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Quit Lortab and Paxil-any advice on WD help appreciated!!

Have been taking Lortab 10mg for about 1.5 years. started at 5/day ended at 15 or so/day.
(Also, took Soma maybe 1/per day....sometimes none. but didn't want to leave it out)
About 6 mos ago started taking Paxil for PMDD 10mg. some days i would take 20mg....only like 3x. about a month ago, things went weird. i was all over the place ... had almost all the side effects from paxil, even the serious side effects. plus my BP was elevated and i was sweating a lot! I was erratic, hyper, all over the place.

Then my cousin who has diabetes, checked my blood sugar and it was 52 which she said was near coma range and made me drink a juice and now i do not skip meals. i do not know if i am really hypoglycemic or if the combo of the drugs did this as i do not have health insurance now.

As for the pills, i weened down the lortab to 6, then 3, then 1. now none. i take lomotil for the diarrhea that is not too bad. and i have xanax too, plenty of refills since i did not ever take it but i hear it helps with the w/d so i've been taking 1/4mg/day for the w/d from lortab.

and i weened down to 5mg paxil and now none. and my old dr gave me lexapro so i take that for the depression for now. intend to get off it entirely in a week or so.

i wish i could just check myself in somewhere but i don't have insurance and i make too much not working to be 'poor' enough to qualify for free help! go figure....only make enough to rent a room for me and my dog.

one more thing.... in feb, my periods stopped. i have had tubal ligation so i should not be pregnant, but everyone took a test. always negative. i had cysts on my ovaries and very low potassium levels ... that was it. dr put me on hormones for one week to start my periods back and it worked, in may, june and july i have now had periods. but this last one has been going on for 9 days...never been more than 5.

so today, i am 2 days off lortab and paxil completely.
only 2 lomotil as needed
and 1 lexapro/day the last two days.

am i doing this right and can anyone offer any advice. i just want to be healthy and happy again!!!

xoxox

7 Responses
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Avatar universal
4 days off lortab and paxil
rough moments...hours. but i am NOT going back!!! Thanks all!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
just reread ur last post. only part that scares me is this..."within the next two days if you feel fine and you dont have severe brain shakes and wd symptoms you should be able to ride out staying of of the opiates and anti-depressants."

i didn't read this the first time....i do get seizures...usually petit mal but have had grand mal plenty when using coke....been a very long time.

xxoxoxo
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you, Christos. i do have some zanax and will see how the next few days go. if things don't go well, i will definitely look into the soboxone treatment. so far so good. Off to bed now. Will let u  guys know how the night of rest or no-rest goes. '-)


in a pretty good mood so far... considering!
Pat
Helpful - 0
511524 tn?1266349934
the missing of periods is common with long term opiate use, it is quite common with women, and you did the right thing by seeing the doc for that and like you said it worked..you have honestly made the best decision of your life by getting off of the lortabs..opioids destroy lives, it destroyed everything i ever had, family, relationships, houses,so many jobs, etc. luckily i started suboxone treatment and have stayed clean since..
if you are having problems with the wds from lortabs, which shouldn't be too severe cuz you did a very good job tapering down slowly and properly, i would recommend immodium ad for diarrhea, and if the wds gets worse, explain to either your primary doc or if you dont have one go to a urgent care or hospital and you can get prescribed the by far best wd aid for opiates there is out there-Clonidine, it was originally used for blood pressure issues, but they have found over the years that it is the best wd aid for opiates out there. and any doctor will prescribe them to you if you explain your current situation, theyre not addictive, they just help completely eliminate any hot/cold flashes, goosebump flesh, the runny and watery nose and eyes, the restlessness, and insomnia. and the next best aid for detox is a short term use of a benzodiazepine, the most useful being lorazepam(ativan), xanax, valium, or klonopin (clonazepam), that will truly help with the muscle aches spasms, restlessness, and definitely huge for getting rest, sleeping...
now in the next week if you continually notice your wds worsening i would maybe recommend a short 21 day suboxone treatment program,. it has huge success rates and is easy to get of of ad you can be on it for short or lonmg periods of times, however long you truly need to feel like youve beat the addiction. It also last a realy long time the average halflife is 37 hours so one dose will al;st two days, it doesnt give you a euphoric high, so it doesnt caause you to become addicted to another opioid, its truly a great treatment method..
Now for the anti0depressant issue..that is a but more touchy, because with anti-depressants they dont make you addicted to them but they make you extremely dependent to them, which if you miss a dose or run out early the wds are unbelievably severe, like nothing you can imagine or would ever want to experience..within the next two days if you feel fine and you dont have severe brain shakes and wd symptoms you should be able to ride out staying of of the opiates and anti-depressants. Just remember when getting off any kind of medication that youve been on for any amount of time past a few months the key word is slowly, you nee to slowly taper off the drug, you cannot stop suddenly taking it, that will cause severe and intense wds, so just go at your own comfortable pace you feel is right and you will be good to go, i truly wish you the best of luck and if you have any questions, need advice, or I missed anything let me know anytime im always around to help..Christos
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sam, good luck to you. it can be done. i do feel bad today. pretty down. but i am so looking forward to being happy .... i just hope i'm doing this right. the only other time i took lortab was in 1991 and had 3 broken vertabrae after a car accident. took a year to heal but was working and had insurance. went to detox for 5 days, they stuck a patch on me and in 5 days i was good as new.

got laid off in october and have some personal issues and went to the dr for the emotional pain. sux! i know better.!!!

the pill don't help...they just cover it up till it doesn't work anymore and then it all hit me full force. now i have a lot to deal with rather than a little at a time.

i'm not totally there but i'm out of the meds and i'm not going back to the dr. to get more.

it is tough but my friend tells me anything worth doing or having is tough or can be....if you find yourself in hell, just keep on going !!! there is light at the end of the tunnel.

i have a child too, and i want her to know me totally sober!...not even on prescribed meds!!!

Pat :-)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I think you have done a great job, I have cut my norco down about 60-70% but seem to be stuck in a vally. The with drawls for me are horrible to a point where i cant even take care of my son. Like you i make to much to get any insurence from the state, But the illegals get those benifits we worked so hard for.. Thankyou Goverment,, i am pretty up-set about that issue to. :)  Anyway, I wish you the best & hope you are better soon, You did a great job getting off the lortab,, Sam
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
also. seemed the lortab made me smoke more and drink WAY to much Dr. Pepper. Drank 18/day. Now that i've quit, I barely want any cigs or DP but am weening off DP, too as the first day the caffeine headache was horrible!!! don't really care about the cigs...but am smoking a lot less. usually 1/2 cig at a time. hope to quit those but not my 1st concern now.

thought the DP and lack of food might have attributed to the HypoGlycemia. Any thoughts?
Helpful - 0
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