Opioids for back spasms?

I take oxycodone, 5mg, at a time for pain from my chemo treatment, as needed, it is the best to relieve severe
pain for 4 to 6 hours. No side effects, works for me.

I'm grateful to have a pain specialist who has gotten to know me well enough to be comfortable prescribing medications for pain. I was taking Hydromorphone after bilateral spontaneous Achilles tendon ruptures (thanks a lot, Levofloxacin!) and after the first surgery. It wasn't helping with my CIDP pain, and I didn't need it anymore post surgery so I stopped taking it. I've been taking Klonopin for 18 years for several things. I tapered off it so I could be prescribed Hydromorphone, but the pain specialist agreed with my surgeon that I needed to be taking it because of restless leg that was complicating recovery.

When I was off Klonopin I was having bad, confrontational vivid dreams. My PCP tried several medications to treat the dreams, but none helped. When I restarted Klonopin the dreams settled. The dreams and restless leg are secondary reasons I have taken it. It was prescribed originally for anxiety disorder. I've never taken more than prescribed, but if I ever found that I no longer needed it, I would certainly be willing to stop taking it. But I've learned that Klonopin and opioids are helpful for me, regardless what the naysayers tell us.

Note: this is my own experience, not a recommendation for anyone else. Be safe.

Jim

@cindisue I was prescribed Xanax ER 2mg for muscles spams, hips, gluteal, pelvic floor primarily.
Worked initially for the first few weeks, but the rebound, withdrawal when wearing out in the evening after taking the dose 9am out was horrible.
Now it’s 2 month past since I started Xanax, it destroyed my muscles, turned them into the jelly, mush like, caused muscles tone disoder, total tone loss, as the muscles spasms, systemic dystonic dyskinesia like became unbearable. Ended up in ER a few weeks ago, wanted to quit it all together, but the doctors insisted on the slow taper, reducing 0/25% every week till 0.. I’m every day in agony from this vicious drug due to its horrific side effects I’ve described above, and I suppose to taking it for another month tapering, till nothing will be left of my muscles, it’s tone, but the sever spasms. I feel trapped and desperate to find the solution how to stop this madness asap.

@larochka81 Wow.... that's awful! I would change doctors for sure... you need possibly an additional med to help with tapering off the Xanax. Get a different doctor if possible and ask about getting prescribed Propanolol.... it is a medication that helps with withdrawal symptoms tapering off a benzodiazepine. Some also say Gabapentin may help. If your doctor would switch you from Xanax to Diazepam... that might be a better taper.....because Diazepam (valium) stays in your system longer....so you would have less withdrawal symptoms. Good luck to you.

@ams Hello, and thank you for your suggestion regarding nerve ablation. This seems very similar to an epidural. Is that what it is like, a doctor using a needle on the nerve from your spine?

I had an epidural on February 10th, so almost a month, and my pain actually is worse than before the epidural. My right side (flank and oblique muscles) is permanently locked in a cramp-like state. Any physical activity aggravates the muscles, and it is like having a really bad calf cramp in my side.

I have been trying to recover from Lumbar Spinal Fusion surgery back in November 2025, but my locking muscles are not allowing me to do physical therapy. Just walking in my house aggravates the muscles, so I have to shuffle around to try and keep them calm.