefully it works better than the last one! If i eliminate the cause...i wont have to take the phenergan *nods*

[dominosarah]

What are mozzie bites?  

[Jaybay]

I'm guessing that would be "mosquito bites" Sara.  Here in the US, it's benadryl that is the magic bullet for allergies.

[gnarly_1]

HI im an avid outdoors man have been all my life this my sound unusual but meat tenderizer works great to bring down the swelling of any bug bit just make a past out of it and apply it to the bit as soon as you can .....I learned the trick living down in Florida in the swamps from an old man mosquito's are the state bird down there...lol............Gnarly

[dominosarah]

The mosquito's here in Minnesota are the size of ducks i think!!!

[faith_hope_love]

My mom used to put Avon's Skin so Soft (I thinkthat was the name, been years) as a repellent which is strange...alway's wondered why mosquito's didn't like that.  Now we use OFF..lol.

The antihistamine I use is called chloretrimeton.  It works great for itchy runny nose and sneezing.  Not sure if they have that where you are?  Are you in Australia?  Take care, lyn

[Dav125]

Yes, it was Avon Skin so Soft..I picked up on that waaayback with working in Charleston, SC one early summer in the 70's..They had knats down there that had to be "two legs and all teeth ,lol)......The stuff worked wonders against them :)

[Jaybay]

gnarly - ever heard the one about peeing on a jellyfish burn?  It's the uric acid that neutralizes the stuff that stings and burns.  I know meat tenderizer works great, but it's not something we usually had on the beach.  A convenient male with good aim and a patient ith a strong stomach works well.  LOL!  I've also heard anything acidic like vinegar - even pickle juice helps with any kind of sting including jellies and man-o-wars.  Now those are some nasty SOBS!

[worried878]

Phenergan is not a drug of abuse as a rule, course folks can abuse nyquil if they want to.  Phenergan is not addicting.
Sleep/or lack of it makes us weak.  Of the sedatives and benzos, u r making a far better choice by taking phenergan.  I have used 1/4 of a 25 mg pill in the past for nervousness/anxiety during the day.

Caving back to ur DOC due to lack of sleep is not an option you probably want.  If you were taking 5 phenergan or more a day, i may would worry.  We can not worry about everything, and for many is why we r in this mess.  Get well and get ur sleep....a phenergan at night to help u sleep is not gonna make u a phenergan addict.  I would not call it abuse either.

We are all different tho, and for some it is best to not even take cold capsules as they abuse everything they touch.  
Relax and move forward.  Get your sleep.  I would much rather use phenergan for sleep than an addicting drug like benzos or drugs known to be popular for abuse like ambien, lunesta, lyrica etc.

Relax and move forward...and get your sleep in the safest way u can..sleep keeps us strong

[paying_it_forward]

Lol yeah mozzie= mosquito over here in Australia... and i tell you what, man they're a different breed this summer. They're brutal. I have old bites from a couple of weeks ago and they're STILL as itchy as when i got them if not more!

[WantToBeNormalAgain]

Well, congrats on your clean time, paying_it_forward! Sounds like things are going to be ok with you and you know what to look out for as far as your addictive behavior is concerned. Just keep it in check and like someone mentioned earlier, try out the claritin or zyrtec OTC for your allergic reactions..what about any OTC creams? That would be for the skin reaction and perhaps the itching/swelling, not the reaction you may get as far as eyes itching or watering, etc..but if it's just a skin reaction, check out a cream in addition to the non drowsy antihistamines. I know that if I take any antihistamines, I have to take the non drowsy ones, as the others make me actually jittery and not drowsy. Also, over here, most of the OTC sleep aids have the same ingredient in them as the drowsy type antihistamines. That's annoying, as a sleep aid that's OTC makes me jittery. Oh well. But what other reaction are you having other than the swelling and itching of your skin? My MIL is a nurse, and when my 2 1/2 year old son got a huge mosquito bite on his eye that swelled up so bad that his eye was swollen shut, she said that benedryl (a drowsy antihistamine that's OTC here) wouldn't do anything in the way of making it go down. So if you're only getting a skin reaction and you're not getting any kind of respiratory problems, the cream would help. But if you are having other symptoms, I'd try a non drowsy pill. It's good that you're going to flush them after your rx is gone, good for you. You don't want to trade one addiction for another, you've been through enough, right?!
And g_narly..I have heard of the meat tenderizer but actually was taught that for helping with bee stings. I know it is supposed to help somehow with the stinger if it's still in and then neutralize the acid. Good trick, might be smart to carry some around in my purse now that I've got a little guy who loves to play outside!

[paying_it_forward]

Well the thing is over here in Australia Phenergan IS over the counter and you don't need a script for it...

I did take some lastnight for the bite i had on my arm (almost the size of my palm) and it seems to have gone down heaps now. So with me phenergan does have it's place...so long as i use it ONLY when i have a really bad bite.

I don't think i get any respiritory symptoms from them...but i have asthma and pretty sure i have sleep apnea like my mother so it would be hard for me to actually recognise breathing problems related to the bites. I just get mass swelling and really bad itchiness.

I have tried creams..and yesterday when i went into the pharmacy to talk about the bites i asked what cream they would recommend and it was the same one i already have and it doesn't do anything for me unfortunately! ah well i'll just have to spray my whole body every night with the strong insect repellent i got!