[Araminta]

Hey all,

I'm having a lot of lower back pain after a procedure yesterday that my current meds aren't taking care of (That would be 2 40 mg. oxycontin per day, 4 10 mg. percs., and .5 mg. of klonipin) I was thinking of taking a Soma, but I'm supposed to be off of those, and will most likely be urine-tested in slightly less than 2 weeks. The most conservative estimate I've read as far as Soma getting out of your system is 14 days. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this?

Obviously, I should just ask my doctor to allow me to take a small amount of Soma as needed. However, he doesn't allow a patient to take klonipin and soma together at all. And the last time I went cold turkey off of the .5 mg. of klonipin it was Much Worse than this. When I am able to get off of the klonipin completely (by tapering) he will prescribe soma, but not until then.

Help? Anybody?

Thanks,

Ara

[Robert_325]

Ara .... Soma has a half life of about 2-3 hours. It's not very long. It will normally take a little over two days for it to be out of your system. But playing that game with your dr is not a good idea. I surely wouldn't compromise my well-being by trying to sneak a soma. It's just not worth it. That wouldn't be the smart thing to do even if you get away with it. That always comes back to bite you eventually. Being straight with your dr is the wise thing to do. God bless.

[Araminta]

Hey Robert,

Thanks for the reply. It was a silly question, really. My husband said exactly what you said when I asked him. (As far as not going against the doctor's wishes) So, I did survive work last night without any Soma. And it was a doozy of a night. I was running from the minute I hit the door until about 3:30 a.m. when I got my first of 3 five minute breaks. Yikes! Now I'm beat.

Not that I'm going to cheat, but it's good to know that Soma is out of ones system in a couple of days. It's probably bad for my stomach, mood, etc. anyway. I just remember being in less pain when I was taking it regularly.

So, all the more reason to keep at getting the klonopin tapered out of my system.

I always figured that the reason that there weren't a lot of 50-something waitresses was that they hit menopause and started telling people off. Now I know that it's probably more because our bodies just wear out!

Ara (who hardly ever tells people off)

[cherry14]

In light of the fact that you just had a procedure, can't you call your doc and ask if there's anything you can do to supplement your usual regimen in the short term? It doesn't necessarily have to be Soma. They may expect that after a procedure you'll have some pain control issues.....

I agree with Robert though on being straight up. You might be pleasantly surprised though, if you just ask.

Good luck!

[Robert_325]

Ara .... cherry is absolutely right. I don't know what procedure you just had but if it was anything that would cause pain the dr will likely be understanding if you will just be truthful and explain. Drs aren't there to morally judge us. They are there to help us and most will try to do that if we give them an honest chance. Good luck and God bless.

[Araminta]

Hey all,

Thanks for the input on this. The procedure I had done was just a diagnostic thing where they injected dye and a local anesthetic into my lower back to see if the local, injected into that area, would decrease my lower back pain. Also, I guess they'll be able to tell something from where the dye goes. So, I'm a bit more sore in that area, but it's not unbearable. Which is to say, I was able to work, waiting tables last night, for 8 hours, with just a couple of 5 minute breaks, and I survived. So, I think I'm going to just try and hold on and see how it goes until I see my doctor again in about 2 weeks.

He did increase my percocet dose recently from 3 to 4 pills a day. (These are the 10/325 ones) So, I don't want to be asking him for another increase so soon after he just gave me one, if I can possibly avoid it.

I'm having good luck reducing my klonopin intake lately by taking .125 mg. (or 1/8 of a mg. every 12-16 hours instead of the .25 mg. every 12 hours I was taking. As long as I can still sleep and am not having panic attacks it seems like this might work over a period of weeks or months.

I'm not sure it makes any sense to try and get off the benzos just so I can get back on the soma. The klonopin helps me sleep through the night, but the soma helps stop muscle spasming. Having had the experience of going off the klonopin abrubtly, and not sleeping for a week, has given me extra motivation to get away from it as soon as possible.


Ara

[Robert_325]

Sometimes drs will prescribe valium as a muscle relaxer. It would make no sense to go to the trouble of replacing the klonopin with soma. It would be harder on you making the switch. You would get NO benefit from doing that as you would go into benzo w/d from stopping the klonopin. I wouldn't do it. God bless.

[Araminta]

Hey Robert,

Don't worry. I absolutely am not going to walk away from the klonopin until I'm sure I can do without it. That is, until I've gone a month or more without taking it at all, and suffered no ill effects. This could take a while. Right now I've been experimenting with taking less per night, but it's one step forward, one step back. For a few days I was taking .25 mg per night to sleep, but I was having a hard time sleeping 8 hours. So, now I'm just trying to reduce it by 25%. I'll take 3/4 of the .5 mg. pill tonight and see how that goes.

Previously, I had traded in the .5 mg of klonopin for 1 Soma a day....with terrible results...full blown w/d for a week. So, I will not be repeating that mistake.

Thanks,

Ara