oxycodone withdrawals

[treadwell]

hi. i was diagnosed with cml (a type of leukemia) almost three years ago and had a bone marrow transplant a little over a year ago. through the recovery process, i'd come to rely on a cocktail of ativan, benadryl, and oxycodone to help with nausea and other pains. i'm starting to feel more like my old self again, but have found myself hooked on the oxycodone. i've stopped taking the benadryl, but still take the ativan and oxycodone daily. yesterday and today i've only taken 1 pill of oxy instead of my usual 3, and hope to stop taking it altogether. i was just wondering if anyone on here has any experience with oxycodone and/or ativan, and has any tips on coping with the withdrawal symptoms, like aleve or advil or some sort of herbal remedy or vitamin. i've quit smoking cold turkey a few years ago, but these darn pills seem to be a bit more insidious for some reason. any tips would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

treadwell

[racegirl2448]

3 pills total per day was all you took? You may have some WD but if those were the 5mg pills that mean you only took like 15mgs a day and the WD's may not be as bad as you fear. You may feel like you have the flu, runny nose & diareah but I do not think the WD's would be as bad as lets say myself who takes like 200mgs a day for cronic pain. I only wish my WD's when the day comes would be for only 15mgs a day. You should be fine...although I am not a Dr..... the ativan will help with the anxiety that may happen with stopping cold-turkey... get some anti-diahreah stuff and keep up the fluids cuz one major WD issue is sweating while you sleep but I have found if I run out of meds and have a few days of WD's that if I sleep in a sitting up position helps wiht the sweating....no clue why but for me it helps.
Honestly though I don't think your WD's will be unbearable. Just tell peopel you got the flu and noone will know the wiser. If anyone thinks I am wrong please post something cuz I do not want to give the wrong information or advise.

[nandm]

Hi. After an auto accident several years ago I went through physical withdrawls from oxycontin/oxycodone. I decided I could stop and that Ibuprophen would be just as effective. It was for the pain but not for the withdrawls symptoms. Fortunately they were over in about 2 and a half weeks. But they were miserable. Felt like electrical jolts suddenly running through my body. Couldn't sleep because I would be woke up from them. It did pass though and I am thankful that I do not have to take it on a regular basis anymore. I do have to admit it would have been better if I had spoken to my Dr. first as he would probably have had me taper off so I would not experience as bad of withdrawls. Cold turkey I would not recommend. Good luck.

[emmer]

Lots of people here with lots of knowledge in the opiate department -
I had a codeine addiction but nothing as strong as oxy.
I do however have a fair bit of knowledge concerning benzos. Ativan, klonopin,valium ect .... don't stop these things abruptly .. The main thing to remember about benzos
is to get help from a doctor weening off ...you have to wean off very slowly.
Others are probably going to jump on this thread with better knowedge about oxy's than I can give. Welcome and keep posting.

[treadwell]

thanks for the responses. i'm down to 3 a day now, have been for about a month or so, although i occasionally binge and take way more. before that i took around 6 a day, so it's been a long process of trying to taper it down. i just hate the mind fog and uneasiness, and was hoping somebody knew of something harmless i could take to ease that a bit. thanks again.

treadwell

[bobbyr]

I had a truck accident , had to have 2 hip relacements,2 titanium rods put in,2 repaired rotor cuffs ,had to fuse 5 discs in my back have been on vicodin, oxycontin 80mg ,oxycodone ,fentanyl, you get the picture. I have been clean 17mos. and the best and only way to get of opiates is to wean off them very slow. Or go to a detox for 7 days and be done with it. whatever you do ,good luck god bless bobbyr

[exjunky]

Originally Posted by treadwell

i'm down to 3 a day now, have been for about a month or so, although i occasionally binge and take way more.

Those binges are the biggest problem. One binge will make your tolerance go way up and undo a month's worth of slowly tapering down.

Have you ever heard of what's sometimes called the "Chinese Cure"? (request in a PM)

However this method only works if you have rock-solid self control, to not "cheat" and take extra doses. I tried this method on myself and I failed miserably when I finally craved getting "high" so bad that I just threw back half the bottle like it was a slug of whiskey. If you have a spouse or some good friend to hold the dosing bottle and dispense it to you at the designated times, it might help prevent that kind of thing.

If you find that you just cannot self-monitor your oxy taper no matter how hard you try, then it's time to seek outside help. It's nothing shameful to say "I can't do this on my own", very few people can.

[StagebearNJ]

Originally Posted by exjunky

Have you ever heard of what's sometimes called the "Chinese Cure"? ...this method only works if you have rock-solid self control, to not "cheat" and take extra doses. I tried this method on myself and I failed miserably...

Your intentions in posting this were no doubt good and pure, but it might not be the best idea to post a detox method which failed for you (or at which you failed) and has the potential to do serious harm to a user.
Again, I believe your motivation was good. I seriously question the posting of this method of detoxification, however.

Best,
Bear

[exjunky]

I'm not sure what you mean by "serious harm to the user" -- I'm only speaking about somebody who already has an oxycodone habit, so they wouldn't be doing anything worse to themselves than they already are. And although admittedly it didn't work for me at all, I know at least person who made it work for them, so it's not entirely an useless idea.

Had I told the guy "seek out an NA group near your area" you probably wouldn't have objected to my advice, but just like the "Chinese Cure", that method has a significant failure rate too. Another popular suggestion is "just quit cold turkey", a method with an enormous failure rate even among people serious about quitting.

So there are all of these ideas, none of them perfect. I don't see any harm in sharing as many ideas as possible, as long as it's done without "hype". I guess what it comes down to is that I think people have a right to be informed.

[Doug]

Meetings, and seeing a doctor, don't need this warning:

(SUPER IMPORTANT: By the way, if you actually do this, be sure to draw a big black skull and crossbones on your bottle of lemonade. Label it "POISON" because that's what it is. If somebody drank the bottle by accident they'd probably die from it! Please, take this seriously! And keep away from children!)

I removed that "recipe" from your post up there. If you want to share it, please do it in a PM.

As far as "rock solid" self control goes, it seems very ironic to use that statement and the word addict anywhere near each other. If it was as simple as self control, there'd be no need for "recipes", weening, taperings, meetings, etc....

[Jane63]

Welcome treadwell! How are you doing today?

I would be wary of "recipes" and the like {JMO}...but there are some tried and true things you can do to lessen the WDs...like taking warm baths to ease the muscle aches and stress, drinking lots of water, eating well, rest, taking Ibuprofen for the occ. pain, Melatonin or Tylenol PM {for occ. use} for sleep and trying to get alittle exercise each day as you begin to feel better...even if its just walking around the block.

My best suggestion, however, would be to go back to the DR who prescribed you the Oxys and etc. and tell him you would like help tapering off them in a safe way and possibly to prescribe you something {like Clonidine} to help ease the WDs.
That way your DR will be aware that you have a "problem" and can help with any future problems that may arise.
Good luck and keep posting!
Jane

[treadwell]

thanks to everybody who has posted, i really appreciate it. today has been the first day i've gone without oxycodone in a while, and i feel like **** warm baths actually really do help a lot for some reason, i've taken three today. i should talk more frankly about it to my doctor but i can't help feeling embarrassed about it, and play it off like i'm in control. i'm just amazed how easy it is to get the stuff. to anyone who's been through a withdrawal like this, how long do the physical symptoms generally last? i remember with smoking the physical part only really lasted around three days, it's the mental crutch and routine of it that's the hardest. is it similar with opiates, or does the physical part take longer? thanks again.

[exjunky]

Originally Posted by Doug

Meetings, and seeing a doctor, don't need this warning...

I could argue that doctor's help also comes with such warnings. E.g. people who go to methadone clinics receive bottles that do indeed say "POISON" on them, and they have to be kept well out of the reach of children. And if some fool were to chug-a-lug the entire bottle at once they'd probably die. It's the same level of "danger" -- we just have to assume we're all adult enough to not voluntarily overdose through stupidity/insanity, and above all else, to not let children access bottles of powerful drugs.

Anyhow you seem to wear a badge of authority around here so I'll stand by your decision. Maybe it's a legal indeminification thing, if so, that's cool and I pretty much understand the concern from that point of view. In the USA anybody can be sued for anything, anytime, no matter how careful one tries to be.

Besides, I'm not even a big advocate for the "Chinese Cure"--I've never gotten it to work for me. The one case where I heard it was successful it was a guy who let his wife do the administration of the doses, so that "cheating" was not possible. For people who self-dose themselves, boy, they have to be a better man than I am, that's for sure.

Nevertheless, I'm still glad I know about it: knowledge is power. We could make a list of 20 ways to kick drugs and not a single method on that list would work for a majority of people. Like you suggested, I'll tell anybody who is curious what the Chinese Cure is if they PM me.

Cheers
x-j

[StagebearNJ]

Originally Posted by exjunky

we just have to assume we're all adult enough to not voluntarily overdose through stupidity/insanity,

Sadly, I've seen too may addicts die because of that assumption.
Again, I stand by my post in which I said I believed your motives were good. The problem with posting things here is not the people we hear from in responses, it's those we do not..those who choose to adapt "advice" without asking questions or reporting their progress.
Again, I ask that you recognize that I was not downing your motives or even the "cure", just the danger of posting it here.

Best,
Bear

[ktray]

Treadwell, I hope today is going better. As you will learn, your going to hear this a lot but, "This too shall pass." Everyday well get better and better. I do know that the more water you drink the faster your body will flush out the toxins. So keep that water handy. I do want to advise that if your on high doses of oxycontin, you need to be VERY careful self detoxing. You can have an anxiety attack, heart attack, or simply over heat your body. Self detoxing is not recommended, and it should be done through your doctor. Make sure your consious of what state your in and if it starts to go wrong get help immediatly!!!!!!! You should never feel embarrassed to tell you doctor that you can't control your comsumption. From personal expierence, I dont know to many people that have had a perscription to oxy's that had self control, and never got addicted. It was made for people with terminal cancer. They never thought people would live to have withdraws.

As far as how long these DT's last, well it depends on the person. I went into inpatient and with there help I only had the sever DT's for about three days. After that I just didn't have any engery, couldn't sleep, and crabby. But the cold sweats were going, the jitters, and the upset stomach. It took me a good 45 days to think I was starting to feel somewhat normal again.

Just keep up the good work, and if you take anything away from this, PLEASE have you doctor help you through this. I'm sure he would try to make this as painless as possiable.

Now, Im not tring to get in the middle of anything or offend anyone, but I had a couple of comments:

The first thing that I wanted to say is that some doctors do need a warning lable. The doctors that are all about the money. They see people like me who were severly hurt in an auto accident that resulted in the death of my son and decided for what I would call emotional reasons to perscribe oxycontin. Then when the point of addiction rears it's ugly head, they keep giving you more. Now, if I wasn't an addict then I could have done something about it, but of coure all I wanted was more!!

As for people being adult enough to not "voluntarily overdose through stupidity/insanity" well, when your in active addiction your in insanity. If we weren't insane why would we be slowly killing ourselves? If I knew then what I know know, I should have long been dead, and I by no means think Im stupid or un-adult acting.

[Sav]

Well...after everything you've been through, I wouldn't be surprised if withdrawal is easy to handle! Then again, sometimes to much is to much.
If you're actually able to get into a warm bath three times a aday, then you aren't suffering from the worst aspects of withdrawal. So I'd guess you'll only go through 3,4 days tops before the worst is gone. After that, it depends entirely on you. You'll have to play it by ear. There are amino acid regimes and the like for post addiction recovery, but I bet you're already on a pretty strict regime for your post leukimia health. That would be something to take up with a doctor. You may need to find an addiction specialist, since most doctors are fairly ignorant about this aspect of it.

If you want ask about here, or I can check out the medhelp board. It has forums for addiction as well as other health issues (like leukimia!) and you can get excellent first hand patient information there from their experience.

[ccgirl]

Tread, leukemia is such a serious disease. Is it a chronic form with chronic pain? If it is, and pain meds help, I'm going to go against my usual advice about taking nothing, and talk to your doctor. Maybe this med is necessary for your total well being, along with the ativan. I just think cancer kind of changes the rules, unless you don't need it anymore and are just addicted. Then I would still suggest you talk to your doctor.