Weaning Off Dilaudid Pain Pump

how long does it take to be weaned off a medtronic pain pump with the med. dilaudid the pain management wants my daughter to come off it in one month is that to fast and will there be alot of side effects and withdrawal please help i'm really scared for her and they are suppose to start reducing tomorrow

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Dialudid is a potent narcotic containing the active ingredient Hydromorphone.

It really depends on how high of a dosage she has been on and for how long.

It should be done on a very slow taper, slowly decreasing her dosage every 5 to 7 days, until she eventually isn't using any.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Dilaudid/­

She will, more than likely, still experience some withdrawal effects when she finally does stop altogether, however, they should not be severe nor dangerous. Just somewhat miserable.

Did they say why they are taking her off of it?

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because of money she owed the pain management clinic .It was money owed before she was put on disabilty and she thought the lady that hit her isurance had paid it but didn't and she had signed and released them but anyway the day before we went over there to the Dr. he had written the whole amount off all but $197.00 since 2009 and 3@ $40.00 no shows was on there so it was all about moneythey have decresect it by 30% and will do 30% more on Aug.3rd thanks for answering me I'm just so worried about her her teeth are all going bad her hair is falling out and she walks stuped over like an older person and she 38 yrs. old very sad

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Leigh51, you may not believe this, but I totally understand, because I've been there. The site owner here can even vouch for this.

Just 2 short years ago, I was in here same condition and I am around the same age.

Mine was all from a misdiagnosis, that was not discovered and solved, until I finally got disgusted with the pain meds and just quit taking them, cold turkey and I was on very high doses, that had been steadily increasing for 6 years. I couldn't even get around without a cane.


Anyway, I am very sorry that your daughter has to go through thjis, it is very miserable.

You've already witnessed what the pain meds are doing to her teeth, I have the same experience and have very few left, with no money or insurance to fix the damaged ones that I do have left.

But, what you might not know, that may make you glad she is getting off the narcotic is that many of them, especially ones like this that are in the Morphine family, can actually make her pain worse!!!

Many people don't know this and I found out the hard way.

But this group of medications can actually cause swelling and arthritic like problems in your joints.

If she's walking stooped over like that, like I was, then I have my fears that this could be part of what is happening to her.

While the withdrawals may be miserable, they won't last long and if she wasn't abusing it, they won't be dangerous, however, once they are over and the medications are processed out of her body, she may actually find that she isn't in as much pain as she is right now.

It is a totally odd, but nonetheless true scenario for some people on narcotics. It actually isn't recommended to use the ones from the Morphine family for chronic pain, especially if it is at all related to bones and joints.


I wish I could be of more help, but I hope at least the info I have provided gives a little hope and help, anyway.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Dilaudid/­

Please keep me updated on how she's doing!

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this was a surprising entry to discover! My doctor retired several years ago, and for the past 2 years I have not been allowed break through pain meds due to my dosage. I just discovered it is 8.317mg per day (Dilantin) (for the past 2 years +) via a Medtronics pump, the newest doc to take over my case is freaking out at this is suppose to be double the maximum dosage allowed! He is planning on reducing my dosage based on the logic you stated above and I had never heard of. Thank you for confirming his intentions are in fact Honorable, and not do to the laziness I first (wrongly) thought was involved. Hopefully the with drawl will not be as bad as the morphine was when I went to dilauded (11 days of hell) but will find something that will work!

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Ms. Verwon,
Hello, I haven't heard from or requested any info from you in a while. I need some help identifing these pills that got from a co-worker. They are little round white pills that are blank on one side the other side has an AN with the numbers 627 under the AN. He said that they were good for nerve pain, as I have been taking Gabapentin 600 mg for about a year now while waiting on my vascullar surgeon to do a vein bypass, plus I some damaged nerves in my foot. I hope you can help me.

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I believe them to be tramadol, a pain med with antidepressant properties as well as for nerve pain. These can be as addictive opiates are and more dangerous to withdrawal from, so be careful!

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Yes your daughter will be going through some bad withdrawel I have a Dilaudid pain pump and the Dr I was seeing had me up so high on the Mg and now Im coming off the pump but it does take time to do this because Im currently coming off of it and going to have the Pain Pump taken out my Dr now told me it will take about 6 months to do this....
Good Luck and do not let the Dr just cut her off of this all at once!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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a update to my entry, the first medication reduction form my prior 8.317 mg per 24 hr, was reduced by 15%, I did not noticed it, however I also started to see a acupuncturist, due to my poor financial situation this sweetheart is charging me only $15.00 per session, and after the first one, less pain! I have dropped to a level 2 form a constant 6 to 7 level I had been! This is at the moment the cure for what has ailed me, hopefully it might help out someone else! Help with the withdrawal, at the same time as pain management (so much more so than the Md's offered!)

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I have a medtronic pain pump that I want removed I have had several titrations and some withdrawal, but nothing like what I am experiencing now. I am also scheduled to have anterior neck surgery at the same time the pump is removed. The surgeries have had to be rescheduled due to withdrawal. The last titration last Monday, was with added saline solution added to the pump. I was at 0.2002 mg a day, I am now at 0.00600. I am due to go back again this Thursday. The Dr. told me that for the last visit in another week after that , they can only decrease it to the lowest possible level. Does this titration sound like normal protocol? The last thing I need is withdrawal after surgery for the pump and neck. I read where people who have been on this drug can experience withdrawal years later.
Thank you

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I AM HERE TO TELL YOU IT IS HELL COMING FF A DILAUDID PAIN PUMP. iT TOOK ONE YEAR FOR ME TO FEEL HUMAN AGAIN. I WAS TREATED WITH FENTENYL PATCHES AND HIGH DOSES OF HYDROCODONE. IT HELPED THE PAIN BUT DID NOTHING FOR WITHDRAWAL. I HAVE MY SECOND ONE AND NOW THE DOCTOR IN JOHNSON CITY,TN IS REFUSING TO REFILL OR TREAT WITH ANY OTHER PAIN MEDS. tHERE SHOULD BE A LAW AGAINST THIS TORTURE.

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Hello. I am a 57 year old man who has been dealing with chronic pain for 11 years. I was in a farming accident when I was 14 years old, had 3 fusions then, fast forward to 2001, I started have severe pain in my neck and terrible headaches. I have more fusions then, another surgery in 2007 for more fusions, now my entire neck is one solid piece. 10 of my verterbra are fused. A friend of my wife told her about the Medtronic pain pump, and eventually, I had one implanted with morphine, (2009). 18 months ago I started have some very strange symptoms. Excessive yawning, eyes tearing like I was crying, heightened sense of smell, nausea, sometimes vomiting, and severe addominal pain, and a couple more dealing with my stools. .. These episodes would last 24 hours, and the next day, I would wake up like it never happened. It started with an episode every 7-10 days, and let me tell you I thought I surely had colon cancer it was so severe. over the months I have been in the hospital 8 times, my wife took me to the Cleveland clinic a 7 hour drive, nothing, everything checked out. My pain management doctor is a very nice man, and I believe he has my best interests at heart, but he refuses to believe it is the pain pump. After giving him my symptoms, the nurse had a checklist of what to notice with pain withdrawl, I had been experiencing 100% of the symptoms on her chart!! My pain doc wanted to see me, and found the line that runs from my pump to my neck, had slipped down nearly to my waist. We all thought that was going to fix the problem. Unfortunately the symptoms came right back two days later. The next thing the doctor tried was changing my medicine from morphine to dilaudid. I am no better than I was. I have decided to have the pump removed, and i'm in the process of having the pump turned down, they have turned the pump down by 60%. I am having the episodes every day now. I think the pain doc has passed me off as a problem patient, and my reguar doc is stumped as to what to do for me. At this point, I am afraid i'm going to die before they are able to find out if my problem the pain pump or not. Sorry if any of this is confusing, I'm in severe pain today, and I dont have anywhere to turn

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Insurance still have to pay the claim as long as the office visit was BEFORE the discontinuation of benefits...

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Hello there when I was put on the pump I had some of what you havave been through but my doc did not five up I am not on a nerve block with my back and it is in my pump i was having side effects to the pumpain meds

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Hello fellow Coloradans! Thinking you have no problem as they legalized marijuana for recreational use and for Medical pain relief. Every time you show your lic to buy it, your info goes into a data base!!! For either Medical or Recreational. I have never bought MJ in my life and now with all the pain meds being taking away and here I was in I thought a legal MMJ state, I thought I would try it for the first time in my life and see it if would help me. So I went out to one of their stores got a tiny bit and yuck I hated smoking for one thing but the under the tongue helped some. I tried it one time, lol. I am 62 yrs old. The next week we were moving into our rental and I fell down the stairs... an no I hadn't used any at all I just tried it that time lol. But it just became fresh in my mind why I was treated so terribly at Memorial Hospital a state hospital in Colorado Springs, that day. I went to the ER as my knee had some fluid on it. ER Doc seemed really nice until he left for a moment and then showed back up at my room door and yelled at me, "Why don't you go smoke some marijuana?" and tossed an ACE bandage at me from across the room. He was very nasty to me. I of course was very upset and left. My husband and I have been trying to figure out what the problem was. It has taken me weeks to figure this out as I am on hard core withdrawals from the pain meds my doc had me on in TX before I moved here. So don't think cool its legal to smoke or ingest MJ and you won't pay for it dearly. Your reputation is at risk big time at any doctors office, hospital, etc. Anyone could know who is using it for Medical reasons from Cancer to pain. But, when you really need a doctor none of them will take you serious and they are not just making money at it, it is your good name at risk here. It happened to me!!! Their is no way any of them in that hospital could have known unless there is a data base for legalized marijuana also!!!! You know the US and Canada.... something isn't right going on here!

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I have had a pain pump for close to eight months. Every medication approved for use in a pain pump has been tried. However, I have had no improvement from chronic back pain. Rather, I have experienced more and/or new pain and adverse reactions! I had more relief when on only oral medication. Because I had to take a large quantity of oral medication I felt having a pain pump would be wise to preserve my liver, etc
I would like to know what is the process to be taken off of a pain pump?! Thanks

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My suggestion would be to go to Mexico, Guadalara and tell a dr. They do speak English there and are world renowned for everything includibpng weaning off meds. They culturally have one thing that is awesome. Compassion

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Your withdrawing and it will be extremely painful for a little bit but then it will get much, much better. I found out by detoxing from all the Meds they had me on that I didn't even know I was having a bowel stricture from adhesions for the third in my life! I am getting help now for that. I am 2 & 1/2 months off and feeling much better except for what the Duluadid was hiding! Okay, get some Pedilyte sp? and stay on liquid diet or with some boost while your withdrawing. Do not get dehydrated!! I was on it or Vicodin 750 ES for 22 yrs. if I can do it. You can do it!!! Don't take any or you start all over. That is what made not take any during the hard part good luck and I am pulling for all that are suffering out there.

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If your doctor is anything like mine. He will be giving her something to keep her comfortable until he can wean her off of it. I have had my pain pump for 6 yrs. I just did a test trial of the spinal cord stimilator. I had it removed monday. Had my pump medicine cut in half. Going to have the stimulator put in & the pain pump removed. Talk to her doctor get in his face if you half to. Make him hear your concearn's about your daughter .Don't leave his office until your sure. Mean while. I will be praying for you & your daughter. Debbie

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that s what happens with pain meds all your teeth rot and fall out expect that mine did and i am getting dentures for all of that because of dry mouth

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I'm 47 years old I've had a Medtronic pump for 11 years and my doctor just lowerd it to the lowest done it can give to take it out scared to death I woke up this morning and it felt like I slep walked and got hit by a tractor trailer is that what it feels like please help me let me know what to do. Thanks tom

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Re: Beetlescott (# 11)

Hello, I would love to ask you a few questions. I know that it's been years since you posted here but my I am going through the same exact thing as you were. Please respond here if you can.

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Re: Patsy (# 37)

Amen Patsy. My Pm doc got mad that another hospital asked him to drain and flush mine. He gave me no thing although Cleveland clinic was to hospitalize me to do it as I have major depression. It's going into 6 month horrible

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I got mine out last February after they overdosed me while doing a refill. Never never again, these pumps are bad news. I almost died and after having it taken out I went to a very dark place. I’m lucky I didn’t commit suicide because I was so close.

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Re: Peanut (# 15)

I've had one for 15 years. I had another back surgery. It left me in a mess. I can't get any relief. I am having 5% of the meds cut off about every 26 days. I can't tell any difference. If things still work out I'm going to have it cut off. I know several that have done this. Although it's no good after being cut off, you don't have to have it removed unless you want to.

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Re: LINDA (# 10)

I have had the dilaudid pump since January of this year. I'm wanting to take it out and my PM Dr is reluctant. They say I have to have decrease beforehand, but my pump has been out for a week and a half with my alarm going. I'm going through withdrawals like hell. They want to refill and go from there. What is your suggestion on this?

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Re: Beetlescott (# 11)

I have had 4 dilaudid pain pumps. The last one had to be removed because it got infected and my Doctors didn't believe me either. I ended up in ICU for a month with Bacterial Spinal Meningitis!! I barely survived it. I hate to tell you this....but the Doctors are WELL AWARE of the MANY problems with these pumps! However, they receive royalties from the pump manufacturers in addition to $1,500 every time they refill one....so of course they try to make you believe it's all in your head. These pumps have been subject to thirty three Class One recalls by the FDA. My advice to you would be to go to the FDA website....search "Pain pump recall"....you will not like what you see. Take note that medical device manufacturers are only required to notify DOCTORS of any recall...not the patients. If I were you....i would print out what you find and show it to your Doctor. The symptoms you are describing is the pump UNDERDOSING you...which happens to be the basis of a couple of the recalls. They were also RECALLED for overdosing patients, premature battery failure, catheters moving and breaking, etc. Etc. Please...for your own safety look at the FDA site. You can search recalls and adverse events reported by the manufacturer's name. If you have any questions I would be happy to give you more info about my experience.

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Re: Debbie (# 7)

Same here. Been weaning from about 3.81. I think with baclofen I am under 1.51 but oh any help? My legs are cramping, arm bones ache, headache, stomachache any suggestions. I'm getting my pump out for fusion.

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Re: Patsy (# 29)

Good for you Patty. Yeah, my Dr is pissed because Cleveland clinic said it has to come out for fusion (pain doc not with cc) - He's being rude, mean & nasty. I feel bad. I think I'm down 70% but he fights giving me a printout.

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Hi. I need help to make my doc realize the drug combo in pump (5) meds [dilaudid, fentanyl, bupivacal, baclofen and clonidine] are no longer helping me, it's hurting me. I have fluid retention in both legs, not sure what from. I think it's fentanyl since this just happened when I was switched to a home health care provider to do our refilling. The other thing is, my kidneys are damaged and I'm not sure what caused it. And my other meds interacted with the pump meds, so the more I push the more f*** ups are done to my other half. He did check my husband's catheter to see if his Ace inhibitor was not broke, ect. Well his had been broken for awhile with a 1 1/2 piece catheter in his spinal canal. They can't remove it safely. So that said, I want my pump meds reduced and the pump turned off. Would going down 1.5 mg a week help? I am at 5.4mg per day of dilaudid and want to go to 4.5 mg and so on until they can just turn it off for me. I have till like November to get it done cause when my lease up and without housing in Chicago I don't wanna be with it and have no housing. I know Chicago sucks. Does anyone have advice on how to get him to reduce me & hubby without killing us? All ears. Scared here.

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I am also being weaned from backlogs and dilaudid with Medtronic pump. Went down 27% then this week 17% pumps coming out for spinal fusion surgery. I live alone. It's just the confusion and new pain. Anything help besides got Epsom salts baths. Meditation and my ativan? HELP

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