Thanks so much MrsD ! you are so helpful to so many people...i don't see how you do it - spreading yourself so thin! Just wanted to say a special thank you - i can see you are a special part of the backbone of this forum!!
Have a great Thanksgiving

I recently went off fentanyl 50mcg. It's been two months. I did it pretty quick, going from 50 to 25mcg to 12.5mcg and off in a matter of 10 days. It was pretty quick and I advise you to speak with your physician and also research what to expect so you don't panic when things happen.

Opiate withdrawal is not fun, however, the worst is benzodiazepine withdrawal which I undertook after the fentanyl withdrawal. I have been in some state of withdrawal now for 2 months. I am 28 days past the last klonopin and this has been agonizing physically. I am finally up and walking and eating, and much of the brutal stinging, burning and pain is fading. I get momentary glimpses of what it feels like to be normal. I am in less pain not more. I will warn any one going off benzo's to talk to your doc....I had to set up my own ICU in my home, my BP was extremely labile. I puked for several days, and could not eat. My body went into overdrive and I lost 15 pounds. I had to use supplements as I could not eat. I needed to use other meds, such as BP meds while I was in active withdrawal.

Likely I went down too fast, however, I was at tolerance with a 1.5 mg daily dose of klonopin and did not want to go up. Now I am in post withdrawal where my GABA receptors need to reform or be replaced, and gene transcription is going on, to reprogram and replace all the structurally changed receptors that klonopin caused. This can take years, but seems for me to be going fast with the exception of normal sleep. Some people are permanently altered. All that one can do at this point is hope and pray that one's body recovers on its own.

In the last year, I also quit Ambien.

I researched opiates and benzo's prior to going off, and found several interesting things. One is the Paradoxical Pain Syndrome, which can only be cured by going off opiates. I think I was having this, since my pain went down after I got thru the withdrawal off fentanyl. It is worth researching.

The other is benzo tolerance, and the only way to deal with this is increasing your dose or weaning off. I have never encountered anything as brutal as going off klonopin, and I was on a small dose!

In the next few months, I think I will get to baseline with my neuropathy. I know for sure, that I have autonomic neuropathy and polyneuropathy as my tests were done before I went on pain pills or benzo's. My neuro did not like my being on opiates or benzo's. I just wanted to live my life actively and felt the meds would help me with that....(not).

I do have a maxed out ANA, low C4 and receive IVIG, which, without it, I do not think I could have gotten off my meds. My pain has gone down since IVIG was reinstituted.

Anyway, perhaps you should allow yourself to stabilize off the fentanyl before getting the implant. Keep telling yourself that you will be OK as you go thru withdrawal. You can do it. Opiate withdrawal is fairly short in duration. Bennzo withdrawal and post-benzo syndrome lasts years. I would never have thought that such a difficult drug to get off of, would be given out so easily.

Oh, I am still dealing with RLS, and take a small dose of Mirapex, and that is all I take.....now if I don't start compulsively gambling or carousing around, I will be fine, LOL.

I wish I didn't have to mess with my neurotransmitters at all....but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Thank you for sharing your ordeal....sorry to hear it's been such a rough go.
You've got my support!
One of the things that stuck out the most in your post was the "Paradoxal Pain Syndrome" wow ! I betchya anything that's exactly what i'm dealing with! It's such a cycle of madness man!! It gets to a point where i don't know for sure which is my original neuropathy and which is the 'rebound' pain that the meds do...
So, that's precisely why i'm gonna try my best to get off the pain meds....
But Lord have mercy the minute i can tell withdrawal starts setting in and that awful feeling of dread/anxiety/depression/guilt.....just totally consumes me and i can't do it! And THAT's just the MENTAL part! I can tell that the physical part will totally do me in......i admit to being a wimp
I was thinkin that the Xanax will help me get over the hardcore Fentanyl, but reading your post makes me re-think...... yikes!
Keep in touch and keep me updated on your success and thanks again for your time and empathy!
Rae

For any one debating going off meds.....save the pain meds for last and get rid of the benzos first....I did it the other way around, and if I had it to do over, I would have DC'd the benzo first.

Anyway, I am slowly feeling better. I will hit a wall at some point, as the disease will still be there and then I will have a good idea of my 'base'.

I'd almost suggest checking into a rehab facility/psych floor to safely taper off the medication.

I'm sure then you can also get some sort of medication to ease you off it/help with withdrawls.

*I watch too much tv*

Some people detox off fentanyl patches using Subutex or Suboxone (has Naloxone in it).

This sublingual narcotic requires special doctor certification to prescribe, but can be used to detox off other narcotic treatments.

More here:
http://www.suboxone.com/?qs=ga&s_kwc...FQsMDQodEFp6pA

I had a patient on high dose fentanyl (due to a car accident and neck injury) who used Suboxone very successfully. He was able to return to work and was very happy with his new life.

Thanks for keeping this thread goin......this is pretty important to me....

The thought of going into a rehab/psych.....yikes. Not that there is anything WRONG with it of course......some folks here may even have done it and if that's what ends up happening then i'd humbly ask for support

But - the politics behind the procedure i'm probably gonna have to do --spinal cord stimulator -- would most likely 'deny' me as a potential candidate with the 'drug dependency' tag pinned on me if that were to be in my med record history.
Plus, if all else fails and i just need to stay on the meds indefinately, then...well.....see where this goes? I'd forever be tagged with the 'drug' thing.
That's why i started a thread down the list called "Naltrexone Anyone?"
I wonder if this med is in the same family as the one MrsD is talking about.
Haven't been able to access the site u provided (yet) having problems with my phone and internet lines (snowstorm)......but thank you and i will check into it!

Those 'rapid detox' places claim to be very discreat and private so as not to have it accessible by medical record personnel...... ?
But whatever. Other people have had to deal with this and i'm no one to get any 'special' treatment....but just want to check out the options and try to do this as 'responsibly' as possible.... ? My Pain doc has been wonderful and i WILL be talking to him about all this, but i'd like to know what's out there B4 i jump into tapering the meds..... I'll ask to see if he is specially licensed to prescribe as MrsD suggests...

Thank you all SO much! This forum is all i have

Rae

Here I look at my Lyrica, Tramadol and Oxycodone. What a friggin cocktail. Oh...did I mention Lexapro for my depression/anxiety,gemfibrozil for my cholesterol, and atenolol for the blood pressure. Enough already!!

I have to get off the Oxy....possibly reduce the Tramadol and Lyrica. It is scary. I missed two days without the so-called synthetic opiate Tramadol, and boy did I feel crummy. I can imagine removing the big one from the mix. But, I have to put a stop to the madness. In order to get complete relief I have begun taking more of the 5mg tabs of oxy. I do not like the pattern this is taking. I will have to satisfy myself with partial pain relief and avoid the consequences of narcotic overdose.