Retiree had ‘crazy side effects’ of opioid painkillers

A retiree says he found himself in a dark place as he came off opioid painkillers in the weeks after receiving a hip replacement.

Russell Agnew, 74, said he was prescribed morphine and fentanyl daily to numb the intense pain in his hip for at least a year before having hip replacement surgery.

The hip pain disappeared after the surgery in September 2020 and he was taken off the meds at the same time.

In the weeks that followed, Agnew said he suffered from physical stress and mental demons that he attributed to quitting the drugs.

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His legs shook uncontrollably, he didn’t sleep for six days, he wouldn’t eat and his mental health was deteriorating, he said.

Agnew felt that the Southern District Health Board should have given him a plan to get off the morphine and fentanyl, which he said had been prescribed in daily doses because of the extreme hip pain.

Only the support of his daughter and GP helped him through the ordeal, he said.

“The side effects were just crazy. I wasn’t well for a while, it was very serious. I could have invaded myself quite easily. There has to be something to help people get off the drugs.”

He didn’t expect it because he had never been a drug user, he said.

The dark times lasted for about two months, with Agnew saying he visited his GP most days during the first week to find a mix of drugs that would ease his distress.

The GP visits were financially expensive at about $60 each, and he also received mental health counseling, he said.

While waiting for his surgery, Agnew had closed his garage business because his hip was too sore to work – he compared the pain to a knife being stabbed into his hip despite taking heavy painkillers.

His garage closure, ongoing hip pain and subsequent drug withdrawal could all have been prevented had he undergone his hip surgery in a timely manner, he said.

“They need to get the health system in order and get these jobs done.”

Simon Donlevy, deputy chief operating officer of the Southern District Health Board, said most patients did not require assistance to stop opioid drugs once the source of the pain was removed, “that is why there are no programs to help with this.”

“We would expect the GP to take the lead in managing this problem, should it arise,” he said.

Agnew’s GP center service manager said they would not comment, citing privacy.

Agnew said he was first told he needed a hip replacement in late 2018, but he didn’t get it until September 2020.

When Stuff told a story about his plight in early 2020seven months before he had the surgery, the health board said his wait had been longer than ideal.

A shortage of orthopedic surgeons was cited as the reason for delays in people’s operations.

This week, Donlevy said there had been no additional funds for the orthopedic departments in the Southern District and the waiting list for hip and knee surgeries had not decreased.

“The main issue faced in the past two years has been the postponement of surgeries due to Covid and the lack of enough beds rather than a lack of surgeons to perform the work.”

The wait for hip surgery had increased since 2020, but the health board couldn’t determine how much this depended on the priority assigned to the surgery, Donlevy said.

Hospitals in the Southern District used multiple means to reduce the wait for hip and knee surgeries, including outsourcing surgeries, using private hospitals, and creating innovations to reduce the time patients needed to stay in hospital. to decrease.

Where to get help

• Need to talk? Toll-free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counselor
• Victim Support 0800 842 846
• Lifeline 0800 543 354
• Kidsline 0800 54 37 54 for persons up to and including 18 years of age. open 24/7
• Youthline 0800 376 633, Free Text 234, Email [email protected]