Questions from our newest member: "loveandlight" Let's help them out please

I can relate with Marie but with different side effects.
I have been really tired before lowering my dose, I have been constipated while on this.
But what a great exchange for getting off the road I was on ~
I have my life back and I am not consumed with pills. It's such a relief !

Hello LoveandLight

It's been about a month since you've posted here.

How are you doing?
Please check in when you can !

Remember we are all pulling for you and we would love to hear from you

sorry. I'm alive and well. Got a new puppy a couple of weeks ago and while he is adorable he takes up a bunch of my time. also, not been feeling well...one of my attacks of aches, swelling and exhaustion. I said goodbye to my last doctor who kept medicating me and I'm meeting a new one tomorrow am. I am hoping she actually run some tests instead of telling me it's fibromyalgia--a chronic pain patient's least favorite word! Hope all is well with you guys. I'll try to make Thurdays chat. xo

great to hear from you. congrats on getting rid of dr

[i][b]
It's great to hear from you.
Let us know how it goes with the new Dr.

I often think when a Dr. knows you have chronic pain they no longer look any further to see if something else is going on. That's one of the reason that now when I tell them something is wrong I will not let it just go as a typical pt. complaining about pain. I'm no longer looking for pain meds and I hold my ground now.

Is this a Dr. that will give you Suboxone?

Let us know how you make out.

Marie

Thanks for checking in with us !

i was going to ask what Marie asked. Is this the Dr that prescribes your Suboxone?

Keep us posted !

No. the dr that prescribes is a psychiatrist. I had to tell her about suboxone she didn't say much either way because it didn't really have anything to do with the problems I'm having. I don't think she had much to say about my old PCP though. The only thing she says she "possibly" agrees with is that I may have lupus. She is going to start from scratch with bloodwork. Didn't think suboxone was causing swelling because I've been swelling on and off for a while....we'll see! Going to go nap. I'll hoepfully talk to you all tomorrow

Good luck loveandlight. I know that it is hard to be in recovery and have pain and other health issues. I'm really proud of you for trying to find a dr. to help you deal without using narcotics. Some of them just don't understand, that for an adddict, opiate based pain meds and other addictive drugs often lead to more problems than they fix. I can't count how many times I've had doctors tell me that I'm crazy for not wanting to take pain meds when my spine is really messed up, but I can't take opiates. They cause me more pain than my health ever has, and since I've been clean, ibuprofen really is a miracle drug for me.

[i][b]

Loveandlight,

I have Lupus and it took 2 years for the proper dx. Do you ever have any kind of rashes? If you do that is the best times to have the blood work done. Many times they run the blood work for Lupus and it comes back Negative. Many Times.

Having Lupus is actually how I ended up with so much opiates. That was 23 yrs ago.

Are you still on the Suboxone?

Good Luck

Marie

Hello "LoveandLight"

Would love to hear how your doing !
When you have time, please let us know ~ We have chat Thursday night, stop by, it would be great to catch up with you and see how your recovery is going.

I think interacting with people that are going through what your going through is so important with this journey.

Much Love

Hello. I'm here. Doing ok. Been feeling really lousy and have been told time and time again that it's the fibromyalgia. Maybe one of these days I'll admit to myself that I have it. I brought home an adorable english bulldog about a month ago and he is taking up a lot of my "sitting around" time. He keeps me busy but that's probably a good thing because I don't have time to think about how crappy i'm feeling. I am bummed out about this because I was feeling really well for a couple of weeks. I called my trainer and started back up at the gym I walk and then she stretches me out for about 15 minutes. It's the greatest thing in the world. I also have to start yoga again. I find that if I get out in the evening I stop the late night munchies which I really need to do. I'm really exhausted during the day so Dr wants to do a sleep study but she thinks it may be the fibro. I think sometimes not thinking about all this just makes it easier. Being in pain sucks but not worrying about pain meds makes it worth it. Hope all of you are doing well.... I'll try to pop on tomroow nite xo Jeanie

Jeanie,
It's great to hear from you. In my experience, we start to have aches and pains, both physical and mental at around 4-6 months of treatment. I think it's the disease's way of trying to get us to use again. You may indeed have fibromyalgia and I hope if you do that you will receive appropriate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. I have trouble sleeping do and I've noticed that if I dose in the morning, then don't dose anymore throughout the day I sleep better. I've also had my addiction interfere with my sleep during my recovery b/c of using dreams and restless legs...a symptom I always had during w/d. I think this is another way that my addiction does everything it can to drag me back in. Sometimes I have heard people say that they have insomnia regardless of when they dose. I've heard many people say that developing a relaxing routine for bedtime that allows you to relax and seperate bedtime from the rest of the day helps. Some of the suggestions I've heard are taking a warm bath, setting aside time for meditation, avoiding any kind of stimulants like caffeine/nicotine for at least 1 hour b4 you intend to go to bed, read a boring book, also most people say that avoiding rigourous activities at bedtime helps...but my hubby doesn't like that one lol. I hope something I've said may help you and I'm glad that you're still in recovery. I have crappy days too...that's kinda part of living life on life's terms, but my worst day now is better than my best day in my active addiction.

I hope to see you in chat and look forward to hearing more from you. Staying connected is crucial to recovery. Addiction thrives in isolation. I'm glad you're puppy is keeping you occupied, but try to make some time to work on your recovery. I was curious, do you attend any support meetings or therapy? If not those may also help with the issues you're having.

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and remember we are all here if you need us.

Best wishes for your continued success,
Monica

Hi Jeanie,
Did you get the results of your blood work back yet? Any clues in there as to what may be going on in that direction? Something that Monica said triggered something for me. Are you still taking that 1/4 in the evenings? If so, it maybe that your not getting enough of a restful sleep at night. If I take my medication in the evenings I find that I don't really sleep well and it causes me to drag during the day, I feel tired and want to sleep but wake up off and on during the night.. If I watch tv late at night before falling asleep the same thing happens. But if I read a book I seem to do better, different things for different people.
If you could get to a source of therapy or a support group and/or meetings that may help. It makes a big difference when you have a family of support that you can go to where you can share your experiences and in return give feedback to others about what they are experiencing.
Don't get me wrong, I love having you here and we are more than happy to be a source of support. Support in person is also a great option to have.
It could be that it is the fibromyalgia or it could be some mild depression. Please check into therapy though. We all worry about you and it is because we care so much.
Dee

great minds think alike. Dee what you mentioned about watching tv and the dosing later in the day happens to me too. If I get in a situation where I feel like I need to take a little extra b/c of stress or whatever, that night I don't sleep. I want to and I will fall asleep, but not into deep sleep and I wake up constantly. I have terrible insomnia anyway and anything that overstimulates me at night makes it worse, like exercise or eating chocolate b/c it causes the release of endorphins. And I made a joke of it but if I have sex with my hubby at bedtime I won't sleep cause of the endorphine release. So many things can interfere with quality sleep then we become overly tired leading to daytime fatigue. As you mentioned, depression can also cause sleep disturbances. I hope that Jeannie is able to get her problem solved and be diagnosed appropriately. All of the symptoms may be related, or they may be a cluster of completely unrelated symptoms. Unfortunately drs often jump to the fibromyalgia diagnosis when they just can't figure out what is wrong. I hope that this doesn't happen to Jeannie. You and I said a lot of the same things in our posts to her.

But Jeannie the one thing I hope you take from both posts is that you have people who here genuinely care for you. We have been there and we just want to help you in your recovery journey. Addiction is so much more than drug use it affects every area of life. With that in mind recovery must do the same.

I will continue to pray for you and yours as you journey through recovery. Please keep reaching out. Addiction is a selfish disease. Recovery is a we process...we do not recovery alone. I can't but we can.

Much love my friend
Monica

Hi. Yes, I am in therapy and I love it. We are working more on my marriage and my goals for life right now. I take 2 tablets in the morning. I was taking 1 1/2 until I tried the films. Then something went wrong and the films didn't seem to work real well. so Dr put me back on tabs last week. The tabs were what I started with before the dr tried subutex and then the films. I plan on cutting back to 1 1/2 soon because that had worked in the past. I honestly have no problem sleeping at all. Sorry if I didn't communicate that well. I sleep like a log and wake up exhausted. I have been to 4 drs, rheumatologists, the works and fibromyalgia is what they all tell me. Whether or not I have it or it even is real is something I don't know. All i know is I am swelling, gaining weight and have pain in every trigger point they name. I also had injury when I was younger and that is another predictor. ALso, I'm dealing with pain without pain meds...so thats new. ALl the bloods came back normal except for vitamin D which was very low. I've been doing all my vitamins along with shakeology and healthy eating and just in the wait mode to see if I feel a little better in time. I also have to have a colonoscopy asap because there is issues there ugh. so...its kind of crazy but going off the drugs and I fall apart. I don't want to start taking them again..so don't worry. I just want to feel good so I can get on with this crazy life I live!! Thanks for your concern...love you guys.

Glad you're in therapy. It really does help. Just keep us posted and I will do anything I can to help. I know you're busy just like I am, but try to set aside some time for you.

I will keep you and yours in my thoughts and prayers
Monica

Hi Jeanie,

It's great to hear from you ! I'm sorry you've been feeling lousy. I have just had a few days where I've felt like crap ! But it's better than being on drugs !
I hope you find out soon what's going on and get results from the blood work.

I just wanted to add something about being busy I truly believe it's crucial to be here, to set time aside for you, like Monica said, to get involved with others going through what your going through. You don't have to go it alone.

The support that I receive here is so beneficial to my recovery.

Please try and make chat tomorrow night. It's good to just talk and get things out.

Thanks for stopping by, we really do care about you !