TheWedge

Alright I will tell you my story in a nutshell here. My name is Jon and I am a 21 year old male. Anyways I was using marijuana very frequently for the past 5 years and have recently stopped which I feel is going to be beneficial for me but thats not my problem. I am developing a new addiction to opiates and I need to stop it before It gets to out of hand. I used to take them once in a blue moon but for the last 3 or 4 months I have been taking them more frequently and in the last month have been taking them almost everyday. I usually take 20-30mg of oxycodone or hydrocodone, whatever I can get my hands on. Anyways my question is how bad will my withdrawal symptoms be? I stopped about three weeks ago for a week but the last two weeks have been taking them everyday, After a second day of not taking them I feel a very strong urge to take them and my mind feels very spacey. Also another thing is I have been taking klonopin 2mg per day for the last two years for anxiety. These are prescribed to me and I eventually want to ween myself of them but need to get off these opiates first. So please give me some good advice here and help me out, my goal is to be completely drug free for awhile. I hate having something control my life.

Thanks

least

I'm addicted to alcohol, not meds, but even so I would have no idea how bad your withdrawal will be. Best bet would be to see your doctor and tell them that you want to get off the drugs and ask for medically supervised detox. Just to be safe. Please get medical help just to be sure.

Other than that, there's NA meetings that might be very helpful for you. The people in those meetings might also have a more realistic idea of what withdrawal from narcotics would be like.

I hope for the best for you in your struggle to be clean and sober. Keep coming back here, we are a loving supportive international community with a common goal: getting and staying clean and sober. There's also a forum just for substance abuse. YOu might find information about narcotics withdrawal in that forum.

All the best to you.:ghug3

Aysha

Hi wedge. Welocme.
I dont know anything about opiate withdrawl. Except what I have heard. So really cant help with experience.
There is a helpful link to a sticky in Substance abuse though.
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ease-read.html
Glad you are here.

ReductioAbsurdu

Lock yourself in a room. Have a friend tie you up. Addiction is compulsive behavior and although it begins with a conscious decision, it makes you its bitch. Change your belief system. Say to yourself one hundred times a day "I do not need to take these pills." For the first 99 times, you know it is ******** and your heart is not in the words, but actually going through the motions helps me. Maybe not knowing the withdrawal symptoms would be better. Knock yourself out for a few days, with benzos or advilPM/another sleep aide, or ease cravings by smoking a little pot again - not that I mean to advocate other drug use, since your goal is to be sober. Thinking in terms of what is more addictive and more harmful to your body, not taking opiates for opiate withdrawal will help in the long run. Delaying withdrawal only makes it worse. Eat excessive amounts of sugar. Any satisfaction you can get other than the drug you do not want to take is good. Of course, it is the most difficult for us to quit our current drug of choice. I haven't gotten into opiates, but I have done a lot of a few other substances. I have to give my prescriptions to a friend so I don't abuse them, and like you, I want to ween myself off of them eventually. "Warm turkey" you know...but really, the most effective action you can take is BREAKING THE CYCLE where it will actually stop the compulsive behavior. Once the thought is out of your head, the behavior is compulsive and your arms reach for the drug on their own. Go to an out-patient rehabilitation facility a few days a week or NA meetings. If you live in a place where you easily have access to the pills, you will probably not stop anytime soon. Stimuli association is a damn strong trigger. For example, I can not sit in my best friend's car, because of all the drugs I have done and smoked there. Even if there aren't drugs in the car at the time, it puts me in a high-risk situation, and those feelings will carry over to the next moment when drugs become available.

Sorry I can't actually answer your question about withdrawal.

Good luck and may the force be with you.

Anna

Welcome!

The best advice is for you to talk to your dr about what you want to do. He/She will give you adivice about how to proceed.

There is lots of support here, so keep reading and posting.

tommyk

Wedge - check out an NA meeting, NA principles, and the 12 steps.

You'll meet some GREAT people with backgrounds similar to yours.

Do it sooner than later, looks like you're headed down the road to disaster.

And of course - keep coming back here.