What the hell just happened?

[kellyblue]

Sorry So Long!!!

Ok Guys and Gals, I need some input. Swim did something this morning that could have been really dangerous...

Swim's regular meds were left behind when she was released from the hospital a couple days ago. (Reason for hospitalization has nothing to do with the story...) So- swim had to use methadone to keep from getting sick. ( Pain doc wouldn't replace the meds.)

Swim got the 'done last night, after not having anything at all for 3 days- they usually use Roxy 30's, around 270 mgs. per day.

So- swim takes 30 mgs. of 'done, her usual is 40 to maintain, and everything was fine. Slept great, wasn't sick. BUT- this morning when swim woke up, they grabbed the med bottle, tossed back 40mgs. and got on about their day. Within 2 hours, they weren't feeling any better, could tell w/d was setting in again- restless legs and sweats mainly. Swim got to thinking.... and went and checked the bottle they had used this morning and lo and behold- they hadn't taken 40 mgs. of 'done, they had taken 200 mgs. of Phenergan. Duh! (They've taken as much as 150 mgs. with other meds quite a few times so that wasn't a concern.)

So- of course, swim immediately took the 40 mgs. of 'done, and thought nothing of it. Within an hour, something was really wrong. Swim apparantly nodded off for a minute or so, and "came back" with a huge gasp. They realized that they weren't breathing unless they reminded themselves to do so. Couldn't keep the nod away without walking- which wasn't easy. Had to hold the fence to stay up. (Outside where it was good and cold...)

Extremely light headed... nodding out, forcing themselves to remember to breathe... "noise" around them was "muffled" if that makes sense. Entire body felt like lead... Swim did the blood pressure (barely, it took 15 mins to do it... arms wouldn't "work" ) and pulse check of course, both were really low... The worst of it lasted about 2 hours, and swim was actually getting scared- having the "Do I call 911 or not?" conversation with themselves... it was that bad. Eventually, things got better, and though they don't feel "good" yet, they do feel like they're safe to go to sleep tonight.

Is it at all possible that swim almost checked out today? This has NEVER happened... with any meds, drugs, alcohol... they've never even come close to a "nod" on any med.

So- whadda ya' think? Are they overreacting or did things come close to being over today...?

BTW- hospital called, meds were found... thanks for nothing.

[losangeleslifer]

That phenergan definatley kicked the done up. Thats scary. I've heard that its a good potentiator, but the high dose and that damn long ass half life of the done made whats sounds like an od to me.

Glad your okay now.

[Motown]

You know, one time early on in my days of taking Done, I ate the medicine on an empty stomach.
Empty, as in.... I don't think I ate anything that evening either. Point being, I got really uncoordinated and lethargic. I couldn't feel my legs. Everything was real blurry and hazey. I don't remember the shallow breathing, but again, it was early in the career, so I don't know.

Anyways, it was a random experience - and an unpleasant one. But I'm with LA - I guess the phenergan potentiated it for you. Glad you are feeling better.

[superman]

you sure you didn't take the done twice? maybe you should count your pills again now that you're not so fucked up... sounds like you may have been lucky... could have turned out worse if you fell asleep in freezing temps, or just stopped breathing breathing all together...

glad to se you're still here anyways!

[WhyCatsPaint]

Kelly,

That sounds scary as hell, I'm glad your ok!


I've only tried Methadone once and it was 10mg and I didn't notice anything from it my husband was on it for a month and he had the hiccups every damn day and then he switched back to morphine and hiccups went away. It's definitely a strange medication.

[kellyblue]

Thanks everyone... this was not a fun experience...

Superman: Good thought.... but I know for sure I only took the 'done once... I had 7 of them and 12 of the Phenergan. I always know exactly how many pills I have. But- this 'done is new to me, never seen this brand, and at 5 am, it and the phenergan looked identical. It was when I wasn't feeling better that the realization hit me that I'd taken the wrong meds. I immediately grabbed the 'done bottle and sure enough, there were 7 there, and only 8 phenergan.

Again- thanks for the replies, I promise I wasn't looking for attention when posting this, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't losing my mind. I will NEVER not double check my meds again... and since the hospital found my meds in the ER, I can put the 'done away for awhile now.

[God_Albino]

if you got that much of a tolerance, even the best potentiator shouldnt put you in the danger zone when taken with such a small maintenance dose, should it? maybe i missed something

[Uncle Wiggly]

Hey Kelly, Number one - I'm glad you're OK. I took Methadone for a few years, as scripted from my PM doc, and it's some strange stuff. One day you can barely tell you've taken anything and the next day you're nodding out at the dinner table. Plus it's got such a long half-life.

I'm fairly sure the half-life issue didn't came into play in your situation as you hadn't taken that much. I just never felt comfortable with 'done. Yes, it's great for keeping the W/Ds away and it's a pretty good pain killer. There's just way too much baggage that goes with it.

[Top Secret]

if you got that much of a tolerance, even the best potentiator shouldnt put you in the danger zone when taken with such a small maintenance dose, should it? maybe i missed something

I have no idea what happened to you Kelly, but I must agree here ^^. I'm just glad that you are okay but you definitely learned your lesson the hard way.

[edhorfin]

the phenergan alone would have been pretty weird at that dose. I think you got super potentiated, at least in the sleepy/resp depression arena...I think they used to use phergan with demorol to curb nausea AND make you sleepier. (hard to remember that far back)

[Raz]

Please be careful me chica........

Remember wiv da done, less is always best.....Stay safe, coz dat def sounds like a potential OD....And if you ever need to take done again, take a little less....

Methadone is some dangerous shit...

[kellyblue]

and... thanks again! I agree that such a small amount of 'done shouldn't have put swim in the danger zone... They've been using it for a few months, about 10 days a month. Always SUPER careful with it... start low and work up... been up to as much as 60 mgs. so figured 30 was good to start with again.

Have taken 150-200 mgs. of phenergen with Demerol or dillies, no problem... but today was just weird! Swim truly thought they were checking out... while convinced that there was NO way that was possible with the small amt. of meds, in association to their tolerance. Which is why I came to all of you... I knew you'd get it figured out. Still feeling a bit "off" but ok to sleep... we think.

Whatever the hell happened, it better not happen again...

Thanks again... me thinks swim is gonna stay up tonight and sleep tomorrow. Not taking any chances... Since today's episode makes NO sense, don't want to go to sleep thinking things are cool and find out we were wrong.


***To clarify: Swim was NOT trying to get any type of buzz today... just stay well. They've never gotten a high of any sort from 'done, even at 60 mgs.... swim's a weirdo!"

[ouaisOut]

>>So- of course, swim immediately took the 40 mgs. of 'done, and thought nothing of it. Within an hour, something was really wrong. Swim apparantly nodded off for a minute or so, and "came back" with a huge gasp. They realized that they weren't breathing unless they reminded themselves to do so. Couldn't keep the nod away without walking- which wasn't easy. Had to hold the fence to stay up. (Outside where it was good and cold...)

Extremely light headed... nodding out, forcing myself to remember to breathe... "noise" around them was "muffled" if that makes sense. Entire body felt like lead... Swim did the blood pressure (barely, it took 15 mins to do it... arms wouldn't "work" ) and pulse check of course, both were really low... The worst of it lasted about 2 hours, and swim was actually getting scared- having the "Do I call 911 or not?" conversation with themselves... it was that bad. Eventually, things got better, and though they don't feel "good" yet, they do feel like they're safe to go to sleep tonight.<<

I had the same thing happen to me when I was on a daily regimen of 240-280mgs of oxycontin per day. One night I decided to take my evening dose as an uncrushed whole pill (40mgs, nothing right?). I figure it was the time-release that kicked my ass even though I wasn't out of my usual range. SAME EXACT EFFECTS. Came to after my first fall-out with a gasping breath.

It was pretty horrible, I feel for you. I did the same stuff: outside in the cold air (I'm in california, so unfortunately it wasn't that cold), but I was pretty much unable to do anything but keep breathing, and moving, and trying to keep my eyes from rolling back in my head to unconsciousness. After while of keeping myself moving and trying to breathe, I managed (I don't know how) to brew 10 cups of the strongest coffee you'd ever want to meet in hell. Managed to get the coffee down between eye-rolling incidents like 5-6x per minute. I was seriously gulping it between eye-rolling incidents. And once 3-4 cups of that devil's brew hit me, I could deal. Barely.

That was some scary shit because I'd only experienced straight-up OD before. I'd never before had this feeling that if I fell out any more I'd be gone, but I was still walking. Of course, I was alone because that's how I roll, for better or for worse. Well, I have a lot of experience with going solo actually. I had been taking my regular dose for months on end so I was unprepared for his shit.

I've been rigorous in avoiding taking ER Oxy since then. (And I'm ultra-careful with 'done now for the same reasons.) I think I just didn't realize how much of that ER OC would kick in so soon and with so much power.

This was about a year ago or more and I've been very careful since. A couple of weeks ago, however, I took my regular prescribed amount of gabapentin (3000) on top of 70mgs of oxy (I have been tapering rigorously over the last 6 months so I had no idea that these two drugs would interact the way they did. Especially since I was taking a quarter of my previous dose).

After taking 70mgs oxy (and it was just percocet!) I was driving across the Bay Bridge in the Bay Area and I lost control of my eyes again and knew I'd fall out if I let that shit happen. It was one of those days where the winter sun was hitting the cables of the bridge, causing dramatic shifts between light and dark and I think the black/white light conditions sent me off to a potential seizure maybe.

I am not prone to seizure AT ALL, but with the gabapentin in my system I felt like if I let my eyes go back in my head, I'd be dead or out for a long-ass time. And in a serious accident. It was scary as hell. I was biting my lips and hand to the point of bleeding the rest of the way home. It felt very similar to my previous experience. And I don't know, you just know when you're going to go out. I was lucky to get home in one piece.

And to top it off, my dog was in the car with me and I hate myself for putting my dog in that situation. As for me, whatever. I've been suicidal and depressed for years and I don't have much to hang on to. I'm still here to keep my friends ad elderly parents from suffering from my death. And to keep my dog happy.

I know I should be thinking about all of those people I could have injured by falling out, but while that's in the back of my mind, I was honestly more concerned with my dog's well-being. The thing is, after my first experience like this, I didn't think that I'd ever find myself in that situation again. I had no idea that my gabapentin would hit me like that. Especially when I was only under the sway of 70 mgs oxy.

Sorry that was a lot of soul-spewing. I was just hoping that if I related my experience with gabapentin and oxy it might help someone else out if they're potentially in that situation. Most of all, I'm so glad that you made it through and got back on your regular regimen. It could have been really bad and I know it was seriously traumatizing, so I'm glad you're ok. Hopefully, this will help others who might find themselves in similar situations. Most of all, I'm glad you're her and not up in some hospital.

Again, sorry for the long post. Too long I know but this shit close to home.

[mollywopped]

I think it was the phenergen. Back in the day when i would get messed up on hydros, codeine, etc, I would get some codeine cough syrup from the doc and it had phenergen in it. Whenever I would drink that crap I wouldn't be able to see straight, talk right, walk, etc. I would forget what I was saying in the middle of sentences, all kind of strange stuff. That happened a few times before I swore to never even be in the same room w/ phenergen again. Just a though, but it could be the phenergen and then the methadone kicked it up.

[Hoss]

Thank goodness you're OK Kelly; though I have not been in a situation with the same concoction that you inadvertently ingested today, I have however been in a similar state a few times myself and interestingly it was strikingly similar to what 'ouaisOut' described above. Sadly, it has been whilst driving when my two major episodes have occurred, which is most definitely one of the worst places for such to occur - not only for my own safety, but more importantly for the safety of those that are innocent and surrounding me on my journey at the time.

In the end, both times were unexpected with me as well and as I was driving I had to pull off the highway both times and remedy the situation with variable means (i.e. : coffee, rest, walking around, chain smoking, etc.).

In the end, I'm just happy to hear that you are OK and you're well; sometimes shit like this goes down and it's a reminder to all of us about the serious nature within the game we play.

[jacky]

it sounds to me like you were in the danger zone.
methadone is a pretty strong drug.
many methadone clinics will not dose you on more than 30 milligrams total in the first day.
that translates for some addicts, into not quite being enough.

phenegran is something I dont have much experience with. I got a shot of demerol with phenegran apparently for the nausea....and I know some aids/cancer patients that used that drug alongside dalaudid and morphine/oxy for nausea, and possibly for potentiation.

I think its highly likely that after three days of little opioids, then taking a decent dose of methadone with a sood solid dose of phenegran, you were in the danger zone. I know a nurse that used to take a phenegran suppository when she was kicking painkillers. it was a megadose suppository, I think used for putting people out in the hospitals. she would take that, and lay in bed for a 24-36 hour period.
so I consider that it can have some pretty strong sedative effects that obviously would interact with opiates, especially such a potent, long lasting opioid like methadone.