clonidine for opioid withdrawal

Clonidine is a medication that is generally used to ease the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. To be honest, though, clonidine is only slightly helpful, and comes with its own side effects like sedation, dry mouth, fatigue, and dizziness. Opioid withdrawal can be very severe in people taking high-potency opioids like heroin, fentanyl, or oxycodone-- so severe that people generally cannot even walk during the first week, and the legs are kicking uncontrollably.

I posted this in my long long post about opioid withdrawals but no luck so I thought I would do a new thread.... I am coming off percocet 7.5\325 2 - 5 x a day and oxy 20 mg 2 - 3 x a day for the past couple years. I have a script for clonidine .1 which isn't doing much so I called my regular doc and he is going to put me on Klonopin ( Dosage unknown until I get script tomorrow). From what I can tell these are 2 totally different drugs. Has anyone used Klonopin for opioid withdrawls?

Hi. Your doctor should be able to help you. I'm not sure what a "withdrawal cocktail" is made of, but something can be put together to help.

I was prescribed Clonidine for my Fentanyl patch WD symptoms. I think it helped me a little through the first symptoms, but it was a painfull process. I don't think you can ever take all the pain out of WD; it is inevitable. I was told to take it at night, but found it was actually keeping me awake. One of the side effects is insomnia, which is one of the last things I need, so I stopped taking it after a couple of weeks.

The last time I asked my Doc for something that would help the withdrawals. He prescribed Clonidine. It is a heart medication that reduces the heart rate. It helps the jittery, heart beating out of your chest feeling but it also helps everything else. I dont have diarrhea, no body aches, upset stomach, not even anxiety or grumpiness. I just feel a little groggy and sluggish, nothing thats not manageable.

The quacks would call it "reactive depression" combined with "opioid withdrawal-induced depression," if you care about pigeon-holing. Oh, and mosts doctors aren't quacks -- just a short-form I use ... Have you ever been treated for "endogenous depression," which is a blanket term for "We have no idea what's causing it -- here, take these.

I used valium for the first few days and clonidine or another sleeping aide cant remember now for about 5 days. It did take the edge off quite a bit. But withdrawal isn't painless for sure. I promise though if you cowboy up and go through it without another opiate you will be free alot sooner than you ever imagined!!!

it is the best thing for withdrawal symptoms...the benefits far outweigh ANY risk that may be involved...risks are pretty low statistically...i took .1 mg 3 times a day... advice- the dr gave you the clonidine because it works...take it...you will be amazed...i didnt get drowsy from it...i tapered off in 3 days because after using it for 10 days, i could tell when i no longer needed it...it is an awesome med to help WD symptoms... having spiked BP is much more dangerous...

Hey...clonidine is a blood pressure Med they have used in withdrawal for qiute some time...I'm taking it now, only b4 bed, it helps & kinda knocks me out for 2hrs at most..but yes I say clonidine has definitely helped me!!!..after sitting get up sloooow, or u kinda black out...at least I do!!..LOL...

Thank you so much for the info!! I have been on clonidine for some of the decreases down which have helped with some of the withdrawal symptoms but I have low bp already so it causes me to pass out whenever I stand up. So it is kind of a tough call to figure out which is worse the w/d or passing out. With the brand of patch that is available to me, I am not allowed to cut it.I was told to try cutting it in the past and the medicine was not delivered properly so it caused me more problems.

I have been on the fentanylpatch for 6 yrs. I went to my so called"pain management DR.(the only one that takes cash w/ no Insurance and told him I wanted off,not only because it makes my anxiety worse. He also has me on 10mg xanax,oxycodone 10 3 times a day.Fentanyl is down to 25mcg. He actually got angry and walked out of the room,called in 90 tramadol 50mg and .02 clonidine blood pressure patches.Tomorrow is the last day of my patch. Am I going to be okay?

true, there are much better, safer meds to help you with withdrawals like, clonidine, bentyl for stomach cramps and maybe valium. Stay away from ultram.

I have heard many benefis of clonidine and asked for a prescription of .1 mg BID. I also asked for an rx for gabepentin, i know this is for nerve pain but I have heard it used off lable for arthritis. I have also heard it is excellent for treating withdrawal symptoms. My PCP was hesitant to rx this because she has had limited experience with gabepentin, especially for withdrawal/arthritis.

If so, was it effective for you? Did you have a secondary withdrawal from Imodium when detoxing? Overall, would you say it helped or hindered your detox. Just curious. Thanks.

Sure, it's possible. Even opioid tolerance can cause withdrawal. And equianalgesic dose is not black and white -- it depends on your metabolism. This is why it's important to stay in touch with your doctor's office -- call tomorrow and explain your feelings (don't call them withdrawal symptoms). Talk about diarrhea, flu-like symptoms, pain, etc. -- always let your doc make the Dx. You might ask: is this withdrawal? but always let your doc make the Dx.

anyone have any info on using Clonidine .1 mg for opiate withdrawal systems? Suppose to be a high blood pressure medication, but says it can be used for withdrawal systems too? wondering if it really works?

She decreased my fentanyl to 175 every 2 days but left the oxy as is--she said I may need it for extra pain. She also prescribed clonidine 1-2 mg 2x day as needed at my request as well as ambien for sleep. I also asked for gabepentin to help with pain but she didn't want too many variables at one time. I think i am going to taper a bit quicker than she suggested. Now that I have the clonidine I may cut the doses in half?

I am taking clonidine for my Subutex withdrawal. It has definetly helped with the anxious creepy crawly feeling. It also helped with hot flashes. I wasn't given any info on not to mix it with pain meds, but you may want to call you doctor to find out. Or even a pharmacist might be able to tell. good luck!

I stopped taking Tramadol December 18, but have still been having some withdrawal symptoms which I suspect are from the Imodium I started taking to reduce the w/d symptoms (I can't win!). I'm trying to stop the Imodium but stopping it is almost as uncomfortable as the Tramadol withdrawals. Even if I just try and taper off the Imodium I'm having pretty gnarly withdrawal symptoms that are only alleviated by taking a few more Imodium.

Are you taking it to control your blood pressure or for ADHD or for withdrawal from opiates? Is it prescribed or self-medicated? If you give us some more information we can help you through this.

First I would strongly urge you NOT to take the Ultram to deal with suboxone withdrawal or any withdrawal for that matter. Ultram has the same or worse wd as any other painkiller plus there are other more scary risks associated with using it and withdrawal from it. As far as the sub goes - how long have you taken it? How many mgs are you on? How fast of a taper? Some people do not suffer wd when tapering down on subs. Most of us have had severe wd when jumping off completely.

Wow Jeni I'm not sure. The only time I took Clonidine was for my high blood pressure. I've heard that Clonidine helps with a lot of symptoms of withdrawal including cravings. My doctor gave me Zofran 8 mg for nausea. It worked really well. Sorry I can't be of more help. Hang on for a while.

I tapered down to 6 and then saw a doc and got on Prestiq (anti-depressant), Clonidine for the withdrawal and Klonopin for Anxiety and she gave me Ambien CR for at night and in 3 days, I went CT yesterday. At first it really took away the WD feeling, but last night it was torture. I took the ambien, the klonopin and I took .1 mg of clonidine. and my legs were driving me absolutley insane, up all night in pain. My question is, can I take a higher dose of the .

Clonidine for opioid withdrawal

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