I have been a chronic pain patient (failed lower back surgey syndrome) since 2003. I have been taking oxycontin 80 mg tid for pain for at least 3 years now and methadone before that. Have horrible side effects - bowels shut down, fatigue. Tried a pain pump but had a bizarre reaction - my nasal passages shut down - and I had to go back to the oral meds.
I finally decided I couldn't take the side effects any more. Had developed an anal fissure that wouldn't heal due to the constipation. Had to decide to either taper down the meds slowly over 4-6 months or go off cold turkey. Decided that cold turkey would be better. Thought I wouldn't stick to the taper.
I took 2 weeks off work and 11 days ago I took my last dose of narcotics. My dr gave me a muscle relaxant, a barbituate, and neurotin for the withdrawal symptoms. I thought this would be a short trip in hell followed by a reawakening, but it's turned out to be a long trip in hell. This is so hard. I can't sleep more than 3 hours a night and in 4 days I have to go back to work. I can't imagine doing that. I can barely put one foot in front of the other. Everything hurts. Not just my lower back but every muscle in my back. Starting to think this was a mistake.
Has anyone gone through this? If I had known the consequences of staying on the pain meds after my first surgery, I would have done this then. This is no kind of life either way.
