want to stop pain medicine

[appleorchard]

Hi all : ) If this isn't the right place to post please let me know and I'll take my butt somewhere else

For the past hmm, I guess about 6 months I've been prescribed pain medicine for an accident I was in. I was (am) taking Percocet 10/325. Normally I take 2-3 in the morning, and 2-3 in the afternoon with maybe 1-2 before bed to help me sleep. They work and I have no pain and can function (we live on a farm so I have a ton of running around I do daily and need to be able to without being uncomfortable..) the problem is, I think I want to stop. I don't LIKE depending on a pain medicine to get through my day and I'm kind of a holistic minded person so it kills me to take them.

But I do.

I tried to quit cold turkey and it absolutely sucked sucked sucked. I told my doctor I wasn't going to refill my prescription and within a day I had the worst restless legs on the planet, which I know is a sign I'm physically addicted blah blah. So I picked up my script but his nurse wrote them for 5mg which meant I had to take all that Tylenol and that's ANOTHER concern I have with these meds. I've been taking milk thistle and other supplements and taking a smaller dose (which again isn't really helping me and I feel uncomfortable..)

So I have some questions:
Is it safe to take 60-70 mg of Percocet a day for pain long-term? This time I'm going to be SLOWLY weaning myself - I know the general rules and never go above 2000 at one time or 4000 in a day (but with the 5's I did come close, hence my milk thistle and water drinking galore)

What can I do to ease my period of physical dependence if I do wean off them over the course of a month? And how long can I expect the discomfort to last?

Thanks so much everyone.

 

[Crashing]

So you're taking about a maximum of 80mg of oxycodone per day. The longer you do this, the worse your withdrawal can be. Tapering on opiates rarely works and often leads to psychological negative reinforcement when you try to taper, and end up redosing the same amount. This usually happens because any decrease in opiate dosage from the usual dosage will cause withdrawal symptoms, therefore tapering really just makes the withdrawal period seem to last forever.

If I were you, I would quit cold turkey and make yourself believe that you have the flu for a few days. The shit symptoms only last a few days, about 2-4 depending on your metabolism, since you work on a farm the acute stage will probably be quick for you. After that you'll just have insomnia for a couple weeks which leads to other discomforts, but that can be combatted with a variety of different things, such as alcohol, benzos, hypnotics, etc..

To sum it up, you can go through a month of moderate discomfort, or 3 days of more severe discomfort. But keep in mind, it's only discomfort. Alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal is wayyyy worse, so just try to be strong. Another option is to order some Kratom online, a legal herb with opioid analogs that can be made into a tea or taken in capsule form that will reduce withdrawal symptoms quite well.

 

[teological]

Crashing is right, in that tapering just prolongs the withdrawal. If you quit cold turkey, you will be sick for about three - four days. Second and third being the worst, and the fourth you will notice a great decline, from there you are basically done (not with PostAcuteWithdrawalSyndrome though, the psychological part).

Get some Immodium (Loperamide), which is basically an opiate that does not cross the BBB, so it can't get you high, but the general concensus is that it really helps to quite a large degree. Get ready to have a few days off if you can, get the old DVDs out and a nice warm blanket. Not to mention the bucket or toilet nearby, just in case. Also grab an NSAID (basically stuff like Ibuprofen) and you should be pretty sweet.

The amount of APAP, if I have correctly analysed your post, seems very high for long term management man. I mean, I have read that the shit BUILDS UP. In fact if you are taking about 2000mg - 4000mg of APAP every single day for six months, and plan on going longer (judjing by your first question), is not safe man. The oxycodone isn't toxic in the way APAP is, and it alone will suit long term better, not saying it is the best idea. Have you heard of a CWE?

A CWE is a Cold Water Extraction, it seperates the APAP from the opiate and saves your liver my friend. Look it up in the search engine, it is easy as hell and takes about 30 minutes if you do it properly, and like 5 minutes if crudley and less effectively, so it is one of the best harm reduction methods to ever surface in the world of pain killers.

Anyway, don't taper, especially with your sort of physically demanding job (I also have one, and while sick your performance DECLINES badly, you feel sore the next day like it was your first time again when you were 16). Get the Loperamide, grab the NSAID OTC (Ibuprofen), have a two to three day holiday...and DO IT!!

Also in regards to the amount of APAP you have been taking, I would suggest to get your liver checked out man, for peace of mind. I do it almost annually lol.

Peace man, and good luck.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

The longer you do this, the worse your withdrawal can be.

^THIS. The sooner you get off the opioids the better, it's only going to get harder the longer you wait.

Tapering can makes you feel milder withdrawals but for longer. I am near the end of a long slow methadone taper right now and I feel like it hasn't been worth it, because I've still definitely felt withdrawals and I will still feel a lot when I stop completely. With oxy it seems even less worth it, since if you quit abruptly the worst of the withdrawals should be over in less than a week. You could always just stop, or do a really quick taper, like a week, (IF you think you can trust yourself to do it), and do/take things to help with the withdrawal symptoms - check out our Opioid Withdrawal Megathread. If you want to taper gradually, know that it only works when you are highly motivated, are realistic about the fact that you will feel some withdrawals still and don't justify keeping your dose the same or upping it back up (it's very easy to rationalize, especially if you have any responsibilities, stress, etc) and/or are doing a supervised taper, like your doctor is restricting the amount of drugs you get and you have to go to the pharmacy weekly (or better yet daily) in order to pick up your meds so you can't just procrastinate on the tapering.

As for what level of withdrawals you will have if you wean yourself off over a month, it's impossible for us to know, everyone is very different. You will at the minimum still have psychological withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, depression and cravings, and you will probably also have some aches and pains, perhaps difficulty sleeping, etc.

As to whether or not it is safe to take 60-70 mg of Percocet a day long-term, define "safe"? I don't think it is a good idea to take opioids long-term for a vast number of reasons, both mental and physical. I certainly deeply regret it. If you are just asking about the APAP, you should do a CWE teleological mentioned above.