I wanted to post an update, and to thank everyone here for their support and encouragement. I posted several days ago asking for advice in managing opioid-induced insomnia, I explained how my husband's Hydrocodone managed his RLS symptoms but caused him to lie awake all night. None of the prescribed sleep medications helped in the least, and he'd spent the last year trying them all, becoming more exhausted by the day. Replies here suggested Buprenorphine, explaining the longer half-life and the benefits in cases like Doug's. We'd read about Buprenorphine and asked the doctors for it but were denied at every turn, something about regulations, special certification and such. In fact, we now know that most of those regulations are outdated and no longer apply, but the doctors are not up to speed on the facts. Anyway, we finally obtained Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) locally through a g.p. who also sees patients at an addiction treatment center. After hearing a full history and reviewing the research articles she was agreeable to prescribing the Suboxone. It's early days yet, but so far Suboxone .5 mg has been near miraculous for Doug. He reports no alerting effect whatsoever, and taking Suboxone along with 50 mg of pregabalin he's sleeping better and feeling better than he has in months. Whew, I can hardly describe the relief we feel, at least for now. Thanks again, we're ever so grateful for the patient and kind support and guidance we've received here.
Sarah
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jitters62
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That's great! So pleased for you. I keep a list of good doctors so it would be great if you could give me her name and the city she is in so I can add her to my list.
hallelujah I am so glad for you both and may you continue and have your life get back to what would be considered normal without the hassle of the legs.☮️
I'm so happy for your husband and you. I am also negotiating to make the switch from oxycodone to buprenorphine. Did your husband have taper off the hydrocodone before starting the Suboxone?
Not at all Junie, he went straight from his 10 mg hydrocodone to the buprenorphine. I don't know if this is always the case, so be certain to ask. Hope the swap works for you, too. Good luck, and let us know.
Well congratulations to both of you. I wish that I were so lucky. Buprenorphine (Bupr) keeps me awake all night, every night. What I have learned to do is take a 6-8 mg dose in the morning on one day then not take it again until skipping a whole day. This allows me to get to sleep around 0400 on the second day and I can usually sleep until 0900 - 1000 hours. So, sleep every other day is all I can hope for at the moment. Keep your Bupr level low and you should always have good results.
Thank you, intermk. We feel so very fortunate, and can hardly believe it will last. I wish it worked better for you, and hope you'll find something that offers more relief.
I've been on pregabalin before, about 9 years ago. Didn't help me with sleep nor with RLS. Not standing alone anyway. Doc's had me on a cocktail of meds back then and I don't recall what the other two were. Oh yes I do. I recall that one of the others was Clonopin which is a benzodiazepine if I recall correctly. No ill effects from pregabalin but the long half life of clonopin was a double whammy. First, I'm not sleeping due to RLS but the three meds collectively helped me get some sleep. However, I could not stay awake at work during the day. I was a worthless human being. I had been on clonopin for many years and doc's would just change the other two. I think that I started out at 1/2 mg clonopin and by the time I'd told doc's enough is enough, I was taking 4 mg per night. And at that time the cocktail wasn't working. It was then that I found Kratom and complete relief.
I plan to ask my doc about pregabalin once again at the next appt. Perhaps the dose I was on was too low?
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