Norco withdrawals...

[Musicosm]

My fiancee has suffered from a strange lower back pain for two and a half years which, thankfully, has miraculously disappeared in the last month (long and metaphysical story on that one). CT scans, MRI's, radiograms, chiropractors, massage therapy...nothing helped to either diagnose or relieve the pain. We simply exhausted our resources. The pain became so acute and chronic that the only thing to even dull the pain was Norco. A lot of Norco. She hated the high feeling, but it was the only thing that helped.

When the pain finally stopped, she set aside a few days to detox here at home. As I write this, she's going into her 4th detox day. However, she's sleeping soundly for the first time in 3 nights. I've been up keeping watch when she does wake up the past 3 nights, and I'm exhausted. To be sure, I'm nowhere NEAR feeling how SHE'S feeling right now.

Her body is still wracked with neuro-muscular pain because her brain's pain receptors are essentially "naked" without the opiate inhibitor. She's still very weak. Her intestinal tract has been constantly flushing out the opiate, and the liquid portion of her stools is bright yellow. She's taken several hot baths trying to relax any tightened muscles. She's snapped at me a few times like she had Tourette's, then she immediately starts crying. Not regular crying. A sad and desperate crying, like she's lost all hope. Through her tears, she begs me to help stop the pain. And all I can do is just gingerly hold her and tell her she's doing fine and that she will make it through this.

I have to get some sleep. She seems to be okay right now. I can hear her softly snoring. Or is that our dog, Katy? hehe I love them both so much. I can't wait till she's herself again, like she was two years ago.

She's had bariatric gastric-bypass surgery back in November 2005. I think she's becoming dehydrated because of the loose stools, and because she can't take in as much water as she's eliminating. I know this is normal for her, but I'm still scared.

[Latte]

I'm in recovery and had gastric bypass. She can take Immodium to help with the loose bowels. If she gets really ill she can go to the ER and they can load her up with fluids. I've never had a problem getting help when I needed it. I've just been really honest.

I wish you much luck.

[Stubborn1]

Withdrawl is usually over within 24 to 48 hours. She can try benedryl to help her sleep at night. Her stool should be starting to go back to normal. The worst is over. She may find prescription Motrin may help her more anyway.
I was on Norco and honestly it seemed to make my pain worse. I had to get off of it because I could not go to the bathroom.
Also, you could see if her insurance will pay for a tens unit. You put the patches on your back and it sends electrodes to your muscles. It helps so much. You can only use it twenty minutes at a time but for times when it's bad, it's wonderful to have.
It's all up hill from now on.

[kj3880]

Don't let it get to you, because this is almost over, the bad part. She's going to get through this, it sounds like. She may beg you to go get some opiates for her before it's all over, but do her a favor and don't oblige her. If she seems in physical danger, get her to a doc or ER. Tell them what's going on. I hope she makes it past this. Can she be rolled into a meeting? Seriously, sometimes when we're really sick, it seems to help.
KJ

[Musicosm]

Thanks for all the help guys!

I can say first-hand that she wasn't addicted to the high. In fact, she hated that feeling. It interrupted her work day so much. Often she would have to call me at 1:00 in the afternoon to come get her or follow her home. The Norco just wiped her out. She kept taking it for the pain, to be sure, but also to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.

I've tried Norco for a toothache pain once. Took it for about 2 days. I hate getting high, but I gotta tell ya, I could understand why this stuff's so addicting!

I must amend my story, though. Tonight will be the 5th night without Norco. She took her last dose on Thursday evening, about 9:00. Her stools have both solid and liquid in them. Like I said, she's not getting worse, but I don't think it's gonna get better without help. We'll go to the ER for a nice dose of IV fluids.

Thank you guys again so much!

[Stubborn1]

That's extreme but good luck.

[Latte]

It's a little different with gastric bypass Stubborn1. We have to be really careful with fluids. We can get into real trouble, real fast.

[Musicosm]

Yeah, it is.

I'm gonna hold off on the IV for a day and try the Immodium.

DUH! Thanks, a Latte! Get it? A Latte???

Hardy.
Har.
Har.

[Latte]

We have a coffee shop here called "Thanks a Latte".

Oh and little sips of water. Gatorade has a new drink out that doesn't have suger in it but may help with the electrolyte balance.

[Musicosm]

Originally Posted by Latte

We have a coffee shop here called "Thanks a Latte".

Oh, Lord. LOL Better than "Central Perk".

Originally Posted by Latte

Oh and little sips of water. Gatorade has a new drink out that doesn't have suger in it but may help with the electrolyte balance.

Yes, yes, yes...little sips. But a LOT of little sips. She's one who can no longer eat sugar. Splenda is her sweetener of choice, but I did think about getting the new Gatorade one. Right now, she's pounding (relatively speaking) bottles of SmartWater.

[bvaljalo]

Withdrawal lasting 24-48 hours? Are you kidding me? If only ...

No, it's usually 5-7 days before the worst of it is over. The bowels can take weeks to return to normal. Same goes for sleep.

And what comes out of your b*tt during these 5-7 days ... is SO FAR from normal in every regard ... you really can't apply the normal criteria to judging it's contents in terms of what a healthy person would be passing ... yeah, it's really yucky and gross, and that's totally normal ... in it's own strange way, I mean.

I'm not going to give medical advice here given my lack of knowledge about gastric bypass, but I can tell that if she can just bring herself to drink a reasonable amount of fluids, she really shouldn't need an IV I wouldn't think. Getting the doctor involved in this process seems very reasonable, though!

Tell her to hang tough, she'll make it. It's almost over, the bad part. Norco is one of the shorter-laster w/d's out there...

[Stubborn1]

I forgot about the gastric bypass. I see why the IV. Sorry about the mix up.

I guess the withdrawl has a lot to do with the amount of fat your body has as well. It can hold on to the drug longer and take longer to get out. My bad.
I never claimed to be a dr.

I hope she is feeling better.

[ccgirl2]

I have two family members who have had gastric bypass and though they're not addicts, they get diarrhea very easily anyway, so I can see where it would be an extra problem withdrawing from opiates. Don't hesitate to get medical help for it.