withdrawl help

[tanglewood]

I took my last methadone tab last Tues night at 8 pm. Last night (Fri - 3 days) at 6 pm I started having really bad nauseau, stomach cramps, depression, etc. I assumed was withdrawl. Then after the worst of  that I started having really bad nerve pain in between my shoulder blades and down my arms and in my neck. Low back pain and pain down my legs and in my feet. I have been dealing with chronic pain for 5 years due to disc degeneration, spinal stenosis, arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.
My question - I want to be sure that the nerve pain is not part of the withdrawl and is a result of the meds not being in my system. I took a lot of Lyrica last night to calm things down. I am thinking about going back on the meth because I felt completely normal when I was taking it.
Do I have it right? The withdrawl does not cause nerve pain? May sound like a stupid question, but I want to be sure that I'm not giving in to the withdrawl.
Thanks.

[road2recovery]

Worried--Very good post!!  It makes me so mad that a doctor would ignore a blue arm also!!!  
Tangle--I wish you the best with your pain...sounds like your doctors are the problem, and your pain is real...I sure hope you find some answers...
r2r

[worried878]

50 mgs is a low dose of lyrica with 200 mgs being the highest dose...nuerontin is  a safer med which does basically the same thing as lyrica does..lyrica is not recommended for people with a tendency for addiction......40 mgs of hydro to a 20 mg methadone dose is an unusual switch as methadone covers a bit more narcs than that...do what u need to do but narcotics do not keep ur arm from turning purple..if anything narcotics decrease circulation so i am not sure why this is going on....and any doctor would be crazy to ignore a "blue arm" hthat is cold to the touch....muscle relaxers would help tightness..not narcotics..altho wd from narcotics can cause strss thus tightness

this is a question only u can answer..if u do not have a problem with narcotics and u feel ok on them then perhaps dont worry...not everyone gets addicted..sounds like u may be tho..considering u were addicted to hydros then it would not take long to be addicted to methadone as u never wd from narcotics....what is ur goal?

[tanglewood]

thanks for all the info and support! I started off on 10mgs, but was taking it twice a day - so I might have misstated that? They have done test (x-rays and MRI's) on my arm. Nerve test (needles and shocks) on my right arm and left leg. I have nerve damage. I've wondered too about the circulation, but nothing shows up on the test. I was thinking that the pain meds reduced the swelling in whatever area it is coming from and that's why wehn I take them my arm doesn't swell. Wehn I don't take the meds my arm swells and turns purple; it is cold to touch - so is the back of my neck. While I was taking the meth my arem and neck were perfectly normal - weird because I don't think meth is an anti-inflamatory? while I was taking meth I was not taking anything else - just the meth. So, I'm really confused about it all. My doctors change the subject when I try to talk about my arm - I think they are baffled. After reading up on meth and talking to you guys I decided I did not want to go back on it. I was not taking much (20mg a day) and I only took it for a few weeks; but the wds were horrible. I cn'at imagine what they would be like if i had been on the meth for longer or at a higher dose! I started back taking the hydrocodone and lyrica yesterday - i am better today, but still have a lot of pain. Once it gets out of control it is difficult to get it back under control. I am taking 40mg of hydro and 125mg of Lyrica. The doctors tell me Lyrica is usally Rx at 300mg and 125 is a low dose? Anyhow, I am going to keep doing what I'm doing for now. January I'm supposed to test a neuro-stimulator. If it helps I'm hoping that I can ween myself off of the hydro nd lyrica. That's my plan 'cause i think that will be easier than weening myself off Meth.
Thanks!

[worried878]

and can u clarify...a few days ago i see u were on 10 mgs/the 17th/ a day of methadone and had started back on hydros again?

[worried878]

it is true that wds cause stress for sure...and tensing of ur muscles causes pain for most anyone...my problem..nerve damage and DDD are definitely aggravated by stress and tightness is almost more of a symptom than pain....my tightness causes pain..and stress causes tightness..and wds are stress...it could very well be that ur muscles are so tight they r impinging ur arm...but turning purple is off base...that is total blood supply cut off and u could lose ur limb if it remains blue/purple for long periods...the low dose of meds u r on is not preventing this type of symptom so something is not right here..is ur arm cold to touch?   u need to get this checked for sure as the low doses of narcotics u were taking could not be preventing circulation to ur arm...it is NOT a normal wd symptom for ur arm to turn blue

only u know what and how much u r taking and only u know if u need narcotics for life..all we can do is wish u the best...be honest with ur doctor and all around u/including urself/so u can get the help u need..narcotics do not help circulation so please get checked/pronto

how much lyrica did u take?   that drug does cause swelling etc

[tanglewood]

I'm talking things out with my wife - and i'm wondering if what someone said about the wd causing some nerve pain and muscles to tense up; if the wd could be causing muscles in my neck/back to tense up and produce the swelling in my arm. i'm supposed to have a test for a neuro-stimulator and if i'm taking the meth i won't know if the test is workin cause i wont' hve any pain. so i think i will go back to hydro and Lyrica and stay away from the meth for a while.
good luck to everyone with dealing with the wds

steveo, good luck to you! I hope you work things out. :)

[tanglewood]

thanks everyone - I think I answered my own question; my right hand/arm is now 50% larger than my left; my neck and low back hurt so bad i can barley stnad it; i should post to the pain site and take the meth.
the wd is not causing my arm to swell; i guess i just havee ot take the meht forever
thanks

[tanglewood]

yes, I've been taking 40mg of hydro a day for several years; switched to percocet 30mg a day for several months;  went back to my doc and told him I wanted to go back to the hydro because the perc was making me sick to my stomach - he sent me to a pain doc who put me on Meth. I've been taking 20mg a day for five or six weeks.
at times i feel like the doctors  are playing me and that the wd is causing most of my pain and if i could get off the meds i could handle thepain; but i do have physical problems - mri's show c2/3; c4; c5/6; and L4 damage and contact on those nerves. my right arm swells up and turns purple - that is happening now. When i was taking the meth i felt normal and my arm was normal. I don't know maybe i'm just crazy or maybe ii have to accept that i will be on meds the rest of my life. If that is the case i might as well just start back taking the meth.
I post here because so many people know so much about wd and drug addiction and I'm trying to learn and decide whether i really need to be on meds.
thanks everyone for listneing

[worried878]

i asked cos evenj tho mehtadone is hard to get off of opnce it gets u...it is a slower drug to become addicted to as a rule...this could be a combo of wds period from the hydros if u were on them for a long time..not sure....be safe and read up in the health pages on methadone and the thomas recipe..

[GoingToMakeIt]

The pain could be from withdrawal or is real. It is hard to say until you are off the meds for a while. Our body tends to 'produce' pain to get more drugs. After you have been off y=them you can better assess your pain levels. Reading up on this is a good idea.
    This is an addiction forum, where we try to help others get off of pain meds. There are some types of pain that will never go away or be manageable without pain meds. I can not say what category you fall into. Another forum that may be worth asking questions of is the pain management forum. The real trick her is being totally honest about why you take it and are you truly in need of the meds. Only you can answer that.

[worried878]

for some it does cause nerve pain...but it passes..stress causes our muscles to tighten and hence pain...an u were on 40 mgs of hydro and then 10 mgs of methadone for 1 month?  just getting things straight..memory not so good!

[tanglewood]

I read some pages on the "Health" page section and it sounds like witdrawl can cause a lot of nerve type pain. I'm just not sure if my pain is from withdrawl or disease. If it is wd I want to try to stick it out. I do have a lot of physical problems, but it sounds like a lot of the pain might be from wd?
Any advice?