Detoxing from Opiates (Oxycontin & Oxycodone) rx for Chronic Pain, Please help.

[SomethingCool2]

Hello. I've been reading thru this forum for weeks and it has been extremely helpful in educating me on what to expect during opiate/oxycodone/oxycontin w/d. Thank you! This is my 1st post, so I hope I'm "playing by the rules."

My question is, I'm going into my 25th hour of detox and i'm experiencing pain that feels outside the realm of "normal" detox pain/discomfort. It feels like pain for which I started taking pain meds in the first place: neuropathy (nerve pain) is REALLY flaring up. Should I just "bite the bullet" & soldier on thru this INTENSE nerve pain or accept that I do have real, chronic pain and will have to stay on these meds for the rest of my life?

I weaned down from 320 mgs Oxycontin & 120mgs oxycodone per day to 30 mgs oxycodone per day in about 6 months & jumped off at that point. I've been taking an increasing amount of rxs for about 10 years due to spinal cord injury/nerve pain/back pain and full time wheelchair use after being hit by a drunk driver (motor vehicle accident). I'm not an addict, but dependent (obviously) on these pills. I'm a 35 year old female.

I want to stop taking these meds for a few reasons: 1) because i'm experiencing opioid induced analgesia, 2) I've developed a tolerenace & they don't help reduce the pain significantly any more, and 3) I want to be "free" of the pills, monthly Dr visits, etc.

I hope I've given enough information so the Bluelight community can help me out. I appreciate any and all responses. Thank you in advance.

 

[T. Calderone]

That's really a big reduction in meds and I agree that after time, the oxycodone seems to lose it's effectiveness. I believe from the way you described it, your neuropathic pain is real and it's not a matter of biting the bullet. More like, you deserve a decent quality of life and shouldn't have to suffer like this. Can your doctor do anything else for you, have you had surgeries? Have you been prescribed other medications that could help with this condition? I hate to hear you're hurting!

 

[SomethingCool2]

Hello T. Calderone, and thank you SO much for your thoughtful and prompt response.

Yes, the pain is real and chronic. And, to my surprise, when I tapered down to just 30 mgs Oxycodone/day, my pain improved very significantly ... the most it has in years. Like down to a 2 out of 10, from a usual 7-8 out of 10 (pain scale: 0=no pain, 10=worst pain imaginable). So I can say from my own experience that "opioid induced analgesia" is a real phenomenon!

I realize I should be thankful & proud of my taper progress, but it's been 10 years on these pills and I just want to be finished w/ them. Not for any health reasons, for I'm not experiencing any negative side effects (besides the few reasons I listed in op). But, as noted, I do have legit pain, so I guess I shouldn't beat myself up over having to take a rx that absolutely does provide a decent quality of life. The last 12 hours have been hell. I knew detoxing wasn't going to be easy and is totally worth it in the end (so I've read in many other's posts), but I guess I was hoping the neuropathy pain had gotten better over the years. I guess it hasn't.

I'm going to see my Dr. next week. I'm going to discuss w/ him my desire to get off opiates and see it there is a non-opiate alternative. I've discussed surgeries w/ a few Drs (like the 1 Larry Flynt had) and all say the same thing which is there isn't one to "fix" my type of problem. Ultimately, I should probably just accept the fact once and for all that I'm just one of the lucky ones that has genuine chronic pain and therefore need some sort of rx for quality of life. It's a matter of perspective too. It would probably benefit me/my psyche to see these meds as a blessing vs a curse, for when used strictly as prescribed, they can & have made living OH SO MUCH more bearable.

Take care.

PS: Although your response has pretty much answered my question most satisfactory, I was wondering if you thought moving this post to "The Dark Side" would help elicit a few more replies and/or perspectives? If not, that's fine, of course.

 

[tarqueen]

Hi I've been on methodone for 5 years. I have Lyme's disease and fibromyalgia. My highest dose was 210 for a couple of years then 180 I tapered for a year from 180 down to 1mg felt no withdrawal. I been off methadone for 1 week now. I take Soma and norco and was hoping to catch a buzz off them but I can't. Will I ever catch a buzz again?

 

[Foreigner]

Because your goal is to detox and be drug free, and you have questions about withdrawal, I'm going to move this to Sober Living.

Good luck

 

[neversickanymore]

Hey guys and welcome to Bluelight. im going to throw you guys a list of medications that is really good to combat withdrawal as well as links to what they are. Since you guys have nerve pain then you will likely find more relief from the use of the neurontin or Lyrica.

Also @ tarqueen how often do you dose your methadone, as the analgesic properties of methadone are only about eight hours.
medications for acute opiate detox. I had sarcoidosis and fibromyalgia so I know.

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

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

>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol

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

Your Personal Opiate Withdrawal Arsenal


You can do this cool2 and as so many others have found you have a great chance of feeling much less pain. Just so you are aware the process of the pain cramping down will be a process. It will likely take six months or so of little little improvements each day. Also as the pain response has kicked up because it wants to overcome the opiate you will likely feel allot of pain initially. This will likely ramp down a little slowly. So I guess what im trying to say is dont freak out if you are in quite a bit of pain initially. Also the use of the GABA's or the neurontin or lyrica will greatly diminish the neurological pain associated with the detox, but even with it you will likely still have a little pluss the ramped up real pain

It does get better pretty quick.. you can do this, hell if I can so can you.. so sorry to hear of the accident.. but you fighting girl and you can do this!!!!

 

[fckwaffles]

Hi, Somethingcool

By the time you read this the worst will probably be over. I have been a opiate user for about 10 years and by abuse when i had no reason has ruined my ability to get the proper meds for my condition now. Back to your subject I am proud of you for even trying and hope you well. The only advice i can give you is try and sleep as much as possible and when you can't sleep take warm showers they really help. I am about your age and understand your situation and if you need any support i am not a 12 step program but i can be someone to talk to email me anytime. Hope you the best and keep us posted and hopefuly you will make it thru with flying colors.

 

[Space Firebird]

I'm trying to get some Neurontin (Gabapentin ) to help with the W/D's.
It looks like it can really make a difference.

One thing I've noticed now that the drugs are wearing off is that I have been pretty depressed lately.
Does anyone have any thoughts re: taking St. John's Wort during my tapering / W/D's?

 

[caseface99]

^^ I've never tried St. John's Wort myself, so I can't speak to it's efficacy - However Gabapentin can definitely work really well for some of the physical symptoms, especially the lingering symptoms that last a bit longer like the just generally uncomfortable/tingly feeling in one's skin/entire body. Also exercise and healthy diet really can't be understated - I feel hypocritical always mentioning these because I'm not always the healthiest person myself but when I am making an effort these two things really make a bigger difference then any pill I've ever taken.