Weird complications from pain medications?

[shar57]

so weird, I have been taking pain meds for neuropathy for many years no prob. about 2 years ago I also started getting strange reaftions to my meds, actually it was at the same time that everyone was dying from methadone.
I beleive there was a bad batch going around, fortubatly i also had a stash of about 200 extra pills just in case my doc was out of town or something,
I started getting horrible heart palps, couldnt breath, lost 30 pounds in a month, felt like someone was pulling my gums backwards off my teeth, my ears were on fire, and just didnt feel right, it took me a while to realize it was my methadone. I got inot my old stash, that medication did NOT do this to me. IT was the exact same brand, Roxanne 10 mg but it looked a little different, larger, whiter, and had a faint tan line running thru the middle of it( from the side view) luckily I have a great PM doc has known me for many years. he swithed me to MS CONTIN, this worked for me for about a year then I got weird reactions to it, I compared that last batch to my stash, and it was lighter in color and thicker, but I only had about 15 of those stashed,this time I got really really sick. My doc was good enough to let me try having some methadone compounded for me at a compounding pharmacy, they made it in liquid form using only water, guess what no reactions AT ALL! WHAT A RELEIF.
here what ive figured out for me, I have becaom allergic to ALL PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, this include things like irsh spring soap, cleaning solvent, like my husband uses in his shop, deisel, paint, gas, some deoderants, have petroleum in them dish soap, so many things, laundry soap, you would be amazed.
here is what my doc thinks, that when the pharmacutical companies, are amking these drugs, they are somehow coming into contact with petroleum, either when cleaning the machinery, when they make different batches, or somshere in the processing, the thing is all of the opiates we get in this county are made mostly in asia, and who know WTF they are doing over there.
I was potter for about 15 years, buying my clay, sanding breathing in all this stuff, let alone dealing with glazes.
I have a tendancy to get vertio also, but for me it is dairy products, dairy creates mucus which get in you eustashia spelled wrong Im sure tubes (in your ears) the mucus unsettles the crystals, and then when you move your head this is what gives you the spins.
you would be surprised how many food have dairy in it.
creamed soups pizza, bread, yogurt, sour cream, everything.
but ill tell you if you want to lose weight, get off dairy, you can get your calcium from something else.
humans are the only animal that continues to drink milk after they are done nursing, and then its not even from our own species, the dairy industry is a HUGE money maker.
it also cause iner ear infections in kids, which is what the number 1 thing pedatritions treat! hope this helps someone, love this sight!

[Katie]

shar, there were reports about bad batches of Fentanyl not so long ago, that the patches were releasing too much medication at one time. My prescription was not one of them however.

Thankfully the vertigo has disappeared, and just the weakness is hitting on and off.

jentop, I so relate to this. "I also felt sick or dizzy or just not right nearly everyday before the surgery. It was scary to get out of bed each morning not knowing if I would immediately upon standing up feel like puking. I really think it was to a great degree myelopathy related."

I was told that the compression on my cervical levels has already caused permanent damage and the chances of having the symptoms disappear are pretty slim. I sure hope the doctors are wrong on that one. I am glad to hear that most of your side effects listed above have gone away. There is hope!

May I ask how bad the compression was with you? How long did you have to go before getting surgery?

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[fireyangel76]

Hi Katie,

I am also a redhead and have bad reactions to most pain meds. I prefer the pain to the side effects.

Fentynyl patches also had me sick as a dog and hunched over the toilet after only 4 hours. It took over 24 hours to wear off and start feeling human again. I had a lovely colonoscopy a few months ago and the nurse decided my fentynyl allergy wasn't truely an allergy. She gave it to me IV push...and as I told her before it causes a extreme reaction in me....and it did again. I am not sure why they bothered with the big red allergy band on me and then ignored it....she is lucky I didn't have an anaphylactic reaction!
Lyrica....yuck...I couldn't get out of bed. Morphine not good at all...basically all of them cause really severe nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches.

I also have many symptoms as you and had a diagnosis of FMS. I think I have something that they can't explain, or are tired of trying to figure it out and so I get the FMS dx. Do I have it...I have most of the things associated with it so I don't really know. I just noticed that you mentioned candidias (sp) or yeast. It is one of the proposed therory's of FMS.

Hang in there and I hope you feel better after surgery and have less need for these pain meds.

[Katie]

I am so happy to hear from someone else who has this problem. Misery loves company, as much as I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Today was another bad one, or tonight actually. A storm came in too (coincidentally) ??

Morphine is the only thing that both relieves much of the pain and doesn't push me over the edge or doubled over the toilet as you said. But it is a very fine line, and the short acting has me in constant stages of withdrawal, especially at night.

I am horrified that the nurse gave you the fentanyl against your wishes and warnings on your file. I would be going back to the top of the hospital over that one. She could have killed you under different circumstances.

Please keep in touch. Is there any relief in sight for you?

[fireyangel76]

Hi Katie,
Lucky for me I am not in severe pain any longer (knock on wood). I have not found anything that doesn't make me sick and take cares of my pain. At my worst before my first discectomy I could not get out of bed and nothing I took touched the pain, but only gave me more pain from vomiting. I finally took high does of valium with anti nausea drugs. The combination would just knock me out. There is no middle ground for me. It is either deal with the pain or get knocked out.

My pain I have now is managed by rest, ice, and activity limitation. I wish I could find something so that I could be active and comfortable. Depression is my worst enemy now because I feel pretty useless on most days. I try to just do something each day to feel productive and valuable. I still do floors but not windows! LOL! However on those days I sweep or vacuum I can count on the next 24 hours on ice. I'm not complaining because at least I am able to do those things every other week and I still remember the months unable to walk to the BR.

I hope you find some relief for your pain and you win your appeal for ADR surgery.

Betsy

[dshobbies]

I too am a redhead and have unusual and 'rare' side effects from drugs, sometimes even exact opposite effects. I've found holistic remedies worthwhile. I'd like to suggest both acupunture and a holistic doctor who may or may not be an MD. A word of caution though, just as in the medical community, quality and caring varies.

Also a book, Eating Right for Your Type, suggests those with chronic medical problems have something that can be described as blood allergies. The four types of blood are made up of sugars as are foods. Depending on your blood type, some food sugars do not agree with your blood sugars. As an example, when I stick to this diet, my asthma completely disappears. This also hypothosizes that pain and inflammation can be reduced when your blood is not at war. Though giving up foods that you love may be difficult, living with pain and the negative side effects of possible helpful drugs is so much worse.

Please understand that I was never a 'believer' until these things worked for me. Though I can understand the blood thing, it does make some sense, I was beyond skeptical about sticking needles in my skin for whatever remedy was needed. I still don't understand how raisins soaked in gin can diminish the pain of arthritis but it does. And even medical science agrees that cinnamon decreases blood sugar (which I put in my raisins to kill the taste of the gin)

I'd never advocate ceasing any medical care. But sometimes your personal solution may be elusive. Finding other options may be in your own best interest.

Good luck, Dale

[fireyangel76]

Thanks for the info Dale.

I saw you post about the blood type diet before and I looked it up. I saw that I love everything it says I should avoid which didn't make me happy. On the other hand it did make me wonder about the validity of this since I overdo on everything I should avoid. I am thinking about it seriously. The avoiding caffine is the big one...not sure I could live without that. Being an old night shift nurse I am convinced that coffee is what keeps me alive!
I have tried accupunture and it didn't do much for me. I was in much more pain at the time so maybe I will revisit that one. After so many years of pain there comes a point where you start to give up on chasing relief. With all this activity limitations my body looks like I am 80 and I am only 50. What I wouldn't give to be able to get in some sort of shape. At 50 I know I will never look 30 again, but I would settle for looking 50!

I started on cymbalta a few months ago and I thought I was doing ok with the side effects. Recently I have had major headaches, vertigo, and some nausea. I find it strange that it is just now starting after a few months. Anyone else try cymbalta? Were there any side effects? I especially want to hear from the redheads.

I hope everyone is on a road to a comfortable way of life.

Betsy

[jchebert1979]

Are you on any type of GABAergic drug? These include the benzodiazepines (valium, xanax, lorazepam, etc.), lyrica, neurontin, baclofen? If so, this may be contributing to your problem. Check out The Tranquilliser Recovery and Awareness Place or BenzoIsland.org for more information. It might be scary and overwhelming at first, but it might be able to answer a lot of your questions.

[Katie]

Actually I am on a low dose of one. How did you come to find out about a potential problem between them and why would my pharmacist or a doctor not catch it? Thanks for the link. Off to read it now.