Painkillers causing sleep probs.

Hi i feel I should write my experience with matrifen patch and Tizanidine a muscle relaxant. I was on matrifen for nearly a year before I started having sleeping problems ended up sleeping alot during the day and waking up and going to the loo at night.

Finally 3 years later i saw a sleep doc and had an overnight sleep study and found out I had central sleep apnea where your brain doesnt make an effort to breath while asleep so came off matrifen patch(fentanyl) and it had gone.

But because I had been put on tizanidine in the mean time I still had sleep probs but because sleep studies came up normal. I did not know it was tizanidine at the time because of course I had been taking matrifen at the same time. But two years later I was getting fed up with sleep probs plus hallucinations as well and decided to try coming off it After asking Drs. I completely came off it and dont have sleep probs or hallucinations now.

Sorry for it being such a long post.

[FRreedman]

So what has happened to your pain? Has it gone? Do you not need any medication , any more?

[Hidden]

No pain hasnt gone and I am now on a different muscle relaxant Baclofen. Plus it means i cant take any opioid pain medications.

[Hidden]

I also still get very tired and might nod off in afternoon but that might be the baclofen now.

[Ritchie1268]

Hi Sasha.

I was put on a massive dose of Oxycontin for years by my Dr. Been off it a while now, but I too was diagnosed with Central sleep apnoea which is the frightening one where your brain doesn't say wake up when you stop breathing. After my sleep study I would stop breathing around 80 x per hour per night.

This has now almost completely gone, but my problem now is due to all the Oxy over years, I have B12 deffinciey & Pernicious Anemia where I just cannot sleep for long at all.

Funny how I've not read anywhere where sleep apnoea can be associated with opiates but I think we now know different.

Glad you're sorted.

Take care 👍

[Hidden]

Thanks well my sleep Dr was sure it was that and did test when i came off and I didnt have it. It is scarey to think your meds can di that though. Mind you if you read the side effects they are worse than having the illness.

[Ritchie1268 in reply to Hidden]

It is very frightening.

I was told 15yrs ago I had 5 worn out discs in my back. Was put on Oxycontin not knowing what it was as I trusted my Dr.

It destroyed my life & I came so very close to being one of the over 200 thousand this one drug has killed in USA & Canada.

I now refuse to take any pain meds as im still suffering the side effects from years of taking Oxy, even after being off it for a few years.

Purdue Pharma & the multi billionaire Sackler family are just a load of legal Heroin dealers that have the blood of thousands on their hands.

[Hidden in reply to Ritchie1268]

Yep they certainly are.