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Opioids coming off oxycodone

outoftown

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
67
Hi - not sure if this is the correct place to post or not.

I'm about to come off percocet/oxycodone for good. I've been taking it for pain over the last 15 months...gradually increasing in dose. I've been taking it daily for about 12 months...and for the last 5 months I've been taking 90mg a day. 30mg in the morning, 30mg in the afternoon and 30mg at night. Combination of oxycodone pills and percocet. So my acetaminophen hasnt been high at all - they are 325mg so maybe 1300-1600mg a day over that span.

I've been taking these for pain mostly...however, anyone thats taken them would understand that you cant help but feel more than that from them and its enjoyable. Ive quit pain meds cold turkey before a few years ago - that was much lower though (around 30mg a day and for only 6 months).

I do have a prescription for clonodine so that should help with the physical symptoms right?

I'm going to see my doctor soon and i'm going to request that he taper me off (this is my idea to get off them not his). not sure what he'll give me. Maybe percocet 7.5 or 5's? Not sure how long he'll do it. Its better to do it that way right...as opposed to just stopping 90mg a day cold turkey?

The clonodine helps with the physical symptoms...but what about mental? Anyone know if it helps with that or anything does? I'm kinda going through a rough time in my life anyway and dealing with some depression...taking the pain medication has relieved that over the last few months...i'm scared whats going to happen. any advice?
 
clonodine is a blood pressure med but docs usually give it to opiate addicts detoxing. Clonodine will help with withdrawal symptoms but dont think at all that youll be able to go about your day like nothing is going on. it's going to make it a little less hurtful than it would have been quitting completely cold turkey. i honestly hate the withdrawal and would avoid it and try to make it as easy as you can on yourself. Possibly look into Suboxone which im sure you've heard and know about. If thats not an option for you then i would go with the percocet idea with tapering off. On another note if youre dealing with depression, withdrawals are gonna make it a hell of a lot worse. You should seriously consider Suboxone. Even though suboxone isnt used to cure depression, it sure is mood lifting and can help you with your depression while helping you to stay opiate free without withdrawal
 
Would it be odd or weird for me to request suboxone when I see the doctor? Is that something commonly prescribed for getting off opiates?

My goal is to get off oxycodone as painless as possible...no matter how long it takes. I'm not sure tapering that way with percocet would even help a lot...would going from 90mg a day to 30mg even relieve withdrawal at all? Is that way too big of a jump down?
 
Absolutely not, its not odd or weird at all. It's a very common way to come off opiates actually and I'm actually on it as well haha. Depending on what certification your doctor has he may not be able to prescribe you Suboxone, but im sure he can help recommend a Sub doctor. Suboxone is painless and usually its dosed once a day and you go about your day. I would honestly check the suboxone route out instead of tapering off using just opiates given what youre saying to me. You'll be surprised how you'll feel great once on suboxone.
 
My doctor is a regular pain management doctor...so that sounds like he would be able to prescribe that. So no matter what your dose of opiates...you take 1 suboxone each day and it holds off withdrawal? do you "feel" it? i've never taken it and honestly dont know much about it. I have a good relationship with him so I'll bring that up when I see him tomorrow. thanks a lot for your help!
 
Great idea and im glad i can be of help! Your doctor will help you with the dose and how much to take. I'm guessing you'd be recommended to taking 1 8mg Suboxone strip a day and you'll be all set. he might tell you to take two a day but honestly i dont think youll need to. Just remember Suboxone is a process and you cant stop out of no where, it requires tapering off of it but at least youll have guidance along the way. As far as "feeling" it, i think you will. I feel it everyday i take it and it usually starts becoming noticeable an hour after taking it (Sublingually im talking about). And as ive state before you seem like you could use this right now given the depression adding with it. Stopping cold turkey given your circumstance will most likely make things worse. Good luck though!
 
Yea I dont wanna stop cold turkey at all...I did that a few years ago and I got through it but it was a rough 3 or 4 days. And I didnt have the depression and axiety stuff going on then. My depression right now alone is creating anxiety knowing that I'm going to change my lifestyle in a few days.

anyway - I'll suggest this and hopefully go on suboxone. sounds like a good method for me right now. thanks again!
 
90mg to 30mg is a pretty big jump and is probally gonna be unpleasant.. Id try and drop in 10mg doses every week
 
Suboxone prescribing requires a certain certification so just because your doctor is in pain mgmt. doesn't mean he can prescribe it.
Though the certification is easy to get not all doctors will have it. Though you can find doctors in your area that do online.

However, I'm posting as I just wanted to give you a very different perspective than kidnapster.
I wanted to give you the opposite perspective on Suboxone. As it has it's downsides as well.
Suboxone (Buprenorphine) is much much stronger than Oxycodone. With your tolerance levels you could likely fend off sickness
with as little as .5mg. When my tolerance was at that level very low doses of Suboxone would hold me fine.
The question is what it is your trying to accomplish that will influence your decision.

Basically it comes down to what you are looking to do. If you are looking to get off the opiates with your tolerance level
you'd be better off just tapering or straight jumping than going with suboxone unless it was for a very short taper.

Now if your looking for maintenance & plan on being on opiates long term suboxone could be a good choice.
It's just that Suboxone being a stronger & longer lasting opiate will likely create a stronger dependency than your current one.
If you went the Suboxone route especially at doses as high as 8mg or more your tolerance would likely increase.
As such getting off the Suboxone would likely be more difficult than coming off your current dependency.
The withdrawals coming off Suboxone could possibly be considerably worse & would definitively be longer lasting.

Tapering your dosage & then jumping is possibly your best option. It appears you have a good relationship with your doctor.
He could easily prescribe you the appropriate dosages to taper comfortably if you so chose.
Personally I find that route a lot less painful than going with suboxone unless it's a short suboxone taper.
Coming off Suboxone maintenance can be quite unpleasant depending on the person.
Also as previously stated it can raise one's tolerance exponentially.

Just my 2 cents as I've had plenty of experience with opiates, withdrawals & suboxone, etc. & wanted you to know the downsides as well.
Please take the potential downsides into consideration before jumping into anything.
I'd just hate to see more people as I've seen enough get sucked further into opiate dependency by using suboxone for minor dependencies.
Regardless please get more information & think hard about your decision before making it.

For a lot more information & a great discussion regarding Suboxone check out the following.

Suboxone-Buprenorphine-Mega-Thread-and-FAQ-v13.0

That thread has a wealth of great information regarding suboxone & is a great place to post any questions regarding it.

I hope you find this information helpful & I wish you the best of luck with your situation. :)
 
IndustrialStrength does bring up many valid points about suboxone and how it is. In the end it comes down what you want to come out of all this. 8mg is strong but many sub doctors usually like starting opiates addicts on that dosage anyways to be on the safe side. That's my experience with doctors but that doesn't mean you'll ACTUALLY need that much as IndustrialStrength stated
 
My goal is to get off pain medication permanently...as easy and withdrawal free as possible. I mentioned the depression because I figured that could be something for me to consider with coming off oxycodone.

I dont care if it takes a few months...I want to minimize the withdrawal as much as I can. I'm sure my doctor will help me out. But if there is a chance of suboxone being harder to get off down the road - then thats not probably something I want. Perhaps tapering the percocet dose weekly is the best way to go.
 
Hardest part with deciding about this is I've been through the withdrawal twice before in my life. the last time was harder than the first...and the dose I've been on this time is significantly higher and I've been on it longer than previous times. with everything going on in my life - I wont lie - I am fearful of going through this. Even if it takes me months to drop this down to 20 or 10mg a day...or something. I havent got a clue how to do this without withdrawal symptoms - both previous times I just quit cold turkey and went through the hell for a few days. of course the mental stuff hung on...and i'm afraid of that happening this time as well.

Thanks guys for your help with this! I appreciate it - as I do this site! Its helpful and comforting
 
I see you got some thinking to do. Well but routes are possible and see what your doc thinks about all this too and just mention the suboxone route too so he can compare the two options for you as well.
 
Yea I will think about each option and discuss with the doctor tomorrow. I'll probably just go with his opinion on it. especially since he's the one that would be writing the prescription for whatever I take to get off this stuff haha.

Thanks for your advice!
 
Sounds good. Most of us have been there with opiate withdrawal so I know where you're coming from. The days you're suffering from it seem endless. Good luck with everything!
 
Suboxone can also be prescribed off label for pain, so your doctor may be able to prescribe it even if he is not license to prescribe it for opiate addiction by taking a certain course on it. I have heard of pain management doctors prescribing suboxone for pain, and they weren't approved to prescribe it for opiate addiction.

I have used clonidine for opiate withdrawal before, and it helped with restless legs and sleep, as well as with some anxiety. I think that it comes in 3 strengths (.1, .2, .3) and took .3 at night.
 
I think that you should take suboxone for a week at most and stop everything. If you feel like you might still be tempted to use then i would suggest the bupe maintenance program(suboxone's main ingredient is bupe). Theres no reason to drag this out for months. Even though you do have a habit, it is not that serious and people with habits 5 times that bad wont drag the taper/detox for months.
 
I think that you should take suboxone for a week at most and stop everything. If you feel like you might still be tempted to use then i would suggest the bupe maintenance program(suboxone's main ingredient is bupe). Theres no reason to drag this out for months. Even though you do have a habit, it is not that serious and people with habits 5 times that bad wont drag the taper/detox for months.

While I agree that a 4 day detox is best for some people, and certainly enough to make the withdrawal relatively painless, some people are better off with a longer taper.

Some people are better off being on suboxone for a longer period of time, allowing them to get their life back in order before stopping. It is very easy to relapse if you just detox quickly, and have not yet made positive changes in your life. Taking suboxone during this time will help with the cravings as well as blocking other opiates, so it's one less thing to worry about while they get their life on track.

These are things to consider when deciding between a quick taper, and a prolonged taper.
 
In all honesty man, I think you would be better off just tapering your oxycodone down, until you're ready to jump. In my experience, it's a lot easier to come off of a short acting opiate, as opposed to one with a long half life. IE: suboxone.

You said you want to make it as painless as possible, and don't mind if it takes you a few months. If that's the case, I would definitely talk to your doctor about dropping you either 5 or 10 milligrams a week. Or biweekly, if he felt comfortable enough prescribing you that way, instead of writing the script for the whole 30 days. I honestly think suboxone isn't the right route for you, given your dosages, and everything that was previously pointed out.

If you legitimately need the pain medication though, may I ask why you're wanting to come off of them? Either way though man, good luck & keep us updated.
 
^ I have had success tapering with oxycodone. Once I get down to 10-20mgs, I start alternating days, and then I go every other day at 10mgs, then every 3 days, then I stop. I have also had success tapering with suboxone though, so either way can work.
 
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