ZoomZoom8

Okay, so I have done the prepwork and now I am starting my new journey. I am tired of going down the opioid dependence road! I have my arsenal and am ready. I know this will be hard, but I have been on Vicodin ES for three years now. I need to get off these. If I have to have more surgery down the road, so be it, but I can't use that as an excuse to keep abusing the meds.

I have my Neurontin to help with the nerve pain. I know people have had mixed results with it as far as withdrawal help, but I am hoping that I get lucky and I am in the group where it helps! So far so good. My last V was this evening at 5:45. I would normally be edgy by now, but I am relaxed. I also have my L-Tyrosine, Immodium, vitamins, lots of water in the fridge, Benadryl to help me sleep if I need it, Aleve and Tylenol for pain, and the most important part: A great support system.

finaltime

GOOD WORK! Keep writing and remember it gets better!!!

vinny29

Congrats on the jump off, you can do it!

cleaninLI

You are doing great zoomzoom! You can do this!

DecBaby

Keep us posted on how it goes. This is a great thing.

ZoomZoom8

So, day one wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I know some people have had success with gabapentin helping with withdrawals and some not, but I was prescribed that for the nerve pain and was hoping that I would be in the group where it helped. It did.

There was only one hour today where I wanted to a) rip my arm out of its socket, and b) call my doctor and get a script called in because I was climbing the walls. I knew I just had to make it through that hour until five, that way I couldn't call the doc because his office would be closed. I reached out for help on the phone and (once he pried me off the ceiling) I did relaxation yoga. That helped both with the pain and the inclination to tear the skin off my body.

Besides the hour of anxiety, the only withdrawal symptoms I had today were the runny nose, watery eyes, and a bit of chills that lasted off and on for only about an hour or so. I slept quite a bit with the gabapentin on board, actually. Right now my biggest concern is getting it to therapeutic levels so the pain is at least lessened. I have also been taking a multivitamin, vitamin B complex, L-Tyrosine, Aleve and Tylenol when the pain gets bad. I have Immodium here and Benadryl to use as needed.

I got through a day without Vicodin, which I haven't been able to do in years. Huh.

dizzychainsaw

And it gets better with time. For me, when i quit using opiates daily I had 3 days of main withdrawal then uphill from there .

ZoomZoom8

Thank you Dizzy. It helps to know that this won't go on forever, because the addict who has taken residence in my brain tries to tell me there is no end.

ZoomZoom8

I also have to add that my partner is one year sober and without him and his support, I wouldn't have even made it an hour. I have him and my mom as my main support. When I had tried before, I tried to do it without telling anyone that I was going to go through withdrawals, much less that I had an addiction. I can say now that opening up to someone, anyone, and having them there for support is crucial...At least for this chick!

DecBaby

An added bonus of the gabapentin since you're already on it is that its also prescribed as an anti depressant sometimes. That's a tough part to deal with but it sounds like you're doing well.

dizzychainsaw

It's good to have a support system in place. My boyfriend encourages my recovery also. It's good that you have people by your side. You can do this!

likehappiness

Zoom. I cold turkey'd twice and you can do this. You have all the good things to help you with the withdrawals. Lots of hot showers to help with the sweats and to help relax you. Mindless movies or tv help to try to relax. Glad that you have a good support system because I did too. Just do no use and go backwards no matter what your body or mind says.