Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
1323486 tn?1274754138

oxycontin withdrawl restless legs =(

I have been taking Oxycontin for probably the last 4 weeks anywhere from 80-160 mg a day, and in the past week I have probably ingested 400 mcg of fyntnal.  Ya I know what an idiot.  I want to lead a normal life, I'm hurting so many people.  I've kicked a hydro habit of about 20 norcos 10mgs a day in the past and it was tough, the most brutal WD symptoms were the cold sweats, waking up having to change my shirt and sheets.  But this is day 2 with no oxy/fent and let me tell you I've had 2 of the WORST nights of my life.  I've been taking about 8 norco a day just to try and alleviate some of the symptoms.  I'm usually "okay" during the day but I'm so afraid of night coming it's ridiculous.  The restless leg syndrome is so uncomfortable.  I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy I've probably slept 2 hours in the past 24 and and as night nears I'm beginning to worry.  I was wondering if their is anything ANYTHING anyone knows to help with this horrible symptom. I seriously move from bed to couch and back, walk back and forth in my kitchen.. trying to stop the feeling of beetles crawling from toes to thighs UGH any help would be great.  

P.S. I have no options of any benzos
Best Answer
Avatar universal
Ok....get some Hyland's Restful Legs or Leg Cramps.  Drink Gatorade and Apple juice.  Take 1000 mg of cal/mag supplement.  When I was in WDs, I thought people were crazy to think that something like that would help me, but I gave in and tried.....IT WORKED!  Seriously, don't suffer.  Just do it.  Take a bath too.  Hot as you can stand for as long as you can stand.  You don't need a benzo.  Lots of people say it doesn't help much anyway.  Also, don't take benadryl.  It made my restlessness TEN TIMES worse!

Good luck!  Hope this helps!
91 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
222369 tn?1274474635
Yeah, try the Hyland's Restful Legs...I've heard it gets great results for some people.
Helpful - 0
1323486 tn?1274754138
thank you so much, I will be going to walmart/gnc I pray to god it works.

I really appreciate it!

Nick.
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
I agree....  The hylands restful legs (Usually found in the vitamin aisle at walmart) does help.  It doesnt take it away, but makes it bearable.  Also the calcium and magnesium at night are A MUST!!!  Along with a hot bath, it really makes things somewhat more comfortable.

I am starting day 6 off of Suboxone.... Im not sure what you have read of sub wd, but it can be BRUTAL.  My symptoms thus far have been more than manageable.... it comes and goes.  As a matter of fact, Im a flight attendant and am scheduled to work an International Trip on Thurs morning.  You just have to push through this!

I have had a few nights of bad sleep the past few nights as well... ambien only made me sleep for about 2 hrs, then I was groggy but not tired the rest of the day.  1mg of xanax doped me up so bad I could barely walk, yet still not fall asleep easily.

Ive been getting dizzy spells, and I think this accounts for a lack of the sleep Ive been having lately.

Unfortunatelly this is the only way bud.  One thing that stands out to me though... You said you have been taking 8 norco a day to alleviate the symptoms.  This is just prolonging your agony my friend.  All the opiates you have been taking are relatively fast acting with short half lives....  If you can make it through 4 days the worst should be over!

I wish you all the best,
HS
Helpful - 0
1323486 tn?1274754138
Thank you very much for the response everyone here is so truthful and awesome.

And the Norco thing I was trying to get through the 4 days without quitting cold turkey from fentynal/oxy, I figured, get through the worst of it and than wean the norcos?  And suffer minimal WD if possible =|.  Bad mentality?

Thank you all again
Helpful - 0
922048 tn?1387942584
Hi Henry! Thank you for posting your story and advice! I'm right behind you on my 2nd full day post-Subutex. I had tapered down really low before stopping but I'm starting to wonder if that's going to make any difference. The last dose I took was around 0.25 mg on Fri night. I am never going to take it again. I had tried several times before to stop but due to other underlying medical conditions, it wasn't remotely possible.

The difference this time is the craving seems to have stopped. I am still having w/d symptoms, but I have no interest in taking even a crumb of that crap! Last night I slept 4 or 5 hours, which I guess is good. I'm worried about tonight. Since the half life of Subs is 37.5 hours, that means tonight will have a big drop in my blood levels of the drug.

I'm a little scared but happy to finally be able to give it a go with stopping. I think I can do it. So many people have, so I should be able to. I know what you mean about the dizzy spells. I get so uncoordinated that I can bang into a wall when I walk. Not often but it's happened. Any way, I just saw your post and wanted to say hi and wish you the best! Hopefully soon this will all be a distant memory for both of us!

Nicky, I hope you're able to get off everything, too. Suboxone/Subutex is good but INHO only as a last resort. I've been on it for 9 months now after a nine year Rx for tramadol. I was told that I should be able to only be on it for three weeks. Yeah, right. Some people can do that. But not me. It's great that you're trying and you seem really motivated. Opioids are very bad for your hormones, I've learned the hard way. But hopefully eventually things will get back to normal for me. Best of luck to everyone in this predicament!
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
No worries bud, it wasnt bad mentality, its just addict mentality! No harm no foul right?  Now lets get you started!

Get rid of all your opiates... as you are done now!  I had 200pills of suboxone that were locked in a safe, and today I flushed them.  It was the hardest thing Ive ever done... Im terrified to work my flight to Europe on Thurs without my meds, but F it, Its gotta be done, and I will live!

If u feel the need for the xanax, try it, just be careful.... everyone is different.  Get some melatonin or valerian root for the sleep issues.

Hylands restful legs for the RLS, along with some Calcium and CHELATED Magnesium, unless it says chelated magnesium, its garbage!  Most uber cheap versions are magnesium oxide and have a not so great oral bioavailability.  Qunine can help and is found in tonic water (If u can stomach it)

Gatorade, immodium, Vitamin B12, and advil will also come in handy down the line.  Epsom salts in those hot hot baths you are gunna take with sooth muscles, and allow for more magnesium absorbtion through the skin...  Pretty kewl eh? You still with us?

Just remember that a lot of this is a mind game, not all but a lot.  A game you can beat.  When Im sweating my *** off but freezing cold, I just laugh at it.  When I stand up and get so dizzy I fall back on the couch, Im in hysterics....  :-P  Get where Im goin with this???

There are a lot of people here to cheer you along the way, myself included as I go through it with you of course.  This is the last time you will ever have to do this, that is IF YOU NEVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!  

And when you cant sleep, look me up on here, shoot me a PM or somethin.... We can ***** about our wd's at the same time!  lol

God speed my friend!
HS
Helpful - 0
1323486 tn?1274754138
=) thx WD brother, I really appreciate it just took my supplement of the hyland/mag, ate a tad, and chugged some apple juice! Now bath time!

And if I can't sleep.. this is where I'll be!

and I ammmm with you, restless legs pshhh I LOVE doing jumping jacks at 4 in the morning =) who doesn't! (o god haha)
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
LOL, Hope u get some rest.  If not, I'll be here lurkin around, or playing the New SM Galaxy 2  lol, but I'll keep an eye on my PM box.

Keep us posted to how u are doin.  One last thing.  The very first drug I tried was Fentanyl, IV to boot!  Never smoked pot or anything, went straight to the big guns.  I was droppin over 1200mcgs IV per day (I worked as a surgical tech in the OR on the Open heart team before I started flying)  So I know all too well how that gig goes.  

Now get back to those jumping jacks.  :-P

HS
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hey dude I just wanted to encourage you to hang in there and get this thing done and over with....you really need to stop taking the norco its only going to prolong this thing...it may bring some temporary relief but in the long hall its only go to make it last that much longer...you have been given great advise and I see your using it thats really good
everyone on here wants to see you succeed ..IM a big fan of the hot bath theory
I think it helps more then anything else you may have to take several a day
right no get comfortable with the saying....'' you just got to be ok without being ok for a wile" and learn to live by it fore the next few days...if you believe in God praying helps
God is all you got at 3am ..keep posting were all here to support you good luck and God bless....Gnarly
Helpful - 0
1316872 tn?1276064195
I laughed when I read about the jumping jacks I can relate the restless legs is the worse I took valerian root  and melatonin to help me through the first days. If you choose to use the melatonin it says 1 or 2 tabs but my addiction counselor told me I can take up to 100 mg safely so you can adjust your dose to what you need and its natural and really does work I'm done with physical withdrawls but i still am using it because my sleep has yet tocome right. Good luck and just remember your stronger than any addiction my best friend would email and call me several times a day to tell me that during my detox to keep me going and it really helped me. you can do this
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Ohhh, I wish I read this last night - - it was just 2 or 3 nights ago that I was weeping and sobbing in my pillow at 2,3,4AM with the worst RLS...it was surging through my arms & legs.  That is just the worst when you have been sooooo deadd tired alll day after no sleep and all you can do is flop from couch, to chair, to bed, to couch.  And you are just dying to sleep - - then you try to sleep and you have to move every 15 seconds - no confort in sight.  UHG!  I was online here & another website that I just googled and everyone was pretty much saying the same thing as above.  A few people were suggesting larger doses of ibuprofen or aleve.  I did that (I took 5 aleve & I think that is pretty much way over suggested dosage, ba careful) and then I also took a natural sleep aid called ALTERIL that has L-Trytophan, Valerian root, GABA, Malatonin and a bunch of other flower extracts - I took 4 rather than 2 (my mom gets that at CVS).  So I took all that at like 3 in the morning so I am sure just being exhausted and frustrated fueled the punch.  But I did sleep from 4-something until 8AM when my alarm went off I was still dreaming...
AND the kicker is I still had the electric boogies in my arms & legs as I went about the next day but that night I did not have the RLS - it just plain disappaited.  
Just my experience from the other night??!!!!Not sure if it will help...  Best of luck to you....
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
Sooooo.... Im guessing you slept well last night?  

Heres to hoping so, I tried some melatonin at around 2am, went to bed at 3am, and I layed there until 4am..... Sleeeeeep Finally!  That is until I woke up and 745am with some nasty RLS.  Son of a *****!!!!  

Guess I'ts time to get up!  Heres to hoping for a better night!  How u holdin up otherwise?

Keep us posted!

HS
Helpful - 0
617347 tn?1331293081
hey, Henry, you flushed those 200 pills !!! congrats for it...brilliant.

btw, wish you luck with your flight to the continent with those volcano ashes... ( can't even remember these icelandic name ....hahahaha ndjhfhhdshdyfdfffhjdjfkfkdkdns ...hummm, something like that ? lol )
nah, i've just heard it has stopped throwing ashes finally :)
good luck, henry :)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I can handle everything about withdrawal but the damn RLS. I hate it. There are people that have this **** and their not even drug addicts. I couldn'[t imangine having this **** everynight. I'd go crazy.
Helpful - 0
1323486 tn?1274754138
wow.. I laid down last night around 11 I'd say for about an hour, got a little scared because I felt some tingles, but that was it! haha I actually had my eyes closed not moving my legs at all not daring to switch positions because I didn't know if I had the "magical" leg position but turns out no matter which way I turned RLS didn't come!

I woke up probably two times during the night but only briefly, 5 mins awake tops.  Slept 7 hours.. holy **** I wanna thank everyone that helped me out on the supps I really appreciate it oh so much!

And Henry, sry I didn't PM you... but I guess that's a good thing eh ? =D

Day 4.. here weeeee gooo
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
Nicky,

No worries bud, kind of one of those "no news is good news" sorta things.  Glad to hear u got some sleep.  I think Im goin delirious over here from sleep deprivation, lmao....  just keep laughin through it.

Fear can make RLS so much worse than it really is!  The first time I detoxed off of Fentanyl, I had no idea RLS was a normal part of my Mu receptors screaming for their catalysts!!!!  And I'll be damned, I kicked 1200mcg of IV fent with no more than minor dizziness....  Just a case where knowlege is power, but too much of it just makes you scared.

WD is nothing to fear,  granted, I would rather be hung upside down by my nipples and spray painted blue in a town square on a national holiday rather than go through this wd nonsense....  But I look at it as a rite of passage! (The wd's not the nipple thing) :-P

I assisted in creating this addiction monster, and now its time to suffer a lil.  Speaking of Rites of Passage.....  Thursday morning will be the first time since I started flying DOD operations, that I will not have any suboxone with me.  When I put my uniform on and head to the airport, I wont need to fear running out of pills, meds being confiscated at customs, or getting stuck somewhere without meds.  I dont need that **** anymore.  Quite the liberating feeling (Not to mention scary as hell)

Alright now, lets get on with your day 4, and my day 6!


Laurel,

ARghhhhhhhh, just hearing the name of that cursed Eyjafjallajökull volcano gets my BP goin! LOL  Because of that damn volcano, I had some serious ASH issues!  Got stuck overseas for almost 3 weeks!  (Now I know some of you would jump at that chance) But trust me... when you are told you are going out on a 3 day trip, and pack accordingly and end up being gone for 3 weeks?!?!?  NOOOOOOOOO Me gusta!  :-)

HS
Helpful - 0
617347 tn?1331293081
HAHAHAHA yeah, no me gusta either ;)

you were 3 weeks stuck, Lol ...not funny past 5 days..every night washing the same shirt and so and going red with the credit card  :)

humm...but i swear i would have traded places with of my cousins when she spent a week in milano instead of the 2 days she was supposed to be...i just love italy :) and italian men even more !

take care, ok ?
Helpful - 0
1323486 tn?1274754138
Yikes I've been there!  Before me and my gf lived together (the week she found out my problem) I was 17 and we were sustaining a semi long distance relationship.. about a 25 min drive.. well I had enough hydros to last me about 3 days..  My car decided to break down on the third day, and all my connects lived where I did.  She was soooo happy that I got to stay an extra 3 days... YAY

I knew her poor old grandma (who she lived with) had to have something in that medicine cabinet.. I picked her bedroom door lock got in that thing so excited.. to find a bottle of IB profen............

I walked 23 miles that day.
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
LOL, walked 23 miles.....

Screw that!  Then again I say that now.  We wont mention the crazy **** I did to get my doc, whatever it was for that day anyhow.  

fun fun fun!  *Rolls eyes with sarcasm!*
:-P

HS
Helpful - 0
1316872 tn?1276064195
I just wanted to thank you guys I was reading your guys post I'm day 8 from a 7 year oxycodone addiction and depression set in this morning I had been crying and once again i read your post and started laughing I'm glad you guys are keeping positive.
Helpful - 0
569676 tn?1315641158
Cry, laugh, let it all out!

Its all part of this miserable process! LOL  Trust me, its hard...  but we can do it!

I feel like hell today, but I just got outta the shower, and lugged a huge basket of laundry from upstairs...  Granted I had to set it down and take a rest before I continue moving it to the basement.  But hell, Im in wd for F sake! :-)  If I wanna feel like a 90 year old at only 28 then so be it.

Now forcing myself to finish getting the laundry started, and out to run some errands in this chicago humid heat.  Sweaty detoxing 28yo guy that feels like hes a 90year old!  Now thats HOT!  :-P  Sorry just wanted to make you laugh.

Something I wanted to post to those of you who have made it a few days.  Someone on another forum told me something very wise.  She said "The way I see it people like you and I have more of a reason than just ourselves to keep fighting. We have an entire group of people pulling for us, waiting to hear that it is possible to reach the other side. When I feel like it is too much to bare, I just close my eyes and think about all the people who need me to succeed, the people that sit in fear just needing to feel a shred of hope. If I can help just one of them by going through this process, it is so worth it! "

Think of all the posts that we have read before detoxing, yeah, we read a lot of horror stories, that put the fear of god in us, but then again were we really afraid of the wd's or ourselves? Who knows... my point is, remember how great you felt when you read posts of those that had years of clean time, or the post where you read about their entire wd period...the excitement you got when you read that person saying that they were finally starting to feel better?

I hate to sound like an NA meeting, as I have some serious gripes with that program (SIdetracked) But they always say "We can only keep what we have by giving it away"

*Steps off soapbox* :-)

Now, Im gunna go pout and stomp my feet and be that sweaty 28yo guy.  Why?  Because I can! lol

Henry
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm so appreciative of all this information.  I haven't been on Vicodin for long, maybe only a month, but I realized how much I'm enjoying it, and that's a problem.  I quit taking it a few days ago, and yesterday was miserable with vomiting, aching, in and out of sleep all day.  No RLS...yet, I've been there before though.  It's miserable.  I'm having surgery on Wednesday again, and I'm worried about the pain and no oxy...does anyone have any suggestions?  Even though I didn't use long, I really like the high...this kind of addictive personality is dangerous and I want to catch it before it's a real problem.
Helpful - 0
1316872 tn?1276064195
ugh I gotta do something in my house too its so dirty I literally didn't get out of bed for the first 6 days my father in law took care of the kids but the house haha dishes...nada a clean dish in the house laundry...kids don't have a single article of clean clothing living room...toys everywhere my room...uh not even going to go there gross water bottles all over the night stand yeah so times time to make myself be the housekeeper again lol.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Addiction: Substance Abuse Community

Top Addiction Answerers
495284 tn?1333894042
City of Dominatrix, MN
Avatar universal
phoenix, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
If you think marijuana has no ill effects on your health, this article from Missouri Medicine may make you think again.
Julia Aharonov, DO, reveals the quickest way to beat drug withdrawal.
Tricks to help you quit for good.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.