Quitting oxy and codeine.

[psytaco]

Hi guys,

I have a herniated disk in my back. I hurt it about 4-5 months ago. Since then I have been on either codeine or a combination of codeine and oxy. I currently take 10mg oxy + 50mg codeine three times a day. My back has gotten a lot better and I think it is time to get off the pain killers and try and get back into a normal routine of life.

I'm familiar with opiate withdrawal and I know I will definitely go through withdrawal here. I generally start to go through withdrawal after 6 hours of not taking the tablets.

I was thinking of either cutting down the oxy to one tablet three times a day for a few days and keeping the codeine dose as is. Then after three or so days just having the codeine. Then after three or so days, ceasing all opiates.

I also need to do this because I have been taking more than my regular dose and will be finished way to early to go to the doctor.

Do you have any tips on how to go about doing this? Does this taper seem good? I think a taper is the way to go, rather than just jumping off cold turkey. Do you guys think I should go through bad withdrawal even with the taper?

I have 3 valium left and plenty of lyrica (pregabalin). I'll also stock up immodium.

 

[spacemonkey]

should be a mild withdrawal, depending on your mind state. good idea cutting out the oxy first, due to codeine turning into morphine and having a longer half life. Id try to taper off the codeine a little bit if time permits. Lyrica helps heaps with RLS which I find to be the worst part of WD's.

Its not a large dose, so just stay positive and it will just be a crappy week or fortnight.

 

[spacejunk]

Do you have any tips on how to go about doing this? Does this taper seem good? I think a taper is the way to go, rather than just jumping off cold turkey. Do you guys think I should go through bad withdrawal even with the taper?

IMO, a taper is always the way to go.
The only thing i would recommend - if possible - is if you can lay your hands on any buprenorphine, it is excellent for doing short-term tapers.
It's not really good HR advice to suggest you seek diverted ORT medications...but honestly - if you can source even one or two 8mg strips, it does really help due to suboxone's super long halflife and binding affinities.

If you can't obtain any bupe, and don't want to go through the hassle of trying to find someone that will supervise a short term taper with subs (note - i'm not suggesting suboxone maintenance or anything but a very fast taper of a week or two) - then there are enough tips and tricks on bluelight in combating WD, that it would take days to read through!

Some people swear by loperamide - but be warned, high doses are dangerous - and it is addictive in itself, and said to have very difficult WD symptoms. If you need to get through work or something, it can be helpful for some of the more extreme physical symptoms (diarrhea, for one) - but otherwise problematic and possibly counterproductive.
I would probably only recommend lope as a last resort - it might be enough to help you get a couple of hours sleep if you are struggling with that, but you're probably better off if you can avoid it.

I found low doses of DXM to be helpful.
By low doses, i mean far, far less than a dissociative dose - more like a recommended therepeutic dose.
When i came off opiates i was able to do a self-administered rapid bupe taper, which even at its worst was manageable enough to go to work at my desk job and get through the day with a dose or two of DXM.
In fact, i used so little of the DXM, that i had some of the bottle left over by the time i was done tapering - as it has some similar properties to opiates, a little can go a long way in terms of providing relief during withdrawals.

YMMV, of course - but however you choose to approach this, there are plenty of knowledgable people on the boards here to offer moral support. All the best

 

[gimpan]

Talk to you doctor, he'll should be able to taper you off the oxy better than you could yourself.

 

[JoeBloggs]

Sorry if I sound harsh here but this shouldn't be very difficult for you.

Stop the codeine altogether, continue oxy until you feel ok.

When ready, take oxy twice daily instead of three times until you feel ok.

Then once daily.

Then half once daily.

Then nothing.

The codeine wouldnt be doing much in the scheme of things, and 30mg of oxy a day is not much at all. This is not a massive habit you're dealing with here mate, but if you're really having trouble doing the above, speak to your doctor. If you dont have a regular one just look on Australian drug discussion for the opiate maintenance prescribers thread and see one of them. In my experience, doctors that are patient and willing enough to deal with drug addicts all day are usually the most sympathetic to your situation.

Good luck mate.

 

[psytaco]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I really appreciate it.

Sorry if I sound harsh here but this shouldn't be very difficult for you.

Stop the codeine altogether, continue oxy until you feel ok.

When ready, take oxy twice daily instead of three times until you feel ok.

Then once daily.

Then half once daily.

Then nothing.

The codeine wouldnt be doing much in the scheme of things, and 30mg of oxy a day is not much at all. This is not a massive habit you're dealing with here mate, but if you're really having trouble doing the above, speak to your doctor. If you dont have a regular one just look on Australian drug discussion for the opiate maintenance prescribers thread and see one of them. In my experience, doctors that are patient and willing enough to deal with drug addicts all day are usually the most sympathetic to your situation.

Good luck mate.

Yeah it shouldn't be difficult but for some reason I am finding it very difficult and unpleasant. Maybe I am particularly sensitive to withdrawal. I guess if I had a much heavier habit, I would consider this easy. The painful stomach, shocking headache and unrelenting feeling of dread I find particularly difficult.

So I got put in quite a difficult position by my psychologist (whom I see for drug treatment and for just other things bothering me). She asked if I was using my meds to get high and I told her occassionally but that it would take 80mg+ of oxy to get the high I want. She also knows the dr. prescribes me a months supply of oxy at a time. She said that she may be prepared to break confidentiality and contact the dr herslef unless I did it. This was on the basis of her not wanting me to OD, so I wasn't annoyed by it.

Anyway spoke to the dr and I am on a tapering plan of 5mg targin x2 a day and then 5mg oxy three times a day. Slowly reduce dose each week. Still got slight withdrawal and unfortunately have been using a bit more the last few days due to a day of heavy use on ice.

 

[JoeBloggs]

It's not such a bad idea to give yourself symptomatic relief if you need it, panadol or ibuprofen if your headaches become hard to bear, helps with that feverish feeling too. Any benzos or anything you take will help your symptoms but inevitably prolong your agony. I used to take a lot of hot baths to help with cramps and general unease. Chamomile and stuff like that can be pretty helpful too. Breathing exercises and the like can be pretty helpful. As for the mental anguish stuff, I found that the most helpful thing was using my support network. Reach out to whoever is close to you. Talk about how you feel. If you personally know somebody that's been through it even better. I had a bunch of contacts from Narctotics Anonymous and rehab when I was having a bit of a rough time once, and just knowing that somebody knew exactly how I felt provided amazing relief in itself. The people I was living with at the time said I would be a completely different person after talking to somebody on the phone like that. I'm not trying to preach recovery to you or anything though, sorry if it sounds that way. I still drink and occasionally use drugs, never opiates though.

It's good that you see a psych and a doctor, they both sound pretty good. Don't worry about your psych too much, she's just worried about having a preventable death on her conscience for the rest of her life. Its important to be honest with these people, regardless of the possible consequences.

Doesn't Targin have naloxone in it? Seems kinda strange to be giving you that, did you have to be in withdrawl before taking it or something? Just thinking about swapping from methadone to suboxone, having to stop dosing a few days before swapping. I guess oxy doesn't linger around as long as methadone does, and I'm kinda out of the loop these days with pain meds and stuff. Maybe your doctor is just worried about you IVing your meds maybe that's just the norm now or something. I guess there has been a bit of hype about oxy abuse for the last little while. It doesn't really matter, so long as it works and is manageable for you.

At the end of the day you just want to get on with your life. If you can empower yourself somehow, try stepping down a little quicker or tell your doctor that you want to. The faster you come off, the sooner you'll feel completely better but the worse it will be. You need to weigh that up yourself. Nothing wrong with what you're doing but it will take some time, longer, more drawn out, discomfort but not acute. I know it's not the easiest thing to do in any amount.

Smoking pipes definitely won't help you, but I can totally understand wanting to feel better in any way in any given moment. The less stress you have right now the better though, coming down from that can put you in a really bad mental place. Especially if you're already having a hard time with it. If you are surrounded by these types, is there a non-using friend or family member you could go stay with for a while?

Sorry again if I come across a bit harsh, I really don't mean to. Where I'm coming from is a bit more of a "it could be a lot worse" type mindframe, not trying to say or imply that what you're going through isn't horrible because I know that it is. But just keep your eyes on the prize and it will be over soon, then you can look back and it will just be something that happened to you when you were younger.

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I really appreciate it.



Yeah it shouldn't be difficult but for some reason I am finding it very difficult and unpleasant. Maybe I am particularly sensitive to withdrawal. I guess if I had a much heavier habit, I would consider this easy. The painful stomach, shocking headache and unrelenting feeling of dread I find particularly difficult.

So I got put in quite a difficult position by my psychologist (whom I see for drug treatment and for just other things bothering me). She asked if I was using my meds to get high and I told her occassionally but that it would take 80mg+ of oxy to get the high I want. She also knows the dr. prescribes me a months supply of oxy at a time. She said that she may be prepared to break confidentiality and contact the dr herslef unless I did it. This was on the basis of her not wanting me to OD, so I wasn't annoyed by it.

Anyway spoke to the dr and I am on a tapering plan of 5mg targin x2 a day and then 5mg oxy three times a day. Slowly reduce dose each week. Still got slight withdrawal and unfortunately have been using a bit more the last few days due to a day of heavy use on ice.

 

[psytaco]

I decided to say fuck it and go cold turkey off the painkillers. I managed to taper down to about 25mg oxy a day. I got sick of the taper and feeling low grade withdrawals.

I also have a cold so that is probably making things a bit worse. So far I'm on day 2 of no opiates. Symptoms are a headache, sweating, runny nose, general shit feeling (just like a cold) some aches and pains, hot and cold flushes, unable to get comfortable, with diarrhoea starting today.
I'm taking the following to help:
5mg of valium
Metoclopramid for stomach cramps
Double my dose of lyrica so 300mg x 2 a day.
Zopiclone or restavit for sleep - just one tablet.
paracetamol with pseudo for the runny nose.

Honestly, it isn't that bad. It just feels like having a bad cold with some opiate cravings and a bit more anxiety. It's about as bad as when I was coming off a 400mg codeine habit a day.

I was wondering, how long is the physical part of the withdrawal likely to last? 4-5 days?
When is generally the worst day?

I know I can expect PAWS and cravings to hit after the physical part. I'm not too worried about that. Having suffered some pretty bad episodes of depression before I am pretty good at handling shitty mind states.

 

[psytaco]

Spoke too soon. Withdrawals hit like a motherfucker shortly after typing the last message. Lots of joint pain, feeling extra crap and my back is killing me (I have a herniated disk).

Does withdrawal cause excessive pain in an injury? I honestly have experienced very little to no pain from my back in at least a month or two. Previously with opiates I still know that there is pain but it is just dampened. This wasn't the case with my back. It genuinely felt better. I'm just worried that my back is actually fucked and that this is how it is going to feel from now on.

Anyway, I took 600mg of lyrica which has helped the withdrawals somewhat but not the back pain. It's certainly made me care about being in withdrawal less.