• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Opioids Been searching for answers that are desperately needed for education

Jersey0485

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
6
I going to start off by saying I have searched the Internet up and down for answers to some of these questions with mixed luck and sometimes no luck at all. It seems I may be wording them incorrectly when performing searches or maybe I am just touching on something that I don't understand the answers to. The reason I finally decided to make an account here and give it a shot is because I have poured over some of the posts on this site and find that is is generally filled with quite knowledgable people with educated responses.

So before I get to the question I am not looking for medical advice and will take no responses as such. I am simply trying to educate myself further based on the experiences and knowledge from my peers.

I have been prescribed opiates (percocet 10/325 and oxy 20 mg) for quite some time now, I would say about two years due to back problems and a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. This started out fairly normal with a 5/325 every 8 hour dose , but it has moved up , in large part to me being addicted and wanting to be high , sometimes 30 mg Ir at once with an oxy thrown in for good measure. Small potatoes from some of the tolerances I have seen but nevertheless still is affecting me.

I have never drank on my pills , and on a hand full of occasions waited a solid 6 hours before taking a .5 mg Xanax to try and help with anxiety and a head crawling sensation I get with MS. I have always been quite diligent with making sure I keep myself in the best parameters I can for being a "safe" addict.

Before I list my questions I urge that I am honestly looking for good responses to continue keeping myself safe , and putting my worry at ease. I am not looking for a your doses are for rookies you'll be fine kinda thing. I still get a very nice buzz off three at once and sometimes get myself very freaked out that I have taken too much.

The questions I am seeking an answer to that I can not find:

What is the likelyhood that if I remain at or around my current dosing schedule , that taking my pills could just stop my heart or lead to an overdose and kill me?

If I take a dose of 30 mg Ir and it wears off and I take another 20 mg two hours later , is this the kind of thing that will kill me ,and should I wait the full 4 -6 hours before taking another dose?

Why am I still getting buzzed after 2 years on the pils at such low doses , when it seems people get up to the 200 mg range with ease?

What would I experience if I had taken too much? Such as what happens if I OD ... Do I just die .... Would I start throwing up and get sick first, would I pass out first , does my heart just stop , does my breathing just stop , do I nod hard and then never wake up? That is the question I most would like answered to the best of your abilities.... I am somewhat uneducated in these matters and while I have been on the drugs for a long time I still feel like I have a lot to learn and need to learn to continue using them safely.

I am a drug a drug addict , but take the pills prescribed by my doctor because life simply is too painful due to my conditions. W are currently working on shots in my spine and PT in order to get me to a point where I can come off the pills and lead a normal life. My goal is to be pill free by the end of summer.
 
You shouldn't worry too much about ODing. Too much opiates (or benzos for that matter) will lead to respiratory depression then death. Usually if you take a lot you'll start to nod out and that can slow your breathing. Its how most people die on opiates.
Usually if you throw up its a sign you took too much but not really an OD. At your dosing regimen you'll be safe.

As for the second question, if you take 30mg and two hours later you need more split the 20 in half first. Remember you can always take more, but if you take too much you can't undo it. So split your pills in halves or even quarters to find your optimal level. If you get nausea thats a sign you took a good amount or a tad too much.

Also you're still getting a buzz because you're using as directed. I've been using opiates for about 2 years and 20-30mg of Oxy is a nice feeling for me.
 
I disagree. As an opiate user, you should always have concern for ODing if you are not taking your meds exactly as prescribed so your questions are legitimate ones. Also throwing up is normal for some people taking opiates/opioids though more so in naive patients. If you have some tolerance (as you do) and you don't normally experience nausea with your doses then nausea may be a sign that you have taken too much (but not necessarily going to kill you).

-gnerally an OD is not going to stop your heart but is going to slow down/stop respirations. At your current, prescribed doses there should be little concern for this happening.

-if you take 30 mg of ocycodone and then in a couple of hours take 20 more mgs of oxycodone it most likely will not kill you because of your tolerance (you have been taking these doses for about 2 years). You might want to take 10mg then 10 more simply because yes, you may experience nausea and other side effects. Also by the way, you stated you take an IR 30 mgs and then throw in an oxy also. Just to be clear, percocets, IR etc are ALL oxycodone. The difference is your Percocet 10 mgs have oxycodone AND APAP whereas your IR only has oxycodone. So just to avoid any confusion for anyone not familiar with it.

-the reason other people have such a high tolerance is because of exactly what you are talking about doing, taking more oxycodone more frequently than they are supposed to. This is what leads to those high tolerances. If you plan on coming off of oxycodone in the bear future as you stated thenn I would suggest avoiding taking more than you are prescribed. If anything, you might want to begin to cut back.

-in an OD you generally will not just die unless you took just a massive amount. But in the way you are talking about dosing you would first experience some nausea and vomiting and "nodding" effects. You would become most likely very tired and have difficulty maintaining. If you are going to take more than you normally do it is wise to have a person with you who can watch for distress. If you were to nod off and breathing slow down enough to compromise you might get into trouble. If you feel yourself havind difficulty breathing or another person notices abnormally slow breathing you sh ould get help ASAP.

My advice would be to stick with what you are supposed to take especially if you plan on coming off of these (I speak from personal experience of many years of taking oxy for chronic pain and as a nurse for 20 years). Everytime you take more you begin increasing your tolerance (if you do it regularly bit sometimes it only takes a few doses to up your tolerance), causing you to need more and more. Also, the higher dose you are on and the longer you have been taking it will cause it to be just that much harder to withdraw and come off of these than it is already going to be.

Be safe and take care...feel free to PM me if you would like.
 
I disagree. As an opiate user, you should always have concern for ODing if you are not taking your meds exactly as prescribed so your questions are legitimate ones. Also throwing up is normal for some people taking opiates/opioids though more so in naive patients. If you have some tolerance (as you do) and you don't normally experience nausea with your doses then nausea may be a sign that you have taken too much (but not necessarily going to kill you).

-gnerally an OD is not going to stop your heart but is going to slow down/stop respirations. At your current, prescribed doses there should be little concern for this happening.

-if you take 30 mg of ocycodone and then in a couple of hours take 20 more mgs of oxycodone it most likely will not kill you because of your tolerance (you have been taking these doses for about 2 years). You might want to take 10mg then 10 more simply because yes, you may experience nausea and other side effects. Also by the way, you stated you take an IR 30 mgs and then throw in an oxy also. Just to be clear, percocets, IR etc are ALL oxycodone. The difference is your Percocet 10 mgs have oxycodone AND APAP whereas your IR only has oxycodone. So just to avoid any confusion for anyone not familiar with it.

-the reason other people have such a high tolerance is because of exactly what you are talking about doing, taking more oxycodone more frequently than they are supposed to. This is what leads to those high tolerances. If you plan on coming off of oxycodone in the bear future as you stated thenn I would suggest avoiding taking more than you are prescribed. If anything, you might want to begin to cut back.

-in an OD you generally will not just die unless you took just a massive amount. But in the way you are talking about dosing you would first experience some nausea and vomiting and "nodding" effects. You would become most likely very tired and have difficulty maintaining. If you are going to take more than you normally do it is wise to have a person with you who can watch for distress. If you were to nod off and breathing slow down enough to compromise you might get into trouble. If you feel yourself havind difficulty breathing or another person notices abnormally slow breathing you sh ould get help ASAP.

My advice would be to stick with what you are supposed to take especially if you plan on coming off of these (I speak from personal experience of many years of taking oxy for chronic pain and as a nurse for 20 years). Everytime you take more you begin increasing your tolerance (if you do it regularly bit sometimes it only takes a few doses to up your tolerance), causing you to need more and more. Also, the higher dose you are on and the longer you have been taking it will cause it to be just that much harder to withdraw and come off of these than it is already going to be.

Be safe and take care...feel free to PM me if you would like.

I was saying he shouldn't be concerned about ODing because of what was stated by his thread. I'm not saying don't care about how much you take or death. But even you said, if he's taking these pills like he says he is, he shouldn't have any worries of an overdose.
 
missmeyet is spot on.

i found when i would increase my dose that over time my tolerance only did not go up but pain registration also seemed to increase. which really became a problem for me. i just found myself back in parts of my addiction that i felt were setting me back as my prescription dosage soared once again. i was totally forthcoming about this and my concerns with my doctor and wanting to get things down. i have found that keeping your dose as low as you can, can also be very beneficial in your interpretation of "pain". as your dose go's higher and higher more receptor sites are being formed hens the need to keep increasing the dose.

i think it is great that you are looking so closely at your medications/times taken/amount, it is very responsible in being your own patient advocate. good for you and good for you for reaching out in your concerns!

PT is a great thing to help out also!! i would keep steering clear of alcohol and spacing your benzos out as far as possible. you really have a nice mind set, keep on it and talk with your doc openly and honestly... nice work!
 
Great thing to wake up to, thank you guys for the answers ... As I expected , completely informative instead of making me feel like a jackass. I don't want to seem like I came off as Mr. Responsible , if I was I wouldn't have let myself get hooked , but yes I am very very careful. A lot of the unknown which you guys have helped tackle has always kept me in fear and honestly not often enjoying being on the pills.

At this stage , the pain I think may be more magnified than what it really is due to the fact I take pills everyday and I'm clearly addicted to them. It is true the things you read about opiate addiction. Slowly my mind has begun telling me I need the drugs to function. My brain tells me life is better with them , I can get out of bed , clean , do things with my wife , work out etc etc ... Ad as cliche as it sounds , my heart knows I have to get off this crazy train before I end up ruining my life.

I do not usually get nausea , the only symptoms I seem to get is anger. I find my patience goes from 10 to negative 168 when I am on these things , and I catch bouts of wanting to stab people that don't understand what I'm talking about , or who can't figure out what I'm trying to say when I forget words and go blank.... Damn pills act like mind erasers sometimes lol.

At this stage , I feel like I have been prolonging some of the RFA shots I'm getting , or dodging other routes so that I can sit here and be high... But I'm smart enough to know that before it gets too bad , get a hold of myself.

I really do appreciate the answers guys , it was a serious weight lifted off my shoulders. Obviously this subject is not my strong point , but I'll keep on eye out on ways I can help people on this board in situations that I do have experience in... Unfortunately I had a miss spent youth lol
 
I have been able to keep my doses down in that area, too, while doing the drugs consistently and developing a dependence. Even after being addicted to oxycodone for1.5 years I was doing a 30 mg to get high. Switching to heroin has brought my tolerance up a bit, probably around 50-75% higher, but I still keep my H use at a even keel for the most part. Some people chase the high, I am just satisfied with what I get from the doses I do. Particularly people chasing the nod. The problem is once you dose higher it is hard to come back to the lower dose, I always avoided doing that. And once it got too large, I could take a break. I mean these doses are not that low, just because other people dose 150 mg at a time doesn't mean you are not doing a substantial amount of the medication. The amount you are doing is still for designed for people in a lot of pain.

edit: I would think its the xanax giving you mental lapses, I never had any issues with opioids doing that, but benzos make you real spaced out. Oh and I too get a lack of patience on opioids, the one thing that would make me go crazier than anything is the commute home from work.
 
Jersey0485.... you have got it!! really wonderful thinking and realizations! many of us are right with you.

i think you will be amazed at your pain levels the more you reduce and stabilize a minimal working dose... go get those RFA shots, keep working your PT program (i know how it can drift!) and keep up the great work!
 
Top