End of Day 5 -- feels like electricity in my head.

[redfrangipani]

Hi all, As some of you have read I'm coming off total 15mgs oxycontin daily. It's actually been not too bad, given the stories of hard times and stress I've read here with people coming off larger doses.

One symptom I get is hard to deal with. In the late afternoon and into the night I feel like there is an electricity current in my head. Horrible feeling. I'm wondering if anyone can relate. So far it's only happening at that time (not the morning for example). I'm just wondering what the hell it is? I'm dreading tonight (It's morning here in Australia) but trying not to dread it. I'm trying not to anticipate 'bad.'

I did get a bad migraine yesterday - I get chronic daily migrane every day and that was the reason for going on opiates after trying a host of other meds. I went down to see the doctor and got a prescription for a non opiate migraine med that I'd taken before but had thought I'd had a reaction to years ago when I took it a few times a week. I got to thinking that maybe I had imagined the reaction (I don't trust my own judgement with meds as I've had reactions to so many -- eg. anaphylactic reaction to aspirin, definate allergy to Norspan (buperpherone???sp,s sorry), and rash with codeine, etc. etc.. Well, I took the non addictive pain killer yesterday (Amerge -- naratriptan) and although it helped my head somewhat I did have a reaction. Not sure if the reaction is going to get worse (last reaction was a month ago from another non addictive med and the freaking skin peeled off my face in places -- looked terrible but healed with prescription cortisone cream). I've got the same reaction going on now to the med I took yesterday as I had last month, and am hoping my skin doesn't peel (although I know how to treat it now -- and now know the signs to look for).

Migraine is back, of course, but not too bad. Am taking panadol (tylenol) for it. That's not working too well. But am still determined to stay off the oxy. I just know my body can't handle it - too many side effects and causes my body to have other problems.

The medical community can be questionably amazing. Pain specialist gives me oxycontin (before that endone) for chronic migraine which then makes chronic constipation worse. Gastroentorologist gives me something for the chronic constipation made worse by oxy and that sets of an allergic response. Freaking hell.

I just need to know about this 'electricity' stuff. Sorry, I seem to have told you all my life story re pain and pain meds.

[redfrangipani]

Hi all,

I'm afraid I didn't make it -- coming off the oxy. I started again on Friday morning as my migraine was really hurting and my blood pressure had sky rocketed. I went back to my dose of 5mgs 3 times a day. The migraine pain was just as bad as before I was prescribed opiates. I did, however, put a call into my pots specialist. Left a message with his secretary telling him I think I need to be in hospital. Am not doing too well with the POTS at the moment, at all.

He didn't get back to me and he will be away all this week so I guess I'll just have to wait it out.

So, I'll be back to being very, very constipated (and my bowels had started to work a little during withdrawal although it's doubtful that would have continued but it did get rid of most of the abdominal pain temporarily) and at the moment I'm still feeling migraine pain (though not as bad as it got to on Thursday night/Friday morning). What a mess! But I truly would not have started the oxy again unless the pain had become unbearable.

I'm just so disappointed and depressed at the whole situation. And scared.

Thank you though for answering my questions. To IBKleen, it's amazing you know about POTS. I'd never even heard of it until I was diagnosed with it. I actually didn't know we even had an autonomic nervous system. Now I know more than I want to know, sometimes.

red

[merrymaria]

hi there and congrats on 5 days....when i was wd/ing i had a weird zappy feeling behind my ears and it ran across the back of my head...i also had tingled feelings in my hands...there was no pain though...i think it s just part of the wding cycle...it was a weird feeling...i can relate to what you are saying....the zapping became less and less over a period of about 3 weeks or so....hope you get to feeling better...take care...maria

[IBKleen]

Believe it or not, I do know about POTs. Not a lot mind you but I have a pretty good idea what you are going through.

I don't know that what you are going through is a result of the pain meds. I was on one drug or another, some very heavy duty for the better part of 40 years and came away amazingly and relatively unharmed. But that is just me.

I hope you get an answer for this. I think you have had your fair share by now.

I mean it when I say I hope you get better soon. No one should have to live like this. Best of luck.

[redfrangipani]

that crawling sensation sounds like it's really crappy but it doesn't sound like what I've got. I hope it stops soon for you.

[redfrangipani]

Thanks IBKleen,

I appreciate your concerned response. I am 54 and since puberty have had signs of a disorder they didn't have a name for then. 8 years ago approx. my body went nuts. Daily Migraine, constipation to the point that I often can't go to the toilet without taking a colonoscopy med, erythema (burning red skin which has now started to peel sometimes -- that peeling is a new thing) reactions to many meds, foods (the list is endless), life threatening allergies etc. I also have Inability to walk far, or stand for a few minutes or I'll fall down if I don't sit or lie down quickly at worst, at best I'll have rapid heart beat and feel terrible. It's got a long name, this disease/disorder. Called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). And it's caused by a dysfunction of my Autonomic Nervous System. I don't expect you to understand it -- I didn't. Never even heard of it until I was finally correctly diagnosed with it about 4 years ago. Up until 8 years ago, according to the medical community, everything was 'all in my head.' I was incorrectly misdiagnosed with Panic Disorder for 18 years. (Anxiety is a part of this disorder as I get massive releases of adrenalin and weirdly histamine regulary during the day).

But 8 years ago symptoms got much worse and I got new ones. 4 years ago a genius doc who is very caring and a highly regarded diagnostician specialist diagnosed me correctly, Problem is there is no known cure for POTS. If you get it when young, you can grow out of it but I never did. And when I was young it was not so dramatic. At age 46 it hit me like a sledge hammer.

Thing is, there's not a lot docs can do about it. No cure yet. You just have to learn to live with it and try your best to have a healthy and productive life as possible.

I've seen so many docs in my life I have no need to go see a doc for this reaction to yesterday's med -- I've had it before and know how to deal with it unless my body throws me a new wobbly. I appreciate your imput though. I've just had to learn to deal with it and stay as calm as possible (pretty hard to do given that my body releases more than it's fair share of adrenalin).

I think the worst of it is that over the years I've been tried on so many medications that I can't see how they haven't had some sort of effect on my body permanently.

But I've learned to stay away from most. Especially, now, the addictive ones.

The electrical buzz could be be a symptom of my disease/disorder -- I'm thinking.Other people with this illnes have experienced it the same way  I've experience little 'buzzes' in the past. Perhaps coming off the oxy has made it worse for a while????

.

[Regretful239]

Does it feel like something is crawling on a certain spot in your head? I have the same problem at night on the very top of my head and one spot near the front it feels like something is crawling really fast in circles.

[IBKleen]

I am sorry you are going through this, it sounds painful. I really think this is something you should talk with your doctor about. He may want to run tests to rule some things out. It could be the new meds or maybe an extension of the migraine or ...  well, I don't know.

Please don't let it go long before you have it checked out. Congrats on day 5!!!!!!!!!!! Hang in there.