How severe will my withdrawals from oxycodone/hydrocodone be? Anything to ease it?

[timeforachange]

Hi,

New member here that needs a little help. Let me give you a little backstory to my situation. For the past 5-6 years I "created" this strange regimen for myself, that somehow just managed to keep myself balanced. I've read elsewhere that opioids in other countries have been used to treat ADD, depression etc. I'm 32 years old and do pretty decent for myself in my career. For whatever reason I found myself to be insanely more productive and focused at work while taking oxycodone, I would usually take a 10/325 pill and break it in half. It got the point that I was taking a half a pill 3x-4x a day, so anywhere between 15-20 mg of oxycodone per day, which I understand in retrospect is very light compared to some peoples doses. I'm not going to get into the topic of how this will only last for so long until it turned to 30 mg, then 40 mg, then 50 mg etc. I was told that at 6 months in, 2 years in, 3 years in and now 6 years later my dose has no never changed....I just know its time to stop, its pointless and it can't he healthy. Where the Hydro came about was at times my source would be out of oxy and have hydro 7.5/325 doses. I would take these in the same exact manor, a half 3-4x per day which would suffice, not quite as good, but it worked, and thats for a few months at a time not a week or so. Keep in mind, I still have about 100 or so pills left over...I'm just finished, thats it.

Fast forward to today, I have a very demanding sales job that requires me to not just be there physically, but i really NEED TO BE THERE. That's been probably the main culprit of my reluctancy to stop, as I didn't want to start bogging down and have it negatively affect me at work. The kicker is NOBODY knows I do this. Not my soon to be finance, not my family, not my friends who I consider family. I hide it well, and have no reason (embarrassed) to talk about it. I knew the days of quitting were coming up pretty soon, I just didn't know exactly when. Fast forward to 3 days ago, Thursday night at 8pm when I took my last half for the night. I went to sleep and BAM! I was awoken to the feeling of death from food poisoning. 2 Days I didn't put a single thing into my body, so I figured what the hell what better segway then this lol. Tonight at about 8pm will make the 72 hour mark. I haven't been back to work from being sick, but I will be going back tomorrow and heres where I'm getting a little worried....

Overall I do feel ok, slightly lethargic, I don't have the usually jolt of energy that I get hit with when it kicks in...but luckily I'm ok. Heads slightly clouded. Sleeping last night was night sweats beyond belief lol, but I made it. I'm just worried about work. Its tomorrow, and I need to make this feel as seamless as possible. Once again, I know I kept up a pretty light dose which should make this exponentially easier, but its still there. How long until I should be feeling back to normal? Any OTC things that I can take to help combat some of the usual symptoms I may encounter?

Thanks in advance
-idiot

 

[MrRoot]

Most times I have cold turkeyd from oxycodone the peak of the withdrawals has come around 72h after the last dose and after that it has been kept going better and five days from my last dose I have been around 90% of my potential.

You might have it easier since I had used +200mg doses.

I used Ritalin during days to be focused and clonazepam to get some sleep at night if I had to work during withdrawals. Otherwise I have always taken Lyrica if I haven't had anything to do.

Currently I am going through some very mild withdrawals as I tapered down to 30mg per day and took my last dose at wednesday evening.

 

[Znegative]

Try to get ahold of some clonodine and some gabapentin or lyrica. Benzo's would help too, but if you can get by without them all the better. At the right dosage clonodine will allow you to get some sleep and get rid of the worst symptoms of withdrawal IMO (it's a blood pressure med). If you did this over the weekend you'd probably be on the upswing by the following monday since your habit is pretty light. I wouldn't bother with subs, methadone or kratom as that will either raise your tolerance or prolong the withdrawals.

 

[sm0kestack]

Ya, it sounds like since you made it past the worst of it. 3days in an oxycodone habit that light, you are definitely close to being out of the woods. If you do have any lingering withdrawal, I'd pick up some Immodium from any drug store for GI symptoms, and yeah clonidine and gabapentin work great for minor to low moderate withdrawal, if you can get a doc to script them for you. Benadryl can help a little more for sleep at night, or a benzo, like ativan, klonopin, Valium, or xanax, are the most common, but they can be habit forming too.

But really, I think since you made it through the worst I would just go on with nothing at all. You'll be all the way together in a couple more days. Good job bro.

 

[timeforachange]

Thank you for the quick responses. Went for a drive with my girl earlier, just to get out as its a nice day for it. All was well. She's still feeling a little sick as we both got the food poisoning but hers came a day later. We get home and she goes to lay down and I literally start having this mini almost panic attacks for no good reason, questioning every life decision I've ever made lol. I almost went and grabbed one of her .5 mg Xanax that I occasionally take to fall asleep, but I said to myself this has to pass. Then kind of yelled at myself and called myself a p***y lol....needless to say it helped, I'm still a little nervous feeling but I think I'll be ok. Much less lethargic today that's for sure.

 

[SpongeCake]

Thank you for the quick responses. Went for a drive with my girl earlier, just to get out as its a nice day for it. All was well. She's still feeling a little sick as we both got the food poisoning but hers came a day later. We get home and she goes to lay down and I literally start having this mini almost panic attacks for no good reason, questioning every life decision I've ever made lol. I almost went and grabbed one of her .5 mg Xanax that I occasionally take to fall asleep, but I said to myself this has to pass. Then kind of yelled at myself and called myself a p***y lol....needless to say it helped, I'm still a little nervous feeling but I think I'll be ok. Much less lethargic today that's for sure.

The most common withdrawal symptoms - at least in my novice experience - are the clammy cold sweats, anxiety, RLS (not just in the legs... but in the arms, chest, and back muscles as well), and of course the low energy & lethargic feeling. Sounds like you're having it pretty easy though, which is a really good thing! 72hrs "cold turkey" in and you're not any more miserable than you already are then I'd say you're getting withdrawals as bad as you're going to get them. Just hang in there another 2-3 days and they'll probably be completely gone.

A lot of people are suggesting things like benzos (Xanax, Valium, etc) for your anxiety and sleep, and other medications that can help withdrawal symptoms (like Clonodine). These are good suggestions but honestly? I wouldn't even risk it. You said you girlfriend has 0.5mg Xanax prescription so I'd just suggest taking one of those every once in a while (especially at night) if you start to get that anxiety feeling or are having trouble sleeping.

 

[Nixiam]

That's a pretty light dose, but everyday for six years? Definitely take that .5 xanny for your anxiety, maybe drink some Unisom or take some melatonin to knock you out. Don't drink alcohol. At all. Tough it out, by the fourth day you'll be over the worst of it.

Hang in tight.

 

[Kittycat5]

We are all different Nix so there is no way to gauge if by day 4 timeforchange will be ok. Timeforchange, how are you? That lethargy can be a bitch and hope you really are managing. Let us know if you are doing well and have further questions.

 

[Nixiam]

Well that's no way to be optimistic! Then again maybe realism is better.

I used to take Vicodin every other day (30mg), for probably 5 to 6 months. My only help was lorazepam (which I got dropped off of) and melatonin. After 4 days I was pretty much alright. The peak came a bit earlier than I thought, at right around 48 hours.

I haven't popped a hydro since.

 

[Kittycat5]

Good. It really isnt about optimism with opiate withdrawal, so I tend to defer to what I know. Which is if your habit is significant enough, it will bite you. At your age I may have had an easier time, sure of it actually. But it gets rougher as we age. And Im not that old.

 

[Purposefull]

You might want to go to the headshop and get some kratom although you can also buy it online and they ship quickly. It'll knock out those withdrawal symptoms quickly and could potentially be a pretty good and legal alternative to oxy's.. On the down side a few states have made it illegal, but there are ways to circumvent the laws..

 

[timeforachange]

Turns out her Xanax are actually .25 not .50, and yet I still break those in half. Somehow that's still more than enough for me. My 240 lb frame couldn't handle a Benzo if my life depended on it lol. Took one at about 1030 last night and by 1045 I was drooling on myself.

First day back at work and I feel fine. Looking forward to tomorrow as me and a couple of guys play racquetball early morning, I think I can use that.

 

[timeforachange]

That's a pretty light dose, but everyday for six years? Definitely take that .5 xanny for your anxiety, maybe drink some Unisom or take some melatonin to knock you out. Don't drink alcohol. At all. Tough it out, by the fourth day you'll be over the worst of it.

Hang in tight.

Funny you mention not to drink alcohol. I made myself a vodka and tonic yesterday thinking it would help, and it seemed like it made me feel incredibly worse.

Is that your reasoning for saying don't drink, or is it just to not replace one vice with the other?

 

[SpongeCake]

Funny you mention not to drink alcohol. I made myself a vodka and tonic yesterday thinking it would help, and it seemed like it made me feel incredibly worse.

Is that your reasoning for saying don't drink, or is it just to not replace one vice with the other?

Alcohol is known (and proven) to make withdrawal symptoms worse. I'm currently tapering down from my chronic pain scripts and if I only have just a few drinks I almost instantly get really bad cold sweats. But if I keep drinking - like if I were out with people at the bar or something - I'd eventually power through that part and it'd go away. Once I actually got drunk the symptoms seemed to completely disappear and I'd be fine (because my alcohol soaked brain didn't give a damn about my withdrawals - it'd be too preoccupied from the alcohol). But the next morning once I'm "sober" and have a hangover my symptoms are exponentially worse. So yes it's highly recommended not to drink while going through the detox as alcohol is only going to make symptoms worse.

 

[timeforachange]

Alcohol is known (and proven) to make withdrawal symptoms worse. I'm currently tapering down from my chronic pain scripts and if I only have just a few drinks I almost instantly get really bad cold sweats. But if I keep drinking - like if I were out with people at the bar or something - I'd eventually power through that part and it'd go away. Once I actually got drunk the symptoms seemed to completely disappear and I'd be fine (because my alcohol soaked brain didn't give a damn about my withdrawals - it'd be too preoccupied from the alcohol). But the next morning once I'm "sober" and have a hangover my symptoms are exponentially worse. So yes it's highly recommended not to drink while going through the detox as alcohol is only going to make symptoms worse.

Good to know. I made myself a nice light drink thinking it would help relax me and woof was I wrong. I admittedly don't feel "great" today. I'm back at work and though I'm not having any physical or emotional issues....i want to just pass out at my desk lol

 

[SpongeCake]

Good to know. I made myself a nice light drink thinking it would help relax me and woof was I wrong. I admittedly don't feel "great" today. I'm back at work and though I'm not having any physical or emotional issues....i want to just pass out at my desk lol

Glad you're doing better though. If being zapped of energy is your only real/main symptom at this point then you've probably got nothing but smooth sailing ahead of you! May take a little while to get back to your "normal" energy levels but I'd take that over seats, RLS, anxiety, etc. any day. Might want to try some "natural" stuff for energy. I'd suggest Vitamin B pills that you can get at any supermarket or vitamin shop (Vitamin B12 and B6 give you energy, and depending what brand you buy it can have up to 500% or more of the recommended daily value of both B12 and B6). If you want to go down the less-natural route then you can always try a 5-Hour Energy once in a while when you're really drained, as these contain caffeine but they they're loaded with B12 and B6:

 

[timeforachange]

Glad you're doing better though. If being zapped of energy is your only real/main symptom at this point then you've probably got nothing but smooth sailing ahead of you! May take a little while to get back to your "normal" energy levels but I'd take that over seats, RLS, anxiety, etc. any day. Might want to try some "natural" stuff for energy. I'd suggest Vitamin B pills that you can get at any supermarket or vitamin shop (Vitamin B12 and B6 give you energy, and depending what brand you buy it can have up to 500% or more of the recommended daily value of both B12 and B6). If you want to go down the less-natural route then you can always try a 5-Hour Energy once in a while when you're really drained, as these contain caffeine but they they're loaded with B12 and B6:

Thanks...unfortunately as part of my daily "health regimen" a minimum of 2-3 cans of redbull per day were cosumed as well, so I built a pretty high tolerance for that stuff.

 

[SpongeCake]

Thanks...unfortunately as part of my daily "health regimen" a minimum of 2-3 cans of redbull per day were cosumed as well, so I built a pretty high tolerance for that stuff.

Red Bull and most other energy drinks are different, though. At least for the most part. 5 Hour Energy has some of those kinds of energy producing contents but it's much more "clean" in my opinion - because of the B12 and B6. Personally I don't get any sort of energy jolt from things like coffee (caffeine), Red Bull, or even 5 Hour Energy so I can't swear by any of them. I still think taking a good Vitamin B12 & B6 pill every day - or twice a day - couldn't hurt to try. But it's your call .

 

[timeforachange]

Red Bull and most other energy drinks are different, though. At least for the most part. 5 Hour Energy has some of those kinds of energy producing contents but it's much more "clean" in my opinion - because of the B12 and B6. Personally I don't get any sort of energy jolt from things like coffee (caffeine), Red Bull, or even 5 Hour Energy so I can't swear by any of them. I still think taking a good Vitamin B12 & B6 pill every day - or twice a day - couldn't hurt to try. But it's your call .

I'll look into them, I always thought they were pretty similar. A good b12 and b6 def can't hurt. Like you said caffeine itself does literally nothing to me, I've always been this way. A piece of me wonders if I'm better off taking a small dose as a taper just to level me out....but at 4 hours away from 48 hours I feel like that might be pretty dumb at this point. Almost like a restart. I have some l-tyrosine from body building days, read that's not to bad either. Mix that with a multi, some vitamin c, b12 etc and hopefully I'll wake the hell up lol

 

[timeforachange]

Well, 6 days in and I thought I was out of the woods...but I'm not.

It's tough to explain because it's not that I feel bad, it just feel like I'm empty, or in a shell of myself, uninterested maybe. Like I almost need relearn things I enjoy because all my usual daily activities just seem uninteresting to me now.

I Slept ok last night, at one point I woke up in a pool of sweat even though my AC was blasting but it was a decent sleep overall. Now I'm sitting here at work once again just kind of interested. Just sitting in my office with nothing going on, normally I'd go bs with a co worker or something but I'm just sitting here, in thought...but my mind is blank.

I don't know what to make of it really. It's not making me want to go in my bag and grab a perc (they are with me). Rather like I need to tell my boss see you in a week and take a spur of the moment vacation.