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dman2316 t1_jeg1gcs wrote

Reply to comment by Throwaway08080909070 in ELI5: If benzodiazepines are CNS depressants, why is it so hard to die from a overdose of them alone? by psychrolute

Can attest to that one unfortunately. I'm on very high doses of hydromorphone (which for those who don't know is much stronger than regular morphine, 1mg of hydromorphone is equivalent to 10mg of regular morphine, and a small dose for me is 8mg of hydromorphone but have had to take up to 18mg before at doctors instruction) due to a combination of the seriousness of the pain and also the fact that my body for some reason is insanely good at processing medications, not just opioids but all types of meds, i always need far higher than the normal dose no matter what the medication is. So i was in the hospital when the dumbass doctor decided to give me benzos at a dose that was 4 times higher than they normally give to help me sleep cause i hadn't slept in almost 4 days, and i was far too tired to catch the problem until it was already too late. Scariest shit i've ever experienced.

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timmmmehh t1_jegg9jx wrote

What ended up happening after being given that much? I would imagine you would be knocked out after that lol.

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dman2316 t1_jegh07w wrote

You know that feeling when you randomly forget how to swallow and no matter how hard you try you just can't make it happen until suddenly the issue just goes away? It was like that, except with my lungs and being unable to breathe, like i knew how to perform the motion but no matter how hard i tried i couldn't take in a breath, if a nurse hadn't been right there at that moment there is a good chance i would have died due to passing out before being able to alert someone. They ended up putting me on a ventilator for 4 days and then took me off it. Had slight breathing problems ever since.

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luciensadi t1_jegr6ao wrote

> You know that feeling when you randomly forget how to swallow

Is this a normal thing? I don't think I've ever experienced it :o

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INtoCT2015 t1_jegs5br wrote

Take a deep breath, hold it in, and try to swallow five times in a row before exhaling. If you can, just up the number to like 6 or 7. You can experience it right now if you want

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reverendsteveii t1_jegv66m wrote

Once. I was able to swallow exactly once. I tried a second time and my body simply rebuked me. What a weird little thing.

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Attempt101 t1_jeh4jty wrote

I almost hit 7…tapped out when I could barely do 6…

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WarthogWarlord t1_jegu4op wrote

What?! I managed to swallow only four times, and after that it became completely impossible! Why? How?

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Geodude532 t1_jegxhs5 wrote

Another fun one is to stick your face into the blast of the shower and breath through your mouth. Your body will fight you on that one too.

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seeking_hope t1_jeh1d80 wrote

That reminds me of learning to scuba dive. That first breath on a respirator was like everything in me screaming not to do it. Our body has some pretty strong instinctive responses.

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live4thagame t1_jeh2my2 wrote

Oh my gosh, not the same but similar, went snorkeling for the first time last year and It was SO hard to make myself breathe while my head was underwater

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scnottaken t1_jegwjit wrote

Unfortunately I'm very well practiced in this mechanism. It's how I get rid of hiccups lol

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rich1051414 t1_jegtik3 wrote

I do sometimes when I have to swallow a pill. My brain forgets how to swallow long enough for the pill to melt in my mouth and ruin the next hour of my life.

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dman2316 t1_jegrfca wrote

Alright, maybe an example that you should know what it feels like, you know when your foot/hand/arm is dead asleep and you try to move it but no matter how much effort you put into it you just can't get it to move until it's not asleep anymore? Like that.

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BalineseCatLady t1_jegxgpf wrote

My autonomic nervous system doesn't function properly, and so I get feeling of "forgetting" to breathe. Like my body isn't automatically doing that for me anymore. Even mild depressants like alcohol or benadryl can trigger it. Is that the feeling you had but amplified?

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TBSchemer t1_jeh46kf wrote

I feel that way several times a week. I don't know why. It's really scary, and all I can do is just remind myself that the feeling will pass in an hour or so.

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Wolvenmoon t1_jegtqc1 wrote

Have you tried a genomind genetic test for medication efficacy? My mom has lots of similar issues and while it seemed like BS at first, the results have actually been really helpful for her to navigate different pain medications and have accurately predicted which ones she'll rapidly metabolize and which ones will stick around for longer.

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dman2316 t1_jegtz1p wrote

I'm definitely going to look into that, thanks man. It is a pain in the ass like no other trying to convince these doctors that no, i'm not a drug addict, i just tolerate opioids and plenty of other meds well.

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myfapaccount_istaken t1_jeh26ov wrote

The genomind help with some of the drug interactions I have having. I have also having a hard time staying awake even w/o drugs but sleeping ok, but not narcolepsy (sp) Turns out I needed a specific type of b vitamin and but my body didn't process it so I had to get a special compound and while it's a bit $ I feel loads better.

I've only seen shrinks order it but I'm sure some GPs do as well. THey do a sliding scale since it's usually not covered by insurance. I was making like 45k and it only ran me like $60

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Attempt101 t1_jeh51fn wrote

Woah. Didn’t even know there was a test that did that… I’m sure my insurance won’t cover it and I can’t even see my PCP, but now I’m curious if you can just get that test on your own and how much it would cost… because I’m relatively tiny, docs assume that I needed the smallest dose of anything, but it varies across the board… and I’m more curious if its a vitamin deficiency or something else because I’ve had all sorts of speculation…

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[deleted] t1_jegsn79 wrote

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globaloffender t1_jegumhp wrote

Can you tell us more about the condition? That sounds terrifying. No problem if too personal. Good luck friend

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dman2316 t1_jegvgrv wrote

Which condition, the interaction of the 2 meds or the reason i'm on the doses of opioids that i am? Either way i don't mind explaining, just wanted to make sure i knew which one you're asking about.

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globaloffender t1_jegw5f2 wrote

You’re right, I wasn’t being clear. I’d like to know why so much pain.

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dman2316 t1_jeh5lkp wrote

So there's 2 reasons. The first is when i was 17 i got hit by a car while on my bike and i broke several ribs in several places, broke my jaw, broke a femur and cracked my skull and had a ton of soft tissue damage, and as time went on the pain was just not getting any better and i was diagnosed with a condition where essentially the physical injuries themselves fully healed, however for some reason my nervous system/brain never got that message and so is still sending out the pain signals as if the injuries were fresh from yesterday, so basically i'm still in just as much pain 10 years later as the day after i was hit. The second reason is i have a rare type of kidney stone that behaves very differently from normal kidney stones so i end up passing a ton of them, like it's not unreasonable to expect me to pass close to 20 in a week.

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Timmymac1000 t1_jeh3sxb wrote

Do you by any chance have red hair? Redheads notoriously require more pain relievers/anesthesia than non red heads.

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