Detoxing Off 600 Mg Oxycodone Per Day

[Sweet Jane]

I have to detox. I am prescribed 240/30 mg oxycodone pills per month. For a long time, this amount was more than sufficient. I read my journal from two years ago where I was never taking more than 140 mg a day, even though I was prescribed 240. And this was for months on end. I gave much of my oxy away. I was quite popular with my 'friends,' as you can imagine.

Things changed when I had major abdominal surgery in February 2014. My surgeon upped my dosage to 3 or 4/30 mg oxy every four hours, instead of the 1-2/30 mg oxys every four hours (not to exceed 8 per day) that my doctor had me on. I was on the increased dosage for six weeks, and my tolerance went through the roof. Now, 1-2 oxys do nothing. I'm now doing between 500-600 mg of oxy a day for about a year, No shooting or anything but oral use. I've been buying oxy when I run out, but it is ridiculously expensive (those folks who benefited from getting my extras for so long, don't cut me any price breaks!).

Anyway, because the oxys are so expensive to replace, I end up doing liquid morphine, which is much cheaper and lasts longer, for the last week, week and a half of the month. The problem is that, even though I don't get "high" from the morphine, it is so strong that I don't get a break when I refill my oxy. I still have to take large amounts for it to be effective. So, this time, I decided I'm not going to take anything strong for the W/D. I've got a fair amount of 5 mg opana and am hoping to get some norco. I also have endless amounts of valium, soma, and Klonopin.

I figured I'd used the opana and other to taper/withdraw for a week. Starting today, I'm doing the equivalent of one 30 mg oxy, three times a day a with the opana. I also take a valium, a klonopin and a soma with the opana, which tends to knock me out. The opana alone gives me about three hours of relief, and I can drive and take care of stuff during that time. My goal is to use the drugs I have to taper for a week, then go cold turkey for a week, then pick up my next script and hope that 1/30 mg oxy does what it used to do for me.

The only problem with all this is that my mother has cancer and will need rides to pre-op this week, and to surgery next week. This week should be okay. I can use the three 5 mg opana (15 mg opana = 1 30 mg oxycodone) to drive her to her presurgery appointments without too much stress. If I have to, I will use the equivalent of two 30 mg oxycodone = six 5 mg opana to get her to her appts. I will not use the valium, soma, or kpn when I have to drive. The opana, at this dosage, should be enough to keep me out of total withdrawal when I have to be. Except, I don't want to have to start up my withdrawal again every time I have to take 6 five mg opanas to drive her around. And, I'm worried that I'll be too sick next week to get to her to surgery if I cut out the opana entirely. Which leaves me with the choice of a prolonged off and on withdrawal process that's not going to do much to drive my tolerance down to where it needs to be -- total bliss at 30-60 mg of oxycodone. Still, it's got to leave me with a lower tolerance than that damned liquid morphine, right?
Any other suggestions? Please note that, yes, I know now that I have experienced it, my tolerance is going to race back up, even if I manage to bring it down temporarily. I am going back to work, so my plan is to take less than the 8 per day (maybe four per day?) the four days I am working, and let myself go a little crazy the three days off.

I am in great back pain at 4 oxy per day, but as long as I can manage during the day, I can knock myself out at night with my other meds.

Comments? Suggestions?

ETA: It's already getting bad. Took last oxy at 10:30 PM last night. Woke up covered in sweat, really, like someone had poured a bucket of water over me. Took the equivalent of a 30 mg oxy with three 5 mg opana. was able to function, drive,etc, every well. Took opana again, with 1 valium, 1Kpn, 1 soma, about 3-4 hours later. Dozed for several hours. That was five hours ago. Need opana now -- Horrible diarrhea, although I don't hurt too badly elsewhere yet. Just a matter a time, I know.

 

[neversickanymore]

Hey Jane..

You can do this. 4 Real. I kicked a large habit like yours.

Do you have access to medication to taper or are you going to just jump?

I would seriously consider dropping the muscle relaxers while you detox and work through any Paws. Many of "muscle relaxers" common effects can intensify negative withdrawal symptoms like fatigue and lowered cognitive ability. You have little to no chance of sleep for a few days. With the size of your habit you may also have severely limited sleep for months. I think kinda rolling with the no sleep is much better than stacking on a whole bunch of meds to try and sleep. When I tried this I just ended up spun and I woke up and feeling rough. I found I felt much better in the morning with very little sleep and no meds, then I felt with some sleep and a ton of meds on board.

Speaking of meds
medications for acute opiate detox

The medications I would explore the use of for detox would be:
>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..

one of either
>NEURONTIN< >HERE< >HERE< >here<
OR >Lyrica<
OR >phenibut<

>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol
Senokot S is a stool softener and laxative. If you do not want the laxative you can go for strait stool softenerDioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.

(Opi Withdrawal) what is the best comfort meds for opiate w/d?

Your Personal Opiate Withdrawal Arsenal

 

[Carl Landrover]

One of the problems you're going to have is that even if you do cold turkey for a week after tapering a bit, and even if your tolerance goes down far enough to feel one 30mg oxy again, it'll be at the level for a day max, especially if only a week between using. Tolerance very quickly comes back and rises back to the level it was last at. It can get very low after taking time off, which is how a lot of people end up ODing, but it goes all the way back up in a couple of days.

 

[Sweet Jane]

ETA:Doublepost

 

[Sweet Jane]

One of the problems you're going to have is that even if you do cold turkey for a weak after tapering a bit, and even if your tolerance goes down far enough to feel one 30mg oxy again, it'll be at the level for a day max, especially if only a week between using. Tolerance very quickly comes back and rises back to the level it was last at. It can get very low after taking time off, which is how a lot of people end up ODing, but it goes all the way back up in a couple of days.

This, quite frankly, is my biggest fear. Is this a problem even though, as I explained, when I resume taking my regular dose, I'll actually be partially detoxing on an ongoing basis, as I won't be able to take more than three or four per day the four days per week I'm working? I know how quickly my tolerance more than doubled, so this is not something I'm taking lightly. I mean really, 140 mg a day for almost two years and just six weeks of 400-500 mg per day and I can't function on 240 mg per day any more?

That sucks. It really does. It does seem it should work the opposite way too, though I know it doesn't. I just don't understand how I could go so long without any tolerance issues, and then not be able to return to that state after the worst of the surgical pain is over. God, I remember when one 20 mg would start erasing the pain in my back immediately, and you could literally set your clock by it -- 20 minutes later, you were in heaven. No more pain! Not all messed up mentally! Able to function! In retrospect, it probably was too good to be true but it was crazy good the first two years.

Neversick -- thanks for the advice. I typically sleep extremely well the first week or so my oxy consumption goes down (I don't sleep much on 600 mg of oxy a day, as you can imagine). Then the horrible insomnia begins. Right now, I'm sleeping 20 hours at a time with all my meds. Way too much, but I know, I'll have the drug-withdrawal insomnia soon enough and none of my meds will work for a week or so. Just something I know to expect. I don't really have sources for the drugs you suggest. My doctor trusts me and will give me pretty much anything I ask for -- except more than 8/30 mg oxy a day! Basically she opens herself up to an audit with anything more than that -- but, I can't ask her for a drug if I don't know why I'm asking.

I'm pretty sure she knows I'm over-medicating, but not the extent. She has the dosage set up so that the computer will fill, and my insurance will cover, a refill every 20 days. And I take small advantage of that by getting my scripts every 26 or 27 days. Last month I got it at the 3 week mark, and -- so far -- she doesn't count days before refilling. As long as I tell her I've talked to my pharmacist and he says it's good to go, she'll refill (and my pharmacist also knows what's going on, I think, but he is strictly professional about answering only the questions I ask. In fact, he was the one who told me I could technically refill every 20 days).

Thanks so much for the advice. Much appreciated.

 

[Sweet Jane]

Not really feeling a lot of w/d symptoms. Feeling a little achy, no appetite, mentally blurry, but that's it. And I'm fully on Day Two of w/d. I thought I'd be in hell by now. Is the little bit of opana I'm taking really working that well to ward off the symptoms? Am I going to go through complete hell once I stop the opana entirely? I really thought it would be much worse than this. This is mostly boredom -- you know how everything is fascinating when you are high on oxy? I'm learning the converse is true. Nothing is really all that interesting when you're not on oxy. I'm a runner and I feel like I need to run but my back hurts so badly I know I can't. I'd have to take 3 opana before and 3 opana right after to be able to run without my back killing me, and even that might not do it. I'm accustomed to taking one or two oxy before running and three or four when I'm done. Hey, it lets me run, and I need to run to feel okay. It's not negotiable.

Anyway, am I going to wake up ambushed in a day or so? I thought I was going to have the diarrhea bit but even that didn't last more than a couple hours. I should note that I regularly drink a gallon or more of water a day. Could that be having an effect?

 

[Carl Landrover]

It would probably involve you partially WDing for a period while your body adjusts, but I think you could get used to being on lower doses again. Obviously the lower the dose and the quicker you try to do it the more uncomfortable it'll be.

 

[Sweet Jane]

It would probably involve you partially WDing for a period while your body adjusts, but I think you could get used to being on lower doses again. Obviously the lower the dose and the quicker you try to do it the more uncomfortable it'll be.

Thanks. That makes sense. I think that I'll take the opana for only five days instead of seven -- and to answer my own question, yeah, it's keeping me out of full on withdrawal. I take it every four hours or so when I start to sweat and ache, and within minutes I'm fine. But if I ease off the opana by Saturday, that'll give me four full days to withdraw before having to take my mom into surgery. And my wonderful, sweet, totally cool doctor just ruined my whole schedule by telling me she's going to fill my next script early because September 7th is Labor Day -- a holiday here in the States. So, I get my script filled on the 4th, which means only a week and a half of withdrawal, and only slightly over three weeks since my last fill ... This is what ten years of notes in my medical records that say "refused narcotics" will get you, I guess.

 

[Sweet Jane]

Okay. at this point, I realize I mostly talking to myself, but I am really puzzled. I'm down to two 5 mg opana, twice a day, and I'm not experiencing any major w/d symptoms. The mental part, yeah, the complete lack of appetite,yeah, but nothing else. Granted I'm sleeping alot, but yesterday, I went all day without sleeping until midnight or so. I'm confused. How could I go from 600 mg of oxycodone a day to the equivalent of 40 mg, and not be sick? Not only not sick, but functioning: i.e, taking mom to get appointments, etc. This is all very odd. I was prepared for a week at least of hell, and this is nothing ... I'll probably stop the opana as well in a day or day, and maybe I'll get sick then, but I'm at such a low dose already, I don't see it happening. The pain in my back bothers me more than anything.

Any guesses as to why this has been such a gentle letdown?

 

[neversickanymore]

Many people find withdrawals much less significant with a little opiates on board.

You will experience significant pain increase for a little while, six or seven months, then it will regulate back down.

I really advise you seek gabapentin before you do this. I would titrate up to the max restless legs syndrome dose as listed in the Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia


Your doing great and you have this change in you. Nothing left for you in opiate world but more misery.

In a couple of days you will feel much better. In under a year you will feel amazing.

 

[Kittycat5]

I hope this is not the case but I feel you havent hit the worst yet. I cold turkeyed a 1.5 to 2 year habit of 300-400mg of oxycodone a few years back. Day 1, nothing. Day 2, a bit lethargic but functional. Day 3, all hell broke loose. This is when the typical symptoms of withdrawal kicked in. Diarrhea, mood changes, crippling loss of energy, couldnt eat, couldnt smoke cigs, yawning and the worst runny nose ever (this by far was the worse thing for me). Fortunately, all I wanted to do was sleep, which is abnormal for most, and saved me a lot of agony. Oddly I had no chills or sweats.

I can say, even a little Opana would have been a miracle at this point. Would have defeated the purpose but I would have eaten dirt if I thought it would help. Days 4,5 and 6 were no fun but by day 6 I finally could eat and get out of bed. By day 8 I was back to work, and while not great manageable.

I dont want to scare you but just giving my experience in a very similar situation. I wish you all the best.

 

[Rachella666]

Hi Jane, I've been following your thread as I'm a huge opiate user too. How are you feeling now? XxxRachelxxx

 

[Sweet Jane]

End of day 4, and I've had nothing but two 5 mg opana all day. I'll probably take another 10 mg to sleep tonight, but starting tomorrow I'm dropping down to 5 mg opana in the morning and 5 in the evening. By Saturday, I intend to be off opiates entirely -- that will be one week out from quitting. I want to be off completely before I get my next prescription a week from Friday. And ... nothing, so far. No sweats, no fever, no diarrhea, starting to feel I might be a little insomniac, but I expected that and can live with it for a day or two. As I said just the mental lethargy sucks, but really no physical symptoms. I'm stunned, as well. I thought I'd get sick just going from 600 mg per day to the equivalent of 90. Now I'm at the equivalent of 40 -- in four days, and I'm not getting any physical symptoms at all. I don't even know what restless leg syndrome feels like.

KittyCat, I'm sure it would have been a different story if I didn't have the opana, but I have deliberately refrained from taking more than 15mgs of them three times a day, because I really want to build my tolerance to oxy back up.

I will say I've never had an addictive nature -- did a lot of recreational partying for years, then just stopped. Just got tired of if and stopped overnight. But I was super into running then, which may have helped. Then I just decided to quit smoking and did the same thing. Just stopped smoking. Never had an urge for another after a 15 year habit. Still, the physical symptoms just aren't there. The most I'm getting is the sweats, and even that hasn't been so bad since the first night.

I don't know ... maybe I'm tapering faster than most people. Again, I have to say that I think drinking a gallon or more of water a day for the last 15 years may be helping. But damn, my back hurts. I can barely move because of the pain in my back. The opana helps for about three hours, and then it's just hellish til the next dose. I will say I have had the hiccups for the first time in three years over the last two days and this morning I went into a sneezing fit I didn't think would end! I don't think I've sneezed in about three years either.

 

[Kittycat5]

Im so happy for you Jane. Hope it stays this way. Have you tried any non-narcotic or non-drug therapies for the pain?

 

[Sweet Jane]

Im so happy for you Jane. Hope it stays this way. Have you tried any non-narcotic or non-drug therapies for the pain?

No. Maybe I would if I were trying to get off entirely, but my back tells me this isn't going to happen for some time now. I just want to stick to prescribed dosage. I really wanted to go complete cold turkey with maybe valium for blood pressure but my friends were all horrified that I would die. My brother is a former hardcore junkie and I have seen what real dope sick detox looks like, but it don't kill ya. I know that from experience. And really, I just wanted to get it all out of my system. But everyone freaked out so hard that I said I'd taper with opana. I was being told to taper for like three weeks! Ridiculous.

Although, who knows? Maybe the moment the opiates are out of my system, I'll get really sick. I'm kind of thinking it's got to be worse than this.

 

[Kittycat5]

I hope it doesnt get worse. Positive thinking Sweet Jane. I dont think I saw exactly what the cause of your pain is but even on Oxycodone 30mg four times a day and the Soma and Valium, it may not be a bad idea to explore other options. Pain relief is your biggest goal I assume, so dont rule anything out and more importantly, ask your doctor specifically what else can be done. Too many times doctors get in the habit of just continuing therapy when the patient doesnt make inquiries.

 

[Sweet Jane]

I hope it doesnt get worse. Positive thinking Sweet Jane. I dont think I saw exactly what the cause of your pain is but even on Oxycodone 30mg four times a day and the Soma and Valium, it may not be a bad idea to explore other options. Pain relief is your biggest goal I assume, so dont rule anything out and more importantly, ask your doctor specifically what else can be done. Too many times doctors get in the habit of just continuing therapy when the patient doesnt make inquiries.

Lots of lower back issues, most of which my doctor has gotten rid of without surgery. The worst is, I think, from surgery on a tumor (benign) in my back. I never had spasms where I was unable to walk until after this surgery, and I knew already that the tumor was "all tangled in with my spinal cord" as one doctor put it. All I know is that now, those little knobs on your spine that hold the nerve jelly? Well in my lower back -- where the surgeon was messing around -- they are opened wide and have been for several years. Worse, I am constantly developing developing bone spurs that splinter off and poke into the exposed nerve jelly. So painful I have thought I might die from it. My doctor has always been opposed to surgery and she is confident that if I keep strengthening my core, eventually, the knobs that hold the jelly will close on their own. I know this is not a technical explanation, but it's the only way I can understand it. I also had arthritis and degenerative disc issues when I started treatment, none of which really bother me anymore. so, I have a lot of confidence in her. And my MRI that shows all this. Literally, I went to a pain clinic once with back spasms and my MRI and and to keep him from giving me a shot of dilautid (I hate dilaudid).

I've told my doctor my tolerance is through the roof and she wants to put me on extended release supplemented with breakthrough. Uh-uh. I'm not going any further down this road.

But, I fear that my experiment may be over since a good friend just found out what I was doing and is bringing me 20/30 mg oxys for the pain (for a price, of course (you don't have good friends who do that for nothing when you're on as much oxy as I am!). The real test will be if I can make them last 8 days -- long enough to pick up my next script.

 

[Runtoparadise]

Uh oh!! I've just been reading your posts, & wanted to let you know that I've been in your exact position.

Shame you have a contact at this stage of the game!! if you're really in a similar boat there's no way those oxys will last you more then a cpl of days.

You've done so well, but I know exactly what I'd do if faced with either >withdrawl or a new pack of oxy :/

Rtp

 

[Kittycat5]

Jane, I think you should consider long acting meds. The current standards of chronic pain treatment are long acting meds for prevention and short acting for breakthrough pain. You may actually decrease the amount of IR oxycodone you need.

 

[Sweet Jane]

LOL! I know RTP! And I could buy a lot of other things I'd like for what I'm paying for those 21 oxys. The problem is the pain. Nothing but oxy gets rid of the pain, don't ask me why. They had me on one of those press things for dilaudid for the pain when I had surgery last year and I literally could not get up by myself to go to the bathroom. They were going to keep me in the hospital for a third day until I persuaded them to just give me some oxy. Within a half an hour, I had gone to the bathroom and taken a walk around the hall with a nurse. I don't know know why my body responds so well to oxy when much stronger drugs don't work. I just accept it. And right now I am in heaven. My back doesn't hurt for the first time since Saturday, and 2/30s are giving me the same relief AND the same nonhigh (that feeling of not being high, just really really happy and functional) that 4/30s were a week ago. Not for long, I fear. I'm sure I'll be back to 4/30s before these are gone, but once I start working, I'll have to refrain from heavy use for four days out of the week. So, I think it will work out in the long run.

I also think I've figured out why immediate release oxy that are supposed to last four hours last only two and a half or three. I drink too much water! Nice though for the detox.

Kitty, thank you so much for your concern. I have tried the extended release, but the issue with that is it knocks me out. My doctor said to stick with it, give my body a chance to adjust to it, but, even a month later I was just dozing randomly in a way that made me frightened to drive. I NEVER drive unless it's been at least three, usually four, hours since I've medicated. My State allows driving as long as you are taking no more than your prescribed dose, but I won't. I couldn't live with myself if I killed someone driving when I know that the oxy affects my driving ability. I really try to be as responsible as possible, and quite frankly? It is highly unusual for me to take more than 2 oxy during the day. It's the nighttime that kills me. I'll go to sleep and wake up a couple hours later in desperate pain. Likely from running earlier, but it happens when I just have a really busy day as well. Everything catches up to me at nighttime, and sometimes I eat the oxy like they are candy to get rid of the pain. I've taken 10 oxy in five or six hours and I'm quite small -- like 5'5" and 112 pounds. It hasn't hardly fazed me.