Opioids

[Sandy DiVa]

Hi, Im the new girl who is commenting on very old posts lol Sorry about that! 
i have yet to locate a search feature so please forgive me if this has been asked.

for those of you who do not experience low blood pressure, or fainting and dizziness AND taking an opioid pain medication

do you find that the opioid helps your symptoms?

I have been prescribed Oxycodone since 2015.  
I immediately noticed a difference in my flushing, sweating and of course, pain when starting this medication. 
To this day, i can tell when its time for my next dose because i start getting sweaty in my face well before the pain is back full force (or even half force). I also start getting the chills and feeling like im going into mild withdrawal just 3 hours after i took my medication which is impossible. 

is this just a coincidence? Or is the oxycodone controlling my symptoms to some degree? 
i did learn that the half life of oxycodone IR is 3 hours (not sure what that means tbh not a doctor here) if that means anything to anyone.

I have an experience to share that made me start thinking about this. Because of misused cdc prescribing guidelines (the writers of the guidelines came out stating all the ways the guidelines had been misused back in 2019) and years of restrictions on opioids in the US, you cannot fill your prescription even an hour early. Meaning i NEVER have “extra” pills. I take them as prescribed exactly when i am supposed to. But one time, in all these years, i had a flu or virus that caused a lot of vomiting. I ended up sending 3 pills down the drain over the course of a day meaning i was short that month. I didnt even think about it, i never had to before, so i didnt adjust the timing of my doses accordingly and was, at first, confused as to why i didnt have enough of my script to last until the next morning. The last dose i took was at 4pm. By midnight i was in agony, i couldnt stop sweating and my bp was very high. But my heart was why i was so scared, id never felt it beat in the pattern it was beating so i went to the ER and told them what happened and that i have dysautonomia. They gave me my medication and kept me until my vitals stabilized. I was still missing a dose of my medication but i was able to endure the pain and mild symptoms until the pharmacy opened. 
 

not only did this experience make me think that maybe opioids control my symptoms, but it also made me very scared of ever stopping them now that my body has developed a dependency to this medication. I dont think a broken ANS could survive withdrawal like a healthy person could. 
 

just my thoughts but am curious if anyone else gets any symptom relief while on opioid therapy for pain.

I can’t believe im just now finding this forum. Its been an hour and I’ve already learned so much from all your posts! I cant wait to learn more!

[Pistol]

Hello @Sandy DiVa - the search link is on the very top right of this site. 

I have not ever heard of Opiates being used in the treatment of dysautonomia. It is possible that the fact that it eases your pain may also ease your POTS symptoms. Personally I would not take them regularly or long term b/c - as you mentioned - withdrawal could very likely trigger your POTS. 

6 hours ago, Sandy DiVa said:

To this day, i can tell when its time for my next dose because i start getting sweaty in my face well before the pain is back full force (or even half force). I also start getting the chills and feeling like im going into mild withdrawal just 3 hours after i took my medication which is impossible. 

i did learn that the half life of oxycodone IR is 3 hours (not sure what that means tbh not a doctor here) if that means anything to anyone.

The half-life of a medication is the time it takes for the amount of drug in your system to be halfed through metabolism. So - if you take 10 mg and the half life is 3 hours that means after 3 hours you only have 5 mg in your system. That is most likely why you have withdrawal symptoms after 3 hours. 

I would be very concerned about addiction at this point and it might be a good idea to discuss the symptoms your are experiencing with your doctor. Often switching to a different pain med prevents the dependency. It is also possible that the dependency causes a psychological improvement of symptoms. The fact that your BP goes up and you develop palpitations and sweating can all be from withdrawal as well as POTS, so you should bring this up to your doctor. Good luck!

[Rexie]

Hi Sandy! Back when I had Lyme disease a very long time I was offered oxycodone but declined because of the problems similar to yours I observed the oxy patients having at the pharmacy as they went crazy jonesing for their meds (the hospital added armed security guards). I like no pain but within reason and oxy didn't sound like a good choice for me. I did use hydrocodone as prescribed and when done with Lyme disease I cold turkeyed the hydrocodone with no problems. 

If you want to stop taking oxy work with your professionals while weaning off. Bacoba herb is suppose to be good at relieving opioid withdrawal symptoms. It works through the opioid system but is not addictive. Like opioids it can be reversed by naloxone (but why? It's nice for pain and is non-narcotic). See thread: 'Tx Doctor refused my referral' for Bacopa info. 

All the best to you! 

[Amrytant]

Your experience with opioids and their effects on symptoms is really interesting.

[Sarah Tee]

I found this quote, which might be interesting:

Quote

Opioids such as morphine are sometimes used in the cardiovascular setting to reduce pain, anxiety, and sympathetic activity and for venodilation.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001007

(Italics added)

Maybe the same effects can be found in other medications?