About to start tapering off of Oxycodone...

[LynnzyLynn]

And I'm absolutely terrified. I've been taking anywhere from 8 - 12 1Omg pills of oxycodone a day for the last year. I was prescribed these for pain after I was diagnosed with a life-altering chronic illness two years ago. In the past six or eight months, I've been using them to get high and cope with shit; my best friend's suicide, the ups and downs of this disease, etctec.

But I'm sick of counting pills and being worried about having to face down CT withdrawals. Sick of the lack of motivation to do shit when you're not high, hate the lack of a sex life and apathetic views towards everything. So anyway, I get my refill on Monday, and I decided I'm going to start tapering down. Start at 8 a day, go down to 5 - 6 after three days, so on, so on. I've done CT withdrawals twice before [ once when I was snorting heroin 4 years ago - those weren't NEARLY as bad as pill WDs - and once from Norco about a year and a half ago. But I got right back on them because of pain. ]

And I am really, REALLY scared of not having the high of the meds to fall back on when something happens. Not only that, but NOTHING besides opiates work for my pain [ I've tried EVERYTHING before I got prescribed norco two years ago ], so I'm worried that I'll let the pills control me again once I get down to 2 - 3 a day. I was thinking of giving them to my Mom [ I'm 23 and live at home since I need assistance occasionally walking / getting up, etcetc ] and having her control when I get them so I don't start upping the number I take as my tolerance builds.

But I guess basically, I'm just kinda anxious as shit and really scared. Like, I DON'T wanna end up here again in another year, you know? Kinda looking for support, and also if anyone knows any medication that works on pain but doesn't get you high, since that's the crux of my problems right now.

Thanks in advance, everyone.

 

[Groundhogdayagain]

You basically have three options. 1-You could switch to a longer acting opiate (suboxone or methadone) and do like a 4-6 day detox. This will decrease the intensity of the withdrawal but most likely increase its duration.
2- You could use kratom for about a week ( not an opiate, but works on same receptors) and perhaps some rx (valium, clonodine, lyrica) or OTC comfort meds (loperamide, diphenhydramine). U don't want to take any of these meds more than a week or so.
3- Continue your plan to taper and jump off cold turkey.

With your habit I would personally go with option 2, I think it will certainly decrease the severity of symptoms while not dragging them out. Best of luck to you.

 

[LynnzyLynn]

Thank you.
I've actually been looking into buying kratom online. But can it cause addiction? I have an EXCEPTIONALLY addictive personality -- though I'm perfectly fine with benzo's -- and don't wanna trade one habit for another, which is why I'm leery of suboxone.

If I don't go the kratom route, I might just get like a prescription of 5 or 1O valium or xanax or something from my doctor and use those when needed for the insomnia&&the fucking dreaded RLS.

Hahah. All the other shit I can handle; sweats, upset stomach, insomnia, but those muscle aches freaking KILL me every time, man.

Thanks again~

 

[Groundhogdayagain]

Kratom certainly can cause dependence and addiction. I feel it is not nearly as addicting as opiates. As with any medication taken during withdrawal, I try to be aware of my motives. Therapeutic doses to alleviate some of the discomfort. Keep your eye on the prize (escaping the opiate prison) and you should be good to go.

 

[schipol]

have you recovered from your illness or are you likely to still suffer pain?

 

[missmeyet?]

have you recovered from your illness or are you likely to still suffer pain?

That is my question too. (I have a similar situation). If you are still going to continue to be in chronic pain (which I assume you are since you asked if there were meds to treat pain successfully without getting you high) you may find it very difficult to just stop all pain medications.

 

[schipol]

^yep.

im a CPP and staying off the pain meds simply isnt an option for me. im also a long term addict.

i applaud you (OP) on making the decision to go sober, though. it is indeed a commitment but, youll find compared to someone like myself, you may be surprised how easy the detox can be. staying sober is the biggest part of the commitment.

 

[LynnzyLynn]

Yeah, sadly, this is a life-long condition. There's no cure, no medicine to treat it, and surgery doesn't work. It's recurring; I'll have a bad flare-up for maybe five days to a week, then I'll be okay for three - six days, then it starts all over again.

So in answer, yeah, I'll still be in shittons of pain. Which is why I kinda wanna try&&explore other options. Does anyone know if there are any narcotics that work on pain, but don't give you the high&&euphoria?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I strongly advise switching to an alternative opiate to get off of oxy. Whenever I was told I should start reducing my intake of oxy that always ended up really badly, as in I'd probably find myself using even more, or just not tapering because i loved the high. It's beyond intoxicating and beautiful I've found personal that is, I simply couldn't get enough of it when I has access to it.

It may not be the same story for you, however from personal experience and knowledge I've found that 90% of the time that's the case. A person would rather be in agony for the next month or so recovering from oxy cold turkey than simply cutting down by even miniscule amounts each day or week. I don't believe oxy is a typical opiate, in fact I think that it's a very dirty one in terms of the effects it produces, however I'm going off track here.

Do you have access to dihydrocodeine? I've found that to be the best remedy to getting off oxy, and I've done it the whole of 6 times! The reason being is that you may find it somewhat euphoric to begin with but that goes right out the window when you get the histamine release along with an abrupt end to that short lived euphoria you could obtain at the start - and increasing your dose doesn't work, even if you take up to 2 grams a day of it.

Recently I detoxed for my 6th try where I was using upwards of 1.2grams of oxy in a day, and it saved my life in all aspects and senses.

As for a non euphoric inducing painkiller the only feasible options I see are methadone or subutex, both get you high to start with, but that disappears quickly, without the loss of pain reduction. However, getting off either substance is a hell of a ride, especially the methadone train. Bustrans I believe is the name of the patch of buprenorphine that you wear for pain relief and it does its job remarkably, once again this is just my personal experience and sight of it being used by others. In low doses buprenorphine is actually quite easy to get off, and it provides very good analgesia.

I wish you all the best.