Please help save my life, How do I taper off opiates???

[masumune]

My life sucks because I am addicted to oxycodone. I have taken opiates my whole live (im 23 now) and I have always avoided physical dependence. My luck ran out about 8 months ago I am now a slave to the pill. I tried cold turkey many times, I just can't do it I guess I am weak in that regard. I have access to a prescription so I can taper off I just need guidance with the proper methods. I am very thankful to have a source like bluelight I don't know where I'd be without it. Please help me.

 

[T. Calderone]

It's good you are trying to taper off because cold turkey can be rough. How much oxycodone do you take on average every day? We have lots of resources here to guide you. It helps to read about other people's experiences too. I found a thread that you might find useful:
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/482413-Tapering-Plan-Mega-thread-community-project

I think the hardest part for me was just not being prepared and I was not aware of different medications to aid in tapering. I could get through a day or two but always went back to using. You can check out our Recovery Support forum and you'll find many people going through the same thing. You're not alone that's for sure!

 

[BeachBum4u]

It's tough! It takes a lot of willpower to not take the pills when you have some around. The only remedy is to run out and deal. Although a taper would be wise, I think we'd need your average daily use to provide good assistance. You've gotten some helpful posts above.

 

[Bman2]

how much are you dosing? Cold Turkey is not as hard as your mind makes it out to be. Once you go through a day or two of it, you realize you can do it because it's just another couple days after that. You have to keep reminding yourself during those 3-5 days that once you complete it, it's like the best present you could ever give yourself. If you REALLY want it, you can do it. If you were on any sub/methadone, it would be a lot longer.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

You can do this man. But we're really not qualified to go about telling you how to do this. You should talk to a doctor about suboxone.

 

[omnipresenthuman]

yea man this forum can primarily purely provide support. In general though interchanging cycles of increasingly decreased dosages combined with a day or 2 of just not using should eventually do it if you want to get clean bro. I mean, once you get near the end of tapering off you just got to take that last quitting step. And no one else can do that for you...

 

[Snakevillon]

Cold Turky is the only way to go go big or go home <snip> for real tho I regret my decision to get on bupe maintence everyday I should have jus sucked it up and gotten through the wd originally.

 

[masumune]

yea man this forum can primarily purely provide support. In general though interchanging cycles of increasingly decreased dosages combined with a day or 2 of just not using should eventually do it if you want to get clean bro. I mean, once you get near the end of tapering off you just got to take that last quitting step. And no one else can do that for you...

This advce is solid and makes sense to me thank you kindly.

It's good you are trying to taper off because cold turkey can be rough. How much oxycodone do you take on average every day? We have lots of resources here to guide you. It helps to read about other people's experiences too. I found a thread that you might find useful:
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/482413-Tapering-Plan-Mega-thread-community-project

I think the hardest part for me was just not being prepared and I was not aware of different medications to aid in tapering. I could get through a day or two but always went back to using. You can check out our Recovery Support forum and you'll find many people going through the same thing. You're not alone that's for sure!

sweet thanks for the support. I'll check the li k after i post. As for daily intake i usually rock anywhere between 15 and 80 mgs whatever I can afford in the moment.

Cold Turky is the only way to go go big or go home (and shoot dope) for real tho I regret my decision to get on bupe maintence everyday I should have jus sucked it up and gotten through the wd originally.

I'm sure you have your reasons for your advice but it is not that black and white. Tapering off is a valid and prefered method for many. Also, fuck subs I agree with you tere. Im not interested in trading one drug for another.

 

[dilaudiffeine]

I agree, you have the ability to do it bro. it will not be easy by any means.. but I will give you some advice to help lessen the worst of the withdrawal symptoms.

Loperamide (dose-dependent) I use 16mg when in withdrawal for the shits and just to generally feel a little bit better

DXM (some people swear it helps)

taper slowly (possibly the best option, because you could get off the drug with minimal W/D symptoms, I recommend it)

find things that make you somewhat happy man.. I know what it's like when the only thing that brings a smile to your face is a little pill... but somehow, together here on BL we will stick together and make it through whatever is thrown at us

 

[TreeLight]

Hi,

please note that the following advice is just a question. I have never tried any sort of opiod or that sort of stuff.
would it be best to go down the dosage?. so if it 30mg, you go down to 20mg,then after some time, you go down to 10mg, etcc
does that work?

or, I think going down the dosage of whatever you are currently on would be a lot better than going off them directly??? ?
??

 

[WantToBeReborn]

Now is the time to quit this evil before it gets far, far harder and you're in too deep to manage withdrawals by yourself.

I've got a thread about my taper off a long term significant dose of morphine, take a look.

Don't do cold turkey without medical supervision. Tapering is do-able but, you need a taper plan, I can't stress this enough as otherwise it turns into torture with no end in sight.

If you really struggle with small dose reductions, try reducing by 5mg per week only.

It is harder when your daily dose is variable - get the daily dose stabilised, measure what you have and when and write it down.

 

[Tommyboy]

At 15-80mg a day I think that cold turkey is the best way to go. Taking suboxone would just complicate things more since it's way more potent than oxycodone, and even taking 1mg would be taking more than you do with oxy on some days, although it leaves you slower which would make the withdrawals more gradual thus less intense but a bit longer, so if you were to take a very low dose of it for a few days it could help. Another option would be taking like 10-16mg of loperamide for the first few days of withdrawal, and that should take care of most of the symptoms, but can also prolong the withdrawals a bit.

I always just cold turkey doses that low, but you can taper down to 5mg a day and stop that way and it will be pretty painless. So start off by taking the lowest dose that you can that will keep the withdrawals away, and lower that by 5mg a day until you are off of it. You can stay at a dose an extra day or so here and there if the drop is too difficult, but try not to prolong it too much.

 

[RTrain]

^I agree here, cold turkeying off that habit isn't going to be that bad. When I cold turkeyed off around 60-90 mg a day I could still sleep a few hours and go to work. No need to use Suboxone in this case. The only way it would be suggested is if you just take small doses to ease off the oxy, like wait 24 hours form oxy, take .5 mg, wait until w/d comes back, take .25, ditto, .1 and then stop everything.

 

[Altered Perception]

masumune you sound just like me. I've been on Oxycodone everyday for the last 6 years for chronic pain. I have been trying everyday to quit for the last 2 years and I haven't stopped trying.

i tried many different methods which failed. Going cold turkey was the worst of them all and it failed. But finally I have managed to find one method that is working best and I want to share it with you....

Lets look at this in the most functional and logical way. The most disruptive effect from missing your dose happens at night time when you are unable to sleep and suffering all night with withdrawals and insomnia. So for the first 4 days you will only take your dose right before going to sleep. Most importantly you have to forget about using the oxycodone to get you high and accept that from now on you will ONLY use it as a tool to manage withdrawals.

Once you are willing to do that you can begin the process because the dose Im going to recommend willl no longer get you high but it will manage your withdrawals, it will help you sleep and it will get you through the day comfortably and most importantly it will reduce your tolerance and eventually help you quit.

So right before bedtime take half of the dose you would usually take. When you wake up you should still be feeling good. Do this for the first 4 days because after day 4 you as your opiate blood levels drop the withdrawals will begin to set in and you will find that with every morning you wake up feeling more in withdrawal. So now step 2, when you begin experiencing withdrawals in the morning you then take a second dose. But this dose will be only a quarter of your regular dose. The purpose of this morning dose is to get you through the day so that you can make it to your bedtime dose which will once again give you the relief you need to sleep comfortably.

Never exceed more than two doses a day. one in the morning and once before bed. but the bedtime dose will be HALF of what you normally take, and the morning dose will be a QUARTER of what you normally take. keep doing that for 3 weeks until you halve it again. Its the only method i found that works. let me know how it goes if you decide to try it.