Opioids How easily will I become dependent?

[Slow_Mobius]

So I have small amount of 5mg IR oxycodone tablets to take at only at night to help me fall sleep with back pain mostly caused by muscle spasms. I'm wondering how frequently I can take these without developing a significant tolerance or dependency. Right now I'm limiting myself to 10 mg max every other night, but I'm worried I'm starting to become physically dependent after only a few nights of use. When I took about 9mg the other night, I didn't have the nausea that I usually experience and It felt like it wore off pretty quickly even though I staggered my doses. I've felt mildly energy zapped/mildly anxious during the day, but I'm also under stress right now, so It's possible that I'm just psyching myself out.

I was hoping to get something like hydrocodone or codeine which I thought was better for sleep, but the oxycodone does help. I used to take tramadol daily but I haven't touched the stuff in almost three weeks. I want to avoid a drug dependency, but I also seriously need some relief so I can fall asleep at least some nights.

BTW I don't really enjoy the Oxycodone high, but I do "crave" something at night, but that might be a psychological dependence I developed from all the other different meds I used to take every night for sleep

 

[Larc]

Youre going to get alot of "everyone is different blah blah blah" type responses if any.

Any worth while physical dependancy wont manifest on 10mg of oxy every other night. Dont worry about it. Psychological dependancy can. Do some research on the differences between the two. It will help.

Relying on a drug to sleep is never a good idea. Fucking up your sleep schedule blows.

 

[shadowstryker]

So I have small amount of 5mg IR oxycodone tablets to take at only at night to help me fall sleep with back pain mostly caused by muscle spasms. I'm wondering how frequently I can take these without developing a significant tolerance or dependency. Right now I'm limiting myself to 10 mg max every other night, but I'm worried I'm starting to become physically dependent after only a few nights of use. When I took about 9mg the other night, I didn't have the nausea that I usually experience and It felt like it wore off pretty quickly even though I staggered my doses. I've felt mildly energy zapped/mildly anxious during the day, but I'm also under stress right now, so It's possible that I'm just psyching myself out.

I was hoping to get something like hydrocodone or codeine which I thought was better for sleep, but the oxycodone does help. I used to take tramadol daily but I haven't touched the stuff in almost three weeks. I want to avoid a drug dependency, but I also seriously need some relief so I can fall asleep at least some nights.

BTW I don't really enjoy the Oxycodone high, but I do "crave" something at night, but that might be a psychological dependence I developed from all the other different meds I used to take every night for sleep

I don't think (its hard to tell exactly when) that I was dependent until I was doing 65mg Oxy ir a day. So you're probably not going to be dependent at 5/10mg every other night.

 

[Codeine Demon]

Youre going to get alot of "everyone is different blah blah blah" type responses if any.

Any worth while physical dependancy wont manifest on 10mg of oxy every other night. Dont worry about it. Psychological dependancy can. Do some research on the differences between the two. It will help.

Relying on a drug to sleep is never a good idea. Fucking up your sleep schedule blows.

Completely agree. 10mg really isn't a lot IMO even to the opiate naive, I'd say that using sporadically like you are at such a low dose your almost definitely not gonna be physically dependant but yes you could be mentally.

Sleeps a bitch though, my syrcadian rhythms been so out of whack for such a long time, plus insomnia, get about 4 hours sleep a day usually at 9am if I'm lucky, it sucks

 

[Billard]

Everybody is different blah blah blah, but i been prescribed 10mg a day for the past 3 years or so due to my knee injury. At first i was like you, wondering if i'll become dependent, thinking naw, it's only 5mg a night (i was breaking them in half and only taking half at first) but after about a month of being on them i found out i was basicaly dependent. But not in a druggie, get high kind of way, but rather in a sort of wow, these really help me and now i need one to sleep and feel no pain type of way. Keep them spaced out as far as possible, honestly id say no more than 1 time a week or when you really, really, really, need to take one and no more than 10 mg at a time if you don't want to become too dependent. But if you take them like your suppose to, or how your doctor tells you too, 5-10 mg at a time and you wont develop a tolerance that way, self control really helps too though.. But you would be suprised how quick opiate addiction happens, one way or another, and it sounds to me like the things are already starting to take hold of you. Unless you absolutely need one for pain, do not take it. I would maybe just flush them while your still ahead, if you cant control yourself and just occasionally take one, and look into going another route or find a different, less deadly, less potent, less addicting medicine, or maybe just a sleep aid of some kind..

 

[Slow_Mobius]

Thank you for your opinions, it's helpful. I've done a lot of research online and read some stories of how people became addicted to opiates, coming off them, etc. My general takeaway was that opiates are a slippery slope that can creep up, but that their generally okay when used to manage pain rather than takeaway pain. My pain is usually manageable during the day with tylenol, stretching, etc. but I really can use something to take the edge off of the discomfort to help me sleep.

I was dependent on ambien for almost 7 months, but it got to the point where my pain was keeping me up and I would stay up all night on two ambien. So then I starting mixing in cannabis and tramadol.... so I'm trying to move away from the self-medication route. It was just really hard for me to be upfront about my problems with my doctors when my biggest fear was not getting a refill on my meds. I'm gonna stick with every other night plan and I'm sure my doc will cut me off before things could get out of hand anyways

 

[Bliss26]

It took me over a year of continuous use (like always in my system, ER oxy) to develop WD. But , the problem is, it just happens one day. You don't know if it'll happen for you after 6 months, a yr or 18 months.
I can tell you this: the dose is far less relevant than the continuoUs dosing. Someone who doses 50mg twice a week may be able to do so indefinitely with no problems, but someone who takes oxy ER 10mg on the daily is eventually going to develop a dependence.
Be careful. Every other night at a tiny dose will be fine, the problem is, oxy seems to have a way of whispering for you to have some every night, and thenhey I'm having a hectic day so I'll have more, and gawd I feel really stiff this morning, so I guess I'll just have a few, etc.
Everyone thinks they're cool w it, but I'm telling you straight up, BL probably has thousands of people who went through the same thing and are now in rough spots.
Something to keep in mind.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

It took me over a year of continuous use (like always in my system, ER oxy) to develop WD. But , the problem is, it just happens one day. You don't know if it'll happen for you after 6 months, a yr or 18 months.
I can tell you this: the dose is far less relevant than the continuoUs dosing. Someone who doses 50mg twice a week may be able to do so indefinitely with no problems, but someone who takes oxy ER 10mg on the daily is eventually going to develop a dependence.
Be careful. Every other night at a tiny dose will be fine, the problem is, oxy seems to have a way of whispering for you to have some every night, and thenhey I'm having a hectic day so I'll have more, and gawd I feel really stiff this morning, so I guess I'll just have a few, etc.
Everyone thinks they're cool w it, but I'm telling you straight up, BL probably has thousands of people who went through the same thing and are now in rough spots.
Something to keep in mind.

This is how I got hooked on tramadol. My GP insisted that tramadol was just an anti-inflammatory, but good god was it nice to take on my stressful days and the speedy aspect made it so much easier to do redundant work. I feel better this time since I've done a lot of research on opiates, and I'm not going into it thinking I'm taking a harmless pill with some lovely side effects.

I've also got enough going for me right now that there's no way I'm letting myself lose control, and I'm trying to be more transparent about everything with my close friends and doctors. That's one reason why I just had to ditch the cannabis. I can't let a possession charge screw up my future right now

 

[Slow_Mobius]

BTW I took 5mg with some kava stress relief tea I bought at safeway about 30 minutes ago. Definitely thinking there's some potentiation or nice synergism. I'm going to get some quality sleep here shortly goodnight all and thanks for advice

 

[namnoc16]

I would think almost no chance for physical dependence at every other day but when you start mixing other shit in there to potentiate or not even doing it on purpose but still getting potentiation is pushing it. Still you wouldn't be physically dependent the way your dosing but it opens pandoras box just a wee bit more.

 

[Mr.Mafia]

I feel like that if you have the mindset you're using them just for sleep then it will become a psychological issue because you will make a routine of using them for sleep, and you will keep reminding yourself that you are using them only for sleep, which will create a physical dependence because your body has been going to sleep loaded with oxycodone for the last week. So while your mind thinks you're fine and you're only using them for sleep, the physical dependence will creep up without you knowing.

 

[tacodude]

I find codine and it's counter parts including OC be better for active pain making sleep more difficult while inducing a feeling of sleepiness still. I find it better for active pain while morphine and its counterparts releave pain and induce sleep. I recommend asking your doctor for opana (oxymorphone) in five mg dose with the ability to take one or two at night as needed as it has a 7-9 hour half life making it longer lasting while I find it to be the only thing strong enough to kill my pain at realistic doses and manage it long term vs. dilaudid with a 1-3 hour half life leading to it not even lasting a full night of sleep. Get the IR not the ER as that would last through night into the next day.... Unless you want that

 

[Slow_Mobius]

I find codine and it's counter parts including OC be better for active pain making sleep more difficult while inducing a feeling of sleepiness still. I find it better for active pain while morphine and its counterparts releave pain and induce sleep. I recommend asking your doctor for opana (oxymorphone) in five mg dose with the ability to take one or two at night as needed as it has a 7-9 hour half life making it longer lasting while I find it to be the only thing strong enough to kill my pain at realistic doses and manage it long term vs. dilaudid with a 1-3 hour half life leading to it not even lasting a full night of sleep. Get the IR not the ER as that would last through night into the next day.... Unless you want that

I usually don't have a problem staying asleep, I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. It's just falling asleep and I've tried just about every sleeping med out there except benzos which I have no interest in trying. I honestly have no problem becoming dependent or even psychologically dependent on something to sleep, because I literally just cannot sleep without something. I've gone CT from all drugs, including alcohol and caffeine, with the intent of trying to restore a natural circadian rhythm. No luck. And now my pain keeps me up even when I take ambien. My main concern is feeling physical withdrawal symptoms during the day.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

Also, I'm a college student. I'm pretty sure that as soon as I ask for a scheduled drug like opana, I'm not going to get any help beyond tylenol. When I told my old GP that I wasn't liking the tramadol/ambien combo and how quickly I was developing a dependency, he said he didn't know what I was talking about, implied that my pain is a physical manifestation of stress (even though I told him I wasn't under stress at the time and I have a serious condition that isn't taught at most med schools), and referred me to someone else. I love how nearly every doctor I see assumes something isn't real if it isn't something they're familiar with.

 

[GuyDude]

I'm in a similar situation. I have about 8 5mg ir's left and I have been doing about 4-6 pills every other day. I've used opiates in the past couple of years starting with a prescription of 15mg oxy then tramadol, fentanyl a couple of times, morphine, narco, a fair few. I've usually had several month breaks in between those uses and I wouldn't consider myself addicted. I get cravings yes but i've never had withdrawls or anything like that so I think you'll be fine