When Should I Jump Off?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1
When Should I Jump Off?
This is my first post, so let me introduce myself and give a little background.
Seven years ago, I suffered a serious back injury. Surgery-happy doctors wanted to do some serious spinal surgery but I refused knowing that once it was done I would never be able to take advantage of any medical advances that could come along in the future. Today. I am glad I did not have the surgery as progress is being made in the field and a proper solution could be coming in the next few years.
After refusing the surgery, I was referred to a legitimate pain clinic for pain management. I have had all the non-surgical procedures, including spinal injections, none of which helped.
The pain clinic started me out on morphine, which totally blocked my digestive system then tried methadone and finally settled on Oxycontin 20 mg twice daily plus Norco 10 mg four times a day for breakthrough pain.
As I developed a tolerance, the dosage levels were increased until I was up to 60 mg of Oxy and the four Norco a day. You guessed it, I eventually got to the point that I had developed a tolerance to that level of opiates and my pain relief was minimal.
Two years ago this month, I realized that Oxycontin was nothing more than legal heroin and all I was doing was feeding the monkey, so I quit the Oxys cold turkey.
The withdrawal was incredible and everything bad that people had said it would be. The only saving grace were those four Norco 10mg which probably took a bit of the edge off.
Now that I am two years clean from Oxycontin, I have decided to quit feeding my monkey the hydrocodone and be free of opiates entirely.
The Oxy experience convinced me that I could not tolerate another CT experience, so I have decided to taper. I have left the pain clinic and put myself in the hands of my primary care physician, who is quite supportive.
He has given me an ample Rx for Norco 5mg to make it easier for me to break up pills and some Xanax to help with the discomfort.
My taper schedule has been thus: Starting at the 40mg/day of hydrocodone, I reduced by 5mg every 14 days until I reached 20mg/day. I then began reducing by 2.5mg/day every seven days.I am currently at 15mg/day and will reduce to 12.5mg/day next Tuesday.
With the exception of some serious leg pain, chills and diarrhea when I reduced 5mg/day, my taper plan has gone reasonably well.
Now, after that LONG introduction, I come to my question: When should I jump off? In about three weeks, I will reduce to 5mg/day, which is 1 5mg Norco that I plan to either half or quarter, depending on how it goes.
Is that the time to jump, or should I drop to 2.5mg/ day first?
Sorry for the extremely long post, but I am determined to make this a success and I would benefit greatly from hearing how others have done with their jumping off experience.
Seven years ago, I suffered a serious back injury. Surgery-happy doctors wanted to do some serious spinal surgery but I refused knowing that once it was done I would never be able to take advantage of any medical advances that could come along in the future. Today. I am glad I did not have the surgery as progress is being made in the field and a proper solution could be coming in the next few years.
After refusing the surgery, I was referred to a legitimate pain clinic for pain management. I have had all the non-surgical procedures, including spinal injections, none of which helped.
The pain clinic started me out on morphine, which totally blocked my digestive system then tried methadone and finally settled on Oxycontin 20 mg twice daily plus Norco 10 mg four times a day for breakthrough pain.
As I developed a tolerance, the dosage levels were increased until I was up to 60 mg of Oxy and the four Norco a day. You guessed it, I eventually got to the point that I had developed a tolerance to that level of opiates and my pain relief was minimal.
Two years ago this month, I realized that Oxycontin was nothing more than legal heroin and all I was doing was feeding the monkey, so I quit the Oxys cold turkey.
The withdrawal was incredible and everything bad that people had said it would be. The only saving grace were those four Norco 10mg which probably took a bit of the edge off.
Now that I am two years clean from Oxycontin, I have decided to quit feeding my monkey the hydrocodone and be free of opiates entirely.
The Oxy experience convinced me that I could not tolerate another CT experience, so I have decided to taper. I have left the pain clinic and put myself in the hands of my primary care physician, who is quite supportive.
He has given me an ample Rx for Norco 5mg to make it easier for me to break up pills and some Xanax to help with the discomfort.
My taper schedule has been thus: Starting at the 40mg/day of hydrocodone, I reduced by 5mg every 14 days until I reached 20mg/day. I then began reducing by 2.5mg/day every seven days.I am currently at 15mg/day and will reduce to 12.5mg/day next Tuesday.
With the exception of some serious leg pain, chills and diarrhea when I reduced 5mg/day, my taper plan has gone reasonably well.
Now, after that LONG introduction, I come to my question: When should I jump off? In about three weeks, I will reduce to 5mg/day, which is 1 5mg Norco that I plan to either half or quarter, depending on how it goes.
Is that the time to jump, or should I drop to 2.5mg/ day first?
Sorry for the extremely long post, but I am determined to make this a success and I would benefit greatly from hearing how others have done with their jumping off experience.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
