I need help

[jd2008]

I am going to see a doc in 2 days to get suboxone for the first time, me and my g/f are hooked on roxycodone 30's but she insists thats I am over reacting, she truly thinks she can just quit, go through 3-5 days of hell and be done and off the drug, after researching the net, it seems her theory that she backs up 100% from seeing all her friends do it she says, it would seem that she does not realize that we have a problem, which that itself brings tears to my eyes because we are both supposed to quit in 1 month when we get back from our vacation, we have been on these damn pills for 4-5 months now and it's just retarded. Even with suboxone it seems people need it for several months and she is convinced if we take it for a week or 2, then we will be bale to quit everything, please someone tell me this is at least possible?

A little about our addiction, we are both under 60mg a day, is that good? We generally take between 1 1/2 to 2 30mg pills a day

I am very determined to get off this without any meetings or anything, I know I can do it, please give me an idea of the physical withdrawals I should expect when I quit cold turkey from suboxone after a few weeks or a month on it

I have my list from other peoples stories, tell me if I need to add anything
clonidine - helps with withdrawel
benedryl - helps to sleep
immodium AD - for diarhhea
herbal tea or ginger ale - for upset stomache

please note the below 2 items are just what I read and not saying I will use these for sure
valium - to sleep
xanax - to sleep

[best]

Trade one drug for another. Stop one drug and replace it with another.
That doesn't fix anything.
Taper down has worked for a few but it is something I could never do. I would do fine for a day or so but return right back on day three maybe.
Cold turkey equals..One withdrawl that will be remembered.
Sidestep things with other drugs only sidesteps the whole issue and keeps it active. Such is my opinion.

[jd2008]

thanks for your quick response im pretty much bored as hell and depressed lately over this issue thats eating me up, my g/f thinks it's a joke, I realize we have a problem and I want to take care of it ASAP

I understand about the replacing one drug for another deal, I guess there is just a lot of hype lately about this suboxone and I think i'm going to give that a try, My question I guess is can you really go through 1 bad withdrawel for like a week and then on like day 6 wake up and feel pretty good? Has anyone had this experience?

[best]

How your g/f handles it is her issue. For her, she may be right or wrong. She will need try it her way and find her own answers. What could help you both...
Look for a local NA meeting and ask the people at the meeting what has worked for them. Being told face to face by someone sure does add more validity to the words that a clean and sober life can be had by all who put out the needed effort.

[jd2008]

that does sound like a good idea, I doubt she will come with me, she really thinks we are not addicted because we take a somewhat low daily dosage compared to many, Im not asking anyone if they think we are addicted, I know theres a physical addiction, we stop taking for a couple days and it feels like death is coming with the cold sweats and stomache ache and all the other horrible affects

Has anyone out there just quit cold turkey and not used again? IF so can you tell me how about how many days of the dieing pains

[peachy1005]

hey, totally feel for you there- I would say that you have a smaller habit than some, so that should be good for you, and the length of time you have been using isn't that long, so that helps too.
I was hooked on oxycontin, taking 180 pills/month for two years, and a taper worked for me, but the withdrawal was absolute agony for 4 full days.
Don't know if yours will be as bad with smaller habit, but dont expect to be able to work during the worst of it- I would recommend alternating the withdrawal dates for you and your girlfriiend so that the other can take care of responsibilties.
Just FYI - first 100 hours are miserable- no sleep at all - crawling sensations chills - but it is do-able.
good luck, let us know how it goes.

[jd2008]

Originally Posted by peachy1005

hey, totally feel for you there- I would say that you have a smaller habit than some, so that should be good for you, and the length of time you have been using isn't that long, so that helps too.
I was hooked on oxycontin, taking 180 pills/month for two years, and a taper worked for me, but the withdrawal was absolute agony for 4 full days.
Don't know if yours will be as bad with smaller habit, but dont expect to be able to work during the worst of it- I would recommend alternating the withdrawal dates for you and your girlfriiend so that the other can take care of responsibilties.
Just FYI - first 100 hours are miserable- no sleep at all - crawling sensations chills - but it is do-able.
good luck, let us know how it goes.

Hey thanks a lot for telling me about your situation, you said it was hell for 4 days, so what was day 5 like? and day 6?

Also can you tell me more about your taper?

[peachy1005]

well, day 5 I actually starting getting a little high from the feeling that I was finally free of pills- it was a great feeling, but didnt last too long. After days 5 and 6, a mental depression will set in- really bad for the next few weeks- still not feeling totally straight now 2 months out.
oh, did I mention I was also taking 180 norco(10 mg hydrocodone)/month too?
this is how I tapered:
went cold turkey off the oxycontin on a saturday ( I was snorting them)
the next week, took 10 of the norco a day, and it still didn't touch the withdrawals.
following week, 8 norco/day
then down to 6, 4, 2-3 the last week.
When I got down to the 2-3 a day, I was pretty much battling some physical withdrawal symptoms daily. Got to saturday, took my last norco, and bit the bullet. Like I said-absolute, drag me away, questioning my sanity withdrawals for the next 100 hours.
Not trying to scare you- yours may be much more mild than mine were, since you are not ingesting as much narc- but it wasnt pretty for me.
I had taken mon and tues off from work, and I needed it, my wife said she would not have let me out of the door on mon morning- that was the worst of it.
Not joking about the sleeping, either, I got like 10 hours total the first week.

[jd2008]

Originally Posted by peachy1005

well, day 5 I actually starting getting a little high from the feeling that I was finally free of pills- it was a great feeling, but didnt last too long. After days 5 and 6, a mental depression will set in- really bad for the next few weeks- still not feeling totally straight now 2 months out.
oh, did I mention I was also taking 180 norco(10 mg hydrocodone)/month too?
this is how I tapered:
went cold turkey off the oxycontin on a saturday ( I was snorting them)
the next week, took 10 of the norco a day, and it still didn't touch the withdrawals.
following week, 8 norco/day
then down to 6, 4, 2-3 the last week.
When I got down to the 2-3 a day, I was pretty much battling some physical withdrawal symptoms daily. Got to saturday, took my last norco, and bit the bullet. Like I said-absolute, drag me away, questioning my sanity withdrawals for the next 100 hours.
Not trying to scare you- yours may be much more mild than mine were, since you are not ingesting as much narc- but it wasnt pretty for me.
I had taken mon and tues off from work, and I needed it, my wife said she would not have let me out of the door on mon morning- that was the worst of it.
Not joking about the sleeping, either, I got like 10 hours total the first week.

That sounds horrible, so when you jumped off you were only taking like 10-20mg a day? That is less then I take now =( I have been really watching and cutting down as much as possible the last 5 days or so, taking less then 45mg a day if possible, today I went all day and felt like crap, my stomache hurt all day, I finally gave in and took about 15mg, that did nothing, before the day ended I have consumed 30mg total today for the last 24 hours and I feel fine right now, so cutting back is a good idea but going lower then 30mg a day is really hard

[bvaljalo]

If I would you I'd tell my g/f to just GO AHEAD and DO IT if it's so friggin easy and casual to quit and be done with it. Tell her to be an example to you, and promise to follow right behind her. See what she says/does.

Yeah, it takes about 100 hours or so of hell before you start to feel better. I would see a doctor and see about clonidine, neurontin, and ambien. I would stay away from the benzo's, that's really just trading one mind-altering drug for another. For me, it was about a month before I started sleeping easily, but I was pretty much cool by day 7 as far as acute, misery-producing symptoms went. But I detoxed off of bupe, which tends to be milder but a bit longer-lasting than just getting off of oxys.

And I started NA/AA meetings on day 3. I suggest you do the same, despite your disinclination to go that route. I now have 10 months clean, a great job again finally after 2.5 years of being unemployed and (most of that time) strung out. Hell, I've got $5K in cash sitting in my closet I've saved from the last 4 months of working. Life sober is good, and I credit AA/NA with being A HUGE PART of why I am where I am today. Take that for what it's worth ...

[peachy1005]

Originally Posted by jd2008

That sounds horrible, so when you jumped off you were only taking like 10-20mg a day? That is less then I take now =( I have been really watching and cutting down as much as possible the last 5 days or so, taking less then 45mg a day if possible, today I went all day and felt like crap, my stomache hurt all day, I finally gave in and took about 15mg, that did nothing, before the day ended I have consumed 30mg total today for the last 24 hours and I feel fine right now, so cutting back is a good idea but going lower then 30mg a day is really hard

sorry it took me a couple of days to get back to you- didnt see this post until now.
yeah, I was down to about 30 mg a day for the week before I came off, and the w/d was fierce still. I got to hour 24 and thought this isn't so bad, but hours 24-100 were the worst.
but of course, I had been snorting about 200 mg up my nose for 2 years straight with no break in between. I mean, I never came off once during that 2 year stretch, so I really had no idea what I was in for.
Like I said, yours may not be so bad with amount ingesting x how long you've been using, but it's not going to be a picnic, like your g/f thinks.
please keep us up-to-date on your progress.
remember: warm baths and try to eat something every once in awhile
and oh yeah - immodium - how could I forget??
If you feel open enough with your dr to talk to him about what you are going through, I would ask him what he thinks about putting you on a benzo like xanax or something to enable you to sleep- thats going to be the worst part. Not medical adviceif I tell him to go see his doc, right?? I know ex-j will agree with me.

[TiredMama]

Opiate withdrawal is hell. It varies for different people the length, symptoms, etc. It's just my humble opinion that the benzo's are an extremely bad idea unless you are under strict doctor's supervision.

[peachy1005]

Please let me clarify:
I was only suggesting a short-term use to enable sleep during withdrawal, and only under a doctor's care and agreement to the plan. Certainly if he goes in there and spills the beans about the narcs getting out of control, he's going to be flagged anyway, and no self-respecting doctor would let him continue the benzo's any longer than necessary. Also, though, I think that no self-respecting doctor would let an honest patient who was actively seeking to come off narcs go without the ability to sleep, either.
I am totally against just switching one drug for another- lord knows I have heard enough horror stories about benzo withdrawal to ever suggest it as a better alternative to narcs (I think I might have heard one of those stories from you, TM, am I right?). I just know the xanax helped me alot, took them for the first week, then dropped them like they were hot.
I think that the prescription pill addict is a once-bitten, twice-shy animal when it comes to pills of any sort. I had smoked pot for 10 or so years recreationally, so was never prepared for what true physical addiction and withdrawal would be like when I started on narcs. I certainly have no urge to get hooked on any small round things ever again, no matter what you call them, or what classification of drug they are.
Still smoking my pot now- lovin my mary jane, y'all, and I don't care if I get flak for that here. Having been through both experiences, I cant say that they are anything similar- being "addicted" to pot is nothing like having you whole world revolve around when you are going to score some more pills, just to feel normal. JMO, k?

[samsung]

Has anyone out there just quit cold turkey and not used again? IF so can you tell me how about how many days of the dieing pains

Today is day 7 for me. Day one I felt completely blown away by depression and strong feelings of despair. I was completely different. Now, I'm gaining myself back. The depression is gone, the loneliness is not as extreme and I feel again as I live in my natural state...

It's going to be pretty wicked the first few days...go cold Turkey though; it's a rite-of-passage and its over before you know it. Remember it's a for-sure HELL.

Give yourself time away from any obligations for a week and bunker down.

[ksos]

Hi there,

Look, if you're going to get off of opiates, face it, you are going to feel like $h-t for several days. I think everyone here has spoke about the perils and duration of what to expect, and of course, much is related to the length of time you've used, the amount and strength, and whether or not you are being medically supervised during this process.

I completely agree with my man bvaljalo about letting your GF do her detox HER way. Has she ever gone through an opiate withdrawal before?

My friend, it will get better. I dropped 60 MG of methodone in one month and have sustained SOME withdrawal symptoms but nothing that is keeping me in bed, although I have had my times of wanting to take extra pills.

It is the GOAL which is important. Go to meetings, at least once a day, maybe more. Talk to other addicts, other than your GF. I would suggest that you two try to distance yourselves from each other right now, as you both are "bad buddies" right now, for each other. This is my opinion, of course, and you can leave it here or toss it out, but I get a sense that your dual addictions are intertwined with your recovery potential...