Dear Matt, I have been reading much of your information and am very thankful for your desire to “pay back” in such a wonderful way. Please allow me to give you my history and struggle so that your advice, if given, can be as accurate as possible per my individual circumstance. 

Around 1996, I was given Xanax to be taken 1 mg at bedtime only for RLS which also was eventually accompanied by ½ tablet of 10/650 hydrocodone. Due to 15 yrs of horrific domestic violence survival I eventually collapsed from possible adrenal exhaustion and was bedridden for 3 years. It wasn’t until the 3rd years that attempted to take ½ hyrdrocodone in morning and realized that it “woke me up” and lowered my pain levels so that I could semi-function through my home. So the dr’s, not truly knowing what was wrong with me through it all, decided to treat me with these meds.

Eventually they added in 50-100 mgs of Tramadol to be used as needed in intervals with the Hydros. So, it was Trams when I was having a good day and Hydros for the bad pain-filled days. I never took more then I should have and always tried to take less and add in healthy, natural ways to find better health ie walking, diet, supplements, bike-riding, etc. Also, around 2005 my Dr prescribed me Ritalin for the CFS. The time-released ones caused severe headaches so I went to tablets. I was taking 10 mgs about every for hrs if needed. And of course the Xanax was still the bedtime go to.

Fast forward to now…. I am horrified to discover that my dr’s treatment therapy for Fibromyalgia and CFS (13 years of 4-6 10/650 hyrdrocodones until 2014, then 6 – 10/325’s plus all of the others) has caused physical dependence. In addition, in September 2014, my health quickly declined from other major health conditions which lead to bowels not moving for most of Nov. 2014, on and on, pelvic and back pain beyond compare and finally a 6 hr surgery resulting in total hysterectomy and repairs to all my pelvic organs that needed some level of surgerical seperation due to unrealized internal bleeding over the years. I had severe internal adhesions from intestinal bleeding considered to be from chronic constipation. Surgery was Jan 2015. After all of this I thought my life would finally be on a grand path of healing. But of course the hydrocodones, tramadols, ritalin and xanax continued due to it being related to chronic conditions that have no cure. (FM and CFS)

However on April 20, 2015 I had a HUGE emotional breakthrough of a very long toxic relationship turmoil that I endured and the result was almost perfect health. This was the result of prayer and the Lord’s answering. This peaceful, painless, energy-filled place lasted for about 5 days. My medicine usage was at a minimum. Then the pain and fatigue returned. Thus, the narcotic assistance was once again back to normal regimen. However, deep inside I knew that I had received a healing and began to question if the narcotics was more my problem now then an actual chronic disease.

So as a result, I stopped the hydrocodones completely cold turkey in July. I remained taking all of the others. Tramadol 100 mg every 4 hrs for pain, ritalin 10 mg but only when I had to “push through” the fatigue for a specific reason ie work, canning, cleaning, errands, etc. And of course the normal 1 mg to 1.5 mg of xanax before bed only as I have done for almost 20 yrs! I easily was done with the hydrocodone. I do not desire any meds but even more than that, I am a professional as well as a homemaker and life can’t stop bc I have FM and CFS. Being bedridden for 3 yrs cannot happen again. What I found from the discontinuation of hydrocodone was that my bowels began to work again and I was ready to begin inner cleansing of digestive system to fight off any contaminates from having no bm’s for so long. However, to my horror, the pain and fatigue was NOT manageable with Tramadol alone, not even when accompanied with ritalin. Therefore the conclusion was that Tramadol was a total waste of med for me and taking it was creating side effects and possible withdrawals to no good benefit for my well-being.

Therefore, after talking with my husband, who is amazing through this, I told him that perhaps taking both Tram and Hydro was the bowel issue and I cannot lay around like this. So I am going to stop the Tram and go back to the Hydro but only when I need it to “push through” the pain and fatigue for work purposes. So that is what I did. I easily put down the Trams for 3 wks as I restarted the Hydrocodone regimen. What I discovered is that without the Tramadol and with spacing out the Hydros per need, I was beginning to find out that I was having wd symptoms that I have been calling FM for over a decade. Mind you whether I still or ever had FM, I question at this time. Also, to my horror, my bowels locked up once again (about 10 days into it) and the natural course of digestive was at a total standstill. I could feel food laying in my stomach from 2 days prior. I feared my body was shutting down. So the moment of truth was here….. the Hydros are the sickness thus far! The Tramadols, acting as opioids, kept the wd’s at bay and the only thing to do to find out “how sick I truly am” was to get the opioids out of my system completely.

I immediately began a taper. 1/2 tablet of 10/325 mg hydro every 4-5 hrs. I did this for 3 days and suffered horrific migraines, body pain, skin sensation in face, nausea —- all of which I naively thought was from a tooth that I just had pulled and a possible jaw abscess. I thought I was doing well with the taper (LAST WEEK) which was Mon, Tues and Wed. and then Thursday I dropped again. Now I took 1/4 of the tablet but noticed that the wd was coming every 3 hrs and would quickly become debilitating. Plz keep in mind that I still don’t quite know what is physical dependency and what is from Fibromyalgia and CFS symptoms. As I saw that the wd’s were dominating my health I felt determined with a bit of anger towards my dr’s, the diseases, and circumstances that lead to it all, to beat this and be done.

That night I went into horrifiying joint aches, jerking, drawing up; all over my body! I couldn’t sit still for 3 sec and they were strong. I was walking up and down my driveway at 2:30 am trying to find mental relief as well as physical relief. I read on other forums that xanax was a help and to take enough to put yourself to sleep. I have never done that before but felt very desperate. So I took 2 within 1 hour timeframe. That was 3 1mg xanas within 4 hours. At some point it subsided and I fell asleep. Oh, I also did hot bath, used lavender essential oil and massage. None worked due to the severity. This made me even more angry at the meds that were sworn to improve my quality of life!

So on Friday morning, 8/29/15, I just couldn’t put another pill in my mouth that I knew was trying to shut my body down. (Still no digestive movement!) This is over a week now. So I went to my local pharmacist and sat down with her to explain my health history as I did here, told her of my tapering, my strong desire to walk away from these forever, and ask for her advice. She advised a slow tapering of the Hydrocodones. I knew in my heart that I couldn’t do it! I was done with them! And I told her so! She advised me that the RLS was indeed a part of the withdrawal and could last up to 2 wks but also should go away.

That night I went into the most horrific RLS that I have ever experienced! My entire body, every joint in hands, feet, elbows, knees was screaming and drawing up and have “funny bone” sensations going thru them. I tried to treat it again with essential oils, hot bath (2 of them), heavy pressure on my body from blankets, and finally 2 xanax’s over and above the 1.5 mgs that I normally take before bed. None of it worked!!! I also took Potassium pills and L-Tyrosine 4000 earlier in the day and didn’t eat much due to not wanting food to trigger it. I was going crazy from the pain. My husband did all that he could. I called a friend that I know deals with wd’s sadly and told her of the RLS. She suggested Neurontin and had 2 for me. I took one immediately but the intensity of them was so great that before I gave it a chance I took another Xanax and a full 10/325 Hydrocodone which of course all knocked me out around 4 AM. My husband was scared to death of all that I took and I was so desperate for relief that I didn’t know what to do.

The next morning I was relieved to find that I did fall asleep as weird as that sounds but was very upset that I took a whole hydrocodone when in fact I had almost 20 hours without it in my system. I was not doing that again no matter what. I cant say for sure what helped me go to sleep. But whatever it was, up to that point the full body RLS was too strong for my body to go to sleep although the sedation meds were in me in abundance. I wont do that one again either. I was fighting the RLS –full body AND the sedation both at the same time!

Saturday night – here they come again. The moment I felt them start they quickly became severe. I had taken the 2nd of 2 that my friend gave me just 45 mins prior. I also took GABA supplement and used essential oils after hot bath. They were once again overwhelming but not as bad as the two past nights. I put a topical skin lotion “Deep Blue Rub” on my elbows where the most pain was and wrapped them tight with scarves. It helped a bit but not enough for relief and def not enough for sleep. Again, after hours and hours of fighting it, suffering beyond tolerance, I turned to 2 more Xanax and eventually went to sleep around 3:30 but I did NOT take Hydrocodone!

Sunday night, 8/30/15, here they come again!!! This time my hubby could not stay up with me bc of his work. I had to endure. I took Gaba, Neurontin, Xanan 1mg, 1500 mg of Naproxen (I read it can elp), essential oil, Deep Blue Essential Oil Rub, wrapped up my joints and cried out in prayer. The pain was awful, clear through my body . But is was not as bad as the prior two nights. Finally around 2 pm, I took another Gaba supplement and a Xanax and eventually fell asleep. So today is actually Day 3 of no opioids in my system. Is there anything that I can do or change that will help me? And how long do you suspect this to continue given my history of medicating with this? Any and all help is so greatly appreciated! So, so sorry so long!