Long term oxycodone user just forcibly switched to hydrocodone ... am I withdrawing?

[Julianspinefusion]

So I?ve been on pain meds 10 years. Most recently oxy for 4. 10x6 10/325 daily. Well, I got surgery coming up (again) next month because my back Is so bad. For 10 years I was able to stick to what the doctor prescribed. Not anymore. Excruciating pain that makes me want to call 911. So I took more and more Percocet than what was given to me this past 2+ months. Wel, now I?m at the point where I?m out for 10 days and all I have is hydrocodone. I?ve taken 5 today. I thought I wouldn?t be going through withdrawal because they?re similar meds. Wel, my anxiety has been spiking and my blood pressure and heart rate has too. I?ve been taking more Xanax today for this to keep it under control. Question is, am I going through some sort of physical withdrawal or is this all mental? Need someone well versed in this to help me. Going crazy. Thanks

 

[Msondrayah]

I've been a chronic pain pt for 11 years so I can only speak from my own experiences. Often times, the pain became so bad that I would double or triple dose the allotted meds given to me and also be short and need to wait for a refill. Besides the increased pain from not having meds I would also experience sleepless nights, diarrhea, anxiety and irritability. I am both mentally and physically addicted. The mental aspect will last about 3-7 days after my last dose of narcotics. That urge to dose because it's available to you is what I'm referring to. It's comparable to wanting a cigarette in my opinion. The physical aspect of lack of meds made me find alternatives to deal with those symptoms: large doses of NyQuil, antihistamines, Pepto Bismol etc.

You sound like you're experiencing both. I'm not a doctor, but that's what I would assume. You're trying to dose with vicodin when your body wants percocet. They're very different. That could be why you're not noticing a huge difference when substituting one for the other.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Hydrocodone is slightly weaker than oxy so yeah if you take an equal quantity of hydrocodone you will be withdrawaling. Hydrocodone should quell your withdrawals but you will need more than what you would normally take in oxy.

 

[Hezman94]

you still get withdrawals switching opiates drs know nothing tried to switch me from oxy to codeine which i wouldnt anyway imagine that 30mg oxycodone to 240mg codeine a day no way jose.
but the good thing about oxy and hydro is both great bioavabilities and i think they have similar highs I never tried hydro though, you should start feeling better physically in 3days my uncle switched from oxy to morphine and they didnt do the dose right and he felt like shit and on 3rd day was able to function.
I had a bad morphine withdrawal switching from 120mg morphine to oxy even though I was high on the oxys I still had mad back pain and anxiety for 2 weeks was on morphine for 2 years straight.