• H&R Moderators: streaM Freak

I quit taking opiates!

I am going to take Lyrica and 800mg Ibuprofen. So far it has been bearable. I am still seeing my pain dr in 2 weeks. Maybe another epidural is necessary?

On top of that I have an appointment with the best back surgeon in Chicago in early Nov.

So I hope I wont need surgery, and I hope I dont need another epidural since they hurt so much.

I am just so happy that quitting opiates actually took away the VERY severe pain in my back.
 
Yea, i do feel a bit better, especially when i go outside, its sunny mid 70's, and beautiful outside. Glad i am not doing this during the winter.

The other thing is I have been loading up on Imodium since monday because of all the ER/Dr visits. Driving all across the suburbs and severe diarrhea, isnt the best combo.

So i stopped taking Imodium last night at 2am. But I am in a better place now to deal with what is inevitable today/tonight.
 
I have a question about the diarrhea.

What is the best way to handle it?

Will it be better longterm to use as little Imodium as possible and maybe days without none at all. Especially on days when I can be home close to the toilet.

Or, should I use the Imodium to completely stop the diarrhea. Will this make me dependent on Imodium for months to come?

I want to do whatever is best in the longterm, suffering for a couple weeks NOW, is better than dragging Imodium out for months to come.
 
Ride it out, you're prolonging a fairly minor but annoying part of the acute phase. Stay hydrated, take a multivitamin and possibly a calcium supplement. You will stabilize soon.
 
So just face it head on now? Eat foods and drinks that can help stabilize my digestive system, like probiotic yogurt, bananas, etc.

Use as little of Imodium now as i can tolerate?
 
I would not use any more Imodium at all as its actually an opiate.. it just has a little hard time with the blood brain barrier.. but it does get through to some extent and will manipulate the receptors that you are trying to shut down.. there a more than a few people who have used this to try and limit with drawls and ended up physically dependent on it.
 
That is EXACTLY what I was worried about. Another dependency.

Ok. Well i guess some more suffering is in my near future. But, all of this is for the long term.

Right now, i am on disability, so doing the hardest parts now is preferred to still fighting an acute symptom like diarrhea months from now.
 
Wow, i can actually go outside and pace around a bit, without my legs and entire body feeling like 1000 lbs!

Music also sounds great again.

One thing I really missed while on opiates was the fact that I no longer got excited about things i would always get excited about. Like going on a vacation, to a sporting event, holidays, etc.

I REALLY hope that comes back.
 
yea i know what you mean, i miss being able to be happy naturally even if its for a short time. when the withdrawal starts to ease up its much easier to stay positive but one slip p and its back to square one.

how much and how long have you been using loperamide for withdrawal?
 
So, klonopin, lyrica, ativan & clonidine? That's a bulletproof mix - should be a breeze or as much of a breeze as an opiate withdrawal could be.

Pretty much. As long as you have a few days to rest in bed it's the best way to go IMO. Whenever I have kicked I just wanted it to be over with so didn't want to take any suboxone or any other opiate/opioid, so clonidine was the main drug I used to kick. It worked great for me, but I obviously had to stay in bed for a few days since it sedated me and would make me lightheaded when I stood up.
 
Last oxy pill was on 9/8/13, started taking loperamide on 9/9/13. Fairly heavy doses maybe 2-3 times a day. Stopped taking it midnight last night, haven't had a bowel movement in about 3 days. But about an hour ago my stomach started showings signs. Don't think it will be too much longer before i am running to the bathroom, maybe a few hours at most.

After that i am only going to take it if i start getting SEVERE stomach cramps, and I am going to try to stop taking it all together.
 
I wouldn't be taking any more than bare minimum loperamide. Maybe 8-12 mg per day to ward off the diarrhea. If you havn't had a bowel movement in three days, I think you're overdoing it. With all the other meds you have to make you comfortable, you don't need all that loperamide. You're prolonging the inevitable, like others have said.
 
Well, i was already on 10mg Lisinopril for high blood pressure, so the doctor just swapped it for the clonodine.

BUT, clonodine is a pretty strong medication, and my BP has been running low. Like 90/67. My normal is usually right at 120/80.

I was 100% sure i was going to use suboxone to quit. But my old pain psychologist recommended not to use the Suboxone just hours before we chose a hospital ER based on whether they prescribed Suboxone.

Because of the opiate induced pain, i wanted to stop any opiates.

Yea, I realize that now. I just wanted to stagger the acute symptoms a bit. Dealing with constant diarrhea the 1st couple days would have been a lot to deal with especially with the ER and doctors visits.

I am in a better place now to face the constant bathroom time.
 
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I like a lot of indie rock, classic rock, folk, then some jazz, contemporary bluegrass and some older R&B/Rap.

But mostly the indie rock station on Pandora.

BTW, i feel great at the moment. Not sure how long it will last.

Still no bathroom break. Has me a little concerned that it will happen after i fall asleep. Oh well.
 
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Never-mind, stomach cramps are starting. Imodium is finally wearing off.

Indie rock. Sort of all different takes on rock. It is a pretty broad genre. Normally bands that are really good, but not really known yet. It can be very soft and mellow all the way to like led zeppelin rock.

Like:
Them Crooked Cultures
The Raconteurs
Andrew Bird
Iron and Wine
Calexico
The Shins
Band of Horses
The Avett Brothers
Matt Costa
 
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Worst thing to do is sit around and analyze how bad you feel.. I detoxed off 150mgpd methadone, 260 mgpd roxies, and 6 mgpd xannax and never stopped doing shit.. yeah i did allot of it kinda slow for a bit.. but I was doing something all the time.. ;)
 
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