Opioids Really need help and advice about withdrawing from opiates. At the end of my rope

I've been a long time lurker here but I've never posted before now. This is my situation:
I've used almost every drug there is (except PCP and peyote) throughout my life. My favourites were always psychedelics (especially ecstasy) and opiates. I loved drugs but I never had a problem with addiction until I was hit by a car. My back and neck were severely injured and I was prescribed increasingly higher doses of oxycontin (this was a decade ago before doctors became more strict about prescribing them) and roxicodone. They worked great for my pain and I took them as prescribed for a long time....until my tolerance became so high that I started taking them in higher amounts than prescribed. I'm sure you can guess what happened. I became addicted. I couldn't believe it because I had used heroin (once for a whole month straight! Though, I insuffalated it during that time instead of IVing) before and I never had a problem stopping. Anyway, I tried a hospital detox but it didn't work. My life was being destroyed by my addiction so I went on methadone. May not have been the best idea but I didn't know a lot about it at the time. I was on methadone for 5 years and then I weaned off of it 2 years ago.
Great, right? Well, no..I had another injury in the last year along with painful ovarian cysts. I tried non narcotic pain meds but they were worthless for the pain. So I was put on hydrocodone and then percocet. My health issues are better now and I really want to stop taking these pills. I managed to wean from Percocet 10 mg 6 a day to Norco 10mg 5 to 6 a day.It's getting harder for me to taper now because I always want to take more. So, I've decided to just quit CT. I am scared to death though. I hate withdrawals. I almost committed suicide when I was withdrawing from methadone. If I didn't have a wonderful daughter that I love more than anything, I probably would just OD now and stop the pain. Anyway, sorry for the long post. I'm really upset and probably rambling. My question is, what will help my home detox? I've heard a lot of different theories. One person said to wait until you can't stand it anymore, take a few pills (usually in evening) and then on the 3rd or 4th day you shouldn't have to take anymore. I've read about immodium, DXM, Neurotinin, Clonidine, Lyrica, benzos, etc. What method worked the best for those who have gone through it? I don't have to work during my detox but I still have to take care of my daughter. I currently have a lot of clonopin and ambien. I will also have some of my norcos and access to 15 10mg methadone tablets (don't want to take those unless there is no better way though). I'm sure my doc would write me a script for neurotinin or Clonidine. Any advice or suggestions? I really need some help to get through this! I need to get off of this junk. Appreciate any advice that can be offered from veterans of the dreaded WDs. Thank you

Just to add...

I also have phentermine. I don't take it but it was prescribed to me for weight loess awhile back. I never took it because I found excercise and diet to work better. Anyway, I don't think it would help but just thought I'd mention it.

Hmm, since nobody has replied, I'll quote something that may or may not be helpful to you that I posted in another thread posted by somebody seeking a starting point regarding withdrawal from opiates:

Get yourself in to see a doctor and request a taper program so, that your withdrawal can at the least, be supervised should anything go wrong and so, that you have treatment options available to you as needed (MMT, Suboxone/Subutex, Naloxone, access to kick-kit scripts like Naproxen, Seroquel, Trazadone, Clonidine, Valium). The key is to make the taper as gradual as possible, the longer it takes the less severe your symtoms will be (studies have shown that the longer your taper is, the better chance you have of evading relapse).

To clarify the most common treatments available, very breifly:

MMT: Methadone (synthetic opiod) Maintenence, (most doctors reccommend starting with a low-dose of methadone (15ml-30ml)
Suboxone: 4 parts Buprenorphine (partial opiate agonist), 1 part Naloxone (opiate antagonist), (starting from 2mg-8mg (over the course of the day when Methadone fails / is not tolerated well)
Subutex: Buprenorphine Hydrochloride (alternative to Subutex when Naloxone brings about discomfort (rarely prescribed / difficult to acquire for some for it's abuse potential is well-known), will generally start anywhere from 0.4mg to 2mg
Naloxone: Opiate antagonist (blocks the action of opiates and in turn, the high), starts from 0.5mg to 2mg

and the most common scripts written for opiate addicts (also known as kick-kit rx's):

Naproxen: NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) used to treat the pain symptoms that may arise when withdrawing from opiates
Seroquel / Trazadone: Sleep aid's (sedative properties) with mild anti-anxiety and moderate anti-depressive properties
Clonidine: Sympatholytic / antiadrenergic (opposes SNS stimulation) used to treat high-blood pressure, tachycardia (quickened HR), restless legs and restlessness and muscle spasms/twitching to some degree
Valium / other Benzo's (Atvian is the most common): Benzodiazepenes of any kind generally are used to treat anxiety and moderate depressive symptoms, muscle spasms and insomnia, as well as use as a preventative measure for those with a history of seizures when withdrawing (most often when with alcohol and methadone).

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Welcome to Bluelight. :D

Opiate withdrawals are shitty and it's no wonder you are scared of them considering you've been through methadone withdrawal. There are a couple ways you can go about things here, but since you've made up your mind to just stop taking them altogether we'll start there.

Once you stop taking them you'll be feeling pretty crappy. You mentioned having access to clonazepam and ambien, you'll get a lot of use out of those during the withdrawals. Take the clonazepam during the day as you need it and use the ambien at night.

Loperamide (immodium) would also help you out a lot. You shouldn't need more than 8-12mg at once, and it'll hold you over for at least 24 hours. It can cause some unpleasant stomach cramping though.

Here is a link to the OD Opioid Withdrawal Megathread & FAQ. Lots of solid information there.

Also, If you're interested in a little support the folks over at The Dark Side are always willing to lend an ear.

You have a lot of drugs on you. Are all of these prescribed?

You have a daughter, which means you've experienced childbirth. It's excruciating, even WITH an epidural! But it's also a finite process: it has a beginning and an end. Opiate withdrawal is the same, except it's not even close to childbirth. You can expect to be uncomfortable, like a bad (but not severe) case of the flu. So you can treat your symptoms that way: NSAIDS, tea, hot showers, etc. You can use the Ambien at night to help you sleep and the Clonipin to help with the restlessness that goes along with withdrawal. You may have some nausea and the best non-medical thing for that is warm ginger ale, ginger candy, and saltines. Expect the process to last about a week. It's not life-threatening.

Another thing you could do is talk to your doctor and have him develop a taper schedule with you. You could try Suboxone but then you'd have to taper off of that eventually, depending upon how long you take it. Also, not every doctor can prescribe it, many of the doctors who do will not accept insurance (some of them are no better than street dealers IMO), and it's expensive.

Whichever way you decide to detox just remember that it is a finite process and it's not life-threatening, unlike benzos.

Fascination said:

I also have phentermine. I don't take it but it was prescribed to me for weight loess awhile back. I never took it because I found excercise and diet to work better. Anyway, I don't think it would help but just thought I'd mention it.

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No.

Good luck sweetheart. Try to garnish the energy to go and do something fun with your daughter. I always find that being around loved ones helps ALOT. I too expect the benzo to help you quite a bit. Lots of hugs with your daughter, and remember to hug yourself too when you need it.

Thank you for the advice! I'll check out that megathread.

ReversiblePulpitis said:

Good luck sweetheart. Try to garnish the energy to go and do something fun with your daughter. I always find that being around loved ones helps ALOT. I too expect the benzo to help you quite a bit. Lots of hugs with your daughter, and remember to hug yourself too when you need it.

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Thank you! What really gets me is that I don't even drink alcohol anymore. I quit everything when I got on methadone treatment. Yet here I am, "drug free" and having to detox AGAIN!
I'm really hoping the benzo helps too. It's prescribed for me to take daily but I only take it about once a month when I really need it so I don't have a high tolerance. Maybe it'll work better that way.

The withdrawl symptoms from hydrocodone will not be nearly as severe as with methadone. Going cold turkey from the dose you're at is very viable. Plan to feel rough for 3-5 days, then you'll feel so much better. Use the clonazepam sparingly; a moderate dose will provide substantial relief. If needed, take the zolpidem to help you sleep through the night.

Avoid the methadone. That will only drag out the process. Loperamide will not only relieve consequent diarrhea, but can significantly reduce physical and psychological symptoms as well. Again though, it's best to keep the doses minimal; 4-8mg. Increase by 2mg incriments if needed.

Welcome to Bluelight! Stay strong!

make sure you eat as much as possible, drink fluids like gatorade juice and alot of water i drink as much as i can, try to excercise if you can, keep your mind busy doing things that make you happy or laugh, withdrawls arent easy but you can do it if you thats whay you really want

What paperplanes wrote probably sounds like some cliche standardized knock off bullshit to most of you, but it's in fact the best solid advice that has been given.

It's essentially "the opposite plan" of when you were on dope, and it works if you actually follow through with it.

If you think you can get a script for Clonidine may as well give it a go. Lofexidine would be preferable if available at similar cost. It sometimes feels as though it's not doing anything for you, but that's cause you can't tell how much worse you'd have been without it. You have to be careful with dose, as too much will make you woozy, lowering blood pressure to the point of blacking out if you try and stand too fast for instance, so keep dose as low as is still effective and comfortable, and taper off it over at least 4 days on the backside of withdrawal subsiding. Same applies to Lofexidine if you get it. Does the same thing, but a little easier to live with, not crashing the blood pressure to quite the same degree as Clonidine IME.

Best of luck. Keep on toughing it out. 5-6 days it'll all be over and you'll be proper pleased with yourself.

Lopressor as well.

Ya'll are right about exercise. It cannot be overstated how profound an impact exercise can have on healing and restoring balance and homeostasis. And the harder you push yourself, the more relief you'll feel as a result.

Using the Methadone responsibly as recommended by the AMA/PDR for detoxification purposes could make the WD syndrome more bearable. Start at a dose of Methadone that is equipotent to your normal daily dose of Hydrocodone, and cut it down from there based on the amount of Methadone you have and no longer than a couple weeks of tapering to nothing. Followed by Clonidine, Zolpidem and Clonazepam as needed until the withdrawal symptoms are over (of course the Clonidine and Benzo's can be helpful during the end of the taper to make that 'soft landing' into no opioid territory easier and as bearable as possible).

But the best thing to do is seek medical advice by a healthcare professional. Even a walk-in doctor could help you come up with a viable plan, or seek the advice of an MMT or BMT provider.

Wow, if you can get through methadone withdrawals you can do anything! Remember that The WDs are not going to last nearly as long as the methadone WDs.

Just try to stay positive, remember that the depression, suicidal feelings, hopelessness, etc are not "real" and are simply being caused by the lack of drugs in your brain. And remember that the WDs will end and you will feel better. I find it helps me to frequently think about these things. It may be a cliche, but it really does help to take it one day at a time and think "this too shall pass"; "if I can just get through this it will all be worth it and I will be ok".

I would highly recommend - if at all possible - slowly tapering your opioid dose rather than quitting suddenly. There are tons of other things you can take to help with the withdrawal symptoms. If it's at all possible to get help from your doctor and they are understanding and knowledgable about the reality of opiate dependence (or even if they aren't - some help is better than no help), talk to the dr and see what they are willing to prescribe you. If you are going to do it by yourself there are plenty of things you can obtain both illicitly and legally, over-the-counter, online, herbals, supplements, etc, or you can add some of these things to your treatment. There should already be tons of threads here on the subject, including the aforementioned mega-thread, but let us know if you have any specific questions or need help developing a personalized plan.

Anti-depressants can be helpful too, you could always take them just for a while until you are feeling more normal and WDs are over, but they do usually take a while to help.

I think one of the most important things while WD-ing is your mental state. Make a point to remember why you are doing this, think of everything/everyone you love, things that you will be able to do once you're off opioids that make you happy, and distract yourself from the pain and cravings by listening to music, watching movies, reading a good book, etc. Hopefully you have some time off work etc? If you have anyone in your life who is/would be understanding and non-judgmental about what you're going through, talk to them about it and see if they can provide support during your hardest times. Remember how strong and brave you are for doing this, even when you feel weak, fragile and hopeless. Do not beat yourself up about getting into this position in the first place - it was the best choice you had at the time when you were in serious pain.

I wish you the best of luck and I am really proud of you and impressed that you are courageous enough to do this

we used to do special k to combat WDs... just long until i could find a fix that is.

best advice is not drug related- stay strong! think of a life not enslaved to little tablets

Tchort said:

Using the Methadone responsibly as recommended by the AMA/PDR for detoxification purposes could make the WD syndrome more bearable. Start at a dose of Methadone that is equipotent to your normal daily dose of Hydrocodone, and cut it down from there based on the amount of Methadone you have and no longer than a couple weeks of tapering to nothing.

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^This is really important, if you choose to taper off using a longer-acting opioid such as methadone or buprenorphine make sure you don't take it for very long and rapidly taper your dose, otherwise you will just get dependent on the methadone again. The longer you take it the harder it is to get off of it.

But the best thing to do is seek medical advice by a healthcare professional. Even a walk-in doctor could help you come up with a viable plan, or seek the advice of an MMT or BMT provider.

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Very true. Unless you have an excellent reason not to do this, it is hugely helpful to get some help and prescriptions from a doctor. They may not be perfect and lots of them don't fully comprehend how horrible WD is, but it's definitely much better than nothing. Just make sure you make it very clear that your goal is to quickly get off all opioids completely and don't let them talk you into long-term methadone/bupe maintenance. You may still have to do a lot of things on your own to make your WDs more bearable, but it really helps to have a doctor overseeing your WD process.

Thank you everyone!

Thank you for all the kind responses! It really means a lot. I planned to WD in a week a half (best time for it as I don't have anything major to do during that time). I know my use isn't high but I guess I'm scared because of what I went through with methadone. I think I'll stay away from the methadone tablets and try to taper my dose over the next week and then make the plunge. I'm thinking lopermeride, clonopin, ambien and maybe Clonidine. Maybe the lopermeride will be enough on it's own (I just read the lopermeride thread and a lot of people swear by it).
If there are other people who are at or near my level of usage and curious what the WDs are like, I can post a report. In what section of BL would that be most appropriate? I'll also post what measures work best for reliving any symptoms.
I don't have many people I can confide in about this. My family and friends know about my past and would be disappointed and angry to know that I became physically dependant on opiates again. Luckily, I've found all of you wonderful bluelighters! Thank you again and I promise to update when I jump off.