Oxycodone Reduction + Profuse Night Sweating & WithDrawal Help!!

[abyss5150]

ALCON:
I'm attempting to quit Oxycodone (30mg IR) which has been prescribed by my doctor since 2010. I've been taking anywhere from 120mg-240mg per day for the entire time. I've finally come to realize that this drug is doing more harm to my body (me personally) than anything. I want/need to quit, but I'm deathly afraid of the WithDrawals! Over the past several weeks, I have been attempting to reduced my dosage to 1/2 a pill (15mg IR) 1-2 times a day. I have been experiencing profuse night sweating and early signs of withdrawal to include zero energy, zero appetite, trouble sleeping, constipation, etc.. I have went a few days now with only taking 1/2 a pill twice a day. This is a huge step for me, but I want to get completely off of these things. I am polling the forum to get suggestions on what I should do next. At 15mg-30mg per day, what kinda danger am I in if I attempt to quit cold-turkey at this point? Should I continue with reduction? It is difficult at this point to remain at such a low dose and I have been tempted and HAVE taken 2-3 pills bc my mind won't stop thinking about "getting high". I can't seem to shake this shit. I'm dependent for sure and it really bothers me. At night I am sweating like a pig and I feel absolutely helpless. It's been a struggle just to get to this point. Any assistance and/or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Keif' Richards]

You could always try titrating a little bit more slowly. If you have the time and the resources, there's no point in torturing yourself with a particularly painful withdrawal. If your prescriber is still on board. On that note, you're probably not in any realy danger if you quit abruptly. Opioid withdrawal is only seriously harmful in extreme circumstances.

At any rate, I would not stop cold turkey at this point. Have you discussed options with your prescriber for some medication that would help with some of the withdrawal symptoms, for instance Gabapenin (Neurontin), Pregabalin (Lyrica), Clonidine etc? Theres' a lot of non-Opioid medication out there that is easily obtained and can make a huge difference in your level of discomfort.

 

[Relapz]

You know a taper to get off opiates is a great plan in theory. And props to anyone who has the self control to follow it, but in my experience the only way to get off of opiates is medical detoxification. I simply don't have the control to lower my dose and stick to my word. Best of luck, know it can be done. I kicked a 200 mg oxy habit cold turkey. It was 7 days of pure hell, but after that I returned. I thought the feeling would never end, but it did and I got better

 

[chelle216]

I wish you all the best with your taper. Try not to get discouraged; believing in yourself that you can accomplish this makes all the difference in tapering.
In terms of meds that can help with sweating in particular, glycopyrrolate, clonidine, and (as I've recently learned) diphenoxylate/atropine can help in this regard. You mention being constipated, so diphenoxylate/atropine could potentially worsen that as its used primarily for diarrhea.

As far as any danger, I think relapse is the one that really sticks out. It's usually severe, life-threatening dehydration brought about by non-stop vomiting and diarrhea that causes problems.

 

[Crack'r]

I can see why you are miserable. Were you taking 30 mg at a time 4-8 times a day? Or taking more at one time?

I'm in the process of getting off 400-600 mg of oxycodone a day that was plugged which seems at least twice as strong than when taken orally. I think those numbers could be doubled or tripled for an equivalent oral dose. I was taking around 120 mg at a time usually 4-6 times a day.

I'm now down to a 4 mg dilaudid 3 times a day, still plugged because the oral bioavailability of dilaudid is very low. So again that is probably closer to a 12mg oral dose. Maybe more. Every time I try to take more orally I just don't get the little bit of relief I'm getting my normal way. It just seems to make things a bit more difficult for me.

Do you still have pain? Because that's what makes stopping completely hard for me. But what I did was reduce the amount I was taking at a time but kept up the frequency. I tried to reduce the amount 20-30% at a time. In the past I waited 3-4 days before dropping again but this time I was able to drop many times after just one day which let me decrease very quickly though I'm not sure why my body tolerated that. There were a couple points where if I tried to reduce more I just felt terrible so I would stay at the dose I was at for a week or even 2 depending on what I had going on. During this I had to even increase the frequency to 7-8 times a day to tolerate the reduction and not be completely miserable. I eventually got down to a 4 mg dilaudid 7-8 times a day. At this point I figured I was taking so much less that I quit from there. I got thru about 4 days which is typically the worst part before I couldn't take my pain anymore and started taking a 4 mg dilaudid twice a day to help with pain. The problem with dilaudid is that it is so short acting that I was going into withdrawals during the middle of the day so I added a third which is where I'm at.

Even taking those 2-3 pills a day I still had what I assume was PAWS and extreme agitation for almost 3 weeks before getting better. I think the reduction in frequency is why I still got the PAWS because the level in my body gets really low before I take the next and before I was basically taking every 2 hours so there was a more constant level to appease my brain and body.

Anyways, if I had to deal with just the withdrawals or just the pain I'm almost positive I could stop completely. But having to deal with both is just too much. But I do plan on trying to stop again in a week or two after the holiday and my birthday.

Also, trying to split pills to taper is just too hard. I take a syringe with a cap and with a 30mg pill would put it in the syringe and then add say 10 ml of water and let it dissolve. Then you know each ml has 3 mg of meds in it. This makes it much easier to get an accurate taper with a pill.

If it were me and you feel really bad I would add another dose or 2 but at a lower level so your plasma levels don't get so low in between and start going into withdrawals. Then taper the amount down. That or just stop and deal with it for 3-4 days and then it should start getting better. But I bet you get some PAWS like symptoms which is more mental as your brain gets used to not having opiates and starts making chemicals on it's own again. It's not fun but it's not really painful and debilitating like withdrawals are. But if you are putting your body into withdrawals twice a day you are just prolonging the pain. Either stop or take less more often so you don't feel so bad and can get to a lower amount before stopping. But I bet stopping isn't much worse than what you are experiencing now, it will just last a few days and then start getting better.

Good luck and ask questions if you need to.

 

[Crack'r]

Also, there are things you can do to make getting thru the withdrawals not as bad. There are many threads on it but many use prescription meds that you might not be able to get.

Some of the big ones are using loperamide (Immodium) to not only prevent diarrhea but to lessen withdrawal pains. There are quite a few threads on it but basically you take 10-16 mg once a day.

A hot soak in a bath with epsom salt can help your legs with restless leg syndrome. And just a shower occasionally can make you feel a little more human after laying in bed all day.

As soon as you are able try to start doing some type of exercise. At first it will probably just be an easy walk. But this is what makes me start feeling better mentally. Exercise can stimulate the production of endorphins which is your body's natural pain killer. It also takes a while for your head to get right and for me this seems to speed up the process. The longer you can go and the more intense, the better I feel personally but I do have to start really easy and work my way into it. Plus exercise is just good for you assuming you are capable.

Benadryl can help you sleep if you don't have access to benzos. And Dramamine can help with nausea.

I also like to get some songs that I find motivational and pump me up and will put them on a loop and just get lost in it and try not to think about how crappy I feel. Pot also helps me not think about it even though I'm not a big fan of it. This last time I even had 2-3 drinks to help self medicate thru bad parts but I wouldn't drink more than that and you may not tolerate it at all. I did this up to twice a day since a couple drinks doesn't last real long and also helps make you a bit sleepy. And for me a 5 hour energy helps when you are completely drained and have no energy but want to do something. They also have some good vitamins in them.

I'm probably forgetting some stuff and will add anything I remember. But just know it is all mental. You can do anything if you want it bad enough. Millions of people have gone thru it and I kind of look at it as earning your freedom from opiates.

Again, good luck!

 

[placid space]

Youve made too much of a big deal of it in your head. Youre not helpless and its not that awful. Or at least, doesnt need to be. Just as you went up, you can go down, albeit, slightly faster. You can of course jump off here but I never really saw the benefit of torturing oneself, so I would at least continue to taper down with a small dose before sleep. No need to lay there in your sweat. The biggest problem is discipline like someone above said. And then managing to lower to almost nothing. I can understand you mind wants to get high but if youve come this far, which congrats for sure, you can easily go from 30 slowly down to 5 or so in a span of 10 days and then jump off comfortably. Here and there maybe take a tiny bit for sleeping. Forcing oneself to be sober is not always the best thing, if it comes in a more organic, understanding manner its much more stable and durable sobriety. Just keep on going down with the doses, only use for sleeping until youre down to a low number when it wont be anything.

 

[aplumgirl]

Agree, slow is best.

 

[SpongeCake]

Like others have said: if you have the determination and will power, slowly taper down your dosage - do not just stop cold turkey! Everyone is different... I understand that... and a lot of people argue "why taper down? still going to have withdrawals, why not just go in to it full steam ahead and waste time?" but to me that just sounds ridiculous. Yes, you are going to have to go through withdrawals. But what's better? Going cold turkey from a 200mg addiction - OR - tapering down as low as you can go (let's say you're able to get yourself down to as low as like 30mg per day) and then stop? Yeah, I'll take the taper method 10 out of 10 times.

But aside from that what I highly suggest is talking with your doctor and TELL HIM you want to start to come off of them. If you don't have the will power to do it yourself, that is. By telling him this he will inevitably lower your prescriptions little by little, thereby "forcing you" to taper down. But that's up to you. Another thing I suggest is once you do get to the point where you want to stop - tapering down or just flat out stopping - I suggest getting a lot of vitamins and taking them several days before you stop, and then continue to take them throughout the withdrawal period. There are many "withdrawal aid" vitamin combinations out there (I personally used/am using Calm Support, among some other vitamins). Also a good thing for withdrawals - and what I consider to be a GOD SEND - is Kratom. If you don't know what Kratom is, simple search the forums and do some Googling. I myself tapered down over the course of a couple months and then "went cold turkey" on my own and with the use of Kratom, Calm Support, and some other vitamins, I had virtually no withdrawals (other than maybe the cold sweats once in a while). It's currently day #9 that I stopped taking any of my Dilaudid & Vicoprofen, and day #3 that I've been off Kratom. Other than irritating RLS at night time (not the pain "I want to claw my skin off" kind, but the annoying kind that prevents you from laying still) I'm pretty much over most of any withdrawal symptoms.

So trust us when we say: it can be done. You just have to do some research, talk to your doctor, and have a lot of will power. It'll take time - but as cliche as it sounds, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel!

P.S. - If you wanted to see what I meant when referring to my own personal detox, check http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/799069-Day-8-Still-Slight-Withdrawal-Symptoms . It's not a guide or a manual, but it might give you some ideas for what might work for you. Best of luck!

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

Being able to taper while still possessing meds is more than half the battle. If you can maintain that kind of willpower you have come further than alot of people before you. If you start to hit that point of critical mass where your willpower begins to fade and slipping is eminent, a confidant or someone that can Responsibly hold your meds might help. Obviously this person would have to be let in on what's going on but if it's the difference between making it to the end of the tunnel and back into the light or slipping back into the dark, I choose a helping hand. Granted you might not have a person in your life that qualifies for this job, but if you do they can be invaluable. I don't claim this to be the best way of kicking but it was effective for me getting off Oxy 30's after 7 years. I would see my good (RESPONSIBLE) buddy every day or other day and he would drop off 3 pills then 2 1/2 then 2 ,etc. Sometimes I would yell and whine but he never wavered and that was contagious. He was my sponsor for 3 weeks and now I consider him family. Anyway you are probably squeaky clean by now but if not, two heads can sometimes prevail. If you begin to come off the rails a conversation with your doc will end the supply of meds but will also curb the flexibility of planning the taper that works best for you.

When you do make it, there is nothing quite so empowering as telling your doc you decided to quit on your own.

 

[Crack'r]

I have had someone do that for me. My problem is I also had pain and sometimes I took it and it did nothing to help and I would be tempted to take more. So I planned out my taper for the week, put it in a daily pill box that has a compartment for each day of the week, and then have it to my girl and she would leave them for me each morning. You can still be tempted but knowing you won't have any for the end of the day was enough to stop me. My parents also live right down the street and if I got to where I couldn't control myself I was going to give her times I could have it so I would have to wait for the next time but never had to do that.

I also found it a lot easier to reduce the dose but not the frequency. Because I took it about 4 times a day it hurt a lot more to go longer than it did to take a bit less. I even upped the frequency some as long as I was reducing the dose and headed the right direction. It made it easier for me personally that way but I had some pain to deal with in addition to a lower dose.

If you want to quit you have to be ready to not get high anymore. If you taper you won't be getting high but that's the point. But it won't hurt nearly as bad when you do jump off if you are at a much lower daily amount and it will help keep you more sane while tapering if you have used a long time. Because you will also likely have PAWS for a while as your brain adjusts to being sober.

Just what helped me when I did it.