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Old 10-02-2009, 06:43 AM
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Arrow Help: detox from perk 30's

I am on my tenth day clean (not counting the five day detox in a hospital). I still feel horrible. The poops are gone it is just my body that feels limp, no energy, some minor aches and pains. I just want to know what was your experience coming off of opiates and how long did it take you to feel normal again? If there is a normal, it's been so long.
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Old 10-02-2009, 06:48 AM
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hang in there ashlee

i feel for ya i wrote ya last night with my story and today is day 13 for me and i still have no energy and feel like i could just die.it seems like it comes in waves i mean one min.i fell ok then the next i can barely walk outside, which by the way helps me being outside.i am going to get some vit.today i have to start feeling better also lifes too short to feel like this.but i tell ya its better than my mind being all fogged with 180 mg of oxycodone a day and morphine.i see life in a whole new light.but let me know if you find something that helps please..
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:25 AM
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The vitamins have helped a lot. I feel like a different person today! I'm taking Super B Complex and Magnesium. I suggest it to everyone, they are helping so so much!!
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:46 AM
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I was up and down a lot for months. Sleep was an issue, and one of the best suggestions I got was to get up at the same time every morning regardless of how much I slept the night before. I started eating regular, healthy meals, even giving a little attention to that food pyramid thing. I took and still take a B-complex.

Most importantly, though, I surrounded myself with other recovering people and drew from them the hope that things would improve. Have you been to any meetings since leaving detox?

Peace & Love,
Sugah
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:49 AM
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I haven't been to any meetings and I would like to go but I'm a little scared to go. I don't do well with change or new people. I know I need to go, I feel like I need to go but I am scared to go. I've been taking the B complex since yesterday and I feel so much better since then!! Things are starting to look up thank goodness. Seeing my story in everyone else here helps too. When I can write my thoughts out it helps a lot too.
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by ashleek View Post
I haven't been to any meetings and I would like to go but I'm a little scared to go. I don't do well with change or new people.
Um, news flash, ashleek. When you stop using, it's a big change, and if you're really serious about not using, you will become a new person

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Old 10-02-2009, 08:23 AM
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yeah I know!! I'm very serious about change but I am scared to go to meetings. I am doing fine, should I go to meetings prolly so. But all change in my life has always been negative bad horrible change. So, yeah I am a little scared and I am new to this too so I am scared of a lot of things!!
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Old 10-02-2009, 08:30 AM
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I found this quote out there in cyberspace. Says it much better than I could:

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." ~Ambrose Redmoon
Staying clean is more important than fear. I know it's scary. Most all of us have felt it, but facing the fear sure as hell is easier and less painful than returning to active addiction.

Am I saying if you don't go to a meeting, you'll go back to using? No, I'm not. I'm saying that my experience trying to stay clean without making any other changes resulted in a misery that was worse than using and being unable to stop. Each time I "white knuckled," the pain of being clean sent me back out. Addiction is cunning, baffling and powerful. I urge you to do something, don't sit still too long. First prayer, then meetings, then step work, then lots more prayer and action has worked for me. Whatever you choose to do, I pray you start soon.

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Old 10-02-2009, 09:05 AM
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Good Luck,
I know what your going through. I did it 3 separate times. I am finally going to try the Suboxone. I know what you mean about the meetings. I to am scared. Whatever you do dont start using again. It is a visious cycle, that is very hard (at least for me anyway) to break. Your in my prayers.
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Old 10-02-2009, 09:48 AM
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Can you guys tell why your so scared of going to meeting?

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Old 10-02-2009, 10:34 AM
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i went to a natural health store today and spoke to the owner and she really reccomended me to do a natural 7 day detox body cleaning regimen so i bought that was only $22 ive never taken vit.before.ill let ya know if it helps.she says people have done it before and it really helped to boost the energy and cleanse your body so you will feel better all together.mentally and physically then she said after that to come back if needed and she would put me on a b-12 and multi vit.she said i may not need it after the 7 days.about meetings i havent went to any yet either i for some reason feel nervous. who knows im trying to find a narcotic recovery support group in my area.
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Old 10-03-2009, 09:41 AM
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Hi Ashlee, welcome to the boards, and I'm glad the vitamins are working for you. Although I'd posit that there's really no substitute for time, and after 10 days, there's no question in my mind that you'd have started feeling a lot better very soon, regardless of vitamins. But hey, they can't hurt, right?

Anyways ... yeah. Get to some meetings. NA, AA, whatever. You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. Just find a few meetings, in parts of town or places you are comfortable, and just go. Area's you've been before. Some of my first meetings took place in a room I used to go to Sunday School, 30+ years earlier. My grandfather had made many of the stained glass windows in the church that sat next door, in fact, one of the windows that was visible walking up to the meeting, I'd 'helped' him install when I was about 5 years old.

Surely there's going to be a meeting someplace in your general vicinity that you feel is 'familiar' to you, where you feel safe in the neighborhood. Trust me, that does help with getting over the general 'first-time' jitters. You don't want to put yourself in some sketchy area, or anywhere near where you used to score, otherwise that'll just add to your anxiety.

So, again, I advise you to find a meeting in such a place as you're comfortable, and then 'girl-up', and just GO ... all you gotta do for a while is just sit and listen. Learn 'the ropes', so to speak, learn how and what people generally talk about there.

I recommend you go to either a 'speaker' meeting, or a 'newcomers', or a 'young peoples' meeting. Most other meeting types like 'step-study' are more geared for people who've been participating for awhile.

While you're there, pick up a Big Book (AA) or a Basic Text (NA), and grab any of the free pamphlets that interest you.

I'd also advise raising your hand and saying your name and admitting you're an addict, but that is really not critical in any way. It's more like 'tradition', but you don't have to. You don't HAVE to do ANYthing in AA or NA. It's just a fellowship of recovering addicts and alcoholics tryign to help one another get well. There is TRULY nothing remotely 'scary' about the whole situation.

If I'd never gone to meetings, I seriously doubt I'd have the 26 months clean under my belt that I do now. You really can learn A LOT that will help you in your recovery simply by going to a lot of meetings and just sitting there, and listening. Of course, it's even better if you get involved, get a sponsor, and work the steps, all that good stuff. But that can all wait until you're comfortable in the environment.

I'm telling you, once you've been to a few and understand what's going on there ... you'll feel completely comfortable in the environment for the rest of your life. At this point, I know I could walk into a meeting anywhere in the world without feeling the slightest twinge of apprehension. I walk in going 'these are my peeps, these are the people that know and understand me, without my even needing to say a word'.

There's no substitute for the fellowship you can find in and around 'the rooms', especially once you find some good groups around town that are really focused on recovery.
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Old 10-03-2009, 11:05 AM
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Ashlee,

Lethargy is part of the withdrawal. The dark cloud should begin to lift away; every new day is better than the one before.

The duration of post-withdrawal malaise depends upon a lot of things . . . how long you have been taking the meds, dosage level, etc. But you will feel better. To quote a Biblical passage, "In your patience possess ye your soul."

Each time I quit, I notice that different things bother me. For example, after a previous WD, my lower G.I. tract was very "sensitive" for weeks." Other times I felt depressed as well as tired. But fortunately it wasn't permanent.

I'm into day 5 of WD from a low dosage regimen of HC (7.5 - 10 mg / day). It should be a piece of cake, except that I've been taking them for years. One of the reasons I kept taking them was that they stabilized my stomach issues. I told that to my doctor, who originally prescribed them for pain (I have pain from surgeries and other stuff) and he didn't object.

There are people who recommend "detox" in the form of catharsis, or fasting, etc. IMHO, the "problem" with this approach is that it is not a matter of toxins floating around in your bloodstream or G.I. tract. What has happened is that you have flooded your brain with opioids and endorphins, and it reacts by producing less of its own. Once you cut off the meds, the brain has to play catch-up to start producing normal amounts of those happy neurotransmitters. I the meantime, you feel like crap.

The thing that works best for me is exercise. Get your heart rate up and the body produces its own endorphins (e.g. runner's "rush"). It's natural, and it'll make you feel normal, at least for most of the day if you do it early.

Another thing I recommend is to visit your MD for a physical. Make sure that your liver, kidneys, and blood show normal chemistry. E.g. if you WD on top of anemia, it amplifies the bad feeling many times over.

Go outside and appreciate the beauty you can now see with freshly-opened eyes. It will reinforce your resolve.

Good luck.

Buzz
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Old 10-03-2009, 05:01 PM
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Buzz,

Thanks for that! I guess I needed to hear the medical part of what I have done to my body for so long. I know that I have hurt my liver and it is working overtime right now to get back to normal but I guess I really didn't think about my brain, which I should have cause I'm not stupid, but I haven't been sober in awhile either. LOL!! I do want to thank you and everyone else for thier comments.

Today has been a much better day. I got up, went to a festival, cleaned my house, went to the grocery store and had a really good day. I had to push myself a little but it was really good. I just can't believe sometimes what a number I really put on my body. The things I was putting my body through and now it is trying to get well. We all no better than to do these things to ourselves and I look back and think 'I never want to forget this'. This is what is going to keep me sober, looking back at how stupid I was for putting my body through it in the first place. But when you are getting high you aren't thinking about what you are putting your body through, all we care about is getting high.

Thank you all so much for being so supportive. I was just getting so aggervated with my body not being able to get up and go or barely take care of my two year old son. I know I need to be patient and I am working on that. There are a few things I need to start working on but my brain isn't all the way clear yet either. My brain is actually all over the place I have noticed.

My doc is a wonderful man. So, I have been going to him and he has helped me so much. I was so ashamed when I told him I just got out of detox because he was giving me the script that started it all but to my suprise everyone in my life has been so supportive and non-judgemental. I am blessed with wonderful people including all of you!
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Old 10-07-2009, 11:48 PM
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How are you doing today Ashlee?

Hit any meetings yet?

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Old 10-09-2009, 04:55 PM
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OH hey! UM yeah I went to some meetings this week and it was wonderful and I think I'll hit one Sunday. It is now day 17 and things are so much better. I am still weak and don't feel 'normal' but I am a lot better than what I was! Thank God. I am so greatful for sobriety!!
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Old 10-09-2009, 06:09 PM
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Ashlee...Nice to hear your feeling better, keep up your hard work at sobriety, your an inspiration!!

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Old 10-10-2009, 10:08 AM
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Detox

Ashleek

I read your post and it was a post like yours that I have been looking for. I am going into Detox on Monday and that is what I would like to know as much about as possible? I only know what they told me they give you medcications to help with the withdrawls my addition is Lorcet Plus Pain Killers and I want to know about what detox is like.

Everything from the start to the end. I already have problems sleeping I have a script for Ambien but it doesnt keep me asleep all night so I am usually taking another one to get back to sleep. I may abuse those too but I can go months without taking them and not have a problem so I dont consider myself addicted to them. But if they give me something to make me sleep and it doesnt work will they give me something else.

As far as sleeping goes ( I know each place is differnt) is it like dorm style or were you actually in a hospital the place I am going is a detox center. Its volunteer and I an volunteer leave any time I want. They told me no show strings, no electronics and no pants with draw strings but they didnt say anything abt blankets or pillows they do I need to bring my own towels, can I take a razor is it showers or do they have a tub, can I take a blow dryer or a hair straighner.

She sd they will help with withdrawls and sleep I will see a md 1x per day and shrink1x per day and have 4 group sessions per day. They feed me 3 X per day and have 2 snacks. I am a smoker so they sd I would be allowed 6 smoke breaks a day, that really doesnt sound like allot... No cell phones but I cd use their phone for incoming and out going calls.

Anything you can think to tell me will be helpful, you were on 10 days clean on your first post not counting detox so actually 15 and you still felt really bad... So how long before you were feeling better.

Thanks in advance for any advice you have.
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Old 10-10-2009, 02:41 PM
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Honey let me tell you. Detox isn't always great and I was on tab 10's too but went to the perk 30's.

Go to the detox, for me and that's all I can say is what it was like for me, it was a vacation. A place where others support you and love you the entire way through. It was a beautiful thing and I thank God for those people and staff who were there.

I hated not being able to have my own pillow and blanket, razor, shampoo, blah blah blah. Trust me all you should bring are clothes and shoes. That might seem like the bad part but really it's not so bad.

The first two days you'll be really aggervated but I say hang in there! It gets so much better. Mine was voluntary too, so I told the doc I was ready to go home and he said Okay.

You will freeze to death so bring lots of warm clothes. They will have meds for you and will do everything possible to keep you comfortable. I was prescribed claudadine (sp?) and it done the job! I ate vinagrin (sp?) the puke pills like crazy. I never once puked or pooped my guts out, stayed pretty sane in there. The most I dealt with was anxiety. Everyone suffers from that cause you can't use and you wanna but you don't wanna. Ya know.

I say go for it. It saved my life and the only reason I am sober today. It is a laid back kinda place for most places because they know we are addicts, alcoholics. I would say get there early if you can so you can see the doc. But even if you don't they will call the doc and say I have a new patient so and so and they were on this much.....and the doc will prescribe something.

Good luck! I am telling you I was scared to death but I am so thankful I went. Be nice to the nurses!! No matter how aggervated you get, they are people too, they have a hard job in detox and remember they give you your meds. I would say suck up to a couple so you know when you need your "as needed meds" or "PRN's" as they call them you know they will get them right away for you.

You can do this, I never thought I would be the person to do this. I was "strong" and could do it on my own. I was so weak and needed those people who helped change my life.
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