OXYCONTIN-XANAX POSTER CHILD

2007-03-24T11:11:00.001-07:00

After about ten years of oxycontin prescribed mainly by my psychiatrist for depression and fibromyalgia my body and my mind are still suffering after a really hard detox in August 2005. I was prescribed 7-8, 40mg per day. Needless to say I was in pretty bad shape when I finally went through detox. The bottle of pills was controlling my life and I had had enough. I wanted my life back. Initially I was in favor of using the drug because it did seem to lift my depression, gave me energy, and eased my aches and pains of fibromyalgia but after a few years when I was no longer able to perform daily tasks I knew I was in BIG trouble. The minute my eyes opened in the morning, if I was able to sleep, I ran for that bottle of pills to keep the withdrawals from starting. The good doc also prescribed me as much xanax as I wanted which came in handy to settle my nervous system that was so out of whack. The symptoms I'm having since detox over a year ago are too numerous to list here. I can tell you though that they (the symptoms) are debilitating to the point that I really don't have any quality of life. In retrospect I lost a decade of my life with the state of emotional numbness I stayed in and now I'm greiving for those ten years. I have done a lot of research regarding the long term effects of oxycontin and I'm sorry to say the sparce evidence I've found is very dishearting. Some of the scariest facts I've discovered are listed below:
*REALITIES OF LONG TERM OPIOID
http://www.vachronicpain.org/Downloads/Realities%20of%20Long%20Term%20Opioid%20Therapy.pdf
HYPERALGESIA - increased sensitivity to pain or enhanced intensity of pain sensation
LongTerm Xanax Use
http://www.nzdf.org.nz/benzodiazepines

*Chronic Morphine Use Produces Visible Changes in Brain Cells
http://www.drugabuse.gov/MedAdv/MAs-yr96a.html#10-10
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) today announced the results of a study that provides the first direct evidence that long-term, chronic opiate exposure is associated with structural changes in both the size and shape of specific neurons in the brain.

*http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010615/editorials.html
Changes that have been observed in association with chronic administration of opioids include physical atrophy of dopamine-producing neurons in the ventral tegmental area. Such changes may account for some of the aversive symptoms of opioid withdrawal. It is theorized that neuroadaptations to chronic drug exposure may also lead to the long-term anhedonia that many opioid users experience and may explain why sustained abstinence is so difficult for many users.
So to end my sad story for now I urge all of you to get off the oxycontin. If you have family members addicted get them help if they won't do it themself. Speaking from experience it's not worth the poor quality of life you get back.

My problems started in the 1980's being diagnosed with CFS and Fibromyalgia. At that time those two two dx's were not really recognized as a legitimate medical condition. Needless to say everyone thought it was all in my head.... easiest to explain..
In January 2005 things worsened. I had mouth pain that I was unable to describe w/any sort of adjective and searched endlessly on the internet, after seeing several doctors and my dentist to no avail, and finally came across "burning mouth syndrome". I initially would not have described it as burning but the longer I've had it the more it does seem to be a burning sensation, to a degree. It not only feels like I've burned my tongue but my whole mouth feels very irritated and my tongue feels swollen. I suffer with severe dryness (everywhere, but especially in my mouth) that just adds to the problem. I recently had a mouth biopsy for Sjoren's but it was negative although chronic inflammation and severe irritation and was noted, and makes sense since I have no salivia. I also am suffering w/numbness and pain in my arms and sometimes into my hands. I have been diagnosed as well w/Raynaud's but have not been told if it is primary or secondary. My body tells me something is not right when my labs for the most part are all within normal range???? I did recently have some new labs done that showed my catecholamines to be out of range. I feel extremely anxious and jumpy and I am having trouble w/memory, concentration, and unrefreshing sleep. My resting pulse is usually over 100bpm with a low to high to normal blood pressure. I tend to get dizzy often with a blood pressure change when standing or lying. If I doze off I almost always wake after a few minutes in a startled panic with my heart pounding??? Because I seem to stay stressed, as I have most all my life, I'm concerned that my adrenal glands are severely fatigued but can't seem to find a doctor that is knowledgable or concerned. My eye sight blurring is of great concern as well, night vision almost gone. The hyperalgesia is severe and present both physically and mentally. Even though I have experienced depression in the past I don't particularly feel depressed now. I feel very frustrated and somewhat down though since I can find no answers to my deteriorating health..
I also have a "fever" burning sensation on the left side of my face, ear canal, and neck with some numbness as well. The fatigue that comes with all the problems, needless to say, is severe. I tend to have constant knots in my shoulders and under the shoulder blades that cause a great amount of pain.
One really weird thing is that the severety of the different symptoms seems to move around??? Sometimes I only am experiencing a couple of symptoms and other times the vengeance of all of them are present.
Because of the mouth problems, both the pain and dryness, I don't eat properly. To compound the problem I was never a very big eater so I eat only one small meal a day. Exercise is very limited because of the rapid pulse that really elevates with the slightest exertion.
I also am very aware that diet and exercise are prevalent in good health but at the same time, because of the conditions I've mentioned they are unfortunatly not practiced. I seem to be in a vicious cycle that I cannot stop.
I had allergy testing done last week and although I had a reaction to mold when injected w/the allergen because the whelp was completely gone within a couple of hours I was told that I was not allergic. At the risk of being labeled as a "cybercondriac" I read somewhere on the internet that being a "breech" baby might be prevalent???
One thing that I have told all the doctors, because I thought it was important, I've seen over the past couple years or so is that I had been prescribed oxycontin by a doctor and was on the opiate for almost ten years (320mg per day). None of the doctors seemed to think it is the cause of my problems. I tend to think differently. But because there doesn't seem to be much information on long term opiate use, it is hard to resolve. One more thing that might be important is that I also was prescribed xanax with the oxycontin and took up to 5mg per day. I detoxed from both drugs in August 2005, cold turkey. I feel I have a strong case of anhedonia that is a direct cause of the opiate (numbing) but hope that it will relent eventually with time.
And, the last thing I can think might be important is that after stopping Prempro I went through severe menopausal (1991) symptoms that have pretty much subsided with the exception of not being able to control my body temperature very well. I also have a slightly pinkish area on my forehead from my hairline to my eyebrows kind of in the shape of a set of parenthesis about 1 1/2" wide???
I am a white female, only 51 but look 60 or older, and feel at least that old...something is not right, please help if you can.
1-2 mg ativan,
3mg Lunesta, multi-vitamin, B-complex stress formula, 2000mg of Omega 3
Only known allergy was just recently with Levaquin..
SYMPTOMS
mouth pain - burning, irritated, swollen??
arms and hands numb and hurting
burning feeling in side of face, ear canal, neck (I feel at times like my body has dried out and is burning)
severe fatigue
insomnia
anxiety, stress, jumpy
shoulder/neck pain (cracking noises, squishy noises)
dry skin, eyes, mouth, vaginal
eye blurring
not much appetite (weight loss)
tremors
fever blisters (herpes), sores in nose
control of body heat
rapid pulse, low to high blood pressure
dizzy
hair loss
irritible bowel syndrome
depression
hyperalgesia - extreme sensitivitiy (physically & mentally)
adrenal fatigue???
anhedonia
symptoms vary from mild to extreme and move around???

PREVIOUSLY DIAGNOSED
post menopause since 1999
two whiplashes
fibromyalgia
chronic fatigue
raynauds disease (primary or secondary??)
carpal tunnel
severe tonsillitsis, then surgery
borderline glucoma
borderline hypoglocymic
sjogrens syndrome (mouth biopsy beneign)
chronic sinus problems