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Positive The Tapering Supportive/Social Thread

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The Norco and the Tramadol work on the same opiate receptors in various locations in your brain and other body parts. The wd’s from either can be horrible, and they overlap and amplify eachother. It might still be a week or two before you are done with Norco wd’s and you’re getting Tramadol wd’s in between. Stay the course but beware that the symptoms you’re associating with the Norco wd’s might now be from the Tramadol wds in between doses.
You might need to stabilize your Tramadol dosing schedule first, then plan how you’re going to quit that one too. The wd’s from Tramadol can be as bad as Norco, but more likely they will be around 50% as severe.
 
I’m basically stable now with Kratom. I get mild withdrawals in between doses and my general back pain works it’s way through the cracks, but my last pill was 22 days ago and I don’t have any cravings. Its not really the whole story though since I have been involuntarily reducing my usage for the last year.
I have done this straight up cold turkey once, same as Dundermifflin, and my current stupid strategy of almost quitting monthly for two years. No question Dundermifflin’s strategy is the way to go. I clearly remember experiencing everything he has described a couple of years ago, and I did it every month since then. It got easier, but it was still horrible. I’m spending a little time each day focusing on how hard it was: hiding, lying, aching, insomnia, etc. I don’t want to start remembering the good times. My goal is to focus really hard on all of the negative effects on my life, with the plan that hopefully one day my automatic reaction will be that I don’t want any of it. I know there will come a time when I won’t have any choice but to use them because of another surgery. I hope I can stay focused through that experience and get myself away from the pills within days instead of years.
 
Dundermifflin8699 said:
Lots of stuff happening in family...
Funeral, icu admission not looking good

Really wanting to refill norco...
Still taking tramadol a bit
Click to expand...
Stay strong. Stay safe. Keep your eye on the prize. You have come a long way and I know deep down the cravings for the pills will pass. I also used them for my emotional well being ( mental pain vs physical pain ) so I know it's so tempting. Hang in there. <3
 
Dundermifflin8699 said:
Lots of stuff happening in family...
Funeral, icu admission not looking good

Really wanting to refill norco...
Still taking tramadol a bit
Click to expand...
Stay the course. Just remember what it feels like to realize you restarted the clock on Groundhog Day and how low it makes you feel to be back on the Norco. You definitely don’t want to be back in that kind of misery.
 
Kind of nice..... my back is pretty jacked up today, but for the first time in years I’m not wishing I had my pills. I’m planning my afternoon so that I can rest and hopefully get back to normal tomorrow, but no desire to use my prescription. It’s a little surreal because I have been here hundreds of times in the last couple of years but my mind is going straight to Netflix instead of oxy, and that has never happened.
Something changed when I had to admit stealing pills. Rock bottom I guess(I hope). Not proclaiming victory over my addiction, but definitely a little excited about the shift in my thinking.
 
Man this is totally wierd. I can’t remember when my last Dr appt was. And their office has always been disorganized, so I usually have to figure out when my next appt is (they text me 3 days prior to my appt). I ALWAYS KNOW how many days since my last appt and exactly when my next appt will be, but right now I couldn’t even guess when my next appt is.
I had no idea how much those pills were affecting my life. I knew about the $$, and I was suspicious about the amplified pain from the oxy. But that monthly target had become a sort of twisted security blanket. Now that it’s gone I actually feel a little lost. I definitely never want to go back but it’s leaving me a but uneasy right now. I have a big change coming at work next week. My usual go-to move would be to celebrate in advance and console myself afterwards with my pills. Knowing that it’s going to be different this time and for the rest of time is both awesome and terrifying.

One day at a time......
 
For the record, all of those months that I severely overused my prescription must have gotten me very close to not being physically addicted. One week on and 3 weeks off for the last 6 months was misery. It feels however like even though the one week on was with a huge amount of oxy, it was the three weeks in between that got me past the most difficult withdrawals when I finally quit. Not exactly the smartest plan but it seems to have worked in my favor for now.
Either way, Kratom and weed are really helping with my pain and sleep. And even though they come with withdrawals if I quit, the wd’s from oxy are 50x worse!
 
Squeaky said:
For the record, all of those months that I severely overused my prescription must have gotten me very close to not being physically addicted. One week on and 3 weeks off for the last 6 months was misery. It feels however like even though the one week on was with a huge amount of oxy, it was the three weeks in between that got me past the most difficult withdrawals when I finally quit. Not exactly the smartest plan but it seems to have worked in my favor for now.
Either way, Kratom and weed are really helping with my pain and sleep. And even though they come with withdrawals if I quit, the wd’s from oxy are 50x worse!
Click to expand...
You are doing freakin' awesome. Your compulsion to take them until gone and your obsession until you get the next refill is being replaced by some really solid thinking. Your mind is healing and I also think you beat a serious physical addiction by being without for those 3 weeks of every month. Keep on keepin' on Squeaky. I just know you are proud of yourself as you should be. <3
 
Update..
I took Norco last few days...
Trying to regroup... .
I know you all get the whole deal.....
Trying not to get too down.....

Note..
I dreamt i shot H all night long...
Deep rooted stuff man
 
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Dundermifflin8699 said:
Update..
I took Norco last few days...
Trying to regroup... .
I know you all get the whole deal.....
Trying not to get too down.....

Note..
I dreamt i shot H all night long...
Deep rooted stuff man
Click to expand...
I still have using and drinking dreams/nightmares dude. It's good to talk about them, it takes away any power the dream might have over you.
 
Dundermifflin8699 said:
Update..
I took Norco last few days...
Trying to regroup... .
I know you all get the whole deal.....
Trying not to get too down.....

Note..
I dreamt i shot H all night long...
Deep rooted stuff man
Click to expand...
Don’t get yourself down and feel like you failed. Take what you learned and use it to get farther next time.

If your plan is to fly to the moon, you had best plan on crashing into the ocean first.
 
Every day that I get further away from my last oxy is becoming clearer and clearer that this was the right move, but also that I have a really long road ahead.

When I first started on the pain killers I was in a lot of pain, and they started me on 5mg Norco. So the progression from normal asshole to drug addicted asshole was slow. But I’m coming off of a huge amount of oxy, basically cold turkey, and it’s becoming a little entertaining to see what aspects of life are returning. Things I had forgotten about or just chocked-up to old age.

My memory and my desire to live my life are coming back. On the pills I was living one month at a time. I was avoiding making any type of long term plans or any significant changes in my life. My reason was that I was hurt, but the real reason was that I was tethered to that Dr and that prescription. Not having that anchor tied to myself is freeing up my future and allowing me to make some changes. For example:
My job is basically 9-5, Monday through Friday. I turned down a promotion twice because it meant less heavy lifting but potentially a lot of overtime. Recently I accepted the promotion because I’m not afraid of being stuck on overtime and out of pills. I know it sounds small, but it’s actually huge.

I’m paying attention. And it’s pretty clear those pills were doing a lot more harm than good. And this is coming from someone who has legit physical pain.
 
Dundermifflin8699 said:
Im back to square one....
New day ....new hope...
Heavy depression...

But know this can be the beginning..
One minute/one hour/one day.
Click to expand...
You’re not at square one. That was when you first decided to quit.
Don’t discount all of the distance between that day and this one. You have learned a crap load about yourself and you’re a lot further than you realize.
 
It is helping me a lot right now that I really don’t like what the pills did to me. Again, not getting too full of myself, but I force myself to focus on the bad parts when the thought enters and every day gets me further from wishing for pain relief.

One minute at a time sometimes.
 
Hey folks...
Still keeping on...
Norco and trams
Gearing up for another attempt to discontinue norco.

Man, i was right there 2 weeks ago...$__&#
 
Dundermifflin8699 said:
Hey folks...
Still keeping on...
Norco and trams
Gearing up for another attempt to discontinue norco.

Man, i was right there 2 weeks ago...$__&#
Click to expand...
Don’t beat yourself up. If I added up all of my failures I would go back to the pills just because I’m so depressed about all of the times I went back to the pills. Also if you quit something you’re not ready to quit, you will either go back to it in the future OR you’ll spend the rest of your life wishing you could. Like breaking up with a woman who cheated on you, but you still carry a torch for her. It’s better (in my opinion) if you quit because you really want to quit AND you can release the hold she has on you because you don’t want that any more.
This dependence has stolen too many years from you already. Giving up these pills is obviously important to you, but you might be better off going through this once more so you don’t spend the next 20 years getting excited every time someone says they have some old Norco laying around. It sucks right now but how much would it suck if those pills steal the next 20 years from you and you never even get to use them again? (That would be like watching porn with no hope of having sex afterwards)
 
Squeaky said:
Don’t beat yourself up. If I added up all of my failures I would go back to the pills just because I’m so depressed about all of the times I went back to the pills. Also if you quit something you’re not ready to quit, you will either go back to it in the future OR you’ll spend the rest of your life wishing you could. Like breaking up with a woman who cheated on you, but you still carry a torch for her. It’s better (in my opinion) if you quit because you really want to quit AND you can release the hold she has on you because you don’t want that any more.
This dependence has stolen too many years from you already. Giving up these pills is obviously important to you, but you might be better off going through this once more so you don’t spend the next 20 years getting excited every time someone says they have some old Norco laying around. It sucks right now but how much would it suck if those pills steal the next 20 years from you and you never even get to use them again? (That would be like watching porn with no hope of having sex afterwards)
Click to expand...
Well said..thank you
 
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