Hi darkflame,
Somewhere on this site is an outline for a taper that involves reducing your intake by one-third every fourth day (example: three days on 240 minus a third (=80) so three days at 160 minus a third (=53) so three days on 107) etc. I have done this many times and had good results (I totally get the high-functioning/can't miss work thing). It *is* possible to design a taper, given enough foresight before your supply is gone, that will keep you virtually symptom-free; you just have to do your research. That you are thinking of this while you have enough to do a taper is very very smart and you just might get out of this with a "slap on the wrist" so to speak. Have hope. If you can do 60 mg of roxi a day and stay well, then following the taper would look like this: days 1-3 of taper, 40 mgs per day. days 4-6, 26.66 etc, so you'd round up to 27. days 7-9, 18 mgs. Obv you need a pill cutter or razor blade, and you may need to dissolve your doses into liquid in order for this to work at smaller doses so you would need to do your research about that too. you do need to be pretty precise to avoid discomfort, and you always round up if you have some decimal that is impossible to measure. You may not feel great, but you can avoid looking like hell at work this way.
My solution *last* time I got clean was to switch to tramadol and taper off that using the above method. The only problem with a taper from DOC for me is that the taper goes out the window when I am in charge of the pills/substance, and I have one of those lives where nobody knows this about me (I have a couple of advanced degrees, kids in school, major financial/life responsibilities, plus day job is one of those where this cannot get out or it's over), and anybody who could/would help is in another state and I can't go away or take time off except for a week twice a year. I can't get subs or anything else because I have no friends or contacts for that kind of thing where I live and there is no way i can go through my work insurance. I can get trams online w/o a prescription and they have saved my rear end many times. Without trams, the taper is tough for me b/c anything would have me talking myself out of staying on the taper - but if your gf is on board that is ideal. I was on pod tea the last two times so it's hard to measure/say how much I was taking every day, but I was able to switch to tramadol and avoid the worst of WD without having to go above the seizure-warning-threshold on tram dosage. I only had minor symptoms, the worst for about two days when all i had in my system for the first time was trams, and they did not keep me from going to work.
This worked b/c trams do nothing for me except keep me functional - so there was no point in talking myself into taking more because the reward is not getting high, it's just a seizure. This does not work for everybody - depends on your reaction to trams (which you could test ahead of time by taking them instead of a roxi dose. Do some research on dosage - while 100 mgs tram may not do the trick, it may nevertheless make you feel awful and so may not be an option for you. If they treat you bad, and/or if the dose you need to shut those receptors up is too high for you to function - trams knock some people down -- at least you have the night to recover).
But the "one-third every fourth day" method worked really really well for me, more than once. It does depend on half life etc, and I'm not a med doc etc, but the WDs were nearly non-existent. I started a vitamin regimen at the same time I started the taper and that helped my energy levels, and I had a few xanax on hand for when i really needed to sleep, and immodium etc for the very few rough spots i had switching over and then tapering off. Those lists of things to have on hand when you are in WD are everywhere on this site, easy to find with a search.
My ex said the trams put him into precipitated WD when he was taking lortab, so it really does depend on your brain. I have used them to get off lortab before and the post-WD black-hole-of-apathy doesn't seem quite as bad on trams. I was really surprised the tram/taper method worked getting off pods given the long half life of pp tea, but it did. In fact, it has worked so well that I have gotten re-addicted a bunch of times because "getting off whatever wasn't so bad after all" and I knew I could do it again etc. (It has been worse each time and the trams seem a little less effective each time -- and may not be available w/o a prescription forever -- so I dno't encourage my line of thinking. In fact the reason I'm typing this at 4 am is because I woke up in WD much earlier than I should have, I took tramadol at 2:30, and while my nose has stopped leaking buckets, I have stopped sneezing and I'm not shivering or sweating profusely anymore, and I have stayed out of the bathroom for an hour now, nevertheless there is no way in hell can I sit still, never mind sleep, and i need to be up in three hours so no way can i take xanax. I am a huge baby when it comes to WD - it just doesn't get seem to get easier no matter how many times I do it, mostly because I live in constant fear of the giant stretch of apathy or depression that the chills and snot are a harbinger of and my resolve crumbles. So I am a BIG fan of tapering.)
I wish you major luck and am glad you are thinking long term with this. If you have got help and a proper taper schedule, you might not need the clonidine or methadone. I strongly recommend that taper if you need to stay functional, and hope your gf can help with the dosing. I have personally never had a once-a-day pill habit (I am pretty lousy on the self-control and I have found opiates to make me more productive in a demanding job) but logic would dictate that the taper method would work in your case too - ignore all the stuff about what time of day etc and just keep your normal dosing schedule and adjust your dose down one-third every four days. That you still do have a once-a-day habit and that your habit hasn't grown exponentially over the years bodes well for this to work for you. that much better if you have an ally in your gf and things in your life to look forward to. It's a lot harder to get clean when everything else is already in flames and your support system is non-existent b/c your friends are sick of your crap
Good luck!
