Dees

Hi guys. So, I had been pill free for 24 days - up until today. I went to the ER for kidney pain and they gave me a huge dose of dilaudid for the pain. They also wanted to send me home with pills, but I told them "no." But now I am terrified that the shot of narcotics is going to bring my withdrawals back to where they were three weeks ago. Does anyone know what I should expect?

Thank you!

Impurrfect

(((Dees))) - I can't say for certain, as though I abused opiates, I never had withdrawals when I quit (guess I never crossed that line). However, I don't think you have much to worry about as far as withdrawals. Now, the cravings may come back..that "ooh, that was nice, want more" but you've already made the smart choice of not getting pills to take home with you.

You might want to read through some of ((IvanKatz))'s threads, as he's had somewhat a similar situation, though not with dilaudid..he had to take opiates for severe pain.

I think you did really great by coming here. I'll let those who have dealt with opiate withdrawals give you better ES&H, but I'm really sorry you had so much pain and hope you are feeling better.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

Dees

((Impurrfect)) I am so glad you responded - I was hoping you would! I always want to give you a hug when I see you pop up in a post. Thank you for what you said, that makes me feel better. I fear that my anxiety about the withdrawals will compound whatever withdrawals I do have. I am friggin' scared.

Thank you,

Dees

IvanKatz

If you've been 100% clean for 24 days... you're not going to go through W/D : )
You may feel the "itch" to use BUT you are not going to be in full blown W/D! You'll have a headache - like a mini hang over.
The WD only happens when you've been using regularly. Trust me, you will feel fine tomorrow! I've been off for 5 weeks now. Last Monday I did take 1 Dilaudid tab last Monday because my back pain became overwhelming. Next morning, just fine. I did have that little itch to take another but NOPE!!!!!! Didn't do it.
If for some reason you don't feel right tomorrow... Call your Doctor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, I came off 40mg Dilauded per day..... Now that's *%&%ing tough!
Even started going to the gym today!

finaltime

You will be fine! Good work on not getting the extra polls. That takes a lot.

ryan1983

You'll be fine, I don't know from experience but my gut tells me that your body needs to be dependent for your body to have withdrawals, your head may crave opiates more tomorrow then normal but I think your body will be fine. I wouldn't have a problem guaranteeing that even if you had a little bit of withdrawal it wouldn't be anything close to what you have been through, and you know that you are strong enough to get through that so this would be a piece of cake if it occurred, but it won't, stay strong in the head, you have a lot to proud of, you worked very hard to be where you are today! I'm sorry to hear about your pain, I hope that you get feeling better.

lostgirl25

You will to OK. I just wanted to give you a hug for turning down getting some to take home. The brain will test you with craving but you know this and stay strong. Hope there is no more pain.

Dees

Thank you everyone. Today has not been too bad. I am quite itchy - but that hasn't stopped since I got off of the pills. Anyone have any idea how long that usually lasts?

neferkamichael

Good job, on turning down the take home. I believe you'll be fine.

RubyRose

Hi Dees, This is only my opinion as I've never had to deal with something like this (yet - it's probably in my future at some point also.)

I agree that you probably won't experience withdrawl with just one shot of dilaudid, at least not physically. But, a very strong and wise choice NOT to take any home.

Do you have kidney disease, or a kidney infection or kidney stones? The best remedy for not needing to take narcotics (IMO) is to have the underlying cause of the pain treated before strong pain meds are needed.

I also found that after my body was free and clear of any opiates, any pain I had was easily treated with Advil or Tylenol. I never had any serious painful pain like I know kidney pain can cause.

Hope you're feeling better soon!!! Hugs and kisses coming your way.

...Ruby...

goingtokicksoon

I've had to take oxycodone 10/325 for two disc herniations in my lower back, so I have a pain condition as well. Currently, I'm tapering down and off. One thing that I've noticed that I can share with another pain patient. My back has been hurting, even though before my taper, I didn't feel any back pain at all due to a successful steroid injection. I've done a little research on this and wonder if this could help, although I'm not sure how kidney pain works compared to back pain. Anyway. Google: 1) Rebound pain from opiate withdrawal and 2) analgesia/pain syndrome. This had been characteristic of my experience with the taper and I suspect it will get worse during withdrawals. Apparently, the pain center in one's brain can take vengeance upon them for depriving it of opiates, by creating pain that is not there.

Obviously this isn't medical advice, just something that has been very recently true in my experience. As such, please just look into it as one more thing to consider about opiate withdrawal, especially for a pain patient.

goingtokicksoon

And, the most important part: Good luck, best wishes, prayers, etc. You can do it!

Dees

Thank you everyone for the well-wishes. I honestly don't know what I would do without this site.

((Ruby)) - It turns out that the kidneys are fine and that I now have sciatica (gotta love getting old). The doctors and I initially thought kidney stones because of where the pain was (on the right lower back) but they just got the test results back for that and it appears that everything there is fine. They then thought it was a possible ovarian cyst, but the tests for that came back fine as well. So, the next best thing that the pain fits is sciatic nerve pain. As long as I know, I can do things to help prevent the pain from coming back and I can learn how to ease the pain. I am taking lots of ibuprofen.

Again, thank you everyone for your well-wishes and your help!

Dees

Impurrfect

(((Dees))) - I have occasional sciatica. I take neurontin/gabapentin for it, but check with your doctor. I can vouch for how BAD it hurts!!

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

goingtokicksoon

I can also vouch for how bad sciatica is. Mine is under control now, but geez, when it wasn't....ouch. Good luck. I'm glad it is not something organ related. Of course, nerve related probably doesn't feel much better. I hope you find a way to manage it.