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The "I Quit Oxycodone" Success Stories Thread

Space Firebird

Space Firebird

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
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ālaya-vijñāna
I recently became determined to quit taking opiates on my own, and I kept reading around on the internet about it, and it seemed that a lot of people that almost made it seemed to stop posting all of a sudden, leading me to believe that the pain had become too much to bear and they had given up.

I read of one poor lady who went 200 hours without sleep, until she finally went to the hospital to be put under for a few hours.
Her story ended a couple of years ago before she reported that she had made it through.

I just came off 120mg Oxycodone / day in 7 days, it was a pretty interesting experience.

Yesterday I didn't use for the first time in many years; and the day, while unpleasant, was perfectly tolerable.

I stepped off at 25 mg, because (surprisingly to me) the worst symptoms had been adequately mitgated by day 7 of the taper.

One night I tried Benadryl and it just made the RLS worse (stay away from it), insomnia is another bothersome issue.

As it turns out my best plan worked as follows:

Reduce the Oxy by 10 mg / day (fast taper), 3 doses down to two when you hit about 45mg.
(I switched to OP Oxy to spread out the active ingredient over the day.)

Deal with the pain in between doses, these are the W/D's being spread out over time instead of hitting you all at once.
Put your mind on quitting the drug, not taking it, the doses are there to give you a break from what would be unrelenting pain.
Keep in mind, as you feel this pain, the idea of going cold turkey if you fail at tapering, it is a sobering thought.
Take a dose in the morning and one in the evening (I did 9:00 / 3:00 / 9:00, with a Tramadol around 7:00 AM
to help my legs for a couple hours so I could stay in bed), when you cut out the middle dose substitute 50 mg Tramadol.

Once you are down under 50 or so, and the real bad feelings commence,
take 10 mg Valium in the evening, to relax a little while you are awake,
then when you want to sleep for a few hours, later take 10 mg Ambien, 500 mg tylenol and 50 mg Tramadol.
This will likely help you doze off and keep your legs from running around.

Step off the Oxy as soon as you are ready, don't wait around,
the idea here is to get the fuck out of The Pit because there is already someone else's blood in it.

I am going to stick with the Valium / Ambien / 2-3 50 mg Tramadol / day regemin for a few days only,
and I will continue to report back so that others looking for success stories will be able to find them.

The thing is to take as little of the cure that you can, I've really only used 1-2 Tramadol a day for a few days,
I will quit it as well within the week. Valium too, I figure I can get up to 7 days without feeling much pain when I quit,
but I am really shooting for 4-5. I've been solidly addicted to that shit before,
and not being my DOC it ain't going to happen again.

The 2 or 3 Tramadol is going to be at most a 2 week course as well, don't want to substitute one vice for another.

I can't say enough good about Ambien (zolpidem). The first day I used it it only bought me 4.5 hours of sleep, but that was like heaven.
It isn't particularly addictive, more than 10 mg doesn't do anything more, it doesn't cause rebound insomnia.
Between it, Valium, Tramadol and Tylenol, I had all the toolbox I needed in my case.

Being on day two off Oxy after a few years of taking it daily is a great feeling, I wish it upon you all. <3 :p ;)

Hope it helps, please post up your own success stories to encourage others trying to stop taking Oxycodone alone. %)
 
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During the fast taper, how severe were the withdrawal symptoms after each 10mg drop? and also, you are on day 2 without the oxy. what symptoms are you experiencing? is it completely tolerable? and you aren't bed ridden? sorry if this is invasive, I am just curious because I may use this method if I ever relapse to the point of using everyday and needing a dose to function again.

And congats on quitting again, it sounds like this is going to be the last time. I'm rooting for you :D
 
Ligaturd said:
During the fast taper, how severe were the withdrawal symptoms after each 10mg drop? and also, you are on day 2 without the oxy. what symptoms are you experiencing? is it completely tolerable? and you aren't bed ridden? sorry if this is invasive, I am just curious because I may use this method if I ever relapse to the point of using everyday and needing a dose to function again.

And congats on quitting again, it sounds like this is going to be the last time. I'm rooting for you :D
Click to expand...

Hi L,

The W/D's were pretty bad, but never over the top, and it was pretty much a consistent trip all the way down. Only had the shits a couple of times total, puked one time (while shoveling snow, actually felt pretty good), some hot flashes / chills accompanied by moderate respiratory discomfort, violent sneezing and yawning. I've done this once before with hydrocodone and I would say it was probably twice as intense. Also, HC W/D really messed with my throat and post nasal drip, this Oxy not so much. The past few days I just can't stay warm, I'm walking around with a winter coat and hat in the house. 10 mg / day was all I personally could handle and wouldn't recommend less due to boredom possibly setting in and unwittingly setting up some sort of accidental mainentence program.

The weird thing is that it is like a black fuzzy wall, you don't know whether you are making progress or not, until, on like day 7 it breaks like a fever. My fear was that once I stopped altogether it would be worse, but it isn't; the taper did its trick. As a matter of fact, the day I took 25 mg was the worst day, and I was fearful that it was going to get too bad, but then I woke up the next day feeling rested, and I just said "fuck it" and quit cold turkey right then, three days early!

Day three this AM, its 6:00 AM and the ambien wore off about an hour ago, it only lasted 4.25 hours this time.
Feels like the RLS has spread to my chest and arms, nerve discomfort like biting tinfoil, but pretty mild.
I skipped everything else last night so I just now got up and took 5mg Valium and a Tramadol.

I don't feel bad at all as long as I just accept that being awake before the sun comes up is the current program.
I figure when these two meds kick in and I finish typing this, I'll be able to sleep a little more.

Yes it is totally tolerable, I worked a 14 hour shift yesterday (with the luxury of a 1 hour nap in the afternoon).
Far better to have something to keep your body and mind occupied, you can forget about the quit for a little bit at a time.

Moderate exercie is key, getting your chi flowing will kickstart your own endorphine production much faster than laying around.
I like hiking for an hour every couple days (or walking hills to get my heart rate up). I also do some Tai Chi, Qi Gong,
and stretching; these all really help.

I do Zazen (formal sitting meditation) for 30 minutes once or twice a day as well,
I think it is pretty important for helping to stay grounded.

At the times that I actually got hungry and ate, it was Japanese rice, or homemade oatmeal to soak up toxins, as well as
meat, fish and eggs for choline; orange juice alway seems to make me feel bettter; Jello and pudding cups at night are just fun.

I take a mega vitamin, and a 1000 mg fish oil pill, and they seem to help with the nutrition.
Sleepy Time tea has too many ingredients and fucks me up, better to stick to as simple a protocol as possible, IMO.
I like caffeine, so I drink it and stop by 6:00 pm so it doesn't make the insomnia worse.

This sucks, but it is totally doable, treat it like a flu, the similarities abound.
Attitude is everything, you have to be a bit determined, stubborn and pushy with your weaker self; it ain't for pussies.
You also have to be willing to hurt as bad as it takes to quit, and you may keep in mind that it won't kill you.

I feel so much better today than during the taper, I bet in another week I will be nearly normal physically,
and within a month or two have my full brain back on line (things are pretty much still a fog right now).

Very useful resources:

Start by reading the book on self control, The Willpower Instinct; starting meditation to focus and train your mind
to follow orders is key in getting it to obey your lucid mind's demands.

As to actual quitting resources, the main resources that I used to get a grip on the psychology of deciding to quit was
the Rational Recovery and SMART programs.

I think they cater a lot to people that are confused about their demons as they seem so real.
But if you can figure out that your primitive mind (Id) just wants its fucking drugs and it wants them now, but also realize
that you have a more modern prefrontal cortex, which is designed to think a bit more long term and is just barely able to
pursuade/control the Id, then you can obviously (logically and gradually) push things in any direction that you might choose.

One problem is that until you start pushing, the drugs numb your voice of reason (but the saving grace is that they can never shut it up completely, there is always this nagging voice suggesting that "yes, indeed; this all could be otherwise").

It is a very Yin / Yang, over time, thing; even when things are totally black there is still a seed of light from which the light changes grow
(this is one of the significances of the yin yang symbol's black and white dots).

Thanks for the kind comments, I hope some others encounter this thread one day and find it useful.

And, oh yeah, my wife has had enough of me. You would think that when as a punk rocker she hooked up 30 years ago with a guy on drugs that she would know what she was getting into. Oh well, nothing is going to shake my resolve (knock on wood), my lucid mental indepence cannot be taken away from me.

Peace.

SF
 
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Space Firebird said:
violent sneezing and yawning
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Haaa.. I would get these both at the same time and then end up sneeze, yawn, burp, heaving.. man i can only imagine what i looked like.. lol.. i think i had this one time in a pharmacy when I was real sick and waiting on a script.. and had it allot when i finally kicked.. hahaha.. wtf. must be another couple things that the limbic system controls.. 8(
 
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Hi iam new to this site. My bf and I are currently trying to taper off oxy. We went through this before and feel so stupid for relapsing. The first time we used methadone which was an absolute nightmare. I was fine with it but my bf was literally sick to his stomach everyday the entire time. We got off within a year and was good until a couple months ago when we started using again. We were doing about 3-5 80s a day. I need some advice. We got it down to a 40 each per day but started replacing it with hydromorphone. I haven't had an oxy in 2.5 days but have been taking a 30 mg hydro morph each day. I really want off this garbage. What is the best way for me to do this? My bf is having a much harder time than I am, I'm really only dealing with the restless leg syndrome in the morning. But he has full blown w/ds. Need help, not sure if I should be replacing it with the hydros or if I should just jump off all together.
 
I posted this story on another thread to help out a fellow Greenlighter, and I'd like to share my story here, too:

Hello! I'm new to this forum but I've read many many stories about opiate addiction and recovery, and I've tried many different things to get thru withdrawal. I won't go into every single detail about my entire drug history, just the important parts.

I was a regular user of percocets, hydrocodone, lortab, etc. for about 2-3 yrs. I wanted to start getting control of my life and be able to save money and just enjoy life again. I was tired of running out of money or running out of pills and going thru withdrawals. I was using mainly bc I work in a call center and that can cause alot of mental health problems if you aren't careful. I thought I could switch down to Tramadol bc I heard it was not addictive and doctors do not mind at all giving those out. Tramadol withdrawals are much much worse than opiate withdrawals. Tramadol works as an antidepressant in some way, so along with the stomach issues, the restless leg issues, my head would feel like 100 lbs or feel like it was filled with water and ready to roll off my head, and I would have "brain zaps". I researched for many different ways to get thru withdrawals. Trying to take benadryl, immodium, tylenol, etc. Trying to stay active, take warm baths, all that stuff. I realized my tramadol withdrawals were mostly physically debilitating on my brain. I did have restless legs and a little bit of stomach problems, but mostly issues with my head. Tramadol works both as a painkiller and antidepressant, but for me it worked mostly as an antidepressant. I was and I still am taking Adderall, but this was only making me more jittery at the time. I started to take 500mg of Magnesium every 12 hours, and this helped ALOT. Magnesium helps with muscle contractions and nerve impulses, so it took away the brain zaps and the restless legs. But, I still had depression and anxiety from not knowing how life was going to turn out and if I would relapse again like I usually do. I decided to see my doctor and tell them I have been dealing with alot of anxiety my whole life, which was the catalyst to start taking painkillers. They decided to put me on Celexa, an SSRI. I had the usual side effects for a couple weeks. Fast forward to now, 2 months later I'm on 30mg of Celexa and I've never felt more sane in my ENTIRE LIFE. I'm not saying all this stuff will work the same for u, but try some things, like L-Theanine or Theanine (I found this at any drugstore). That also helps, too.
 
H samboran80, so you're saying that you are now off of the Tramadol?

I fell off the horse after a few months but I'm getting back on.
If I've done it once I know I can do it again.

I'm going to look into magnesium, thanks for the advice!
 
Hi Tinydancer19,

I don't know where you are at now, but 40 mg OC per day is close to jump time.
I wouldn't suggest switching to HM.

I am planning to switch to Hydrocodone when I get down low so I can better control the last few days.
I was at 30mg per day OC when I jumped off last time, I found it very uncomfortable for a very long time, this was after an 8 day taper.

I'm taking it easier this time.

Now that I think about it; the time before that I tapered off of of hydro by cutting down 5 mg every third day and I never had acute w/d's.

This is helping me remember, I think I have a better plan now, thanks!
 
Question about Length of time on oxycodone and realtive withdrawals

Hi Firebird,
I've been w/oxycodone 75mgs. a day for the last four years, which is longer than two to three years. I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on how long my tapering down should be since this poison has been longer in my brain/body. (I have been tapering down for a month now and today I am at 25mg, this past week was very difficult with nausea and hot flashes and aching muscles. Today I will try to taper to 20 mg a day for a few days, that's another 20 %, I am afraid to go cold turkey because of the length of time I have been taking these pills) In 2010 I had quit cold turkey on 25 mg a day, but that was all I was taking for four years (after three brain surgeries), I had pratically no withdrawal symptoms other than the bathroom, and it had lasted only one day. But then when I relapsed, I upped the dosage to 7.5 per dose. I know this is not as much as other people take, but I am still feeling withdrawals, and I am taking every vitamin and mineral out there availabe for a week now. If anyone out there has an opinion, please let me know. Thank you.
 
Danabe59 said:
Hi Firebird,
I've been w/oxycodone 75mgs. a day for the last four years, which is longer than two to three years. I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on how long my tapering down should be since this poison has been longer in my brain/body. (I have been tapering down for a month now and today I am at 25mg, this past week was very difficult with nausea and hot flashes and aching muscles. Today I will try to taper to 20 mg a day for a few days, that's another 20 %, I am afraid to go cold turkey because of the length of time I have been taking these pills) In 2010 I had quit cold turkey on 25 mg a day, but that was all I was taking for four years (after three brain surgeries), I had pratically no withdrawal symptoms other than the bathroom, and it had lasted only one day. But then when I relapsed, I upped the dosage to 7.5 per dose. I know this is not as much as other people take, but I am still feeling withdrawals, and I am taking every vitamin and mineral out there availabe for a week now. If anyone out there has an opinion, please let me know. Thank you.
Click to expand...

I think you are doing freaking fantastic.
How about sneaking it down 5 mg every 3-4 days.
The most important thing is to stay focused and keep the train on track.
Another great trick IMO, when you get down that low is to switch to Hydrocodone 10/325.
They are less painful to step off of than oxy in the end, and you can cut them in half, so you can actually finish up the last couple days at 5 mg HC (which equals about 3.75 mg OC). If you can do this you will have zero acute w/d's and just feel a little under the weather for a few days.

Also, jump in the May "Getting / Staying clean thread, it is where everyone keeps up with each other's progress.
 
Oxy was the love of my life (on 2occasions) .. never known a Better or more addicting high, but the other 3 drugs I've been hooked on in the last decade+ have Been much worse to kick & far more destructive even though they did far less for me.
Guess you can call that a success story. I never crave oxy once I lose my source but I'd give up.everything to dive right back in.
 
I have been thu it all too. I know how easy it is into finding success stories and comparing their stats to your stats. I know how easy it is to waste away days at work,
 
I take round 250-270 mg of oxy a day andim only 120 Lbs. i cant quit. I have a couple subutex. U think thatll work?
 
Hi yeah. I have noticed the same thing about people starting a topic and saying they gonna stop but then disapear. I've always used this site in the past but have never registered untill today. I found this post helpful to me and gives me hope I can make it too. I am in the third day of CT Soma 1750mg and tapering from about 100-140mg Oxy. I've made it down to 40mgs yeasterday. I'm a little shaky and weak. Two questions. Am I past the worst part of soma withdrawl? And how should I cut out more Oxy? Thank you
 
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Day 4 no soma. Feel like I'm done detoxing from it. I cut another Oxy im down to 1 every 8 hrs. Really struggling, but so far haven't had any major physical symptoms. Smoked some MJ yesterday and took one Benadryl before bed. Taking this one day at a time.
 
Day 5 no soma. I am down to 2 pills a day. 10mg spaced 10 hrs apart. I have yet to have any major withdrawl physical symptoms. It is more in my head at this point. I have running nose, body aches, lack of energy, stomach started hurting pretty bad. I took 2 Benadryl last night to sleep woke up two hours before next dose and wasn't sure I was gonna make it. Took an Epsom salt bath. Each minute seems like an hour. I'm able to eat still. Today is by far the hardest day. Think I'm gonna start cutting my dose in half and taking each half every six hours. That way by the end of tomorrow I will be down to one pill or 10 total a day
 
Going back reading original posting from space firebird and really noticed everything the same. At the 20mg mark was hardest. So far been 48 hours without Oxy. I'm very depressed and no energy. It's a holiday today and the added stress of it makes me want to just have a little celebration by eating a handful of pills.
 
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