and my sex drive is down.
hmmm i was going to go on about how opiates and sex are insane fun and then i realised you have fucked up arthritis.
Now regarding pain relief endone which is basically a version of oxycodone/branding thing was meant to be prescribed to patients because of supposeded long acting pain relief and reduced euphoria and such.
Unfortunately the drug company completely skewed/lied on the research. Worse because they claimed it was effective up to 18 hours patients were meant to be dosed on a similar schedule. Meaning that in places like the US if you took your dose early and ran out your insurance wouldn't pay for anymore oxy...even if presumably you had a script.
They bullied doctors and pharmcists to ensure that patients did not recieve scripts that instructed dosing on a tighter schedule.
so Dudeman80 i would recommend that you go to your doctor. IF there a GP then ask for a referral to a specialist and or a specialist in pain management. This isn't a thing a GP should be managing, can manage or generally has an open enough mind to manage. Otherwise depending on what state your in have a look at the sticky re finding a prescriber for one of the below meds
if there are no other treatments that work for your condition then you need to face the possibility that you will need to use opiates for a long time. Now this isn't a bad thing. However Oxy is a fucked up drug. Its analgisc affects are way overblown and the way its prescribed/dosed you'll just end up with a mega huge fucked up habit, leading you down into heroin and other opiates to just get on. Worse the risk overdose on endone/oxy is a possiblity. Especially if you mix it with other drugs like alcohol. Really it should be used for extremely short term pain.
If you want a life where you're not not always counting your pills, working out where to get the money, time and energy to get on whilst hiding from everyone then you need to find a specialist, even a drug addiction specialist.
and investigate/explore the following
-
temgesic. Its buprenorphine. A powerful, long acting opiate. It was taken off the market but apparently its back. Lasts for 72 hours but you'll dose pretty regularly to keep levels up. The only problem with temgisc is you'll have to come down with the endone dosing because its dose is relatively low for habitual opiate users.
- suboxone. Another buprenorphine medication but it has naloxone, its only used in the treatment of "addiction". Now in your case it will have a dual purpose. Its a really powerful pain reliever, not just because of the buprenorphine but because of the naloxone (which has been used in chronic pain management). The good thing about suboxone is if taken as directed you won't get high but you will have pain relief (there are ways to get high with it but hey lets not go there). You'll have to submit urine regularly, and in the first week or two daily (or you can double/triple dose if attending daily isn't practical) but in your case you'll probably get takeways quickly if you come clean about the pain management issue and taking your endone script outside of instructions.
Once you're on suboxone its extremely difficult to overdose on. Though for the opiate naive its exceedingly easy to die/overdose on.
-
methadone (similar in terms of the bupe meds). Its a different opiate but lasts up to 72 hours and is also used in chronic pain management. Unfortunately because of how its dispensed, like the bupe you'll have to induct and go to a clinic/chemist and daily dose until they trust you.
Has the potential to give you a "high" which is why a lot of addicts end up getting it over the bupe. but hey whatever floats your boat. Its a powerful opiate, has great pain relieving qualities and once you've inducted difficult to ovedose on whilst simultaneously long lasting (72 hours)
So dude, there are a heap of options. Endone is like the worst option for chronic pain management.
edit: But don't try to withdraw from opiates on valium and weed whilst having a chronic pain condition. Opiates metabolites in addition to getting you high and relieving pain also activate certain receptors that flood your body with inflammation producing cytokines. These create the discomnfort that we call dope sick or opiate "withdrawal" syndrome (which obviously has nothing to do with withdrawing from opiates). For most people it takes around 5-10 days to reduce the elevated levels that an opiate addict has. They're also been found to be involved in depression and anxiety.
However in your case these
cytokines will be causing even greater levels of pain.
Now i'm not saying you're weak and doomed to fail but if you can find the right doctor you can remove a great deal of stress and anxiety (over possibly failing in your plan to taper down) whilst finding the right opiate at the right dose for you. What state are you in?