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Opiate withdrawal

Old 05-13-2016, 01:34 PM
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Opiate withdrawal

Starting to feel it. I believe I will be working in one month, possibly as soon as two weeks, so I have started to taper further than what my doctor has me doing. So far its not too bad, but I've only tapered by 10-15 milligrams. I am going to do that for 4 days, then taper another 5-10 milligrams for 4 days and so on until I am done. I have to do this.

So far I feel the heeby jeeby's a little, and my melatonin takes a long time to kick in, and even then it's only about 4 hrs of good sleep. No sweating yet, mind is racing on all fronts. No urge to drink, but to be perfectly honest, part of my drinking started to help me sleep. We all know how that goes. I don't think I'll give in, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it if it gets real bad. I'm determined to do this, but its not going to be a walk in the park, that I can see.
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:41 PM
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Originally Posted by thomas11 View Post
No urge to drink, but to be perfectly honest, part of my drinking started to help me sleep. We all know how that goes. I don't think I'll give in, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it if it gets real bad.
Keep a keen eye on those thoughts. Drinking "to sleep" is an oxymoron...alcohol actually disrupts sleep. It also prevents deep REM sleep so while you might think it helps, it doesn't. Plus - insonmia won't kill you, but alcohol can if it gets too out of hand, right?

Best of luck on the taper, I'm assuming this is a prescribed taper plan by your doc?
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:46 PM
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hang in there.

You only have to do this once.

I won't lie, it won't be pleasant, but then it will be over.
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:46 PM
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That's great that you're doing this. Pain sucks but opiate addiction is pretty tough from what I've seen. Can you take suboxone (spelling)? Or is that just complicating things?
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:49 PM
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You're doing great Jeff. Push any thoughts that drinking will HELP with anything out of your mind. You know full well what one drink will bring you back to.

I'm going on a month of sleep deprivation due to a ruptured disc in my back. No way I would ever consider drinking to get to sleep. Not worth getting hooked again and loosing the next 20 years of my life.

Just chalk those thoughts up to your AV back to its old tricks.

You can make it through Jeff. Congrats on your work. That's great.
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:50 PM
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Originally Posted by ScottFromWI View Post
Keep a keen eye on those thoughts. Drinking "to sleep" is an oxymoron...alcohol actually disrupts sleep. It also prevents deep REM sleep so while you might think it helps, it doesn't. Plus - insonmia won't kill you, but alcohol can if it gets too out of hand, right?

Best of luck on the taper, I'm assuming this is a prescribed taper plan by your doc?
Yes, we are working as a team on this. She's very good about it.
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Frickaflip233 View Post
That's great that you're doing this. Pain sucks but opiate addiction is pretty tough from what I've seen. Can you take suboxone (spelling)? Or is that just complicating things?
I have read cases on this forum where people had just as hard of time with suboxone as they did the opiate pain meds. Like down to quarter pills because I believe its pretty strong stuff. Just gonna do it. I'm not going to die or anything.
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Old 05-13-2016, 01:54 PM
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Originally Posted by ccam1973 View Post
You're doing great Jeff. Push any thoughts that drinking will HELP with anything out of your mind. You know full well what one drink will bring you back to.

I'm going on a month of sleep deprivation due to a ruptured disc in my back. No way I would ever consider drinking to get to sleep. Not worth getting hooked again and loosing the next 20 years of my life.

Just chalk those thoughts up to your AV back to its old tricks.

You can make it through Jeff. Congrats on your work. That's great.
Thanks CCAM, probably lean on this board pretty hard if I have to.
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Old 05-13-2016, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by thomas11 View Post
No urge to drink, but to be perfectly honest, part of my drinking started to help me sleep. We all know how that goes. I don't think I'll give in, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it if it gets real bad. I'm determined to do this, but its not going to be a walk in the park, that I can see.
To be perfectly honest, you're tapering off of opiates because you tumbled down the stairs drunk, crushing your legs, and then at first insisting that it could have happened to anyone.

You're getting your life together and anticipating getting back to work. How does drinking fit in with that?
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Old 05-13-2016, 02:17 PM
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jeff, jeff, jeff.....

I don't think I'll give in, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it if it gets real bad

hon, you've been looking for a "reason" to drink for a while now....let's see, there were the family "issues", then the Kentucky Derby issues, and now the sleep issues that haven't happened yet.

i have long term insomnia, and buddy, i'd KILL for only about 4 hrs of good sleep. (so quit yer damn whining!!!!! lol)

remember, you CHOSE to speed up this taper, not your DR. you decided to drive the bus..........
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Old 05-13-2016, 02:51 PM
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This is tough but as it was mentioned above, you only need to do go through the opiate taper/withdrawal once and then it's over.

Mentioning using alcohol to help sleep brings back a very unpleasant memory for me. That was how I became addicted to it. I don't really suffer from insomnia much but there was a couple years period in my life when I had an insane project/work schedule, sometimes working for 48 hours straight or at night. I wanted to sleep when I had the opportunity (often in the middle of the day for short periods) so I started drinking wine to help me fall asleep for 2-3 hours. It worked at first and I did not care much about drinking otherwise but pretty soon I found myself turning to the booze anytime to change how I feel and to reward myself. I went from drinking 1-2 times a week to help me fall asleep to a daily drinker within a year. And pretty soon I had sleep issues all the time even when I could have slept at night, due to the alcohol. It would never remain a "sleep aid" very long, it's well known how alcohol disrupts the natural sleep cycle. I had an alcoholic boyfriend who had a sleep disorder and he became a daily drinker the same way. It made his sleep disorder worse not better.

You will get through this opiate taper, Jeff, and then never need to look back.
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Old 05-13-2016, 05:23 PM
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You;'ve had a poretty long taper Jeff so I hope it won;t be too bad.

Like everyone else has said drinking to sleep is like stoking a fire with a stick of dynamite. Do not listen to that 'just one night' stuff...it's all lies.

I think insomnia is a part of just about everybody recovery journey for a, little while, but there are some good common sense tips here:
Insomnia - Self-help - NHS Choices

D
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Old 05-13-2016, 05:28 PM
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Short fuse, crabby. Focused on getting my final dose and melatonin to go to bed and hopefully sleep until at least 4:30AM. No "bathroom" issues yet.
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Old 05-13-2016, 05:50 PM
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The addiction treatment industry refers to what you're thinking, Jeff, as a "reservation." I won't drink until or unless...someone close to me becomes seriously ill, disabled or dies; I lose my job; I become seriously ill; I can't sleep; I'm going through a stressful event or stretch of time; I feel confident that I can drink safely; I reach a certain age; my children have grown up and moved away from home; I become anxious or depressed; I get my dream job; I retire; I get bad news about someone or something; my team wins the Super Bowl or the World Series; I become suicidal; someone I know attempts suicide; I win the lottery; I lose everything; I found out someone I know relapsed; my pet dies; my favorite shirt is damaged; I can no longer drive; I'm financially and emotional stable; I stop taking painkillers or benzos, or stop smoking weed; my favorite aunt dies, one who I never knew existed until she passed away; I do something extremely embarrassing or humiliating at work or in public; someone important to me disappoints me or betrays me; I find my soulmate; I lose my soulmate; I can't find my keys; I convince myself that I'm smarter than everyone else; I discover that I'm not as smart as I thought I was; I get a raw deal from life.

This unofficial list is never comprehensive and always open to additions and adjustments, but its very existence is about not making a commitment to stay sober, no matter what.

It's been said that Bill Wilson, one of the co-founders of AA, repeatedly screamed and cursed at his wife while in his deathbed because she wouldn't give him the booze he demanded. After many years of supporting him, making personal sacrifices for him, and surviving his considerable bad behavior, she wasn't eager to break his or heart by being a party to or a witness to his drinking as the final act of his life. Smart woman.
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Old 05-13-2016, 06:15 PM
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Interesting, EndGame. It makes sense to me with one reservation. When I quit smoking (3 packs a day) over 30 years ago, I had a very, very difficult time and for the first few months I kept thinking that when I found out I was going to die in short order, I'd go back to smoking. I felt that it helped to keep my sanity relatively safe. After about a year without cigarettes, I realized that even then I was never going to smoke again. Is this a difference with cigarettes or something else?
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Old 05-14-2016, 09:21 AM
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Pleasantly surprised, it appears my body adjusted rather well. Slept ok, not irritable, but its early. See how the day goes.
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:03 PM
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For anyone following this thread, how do you listen to music without thinking about drinking and partying?

I just listened to about 10 minutes of music. It's a great way to pass hours of time and yet, I can not disassociate the two. I really liked what I was watching and listening to, but the thoughts of drinking were powerful. I had to stop.

Will this ever change? If it doesn't, I'm okay with it, but I will be leaving a sliver of my life behind, as I used music to motivate me to accomplish many things.
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:20 PM
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It's not the music.
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:26 PM
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Pretty much everything reminded me of drinking. I somehow avoided drinking while at work, but otherwise I drank pretty much every moment I wasn't asleep.

Regarding music, it may be something you have to expose yourself to slowly and in conjunction with your sobriety plan. Or it could be something you speak with a therapist about. The fact that you still associate music with alcohol suggests that you still have some work to do in the acceptance part of things too. If you accept that you cannot drink ever, logic would follow that you can enjoy music without drinking too, right?
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:28 PM
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the associations diminish over time.
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