thomas11

I hope I'm overreacting but in the last two days I have taken a couple extra pills of my pain medication, I have a separate bottle I keep extras in. I am down to such a low dose that extras I have are it. If I run out of those, there is nothing until my next refill. I'm not experiencing any withdrawals really but I am worried nonetheless. I have just read so many horror stories about it, I don't want to go through misery.

Dee74

There comes a point when we all have to jump off, Jeff. If you find you're in pain or serious discomfort you can always go and get your Dr's opinion.

Did you take the extras because of pain or because you feared you might end up in pain?

I'm hoping you'll find it's mostly fear acting on you right now

D

teatreeoil007

I'll second what Dee said.

Let's see, you have been tapering off of the opiate pain meds, right? I know from experience that even with tapering you can experience some anxiety/worry/restlessness. I am not sure how the tapering has been going overall for you; it's different for everyone. Some can taper rather quickly and not be bothered by it; others need to taper slow. Still others prefer cold turkey. I think it's worth discussing with your Dr. and just be open/honest about how you feel and what you're going through. If you're having pain, that's an issue that your Dr. should be able to address with you too. In the meantime, I'll just say that I think insomnia sucks, FWIW, so I have empathy. Hang in there.

hpdw

Hi Thomas11 ( or can I call you Jeff ) sorry your having restless nights . I cant offer advice on this but having read your story last week I know your strong .
Good luck bud.

Meraviglioso

HI Jeff, I am sorry to hear you are feeling anxious and worried. It is not so clear why you took the pills, and also why you have extras. Would it not be better to get rid of those extras? You have been tapering for a while now, right? I am not in the same boat as you, and of course whatever you have worked out with your doctor is best, but maybe it would be time to talk to your doctor about just going ahead and ripping the bandaid off.
In any case, we're all really proud of you, your injury sounds horrendous and you can come such a long way. Keep up the good work.

AnvilheadII

worrying about withdrawals from pills and then taking EXTRA pills is counter intuitive. what is with the stash of extras???

jeff, lately it seems that you've been on edge......really sensitive and reactive to things around you. of note Family of Origin issues. it may time to double down on RECOVERY, perhaps getting some therapeutic support to talk some stuff out, dump the junk. just a thought.

Delilah1

Hi Jeff,

How are you feeling today? I agree with several of the above about checking in with your doctor. Are you currently working with your doctor to stop taking the pills completely?

Hope you were able to get some sleep.

entropy1964

I agree with Dee that you're going to have to jump off at some point. You may feel some detox discomfort but that's part of the deal. I don't think opiate withdrawal can kill you, its just uncomfortable....and you've been tapering so I would think it will be minimal. Can you take an over the counter med to help with pain?

I took Oxycodone for 4 months during the worst of my cancer surgery and I never got addicted. I took it 2-3 times a day. I just had to stop cause the side effects were worse than the pain I had at that point. I will say I missed the 'high'...and I had no desire to drink while taking it.

I know you've been through a terrible ordeal so I'm not trying to minimize. Only you can decide what to do but if truly getting off them is the goal, I think you'll have to just stop.

thomas11

I made the horrible, yet common mistake of consulting doctor google last night while bored and got myself a bit worked up. Regarding taking the couple extra pills, its a confession of sorts. I don't believe I needed them, but I took them. I still have 10+ extra pills which for me is a little over 3 days worth.

Regarding the taper, we are taking it slowly. A reduction about once per month. Truthfully its going as good as I think it could. I have experienced very little withdrawal. If I find it a bit difficult to sleep, I add a benedryl to two melatonin tablets and its allows me to fall asleep. I'm going to be very strict and regimented going forward. It might be that I am overreacting to something that may not be as bad as I think. But I am a prepper, always like to know what I'm getting into.

Side note: Memorial Day Weekend....a weekend of overindulging of food and adult beverages. This will be the second one with the usual meat on the grill, but no alcohol. It's actually a relief if I think about it.

thomas11

Thomas59, you can call me Jeff, its my name and it might be better for folks not to get us confused. Hope you are having a good day.

hpdw

Thanks Jeff . I had a brilliant day sitting in the garden and doing some light odds and ends ,drinking tea,coffee , apple juice . I hope you feel better today .

Kelly12390

How are you feeling now? Hope you are well and feeling more at ease in yourself

thomas11

Hi Kelly, feeling great now, just got done with a good workout. I am much more calm today. Thanks.

Dee74

Yeah whatever way you look at that, that's not a good thing Jeff.
I hope you decide to jump off for good sooner than later.

Rar

Years ago I was trying to get off an anti-depressant.. The withdrawal was horrible. My doctor ended up writing me a withdrawal schedule that lasted about 6 weeks. At the end I was taking 1/2 pill every 3rd day, until I reached the end of the schedule. Perhaps your doctor can make such a schedule for you.

thomas11

Huh, why did I know you would pick up on that...nothing gets by you does it?

Back on strict schedule today with no ill effects.

Dee74

just being a good buddy Jeff

D

teatreeoil007

I am glad you're feeling better today, Thomas. We care and it's cool to bounce anything off us.

I'm pretty biased about people going off pain meds, so keep that in mind as you read what I write. I've seen a lot of people suffer and it ain't fun. I won't even debate with anyone about cold turkey vs. tapering because in my mind the only humane way to do it is via very slow tapering. I tapered myself off Cymbalta very very very slowly....it's been several years ago now and don't remember the TOTAL time it took. But, what I noticed is that even with slow tapering, I still had withdrawal...which is maybe why some people would just rather do cold turkey and not drag it out.

So I was put on Effexor a few years ago for hot flashes and went off of it cold turkey last summer. Boy, was that ever a mistake! And my Dr. wasn't too happy about it either and told me that any kind of psychotropic needs to be tapered.

Anyways, friend, just hang in there. You can do this and getting off opiates is not easy, but you WILL feel better.

thomas11

Did you experience any withdrawal throughout the schedule?

FYI, my plan is going to be a long, gradual taper. I don't want to withdrawal hard from this stuff. They put me on it, they can get me off of it...comfortably.

teatreeoil007

Amen! Try not to worry and just put your mind at ease.....Stress isn't good either when you're trying to get better and heal