Tapering off hydromorphone - advice needed

[LotusExige]

All,

Long time chronic pain patient who about 2 months ago went through an in-patient detox program to break my physical dependence. It was a tough 5 days but I survived and went about 3 weeks opiate free. Unfortunately my pain came raging back forcing me to go back to taking the hydromorphone again. I started as small as possible but got back up to about 40mg daily IV. Right now I have about 80mg left to use as a taper over the next X days. While I am still in pain I can't get my script refilled for another 10 days so I'm going to have to taper myself back off. That ways always the goal anyway, to be able to take when I needed but then to taper off when I have to.

I'm already stocked up on white grapefruit juice, loperamide (immodium) and am going to stop by my source for kratom extract as that's seemed to help me in the past. Also have some of Colorado's finest weed and some vitamin I/Aleve for general aches/pains. I'm hoping that if I go to a very slow taper down over that time I can minimize the worst of the WDs as I just started a new job and really can't afford to miss a bunch of days the third week I work here.

What other advice do you guys have? Am I screwed either way or can I realistically expect to make it through this without too much hurt. All input is welcome as I have to figure this out one way or another if I want to be able to use these medicines when I really do need them.

Thanks

 

[methamaniac]

Do you get prescribed IV?
I would think first step is to take different method.
I would stock up on smaller opiates for future wds. Maybe talk to doc about break thru meds.
Use them for back up.
As far as sitch you are in now, without telling you to get illegal stuff till your script rolls in I would say kratom and CO's finest should help. Sounds like your on right track.
A heating pad will probably help for injury causing pain. Got any nerve meds?

 

[paranoid android]

It's very very hard to taper off hydromorphone when taken IV or in anyway really. I had a giant hydromorphone addiction up until around new years of last year and i got so bad that i was shooting up 54mg's per shot every 4-6 hours on average and that was just to catch a small rush and maintain. I am also a chronic pain patient and am prescribed morphine for that but dilly became a whole different thing. And no i am not dick sizing here and i would not wish that heavy of a habit on anyone.

Long story short my cheap supply of Dilaudid that i had been getting for fuck all for years got cut off around the same time i ran out about a week early on my Morphine SR script so i didn't even have that to taper with. But i did have lot's of Clonazepam, some Zopiclone to help me sleep, Quetiapine to keep me from going really loopy or from going manic or psychotic as i have bipolar disorder, a few vials of Lorazepam for IV/IM use, a few ampules of Valium and i saved these benzos for IV use when i was really loosing it as well as the anti-spasmodic's Buscopan and Dicycloverine to help the stomach cramps i get real bad during opiate wd. I also had essential OTC drugs such as Dimenhydrinate for nausea and vomiting and dizziness, Promethazine for allergy type symptoms as well as vomiting and to help me sleep, OTC codeine which i CWE'd and a fuckload of Gatorade to stay hydrated. Of course i also had a fuck ton of Weed and Hash to help the overall wd symptoms and keep me sane. Between all that i managed to get through it and not go fucking apeshit. The physical part of withdrawal i can usually manage unless i get a flare up in nerve pain but the psychological part is what tends to make me go running for the nearest opiate for some relief.

Can you get any other opiates or get your doc to switch you to something long acting like Morphine suspended release? I find Morphine to be much better for pain in the long run as it lasts longer and for me atleast actually works orally unlike dilaudid. I don't find Hydromorphone to work very good at all orally and i have eaten the Hydromorph Contins (i usually IVed these which is not healthy on your veins btw instead of the dillies because they have way more hydromorphone in them) and got about as much pain relief as i would from a few Percocets. Snorting works much better, plugging works better still or about the same as snorting and of course IV works the best and packs a fuck of a rush. Unfortunately it's also pretty much the crack of opiates as you are just using it for the rush so you keep using it as often as you can.

If you have to taper with IV dilaudid try and use the smallest dose without going into wd and try and lower your dose every few days. Space out your doses as much as you can as well.

The bad thing about hydromorphone withdrawal is that it hits really fast and intense. The good thing about hydromorphone wd is that compared to say morphine the withdrawals are fairly short generally lasting no more then 5 days as opposed to 7 days or longer with morphine.

 

[Allein]

Hi Lotus

I was only wondering how you were getting on the other day, sounds like ypur still fighting the good fight.

I've just CTd off a modest (60-90mg) morphine script I've been taking opiate apin killers following a motorcycle accident for more than 2 and a 1/2 years but managed to keep the dosing relatively low.

I had a fairly big op in October which seems to have resolved the ongoign issue with the reconstruction they did on my low left leg, the knee joint is a bit rough but the alignment is much improved and my pain has at last eased. It's been 48hrs and I've really not suffered badly, I've been suffering from insomnia for many years so have various ways of coping with that and I'm off work which i useful.

Can you switch to something that is easier to taper down on, I found SR Morphine didnt trigger much addict behaviour as the onset was so slow but the duration was 12hrs. I'm keen not to end up on them again, the last operations aftercare revealed I'm building a tolerance to this stuff so it would be easy to escalate the dosing.

Keep in touch and PM me anytime, we can chat oil and petrol related stuff at the very least

 

[Kitty k]

Replace the "poison" with nutrition!

I had to do the same...twice... and was god awful the first time, but you're on the right track with vitamins and whatnot.. but something you should be concerned about is seizures. As a chronic pain sufferer as well I had gabapentin and topamax on hand, which were supposed to relieve my nerve pain but are also anti convulsants.. so I took that and it seemed to help ease a lot of pain or withdrawal symptoms, without being an actual addictive substance. Also try the supplement 5-HTP. It doesn't negatively affect many other medications that I checked... assuming you and I are on similar things and having similar problems... but double check on another site to be sure! There is also another supplement that will help with the leg twitches and convulsions but I can't recall it off the top of my head right now... it's L-something...

Definitely stop using IV if possible... toot if you need quick absorption.. but realistically, you really should take it as prescribed.. that will help break the mental part of the addiction as well as the physical.

I used to cut them up into quarter pieces ahead of time to reduce the urge to take more... also if you have somebody in your life that you can give the pills to told on to, that will make it less accessible.. or what I did was divide them up into other bottles, put it in a little locker (5 Below has just the thing)... that way they weren't visible, thus... less accessible.

Somewhere I read that you shouldn't take imodium because you want to expel the toxins not keep them in. Your body is a self healing machine and does these things for a reason... instead try drinking a lot of water, or juice... tea.. etc.. staying hydrated is the most important part... because you're probably not going to feel like eating! (Instant lunch soup was my best friend during the whole time..hehe..)

Basically you just need to do anything to keep your body healthy during this time... you have to get the toxins out and replace it with good things. Definitely do not use one of those detox kits or some crazy detox program you read about online...

also exercise is important. You're not going to FEEL like doing that.. but even if you just do little things just to get your blood flowing. What I would do was just do things like leg lifts or light weights to work your arms... (stuff that you can do from bed...lol.. because that's probably the only place you are going to want to be..) just something so that you keep yourself moving and motivated.

meditation is also great... you can find a lot of good guided meditations on YouTube...

that's all I can think about for now, but feel free to reach out if you have anymore questions at I'll repost if I think of anything else I realize this post is a little old but I'm curious to know how you're doing and if you still need this advice or not... regardless, it's good advice for anybody reading this...

good luck and be well!

Oh yeah, one thing that helped me break the mental addiction part is really 'feeling' your pain. Try and focus and think... "am I actually IN pain? Or can this next one wait?" That's a hard one...but mindfulness and mental strength will be your best asset!

 

[PhillyDilly]

I have a legit spot I can refer to anyone lookin to score the Dillys. Im a newbie to BL so Idk exactly how to do that. But anyone who is interested just let me know the best way.

 

[PhillyDilly]

I have been on Opana Er for long acting & Oxycodone 30s for short acting for about the last 4 years & suddenly this month My PM Doc decides to changes My short acting to Dilaudid. He started off with 4mg & said if it didn't feel effective to double up on them & come back in 2 weeks. Anyway I was insufilating the 4mg & didnt seem to get any real pain relief or buzz @ all. So I just went back & he gave Me the 8mg. And again not overly impressed! But after reading alot about them everyone seemed to sau that IVing them was the best method for relief as well as a nice rush. So after debating it in My mind I decided to give itt a try even tho im extremely skittish when it comes to needles. Bottom line is I just tried it for the 1st time & all I can say is Wow! I can not believe the rush that u get from this method. I had a tingle up My spine & My ears & eyebrows are still tingling! But I must admit that om scared bcuz I dont wanna have to do this everyday but after that experience, snorting them just seems like a total Waste! So now im stuck in a PM Dilemna! Plus I hav to hide this from My Wife bcuz She would completely flip if She were to find out! I almoat wish that I never tried it. But half of Me cant wait till the next shot! Smdh... What did I just get Myself inro? Wtf.. Any advice?