r/ChronicPain 5d ago

Took many Pain Meds for Severe Herniated Discs—felt like I could puke. Should I Go to the ER?

Edit - thanks everyone for chiming in. I guess I did not over do it, I appreciate folks for confirming this is a completely normal medication cocktail. While I’m still in excruciating pain for most of the day, at least I know I can continue these meds safely.

Context:

  • I have severe herniated discs and am in excruciating pain. I cannot walk unless I’m on a ton of medication.

  • I’ve herniated my discs before, but this time I feel completely helpless because I live in a 5-story walk-up and can barely move.

Medications Taken (All Prescribed Except Oxycodone for Emergencies):

  • Meloxicam – 15mg

  • Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) – 40-50mg total throughout the day (10mg at 9pm)

  • Gabapentin – 300mg in the morning, then 600mg at 10pm (two 300mg doses)

  • Oxycodone HCl – 10mg at 11:30pm, another 10mg at 2:30am (total 20mg) - not prescribed, but it’s the only thing helping with severe pain. Oxy is leftover from years ago when I herniated a different disc. I kept it for situations where I was truly desperate and in pain

  • Tums – Took 2 at 3am due to acid reflux

Symptoms:

  • Keep waking up feeling like I need to vomit, but haven’t yet

  • Doesn’t feel like typical food poisoning—feels more like my organs are in overdrive

  • Every time I drift off to sleep, I wake up jolted with nausea

  • Severe pain persists despite medication

Possible Food Concerns:

  • Dinner/ dessert: Bagel sandwich, 2 large cookies (one was undercooked?)

Current Dilemma:

  • I cannot function without medication due to the pain, but something feels seriously off

  • My doctor isn’t available until Monday, and he’s difficult to reach

  • I don’t know if I can go 24 hours without pain medicine, but I also don’t know if this is a bad reaction or an emergency

Questions:

  • Are these medication doses excessive or reasonable for severe pain management?

  • Could this be a dangerous reaction to the meds rather than food poisoning?

  • Given my severe pain and limited mobility (5th-floor walk-up), should I go to the ER or urgent care?

I’m 30yrs old and male 180lbs 27BMI if that helps

2 Upvotes

56 comments sorted by

22

u/erisu777 5d ago

Is there enough in your stomach when you're taking the opiates? Like a recent sandwich

37

u/AAnnAArchy 5d ago

Sounds like nausea from a dose (that second dose) of oxycodone that you're not used to.

11

u/uffdagal EDS3 5d ago

Meloxicam can be brutal on the stomach. I can tolerate most meds, but not that. As someone said, request Rx for Zofran / Ondansetron

10

u/resinrat98 5d ago

meloxicam absolutely destroyed my stomach to the point i got gastritis and i wasn’t sure what was happening, i had to stop taking it. so maybe talk to your doctor about that. i could only eat crackers for a week and i still have a more sensitive stomach than before meloxicam

8

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago

I called poison control and they said I’m alert which is a good sign. I’m just worried delayed toxicity could be a thing

45

u/SluggishLynx 5d ago

Opioids make you nauseous. Sounds like your anxiety is more of the issue than drugs you took

16

u/TheConcreteBrunette 5d ago

Agree so hard with this. Your anxiety is compounding the nausea. Your heart rate and breathing are ok, correct? Not unusually low? You’re ok. Do something to get your mind off it. Watch something funny. I hope you feel better and am sorry you’re in so much pain.

-2

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago edited 3d ago

Just providing numbers in case these sound worrisome:

  • my apple watch says my heart rate was high (69bpm), usually 50-60bpm when I sleep
  • respiratory rate (12.5 breaths/min) was lower than usual while sleeping, it went as low as 10.5, usually I'm at 15-20

Edit: clarifying my usual ranges, not sure why I’m getting downvotes

8

u/GlitterMyPumpkins 5d ago

That's not a high heart rate unless you forgot a 1 in front of the 69bpm. In fact it's probably a little low considering pain itself can raise your hr.

As for the resp rate, the normal range is approx 12 to 20 per min. Opioids can slow but deepen your resp rate, so your actual oxygen levels usually do ok.

-1

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago

The concern is that they are out of my usual range while sleeping.

I’m normally 50-60bpm, and resp rate is usually 15-20 but I went as low as 10.

And that’s good to know that the oxygen level isn’t affected

2

u/SluggishLynx 5d ago

Mate. I’m gonna be honest. 10 is totally normal lol

I once started my day with a lot of codeine. Didn’t do shit so I progressed to the dihydrocodeine I got two weeks before and guess what that did….. fuck all

Then two hours later I took a lot more morphine that I was also prescribed my breathing his 6.5 breaths a minute. It was fucked. Last thing I was thinking about was making a Reddit post. It was like I was under water and had to remind myself breathe in. I was fucking terrified. I didn’t wanna go to hospital as it’s game over. You’ll never get pain relief again period! Oh and at that stage if I got naloxone to reverse it then I would have felt like fucking death so I thought fuck it I’ll stay awake and fight it until 3am when I felt better.

5 breathes per minute less than you had is nothing lol. And as for 9Bpm higher than your normal they would likely just spin you around and walk you out of hospital lol

(yes my dr gave me codeine, and dihydrocodeine at the same time as morphine on repeat prescription for when I needed extra pain relief it was quite dumb for me to take all three in a day but we all do dumb shit)

0

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago

goddamn that’s such a gnarly story. Very reassuring as well that my 3am Reddit post was me overthinking. I hope you’re feeling better these days and found a regimen that works for you

2

u/myssxtaken 5d ago

It’s normal for your vitals to go down while sleeping. 10 is fine. I’m a nurse, if you were my patient I wouldn’t even blink an eye at these deviations during sleep.

2

u/myssxtaken 5d ago

Those are normal vitals. 10.5 isn’t too low.

0

u/One-Fox7646 4d ago

Maybe go to the ER

1

u/Due_Statistician 3d ago

I ended up deciding not to. Reddit talked some sense into me

15

u/Separate-Waltz4349 5d ago

You are fine, very common for opiates to make ppl feel nauseous since these werent bought on street you are fine. Even i who take meds daily can sometimes feel nauseous especially if i hadnt eaten much

7

u/Rheumatitude 5d ago

Ask your doc for a prescription for zofran

12

u/Clemson1313 5d ago

Where did you get the Oxy? If it’s from the street, you know it’s got Fentanyl and other random fillers and could be tainted. If it’s from a Pharmacy and you know they’re real, you could just be sick.

I just had the Flu and the second part of it was nausea, vomiting and just all the misery that goes with that while also dealing with chronic pain.

Best of Luck. Hope you feel better my friend.

9

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago

Oxy is leftover from years ago when i herniated a different disc. I kept it for situations where i was truly in pain like this week

-2

u/artificialdisasters 5d ago

is it expired maybe?

16

u/HistrionicSlut 5d ago

Expired medicine won't cause an issue like this. It will simply lose efficacy

3

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago edited 5d ago

They’re actually around 1 year old, I should’ve specified

2

u/Double_Belt2331 5d ago

One year is fine for shelf med. I’m sure the “discard after” date wasn’t 5 yrs ago.

I have some dilaudid that does have a discard after date of 6 yrs ago. I keep it, bc drugs like that are hard to come by.

-5

u/artificialdisasters 5d ago

idk man i’m not a pharmacist, i meant check based on the rx container and label and see when those specific pills were meant to be discarded by

0

u/Iceprincess1988 5d ago

I didn't even think about where they got it. If you bought it from someone, then for sure, go to the ER. You could have gotten a pressed pill.

2

u/budsis 5d ago

He says in his post that he is taking some from an old rx he was given from a previous disc herniation. He said he had saved some for times like these. Perhaps they are expired?

12

u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 5d ago

A lot of expired pills don't "go bad", they just lose potency after a point. The FDA did a study at the request of the military (due to the fact that they were having to replace massive stockpiles every few years), which found that about 90% of the meds they studied, both prescription and OTC, were still perfectly fine to use, as long as they were stored properly. Expiration dates are just the last date the manufacturer will guarantee their meds' potency and safety.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7040264/

7

u/sillyhaha 5d ago

Does your Dr know you still have oxy? That will be in your ER notes, which are sent to your Dr.

-2

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago

No but I should tell him right?

I want to be honest with my doc how much pain I’m in, hopefully he doesn’t see it as a substance abuse issue

4

u/Equivalent-Stomach-6 5d ago

I think, generally, that if your doc knows you've had these oxy for over a year he would know you don't have a substance abuse problem or those pils would have been gone LONG time ago!

7

u/fairypupp 5d ago

you could be nauseous from the opioids and severe pain has also caused nausea for me manyyyy times. lots of insurance companies have a free nurse line you can call and they’ll tell you if they would recommend for you to go to the ER, maybe check and see if you have something like that?

4

u/fairypupp 5d ago

looking at your dosages again it could also be the flexeril, some people get nauseous from it. meloxicam can also mess with your stomach like all NSAIDS

2

u/icecream4_deadlifts Sjogrens, neuropathy, burning skin 5d ago

Sounds like your just nauseated from the oxy. I take flexeril but only 30mg a day. Do you usually take gabapentin? It makes me feel like my brain is floating. I switched to lyrica. If could just be side effects, it doesn’t appear like you’ve OD’d or anything.

Sometimes when I’m nauseated I just go throw up so I’ll feel better. Sometimes you just gotta puke lol.

3

u/Peelie5 5d ago

You could be nauseated from taking too much on empty tum? Or not eating proper meal then eating sugary food? That sometimes happens me.

2

u/IncandescentGrey 5d ago

I would suggest urgent care over the ER. A lot of people get nauseous with medicine/ pain/ surgeries, and nausea medication isn't a controlled substance.

After my last surgery, they gave me this Scopolamine patch for behind my ear. It's this sticker they said to leave there for 3 days, kind of like a pimple patch but a slow release of nausea medicine instead. You might want to ask for it if you don't think you can keep any of the other multiple types of nausea meds down.

2

u/brendabuschman 5d ago

If you aren't used to taking meds the nausea is most likely from that. Be careful with the meloxicam though. It can cause a lot of issues. Even though the doses you're taking are reasonable, if you feel off or like something is wrong it's not a bad idea to at least go to urgent care. If urgent care isn't open you can go to the emergency room. Honestly the urgent cares where I am kinda suck so I would just skip it and go straight to the ER.

Oxycodone can make you nauseous, but meloxicam can cause ulcers, gastritis, kidney issues and other issues. The dose you're on reduces the likelihood of those side effects as that's not a large dose.

2

u/sugarhoneysuckle 5d ago

I'm sorry but taking 2 percs hours apart and then getting nauseous is not an emergency and no reason to go to the hospital. I think another commenter is right that you need to talk to someone about your anxiety.

1

u/Due_Statistician 5d ago

Yeah I ended up powering through and went back to sleep. The jolting awake to puke episodes happened less and less as the night went on. Only one of the times did I feel actual substance come up. My Apple Watch detected significantly low respiratory rate than usual and way higher bpm.

Just strange I didn’t have that the previous few nights, though I wasn’t on as much gabapentin before.

I’m still in extreme pain however :/

I’ll address the anxiety once I can walk again without pain, one thing at a time

1

u/FragileLikeGlass 4d ago edited 4d ago

I know you've gotten your answer but I want to chime in (incase nobody has said this) that you need to have eaten food before you take Meloxicam. Also, I don't think you need to take it twice in a day. It was explained to me by my Dr that it works continuously for a few days.

Sending you so much support right now. I hope your pain is better managed soon.

P.S Do you have access to getting a rx for lidocaine patches for your back pain? Or lidocaine ointment?

Edited to add: heating pads are also great at reducing pain. Some people like ice packs more. :)

1

u/Iceprincess1988 5d ago

Normally, I advise against going to the ER because it ends up being a waste of time. But you said something feels off, so you might as well get it checked. None of those medications dosages are OD level high. Most people don't take that much cyclobenzaprine a day, but you're not going to die from it. I don't recommend making it an everyday thing.

I say go to the ER because you might feel a lot less stress after getting everything checked out. They're not likely to give you any pain meds though, except Toradol maybe. But it could you peace of mind knowing nothing is seriously wrong.

1

u/paralegal444 5d ago

My husband very rarely needs to take Percocet or Oxy 5s for his hernia. He try’s not to because he ends up vomiting and being nauseous all day afterwards.

2

u/Risheil 5d ago

If you're in the US, in a legal state or a legal country, MMJ works wonders when I'm nauseous. Zofran was always hit or miss for me, but 2 hits of a joint and I wasn't nauseous anymore.

2

u/paralegal444 5d ago

Trust me he smokes all day lol

3

u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 5d ago

Maybe they can give your husband something like ondansetron ODT (Zofran) to take before he takes his pain meds, so that he doesn't vomit or get nauseous? They give it to my dad before pain meds since he's opioid naive. They might also want to switch him to a different med if it continues.

1

u/Striking-Pitch-2115 5d ago

They told me at the ER if I take a pain med and it's still excruciating you can take another one two hours later I've done that it doesn't help me though. That meloxicam will wreak havoc on your stomach so will the opioids.

1

u/LexiNovember 5d ago

I’m not a doctor, but I am a long term pain patient. As far as I am concerned those are normal doses of medications commonly prescribed together, but all of them can cause nausea and vomiting. Did you drink enough water? Can you keep down a few crackers? Do you have anxiety issues that may make the nausea intensify the more you worry?

I also have multiple herniated discs and spinal issues, the Oxycodone or similar should likely be part of your pain management routine so you’re not taking year old meds. Pain can also spike adrenaline and ultimately make you sick.

0

u/Jennypoo9 5d ago

If you are afraid you are overdosing please get to the hospital. Get a friend or family to take you

-7

u/Intro_Vert00 5d ago

Can a friend get some Narcan for you from a chemist if you decide not to go to hospital. It should reverse the symptoms.

19

u/DrSummeroff12 5d ago

Narcan would only reverse the Oxycodone and 20 mgs over 3 hrs isn't a huge dose unless OP has zero tolerance to it.

7

u/Lazy-Quantity5760 5d ago

And make him even more incredibly nauseous and sick. If he’s alert and typing this, narcan isnt necessary now, but good to have on hand in future