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MedHelp Member's Question

Can I take a cough medicine w/narcotics in it while on BUP?

by ColdInVT, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
Hi all -



I started Bup on Tuesday of this week (and it is going GREAT!!).  I have a major cold!  My coughs aren't just "little coughs", I had radiation treatments and chemo 12 years ago and due to the radiation, my bronch tubes are funky - according to the radiologists that over saw the radiation treatments, the coughing (when I have a cold) is due to the effects of the radiation.  In any case, I have Tussinex cough syrup at home for this type of thing but am scared to take any since I am now on Bup - What will happen if I take it?  Does anyone know?  I am on the Bup due to my addiction to percocet and I realize that the cough syrup is a nacotic that can be abused as well, but for some reason I never abused the cough syrup (and don't plan to now).  This also leads me to another question, what if I broke my leg or something?  How would the pain be treated?  Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks!

-Cold
Member Comments (38)

by AmberHunter, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
i have no earthly idea if you can take narcotic cold medicine... how about taking tessalon perles or something like that? i LOVE tussionex! my all time favorite cough medicine! love it!!! would cough out a lung before i would take it again though!



now this is just regarding myself... for me, i have to be really careful what meds i take esp. narcotics... i will manufacture pain to give myself a free high here and there... by no means am i a martyr... i had kidney stones a few weeks ago and i had to take pain meds... but it is scary every time i need to take narcotics... to easy to mess up...



in your case you may really need to take something stonger for your cough, i don't know... i am sure the doc will be around soon to tell you if you CAN take that tussionex with the bup! good luck either way and i hope you feel better soon!



amber

by pammy0690, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
Do not take any narcotic anything with Bup.  Chances are it may not make you sick, but if it does you will really be ill!  Like throwing up sick!  Call your doctor and ask what you can take for cough syrup with Bup.  Glad to hear the Bup is helping someone else my husband quit narcs with the help of bup.  He had no withdrawal symtoms at all.  He kind of misses the pleasant feeling of well being the Bup gave after he quit.  Just a tiny psychological gee I miss that nice feeling.  Not a big overwhelming craving.  It has been over a month since he stopped the bup and he feels great!  Then again we have really taken the long road to recovery so every step even the small ones were a vast improvement to how our lives were!  Peace and love, Pamela

by ColdInVT, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: To the Dr...
Hi, thanks for responding...it is Tussionex - it is an incredible cough supressant and I have used it for years...I didn't realize it was Vicodin though...I knew it was a narcotic but I didn't know to what extent.  The coughing is so bad I cracked a rib last year and I also vomit...I was worried if I took it with the Bupe it might kill me?  



Thanks

-Cold..

by whatitistoburn, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: Cold
Oh, yummy, Tussionex! It's the best cough syrup ever, and it sure gives you a pleasant feeling, but do not take it on Bup. Like the post above, please call your doc, and ask what you can take with bup. You have a very complicated case, and we wouldn't want to see anything happen to you. Be very cautious, and good luck. Your coughing fits sound just horrible, and I really feel for you.



Burn

by steve1981, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: Amber/Everyone
Hello,



This was supposed to be day #1 for me.  I hit snooze on my alarm clock and apparently slept through it the second time, so I didn't go to work this morning.  Must have been the 2.5 mg of xanax it took to get me to sleep last night (since I tapered to about 20 mg snorting oxycontin).  Well I am out of OC and don't have anymore lortab either...I had 3 lortabs 7.5 for when things got really bad, and I couldn't help myself this morning after my shower.  I was just sooooooo drained feeling.  ANyway, one good thought is that now (35 min after taking the three lortabs) I feel like superman again... Usually 20mg of hydro wouldn't affect me this much.  



SO, here I go...cold turkey... =(

by NEW ORLEANS LADY, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
I feel like I'm going through posting withdrawal!  I had to do some marketing for one of our other offices and haven't had access to a computer.  I hope everyone is doing well--day 11 for me out of hydro-hell and still standing strong!--Peace & Prayers N.O. lady AKA Mystere



Anne

by steve1981, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: NewOrleansLady
Day 11?  I'm about to start cold turkey tomorrow.  I have: Immodiam AD, xanax, Centrum Performance (has B6 and Ginseng and Genko--probably don't need any L-Tyrosine right?), methocarbamol (muscle relaxant not like Soma but better than something like ibuprofen), and Clariten-D.  Does that sound like a good detox cocktail?  Any suggestion?  Can you tell me about how your day to day withdrawal were like?  Like which was the worst day?  When do you start to feel better?  Are you still experiencing detox?  If you missed my post yesterday you might can still review it midway down under the "Questions about coming of opiates" post from yesterday (or was it 2 days ago?).  Good luck to all of you!    THANKS!

by NEW ORLEANS LADY, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: Steve 1981/Everyone
Hi and welcome!--I found that the fear of withdrawal was actually worse than going through it!  I'm not familiar with oxycontin but I can tell you about my experience with Hydrocodone 10/325--12-14 per day for several years! It seems you have the right ingredients to begin your detox--I had used xanax in the past and I found that it did help--but none the less you feel like someone ran over you with a truck!  If you have read the thomas recipe I hope you have the 5-7 days needed to get the demons out of your system!  Also everyone is different--Please read some posts from some oxy users to find out what their experience was like.  By day 5 I started feeling like a human being and the "fog" began to lift--You are soooo young and have your life ahead of you--If you can get this behind you now it will save you many years of the pain and misery of addiction.  I read and posted often--that was my "mental" therapy--still do as a matter of fact. Most people will tell you that withdrawing from an opiate is hell on earth but the good news is that it is TEMPORARY!--and you have a wonderful opportunity to reclaim your life.--Good luck my friend you will be in my prayers--I'll check on you from home as Mystere-Peace N.O. Lady



Anne

by NEW ORLEANS LADY, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: Steve1981/Everyone
I forgot to say--I would probably skip the clariten-D in the beginning i think it has ephedrine in it and that could make you more jittery!  Anyone else have any advice for Steve? Especially someone who has detoxed from both oxycontin and hydro's--Thanks

N.O. Lady AKA Mystere



Anne

by steve1981, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: N.O. Lady/everyone
Thanks!  I am starting to come down from the Lortabs now...starting to freak out a little.  I AM going to quit now for sure.  I think I have some claritin (minus the "D") so I'll take that instead.  



Does anyone every have "yawning attacks" when you come off opiates?  It no big deal, but it always happens to me.  Kinda embarassing when you're in a meeting or talking to a co-worker.  Does anyone know why this happens?  Just curious.

by MellyR, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: Everyone/Steve
Steve, you said you have a son, correct? Will he be able to stay with your ex while you go CT? I have two little ones and they (no fault of their own, they're good kids) are defintely the hardest part of dealing with withdrawl, if you can arrange so someone else has him while you're going through this, that might be best. Although you'll miss his cuddles and love, it'll be easier for you to only have to deal with yourself for the next few days. Also that way you won't be able to fall into the "well, I NEED to take just a few so I can handle his needs and be in a good mood for him" trap. If he will be with you during C/T I can give you some advice (if you need it) on activities he could do that require minimal parental involvement and keep him from bugging you. I would defintely go out to the store today and get everything you need, since you'll obviously not want to go anywhere tommorrow. Don't forget fluids; it's easy to get dehydrated during C/T. Keep a few bottles of water in your bedroom so you don't have to keep getting up. Stock up on magazines, books, videos etc. to help pass the time (and of course post here so we can all cheer you on!!). If no one's going to see you, don't force yourself to shower if you can't stand it, for some people (like me) the feel of water is just unbearable during C/T. You may want eyedrops, my eyes always feel dry and burning during C/T. If you don't eat anything at all you'll end up feeling even weaker, so if you can handle it, you might want to try choking down some easy to digest foods. From my multiple experiences with C/T, the things I could eat were: crackers, bananas, cinnamon toast, dry cereal, smoothies (the tropicanan brand you can buy in the grocery store are good, also the Odwalla brand C monster is good slightly frozen) although if you have very bad diahrea, too much fruity stuff is obviously not a good idea. Good luck

by mystere, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: Steve81/Everyone
I just got home from work and I wanted to check in and see how you are doing! One other thing please be careful with the xanax--not only the dosage but how long you stay on it-A few days at the most--You do not want to trade one addiction for another! You have a lot of support here and we're all rooting for you just hang in there--Things will get better--It's 6:45 c.s.t here in the Big Easy--I need to run an errand and I'll check on you later--YOU CAN DO THIS!  Peace & Prayers-Mystere AKA N.O. Lady



Anne

by whatitistoburn, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
Hi all,



Can anyone tell me how long it is safe to take Rx sleep aides during, and after detox? I'm doing pretty well, only w/d symptoms I have are freezing during the day, then hot, hot heat at night (I have to sleep w/o anything on, open the window, and turn my ceiling fan on, and it's still very chilly where I am), and of course the not sleeping thing.



Of course I do not want to get addicted to Rx sleep aides, but right now, I really need my sleep.



Thanks much for any info.



Burn

by mrmichael67, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
That tussionex is like taking a lorcet.  Actually, I think it is better as I think the chlorpheniramine has some additive effect.  There are 10mg of hydrocodone per tsp.  As far as taking it with bup, the thing that might happen as a result of taking bup with the hydrocodone is that the bup might block it.....or at least to an extent, depending on how much bup you are on.  It is when you take the bup when you are currently on another opioid and dependent that you get sick from it.  Try your best to get by with cough drops.  A good one with dextromethorphan is Delsym.  One note is it at least was made by the same manafacturer as Tussionex....Medeva.  So, I would imagine that is why it works as well as it does.  I am not sure who makes it now.  It doesn't taste like **** either, just like tussionex.

by mystere, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: peaz/Everyone
Good evening my guardian Angel!--I wasn't able to post much today because I didn't have access to a computer--Anyway thanks for the James Frey Info--I plan on picking that up this weekend--I hope you had a great Thursday--Take care Hon--I'll post tomorrow--Peace and Prayers Mystere AKA N.O. Lady



Anne



Gracie97--How are you doing? day 8 and going strong I hope!

by gracie97, May 01, 2003 12:00AM
To: mystere/everyone
The cravings have been getting stronger today, starting day 9 tomorrow. Rick thinks I am being grumpy and mean. But I am just trying to explain to him that I miss "my bad friends" sometimes-used to be when things got too stressful, I turned to them. I am now at that stressful time, and I KNOW that is why the cravings were so strong today. But now it is over, made it thru day 8, and will keep trying. Honestly, work really can be the best "distractor" if I let it, it is just hard letting go, ya know what I mean?????  I made the choice myself, I argue with myself when the cravings start saying, "so what" what is the big deal anyway? Well it is a BIG deal, I just go read my posts from 7 days ago, I was in serious pain then from the