oxycodone withdrawal - any advice?

[Drls]

hello - I am in need of advice

I am currently taking 150 pregabalin and 20mg Targinact which is 12 hour release oxycodone.

Not only is this not working at all (had physically kicking legs from 9pm to 4am yesterday….) but I get severe withdrawal effects from the oxycodone - palpitations, panic, shaking, severe leg kicking, strange sensations swallowing and breathing, feelings of doom! I also now seen to be having intense pain in my joints which I am thinking might also be withdrawel.

I have an nhs appointment with Prof Walker on 21st June from a referral made by my gp last September. In the meantime no one will give me advice or help me because I am now an nhs patient with Prof Walker and I have to wait for the appointment. However my daughter is getting married - a registry office ceremony in Yorkshire on 24th June and a full celebration in Spain on the 1st July. In my current state I would struggle to even make the Yorkshire event ( I am in the midlands).

I feel the oxycodone does not work for me…. I was more stabilised before on 250 pregabalin, two cocodamol and a very small dose of clonazapam when needed. I feel if I was on that old regime I would be more likely to be able to attend the wedding…s …

So my question is how do I come off of the oxycodone without going into full blown withdrawel and making things worse. I am thinking of increasing the pregabalin by 25mg a week and dropping the oxy by 5 mg at a time however is it best to up the pregabalin for a week first? And then how long will severe withdrawel last?

Has anyone tried this or have any advice to give ? I have 9 weeks to the first ceremony so I feel this is just about possible ….please let me know what your experiences have been or advice is.

I obviously want to attend these weddings but at the moment can’t see how I can …..any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

[SueJohnson]

You can probably switch directly over to the cocodamol without going through withdrawal. I would ask your doctor or your pharmacist for advice on how to do this. Better yet would be to switch to buprenorphine.

[Drls in reply to SueJohnson]

hello Sue - I can’t access buprenorphine until possibly June when i have the appointment which is too late fir the weddings … but I may be able to use the cocodamol to come off the oxy so thankyou for that. Unfortunately in the uk if virtually impossible to get anything! But all we can do is try and work with what we have - thanks again

[Madlegs1]

I don't understand how you are withdrawing from oxycodone??

Unless you are taking it all in one go.

In that case you will experience severe withdrawals.

Oxycodone needs to be taken throughout the 24 hours.

20mg per that timeframe should give adequate relief. Especially with the other medications.

I hope you get help in practical terms soon

[Drls in reply to Madlegs1]

When the next dose is due …. Or leading up to that time ….. I have symptoms of withdrawal … ie a feeling of shaking in my torso , strange taste in my mouth, worsening of the kicking of my legs, weird breathing …. I haven’t had this on any other medication. It’s my belief that the doses don’t last the full 12 hours or give enough coverage … and that is why I am having these symptoms - it also makes me very apprehensive about coming off this substance since the feelings are horrendous.

That is what is happening and why I don’t want to take it anymore. I can’t explain it any other way except it feels as if my body is crying out for more oxycodone and it’s horrible.

[Madlegs1 in reply to Drls]

Yes- that is a common enough experience. In my case- similar experience - I was able to get Oxynorm 5mg to fill up the gap in coverage.So now I'm on Oxycontin 10mg twice a day and Oxynorm 5mg once a day.

I've been on that for about 8 years now, and happy enough.

Good luck.

[Nightwalker6]

not sure if this is helpful but I couldn’t take opioids because I would get withdrawal symptoms after they wore off. I did try some CBD oil & Clonazepam.But honestly the withdrawal was terrible. Sorry you are going through this as it’s awful.

[Drls in reply to Nightwalker6]

thank you - my question is how did you come off the opioids in the end, how bad was the withdrawal then and what did you do to minimise it? I’m truly scared of how it might be but feel I need to stop taking them.

[NJB71]

300 Pregabalin works well for me( 100 am and 200 at bedtime ) with Clonazepam when needed.

However I don’t understand the ins and outs of coming off or changing from oxycodone, so you would have to take advice elsewhere about that.

Just wanted to say what works well for me, since you are already on a smaller amount of Pregabalin. You may just need to up your dose to the recommended one.

Best of luck and I hope you get sorted before the wedding.

[Nanpat]

Hi, I’m in Australia so things may be different here, but I agree with Sue.

I had the same problem with Targin so switched to buprenorphine which stopped my rls fully for 3 mths, this would tie you over possibly till after the wedding.

Are you able to see a new gp and show them the articles here on the buprenorphine success?

[Drls in reply to Nanpat]

hello nanpat, I’m just curious did you swap straight over to buprenorphine? Were you taking anything else as well ( ie pregabalin) and also you say it worked for three months… what happened then?

Also what type of buprenorphine were / are you on - I believe there are different types?

thanks

[Nanpat in reply to Drls]

Hi, I also used to pace up and down from 9pm till 3 or 4 am. Sometimes codeine would settle things so I could sleep.

I swapped straight over to the Norspan 10mg patch, applied weekly. I also take 75mg Pregalbin at night, For the first 3 mths it was like a miracle with NO rls at all. It has slowly crept back in , but not every night and nowhere near as severe as I can usually settle it with a ten minute walk around house.

Obviously it is another opioid but may help you get to and enjoy the wedding and then you can re evaluate. Good luck 😉

[Nanpat in reply to Drls]

ps. I would be telling the drs that you have to have some quality of life!!! Words said to me by pain Dr in hospital!!!

[Drls]

thanks nanpat for your replies - I just wondered does that patch give you full weekly coverage? I have seen on here from some people that their patches don’t - but maybe they have different patches, I am happy for you that yours works so well - it gives me hope x