Author: tearj3rker
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:21 am
| sparkyinfla wrote: |
| "setmefree" You are spot on with your analysis & insight….one of the great things about this forum is its diverse opinions, my intent was to see if any one else had experienced the same situation or had knowledge of it, so I appreciate opinions and thoughts of all. That being said – OMG, I wish all I had to do was down a Red Bull or 5 hr Energy to be alert. I’ve tried them all, the fatigued is definitely opiate induced. I’ve been down to 1/8 film (1mg) per 8 hrs, but the pain (foot surgeries, back) way too intense for that dose. And the Zanaflex really knocks me out at night and controls the back spasms, but does not have the residual, hung over feeling like say Xanax may produce. I wish I could take the Zanaflex during the daytime, but I can’t. |
Firstly, I just gotta say that it’s unlikely people here know your doctor, and none of us can really write him off as a quack based on a few lines of text on a forum. He knows more about you and your history than any of us. Keep him as your no1 guide IMO.
I don’t know much about Zanaflex, and only a little about Ritalin. But I read that Zanaflex has a half life of 2.5 hours, so it shouldn’t really leave you groggy through the day.
I tell you, Suboxone does make me fatigued, in a weird way though. Sometimes I just get an attack of exhaustion. I’m finding it harder to work full time hours, and keeping in a routine, unless I spend a day of my weekend sleeping. Suboxone is weird like that. It stimulates me after I take it, and I find it hard to sleep, yet overall I need nearly 2 hours more sleep a night! Strange.
I know from personal experience that lowering one’s dose makes us less fatigued, and in the long run. I’m no doctor, but it would have made more sense to me to drop your Suboxone dose a bit before resorting to the stimulants. When I was in the psychiatric circuit, I’d get put on a medication, then my doc would add another one to offset its side-effects, then another to fix its side effects, then another. At one stage I was taking a medicine cup full of pills (about 15-20) twice a day. I had to take some control back, say "WTF doctor, I’m feeling heaps worse than when I was on 2 medications". Now it’s years later, I’m still on those two, and I feel much better. It’s a trap some doctors fall into easily. Just thought that could help down the road.
Good luck!
