kasiemcg

I have a friend, age 31, who overdosed on oxycotin this past March. Luckily he survived, but not without severe effects. He cannot walk, talk, eat (he is fed through a tube in his stomach), or move anything on his body besides his head and eyes. He is also incontinent (wears a diaper). He also has severe contractures in his arms, hands, and feet. His parents can't take care of him at home...so they placed him in the nursing home that I work at (for which I am very grateful). My problem is....a couple of days ago he was sweating profusely...for no medical reason. My first thought was aggitation. He can't tell me what's wrong so I have to guess, which is very frustrating when you can't figure out what's wrong. I thought maybe he needed his diaper changed. I checked and that wasn't it. Then I thought maybe he was uncomfortable, so i repositioned him 3 different times. Still.....did not help. I felt helpless and didn't know what else to do. So, we gave him an atavan to try to calm him. The next morning the night shift told me that he had a peaceful night and that he had slept well. Then later on in the morning...the sweating started again. Then it finally dawned on me that maybe he his still going through withdrawals. If anyone knows if this is a withdrawal symptom or how long this will go on please let me know. Thanks!

Luckyv2

Hey I am not sure can you ask a nurse or a doctor they would probably know and I know there are a few here at SR also maybe they can help you too, I might ask someone along those likes but I am not sure who or what, but I know that my withdrawl still occurs sometimes it takes a long time for paws

JoJoLovEsYou

I have a cousin who overdosed on that stuff too and he's in the exact same position your friend is in. They are two different people and their incidents happend at different times so what they are going through could be totally different from each other. But my cousin at one point was sweating alot at one point and I overheard the nurses say he was goin through minor panic attacks. He can't talk so he is unable to get things out that he wants others to hear and after so long it gets very frustrating which leads to panic. I'm not sure if thats the answer this is just something I overheard. But I wish your friend the best of luck and hope he is able to progress overtime!

angelgirl

Hi there, first, I am no doctor. But I've had my share of pain med withdrawls. I would say that the sweating is not from withdrawl of pain killers at this point. There is long term withdrawls, but sweating profusely did not continue for that long for me.. I defintely suffered the sweats and the cold shivers, but for the MOST part, I was over that symptoms after the first month. there are definately long term effects. Insomnia seems to be the one that lasts the longest.
I have some questions I was wondering if you'd answer.
Did he go through some type of medial detox after the over dose? Because I went through medical detox, and that does alleviate the main symptoms of withdrawl, in the beginning, although you still have the long term effects.
Anxiety is also a longer term effect.
But what I am really wondering is what other meds he is taking? It could be a side effect of of something he is taking, if he takes something regularly.
How often do is he given ativan? Maybe he goes through withdrawls from the ativan? If he is given them on a regular bases??
Otherwise I would worry as to why he is sweating like that. That doesn't sound right to me.
Isn't there a regular doctor that sees him at the nursing home, on a regular basis? Otherwise, I think he should be looked at by a doctor....
I am also a bit confused as to why you are asking us, if he is at a nursing home?
Aren't the residents in the home seen by a doctor?

I also wanted to REALLY thank you for this post...
I am so sorry this has happened to your friend... But I think you have done a really GREAT thing, even though you are here asking a question, you are also providing some really important information on the tragedy of what does happen to people when they use a drug. I mean, we do hear that these things can and do happen, but you are right here, saying look what happened to my friend, because he chose to use this drug. Especially if he was just using the drug and not intending to overdose.
Again, I am sorry that your friend and his family and other friends had to suffer such a tragedy..
Maybe through this, others will learn.....
Did his doctors say that he can get better?? Will therapy do anything? Does he do therapy?
Thanks agin, for the important message you shared here.
I wanted to add again, that I am not a doctor, just sharing my experience, and those that I have seen..
God Bless, Love, Becky
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kasiemcg

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it a lot. I personally haven't read his chart to see what other meds he is taking...but will do. He does have a doctor that sees him...but he's one of these crack pot dr.'s around here that I don't trust their diagnosis. Thought better to get the info from someone first hand. The atavan is just given when he seems aggitated. They determine this by the sweating. He doesn't do it all the time...just every so often. No, they don't believe he will get better. But I have to believe that he will. He doesn't do therapy, because they say there's nothing they can do for him. Which I think is crap. But what can I really do? I'm a friend, not a family member...so of course noone listens to me about what I think. I want him to get better and will continue to work with him every day. I'm not sure if he went through detox. I do know that he died a couple of times on the way to the ER, and they brought him back. He did have respiratory failure and they did a trach on him. I appreciate any info and any encouragement to help get me through this. It is so hard to go to work and see him like this everyday. Thanks again!