Thanks everyone for your help with my last post re: Targinact.
I think I am having severe side-effects from the drug, all of which are listed in the leaflet.
I thought I was ill due to a seasonal flu/cold, but I now think the sickness, shaking, diarrhoea, nausea, rapid breathing and complete loss of appetite is a result of the Targinet - all of the symptoms are 1 in 10 'common reactions'.
I'm scared to take it and I am scared not to take it.
Should I take it again tonight or not? I'm calling 111 but I don't think they'll know as much as this community,
I feel like I'm having a severe adverse reaction and my husband doesn't know what to do.
Greencatgirl.
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Claire_lc
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I wouldn't take it but you need to wean off it since you will likely get withdrawal symptoms. Others on this forum can probably advise you more on this.
Thank you Sue. I only started taking it on 10 Jan, and only one 5mg tablet daily until last night, when I took two. Am I still likely to get withdrawal symptoms after such a short time?
I would think you could go back down to one but after that again I think others more familiar with it could advise you better than I can. You might want to check with Dr Regan since he put you on it.
One more question… does anyone know if these reactions disappear in time (hopefully not too long) or whether some people just can't tolerate this drug?
I'm so sorry to hear you are having such an awful time. You have been on Targinact for more than 10 days now. Did you get those side effects from the start? Normally , side effects stop or lessen after a few days. I had mild nausea and headache for a couple of days but no other side effects. Are you very sensitive to medication in general?
Targinact is not working for you at the moment as the low dose you are taking once daily is too low and you are getting a severe reaction to it. You could look through past posts to see if anyone had the same experience. I found this one:
My experience with Targinact so far has been positive. I take 5mg/2.5mg 3 times daily with no side effects and an 80% coverage of my symptoms. I cannot give you any advice as I have not had the same experience, but you need to see your doctor about those severe side effects and the ineffective dosage . Did you get advice from 111?
Thank you for replying. I had such high hopes for Targinact but my body just doesn't like it. I know I'm only taking one pill daily at the lowest dose, but after 15 days - at least 10 of which have been awful - I think it's safe to say it's not for me.
I just spoke to a clinician at 111, and they said that because of the low dose and the short time, I should just stop dead and let whatever's left in my system get flushed out.
I think I will ask my doctor about going back on pregabalin. At 300mg it gave me some relief, even though 2-3 nights a week I managed no sleep at all. Anything is better than this.
I'm too frightened to even suggest an alternative like buprenorphine now. I don't usually react badly to drugs but this is something else!
I’d suggest going back down in dosage to see if your recent symptoms subside. If so then you know it’s the Targinact. It doesn’t sound like you are happy or sleeping well either way so at least going back down should help you work out what the cause is and whether you want to persevere with Targinact.
⁹When I started Oxycontin, about 3 to 4 weeks later I developed severe anxiety/panic attacks. Fast heart rate, anxiety etc. Dr Buchfuhrer answered my emails quickly and suggested adding a small dose of pregabalin to counter the opioid side effects. It worked.Then when I switched to Buprenorphine, the same thing happened. Fast heart rate, severe panic, VERY severe nausea.
I don't think you're allergic, I think you're having severe nausea/anxiety caused by the opioid.
However, it could also be Covid. Cases are SOARING in the UK.
Rest, drink fluids and see how you react tonight.
Speak to your GP and ask for a small dose of pregabalin ( start at 25mg and if it helps, stay at that dose, otherwise add 25mg up to 75mg).
I do hope your symptoms settle. Starting a new drug is always very scary.
I see that it didn't work for you, but at 10mg once a day, it was far too low a dose to stop severe RLS AND it's supposed to be taken twice a day ( in our experience every 4 to 6 hours to stop mini opioid withdrawals). If you look up opioid withdrawal symptoms, they are EXACTLY what you are experiencing. Which is why Targinact doesn't work at one dose a day.
Thanks Joolsg. I do take on board what you're saying, and I don't really understand why my doctor started me on once a day. And actually the dose was 5mg, not 10mg daily, and I still got awful mini withdrawals. He's on holiday currently but I'll ask him about this when he's back.
I tested for Covid - negative.
Your story about switching to buprenorphine has convinced me I never want to go through that hell. The last few days have been bad enough. I don't think I have the physical or mental strength for opioids.
Both the 111 doctor and my private doctor have told me to just stop taking the Targinact, and that the withdrawal symptoms shouldn't be too bad after only 15 days on 5mg. Any I have can be managed with a slightly higher dose of clonazepam.
Thanks for the advice about pregabalin. I've never had a problem with that, although to appease an anti-drugs friend, I came off it (very slowly) last year. In fact now I think about it, my symptoms really starting going through the roof shortly after I'd taken my last one!
At least you know pregabalin helped, so that is a good option for you now.I understand people being anti drug, but unless you've experienced relentless, severe RLS, you don't realise that quality of life is paramount.
I really hope the pregabalin at low dose works.
P.S I completely stopped the nausea with medical cannabis for around 4 weeks. The nausea had gone when I stoppec cannabis.
25mg pregabalin completely stopped the panic attacks. So all has settled for me.
hello Greencatgirl, I had a terrible experience on Targinact - from the first night/ day I had severe withdrawal symptoms just before my next dose was due - palpitations, feelings of severe anxiety and horror and also severe kicking legs - I went up to 30 mg a day taken as 15 in the day and 15 at night - I continued to deal with withdrawal symptoms when the next dose was due. When I came off of it and went onto the buprenorphine patch I had full on withdrawal symptoms for 3-4 days which was a living nightmare. I would say if it doesn’t suit you stop tdking it - you might get some withdrawal initially but just bear in mind that it is withdrawal and will end soon.
Oxycodone is a very strong drug, it’s chemically the same as heroin and is not to be taken lightly. Some people report excellent results and that’s great however if it doesn’t work I think it’s best not to be on it. I agree that pregabalin, even with its own issues, is better than the issues you are describing. I’m not sure if you are totally off of pregabalin with the Targinact however I would think an increase in pregabalin would help you deal with any withdrawal effects.
Thank you so much for this Drls. I honestly don't think I could cope with the symptoms of trying a new drug. I had so wanted to try buprenorphine having heard what Joolsg and others had said about it eliminating symptoms. But my body doesn't have the strength to go through what you've described. The issues with Targinact have been bad enough, although I do think part of the problem is that I was told to take it only once a day. I've never had any side effects from pregabalin, and when I look back at my diary notes, it really did make a difference, even though it wasn't a magic cure.
Did the patch work for you long term? I hope you're over the worst.
Hi Greencatgirl, the patch worked to some extent but I’m now on the buprenorohine tablets (2x 0.4) plus I still take 150 pregabalin - buprenorohine hasn’t been the magic cure for me that it is for some people and looking back I think I was at my best when on 300 mg pregabalin plus co-codomol although I put on weight which I still have and that has caused issues. I think opioids are not suitable for some people because of the side effects and I am probably one of those people. When I have the strength I’ll probably come off of the buprenorphine and increase the pregabalin.
Instead of increasing the pregabalin you might want to try switching to gabapentin. Although they are basically the same drug except you need to divide the doses, and the side effects are basically the same, some people find that the side effects that bother them on one don't bother them on the other. Multiply the pregabalin amount by 6 to get the correct dose. If you need more than 600 mg take the extra 4 hours before bedtime as it is not as well absorbed above 600 mg. If you need more than 1200 mg, take the extra 6 hours before bedtime. If you take magnesium, even in a multivitamin, don't take it within 3 hours of the gabapentin as it reduces the absorption of the gabapentin. If you take calcium don't take it within 2 hours for the same reason. Pregabalin is known to be moe of a problem with gaining weight for some people than gabapentin.
Thank you for this information Sue. My doctor always tells me that gabapentin is not as effective as pregabalin. But I definitely put on weight with pregabalin, and I'd happily switch to gabapentin if I thought it would work as well as pregabalin does. Would you say they are equally effective?
Absolutely. I normally take gabapentin but will switch to pregabalin when it is inconvenient to take them in divided doses because of what I am doing that night.
Hello, sorry to hear of your bad experience. I also cannot tolerate opiates. Which was such a disappointment. I tried almost every one. With me the side effects kept getting worse, not better, as they built up in my system. I have a script for methadone for when I’m desperate but have to be careful not to take more than 2.5mm per week, breaking it in halves or quarters for a bit of relief. If I exceed that I get very ill. I augmented on a DA and went through a terrible withdrawal, then tried Gabapentin and Pregabalin which didn’t help at all. So now I’m left with being vigilant about triggers, getting in hot baths through the night and pacing the floor when all else fails. Luckily my RLS is a fraction of what it was when I was augmenting on the DA. So I can completely understand your problem with targinact.
I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience too Birdland. How miserable that Gabapentin and Pregabalin don't work for you either.
Do you think the RLS augmentation symptoms slowly decrease over time? It's been almost a year since I came off DAs, and I still don't think my system is anywhere near back to normal. Sometimes I wonder if DAs break something permanently in the nervous system.
Hot baths are my saviour too when things get bad. Heat of any kind always helps, but as soon as the heat source has faded, the symptoms return. Back to pacing!
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