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I quit taking opiates!

Blue Frog

Blue Frog

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
28
Location
Chicago, IL
I stopped taking any opioids yesterday 9/9/2013. I have been taking over 120 mg's of oxy a day for 2 years. Before that was 2-3years of Vicodin. So basically 5 years total. I often came up short before it was time for refills, then i would grab whatever i could find to stop withdrawal.

There have been many days in the past year in which it would go through one day of withdrawal, and every time my chronic pain was unbearable.

But this past weekends withdrawal episode was different. I no longer had the severe back pain. I was diagnosed with opioid induced hyperalgesia. I still have a pinched nerve and burning/numbness in my right leg. But it appears the opioids were making things worse.

So after going to the ER cold turkey yesterday, getting a clonodine patch, i am now on day 2 of opiate withdrawal.

And we all know what I am experiencing.

Worst part is the depression, sweating, chills, anxiety, for me.

Seeing an addiction specialist, psychiatrist tomorrow who was the one who thought i might have opioid induced hyperalgesia.

After 5 years of this, i cant believe I am finally going to stop. It isn't going to get easy for a very long time. But at least if i notice small improvements, even in the coming days, I will be happier.

My wife and mother know everything, and they have been a big help.

Thanks for reading my story.
 
Hey Blue<3.. welcome to BL=D way to take a really active approach to your recovery.. you can do this here are some links about really good medications to help with withdrawl and some information on addiction recovery methods. You can do this=D
The medications I would explore the use of fror detox would be:

>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..

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

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

Addiction Guide

SMART Recovery (Support Group information and discussion)

Twelve-Step Addiction Recovery Support Groups

Varied Approaches to Addiction Recovery


The beginning of a whole new life.. it get good pretty quick.
Good things about being off drugs/getting sober
 
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I'm super happy for you man! We are basically in the same boat, I was taking more and more meds for my chronic pain and eventually nothing really worked anymore. A DR, quite recently, told me I have opiate induced hyperalgesia. I was taking a lot of opiates and I just had to stop. I can't really relate on the withdrawals though, cause I actually don't get them (weird, I know, no one believes me, but it's true. I have some very serious neurological issues, so that might be why). But I'm super proud of you - and myself - for making the decision to quit.
 
bennyZA said:
I'm super happy for you man! We are basically in the same boat, I was taking more and more meds for my chronic pain and eventually nothing really worked anymore. A DR, quite recently, told me I have opiate induced hyperalgesia. I was taking a lot of opiates and I just had to stop. I can't really relate on the withdrawals though, cause I actually don't get them (weird, I know, no one believes me, but it's true. I have some very serious neurological issues, so that might be why). But I'm super proud of you - and myself - for making the decision to quit.
Click to expand...

Mind = blown
 
Blue Frog this is probably one of the most important decisions you will ever make. I was taking way too much oxycodone and seeing different doctors still running out early. It got crazy because the more pills I took, the pain seemed to increase with sensitivity. So I ended up consulting an addiction specialist not a pill mill doctor who helped me wean down. It was a harsh process because in the beginning I wanted to take more than prescribed. This guy wouldn't let me get away with it and thanks to his approach, I've been clean more than two years. You're doing the right thing and won't regret it! <3
 
Thank you so much for all the support, it REALLY helps!

This morning i woke up with some back pain again. But opioids are out of the question. Seeing a great doctor for my situation in a few hours.

Thanks again everyone!
 
Sorry you're having pain, I hope it subsides. Let us know how your appointment goes. :)
 
Back pain subsided a couple hours after being awake. Still having withdrawal symptoms for someone that was on a ton of opiates for half a decade.

BUT, it is day 3 and it isnt so bad with the clonodine and klonopin at night.

And now, after seeing a highly recommended addiction/recovery physician, i feel much more confident. This is the plan for the next two weeks:

.1mg clonodine orally every six hours.

Lyrica and NSAIDs for pain (for now).

.5mg Ativan (lorazepam) for the deep depression and anxiety episodes.

1mg of my already prescribed Klonopin at bedtime to fight insomnia.

So there is the 2 week plan. Hoping to start some sort of exercise soon, since exercise was my go-to stress reliever for almost 20 years until the ankle and back problems started.

Btw, my ankle is doing great, which was something i was also concerned about.

It is really helpful to hear everyones input. Isnt it surprising how some person you dont even know can help lift your spirits!

Plus i have my family close by at all times since day 1.
 
Yea, i dont feel anywhere near as bad as cold turkey, no help, withdrawal. Not even close. It is very manageable as of now.

This new doctor did ask if I wanted to do Suboxone like 3 times. But that seemed like a slippery slope for me. Especially since I do like opiates, but not as much now that I know it was causing so much pain, and was on course to destroying everything I hold close and care about.

Thanks pinpoint, I was hoping there could be a little extra help from the dr, mainly because I had a pretty strong dependency for so long.

I was tempted to do 2 more weeks of opiates, even tho i knew it was wrong.

It took a lot of strength for me to tell my family that it was time to stop the opioids.

I cant stress enough how much help my family, the ER, my doctors, and even this forum has helped make this so much easier.

I have a long way to go. But i am taking it an hour at a time, with the big goal right now of getting to that next dr appointment in 2 weeks.
 
Good attitude. The suboxone would have certainly been the short-term easy way out but much like many things in life it would've created an equally inverse long-term difficult way out for you. Trust me, I'm about 7 weeks clean from suboxone and all opiates - I definitely do NOT miss that lifestyle.

Every day after day 5 will be an improvement - a noticeable one too. Then you get to deal with your natural feelings :p not as bad as it sounds - it's quite exhilarating if you have the right mindset.
 
Nice work.. the exercise is absolutely a great idea.. but exercise causes an increase in the adrenals ( the chemical you are trying to limit with the clonidine) so I would wait until you are through the acutes a ways.. here are some really good links on the PAWS..

> Why We Don’t Get Better Immediately: Post-acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) <

> Post Acute Withdrawl (PAW)
Exerpted From "Staying Sober" By: Terence T. Gorski
with additions by: Lee Jamison <

> Hey I thought the grey matter of ADD could chew on this.... <


Your doing great.. if more people took such a proactive approach to recovery they would be allot happier!!=D
 
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Thank you so much. Especially the part about exercise. I am going to wait on exercise until I talk to my new doctor about the next steps in 2 weeks.
 
I know it is coming, but I cant focus too much on PAWs right now. It will be overwhelming to think about the whole battle in my future.

I just got to take this a step at a time.

But thank you for the links. They WILL come in handy.
 
Hi, so sorry regarding your Chronic pain in back and leg. I have it also and the only thing is an operation L3 to S1. What are you may I ask going to do for the pain ?
 
Good on you Blue Frog.
Stay persistent with this, it aint an easy battle but you have made an outstanding choice by taking a step back from opiates.
Im happy to know that you have support from close ones in your life.
Wishing you all the best and hoping you are still going strong :D
 
Today is the start of day 4. Last night was again very tough; aches, pains, sweats, chills, more sweats, etc.

But thankfully, woke up with manageable back pain after being in bed 10 hours (not all sleep of course). Which was IMPOSSIBLE for such a very long time. Ankle a little sore as well. And nerve pain down my right leg.

I cant believe that time is passing at a decent pace. It is already Thursday! Wow.

Today is more of the same, monitoring vitals, protein drinks, new meds, etc.

I feel a bit better this morning, maybe a short walk around the block?

About 10 hrs into withdrawal on monday, i got news that a very special person passed away. So it has been VERY difficult dealing with that, and damn near impossible to speak about it, and even type. :(
 
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