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  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

Tapering off of poppy pods

Thanks Bo and Tippy for your support, I really do appreciate it.

Yes Bo, I do think that it is a great idea to chop them all up at once and weigh them out instead of chopping them each time. It makes me have a lot more self control over it for sure.

And yes Tippy I would imagine that not many people only take them every other day either, but I can't say that I don't take anything on the off days. I have a script for norco and tramadol so I take those on my off days, and the reason why I even started PPT in the first place was to switch it up a bit because I have become extremely tolerant to the hydrocodone, and I go through my script way too fast. The doc gives me enough to have 3 a day, and I could take twice that and still be in a lot of pain.

That's the battle that I'm going through right now as we speak, as today is an off day, and my foot is KILLING me. I have a nasty chronic pain problem with my right foot, and my favorite thing in the world to do is hike for miles and miles, so that's where the problem comes in to play. I hiked for about 9 miles yesterday (as Sundays are my day off) and had some tea before hand, which kept me going all day with very little pain.

I guess the thing that I am most afraid of with getting off of these things really isn't the withdrawals, it's really the daily pain that I have to deal with and the fact that I won't be able to hike for miles and miles without the PPT, because my pills only last a couple hours, and that's if I take about 5 at a time. It's really a double edged sward, but I'm gonna try it out and see what happens. I live in Chicago so winter is just about upon us, which is why I'm deciding to do this now, because I don't hike much in the winter. What I really want to do is to quit everything for at least a month or so, and then get to a point where I only take my pills during the week for maintenance, and then do PPT on Sundays when I hike.

I do have a whole shit ton of tramadol and klonopin at my disposal. Do you think this will help with the W/D when I do jump off for a while?

I was also planning on getting some Lope to help with the stomach issues, and I always have weed which also seems to help.

Also do you think that since I do have enough control to only take them every other day for six months, that once I do quit for a while I can safely take them on Sundays for my hiking adventures without once again becoming dependent upon them? I would like to hear your thoughts on this matter, and thanks again for the support!
 
Oh and just so you know my dose, which I have not previously posted, I take either 5 large or 3 mammoth pods every other day. I make tea, do two washes, and then a couple of hours later I eat the used grinds (which seems to keep it going a bit longer) with applesauce. That's every other day for about the last six months, while sometimes doing it Saturday and Sunday and then back to every other day during the week.
 
Nobody can even guess if you'll be able to limit your use in the manner you specified. That's one of those things that only time will tell. The fact that you only take them every other day now might seem to make it more likely, but the longer a person is on the opiate train the less it stops. I do know a few people that are able to limit their use to the weekends, so it's not impossible. The fact that your still active and enjoy hiking several miles at a time as opposed to getting high and riding the couch is a major plus. Your foot pain sucks, no doubt. The more often you can manage the pain without opiates the better as that will help keep your tolerance down. Seems that once we find opiates OTC pain meds become a joke, but actually work pretty well when given the chance.
 
Boy do I wish that OTC meds did work for me these days. Unfortunately I have tried them all, and they do not. The only one that I have found that does give me a small bit of relief are nsaids, but they hurt my stomach so badly that they are not even worth taking. The rest of them virtually do nothing for me. If you could see my foot you would understand why. I literally have a bone jutting out of the side of it. It's like having two "ankle bumps". I have the normal one that everyone has, and then I have another one below it that is just as big, and really what it is is a bone plate that juts out of the side of my foot because the tendon that is supposed to be holding it in place has ruptured (back in 2002). From what my doctor tells me it's not really getting any worse, but it also is not getting any better, and won't until I have a fairly major surgery on it. Unfortunately I do not have medical insurance nor can I afford to take 2 months off of work to recover, so that's kind of out of the question for now. Sid, if you do know of an OTC pain killer that you think works well and maybe I haven't discovered yet, I would love to hear about it and give it a try, because I would absolutely LOVE to find a non narcotic pain killer that does work. If you have any ideas, please let me know and I will try them right away.
 
And thank you Sid for letting me know that it is possible to just do opiates sometimes, that gives me comfort, because some days that pain is so bad that it's unbearable, and those are the days that I would still like to be able to use them. I just don't want to be on this endless cycle of using them every day or even every other day anymore. I used to be able to do that, as I have had a script for vicodin/norco since 2002, and I used to only take them every now and again. They used to give me 30 500 vicodins a month and I would go a month and not even use half of them. Then my tolerance started to go up, and I was using them all, then I didn't have enough to get me through, so I would buy them on the street, then that was getting way too expensive (we're talking upwards of about $500 per month) so I found PPT, and here I am. I am hoping to get back to where I used to be, and done with this endless cycle of using all the time. Thanks for letting me know that this may be possible, and I will keep you guys updated and let you know how it goes! Wish me luck!
 
Yeah good luck. Sounds like your pain is too severe for OTC. I'm sure there are ways to help prevent the nsaids from upsetting your stomach that you can research. Without insurance it would be pretty expensive to have it fixed, I can see how that's not an option right now. Along with limiting the amount of opiates you can also lower the distance of the hikes, so you won't have to dose as high. You may not be able to travel as far, but it's still good being out there. Not like you have to gie it up completely.
Maybe your a candidate for pain management. There are some benefits. You won't have to buy off the streets, PM Drs are typically more strict in monitoring pain meds which could keep you in check. Although using PPT probably would keep you from going that route. IDK, just keep your use as infrequent as you can to avoid slipping into full blown addiction. The trams you hae may or may not help, it all depends if your body is capable of breaking it down properly. If so, not something you want to have to wd from.
 
sid3 said:
Yeah good luck. Sounds like your pain is too severe for OTC. I'm sure there are ways to help prevent the nsaids from upsetting your stomach that you can research. Without insurance it would be pretty expensive to have it fixed, I can see how that's not an option right now. Along with limiting the amount of opiates you can also lower the distance of the hikes, so you won't have to dose as high. You may not be able to travel as far, but it's still good being out there. Not like you have to gie it up completely.
Maybe your a candidate for pain management. There are some benefits. You won't have to buy off the streets, PM Drs are typically more strict in monitoring pain meds which could keep you in check. Although using PPT probably would keep you from going that route. IDK, just keep your use as infrequent as you can to avoid slipping into full blown addiction. The trams you hae may or may not help, it all depends if your body is capable of breaking it down properly. If so, not something you want to have to wd from.
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Yeah, I do have those trams, and I really don't like them. They do work for pain pretty well, they just make me feel really strange. I'm not really even sure how to describe it, maybe like the day after you take ecstacy or something, kinda cracked out. I kinda wish that they didn't make me feel that way, because I have a script for 120 of them per month, and I haven't refilled it in months because I might take 10 a month if. I do see a doctor, but he isn't a pain management doctor, just a regular MD. He does give me 90 norco a month, but that's not enough IMO. It's 3 a day, and I could take twice that amount and not get the relief that I need, which is why I turned to PPT. I agree with you that I do need to get off of it though, and those were my thoughts exactly, because from reading different posts on here I do realize that I have a pretty small habit, and I really don't want to be dosing multiple times a day a few years down the road, which is why I want to get control of it now while it's a bit easier to do so. Thanks for your advice, it is much appreciated.
 
Another pod tapering addict dropping in. I also wanted to say I enjoyed reading this thread and seeing many others actually succeeding in tapering.

I'm 20 years old and I started over a year ago, due to severe chronic pain. None of the things the doctors have given me ever helped one bit. And poppies are a blessing to me during the hard times, but I'm feeling better and I really want to change my life around. (the pain is on and off, but very severe some times, my neck, hands, and knees hurt)

Thing is I have a 5 year weed 'addiction' as well, and I've found it's not actually the harmless drug I previously though it was. But it's a damn good anti-depressant. I also tend to eat unhealthy, and in addition to quitting the poppy pods, I really want to live a healthy life from now on.

As mentioned before in this thread, the poppies were much more abundant and stronger before the shortage, and I managed to get quite the monkey on my back. During the shortage I went through rough times being on a forced taper, but also as said before, this seemed to be a blessing in disguise.

I've been doing a good job tapering even more, and now I'm at about 4 spoonfuls a day, of not very strong pods!!! Of course being fired from my job for being in pain kind of frees my time up. It's easier when you have no obligations haha.

So thanks for the inspiration guys, I wish everyone luck and maybe I'll check in some time.
 
LayedBack said:
Another pod tapering addict dropping in. I also wanted to say I enjoyed reading this thread and seeing many others actually succeeding in tapering.

I'm 20 years old and I started over a year ago, due to severe chronic pain. None of the things the doctors have given me ever helped one bit. And poppies are a blessing to me during the hard times, but I'm feeling better and I really want to change my life around. (the pain is on and off, but very severe some times, my neck, hands, and knees hurt)

Thing is I have a 5 year weed 'addiction' as well, and I've found it's not actually the harmless drug I previously though it was. But it's a damn good anti-depressant. I also tend to eat unhealthy, and in addition to quitting the poppy pods, I really want to live a healthy life from now on.

As mentioned before in this thread, the poppies were much more abundant and stronger before the shortage, and I managed to get quite the monkey on my back. During the shortage I went through rough times being on a forced taper, but also as said before, this seemed to be a blessing in disguise.

I've been doing a good job tapering even more, and now I'm at about 4 spoonfuls a day, of not very strong pods!!! Of course being fired from my job for being in pain kind of frees my time up. It's easier when you have no obligations haha.

So thanks for the inspiration guys, I wish everyone luck and maybe I'll check in some time.
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Hey Layedback, welcome to the forum!! I'm glad that you have decided to start living a healthy lifestyle, you are so young that if you start now you will lengthen your lifespan by far. I know what you mean by stating that pods are the only thing that really works for pain. As you have probably read, I have a nasty chronic pain problem myself, and these pods work wonderfully on it, but they are also horribly addictive, and have nasty withdrawals. My taper has been going great, I'm down from 5 every other day to 3 every other day, and next week I'll be at 2. I hope you can be as successful as I have been, just stick to it and don't cheat, and it will make your taper much easier and you will have more success in the long run. Good luck man! Keep us updated on your progress.
 
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