need advice and i have nobody to talk to...please help
 

hey, i'm a 22 year old male. About 2 years ago i was in a bad car accident, and have been perscribed opiates due to back problems. Oxycodone 15 and Oxycontin 40 is where they have me at now. I have been tryin to take myself off slowly, haven't touched the Oxycontin except for 2-3 pills out of my whole script last month altogether. However i still am having problems with getting off the Oxycodone without feeling crappy. I was wondering if i get down to a low enough milligram of oxycodone (like 15-30mg a day) and then stop completely will i be able to avoid the withdrawals? or will they at least be relatively mild??

so far i haven't been gettin along too bad, just a little trouble sleeping. I was taking between 200-250 mg of oxy a day...now i'm down to between 60-90 mg of oxy a day. I just am worried about this cause i'm in college and cant really suffer withdrawls cuz i gotta keep truckin along like everything is normal. Plus i just got with a new girl who also has kids, so i really don't want the kids to notice anything. I've been telling the girlfriend exactly what has been going on though. If anyone has been in my situation and could offer advice please help...

also i was pretty nervous posting here, but i live a few thousand miles away from any family i have. So i am all alone, and i don't want to alert my mom and make her worry. I appreciate any feedback that anyone may give. Thanks in advance

yes i KNOW there is a problem. I can't really post a lot of what i want to...lets just say the girl i was with was REALLY BAD for me. after my car accident she went and got a script of her own to get extra pills in the house, and encouraged me to take however much i wanted, right along with her.

i finally had enough of the lifestyle, and kicked her out. I haven't taken the amount i am perscribed in 2 1/2 months. now i am back at the point that if i take over 30 mg of oxycodone it will make me nautious...which i think is a GREAT sign!!! especially since before i would easily take three times that amount at once. Umm i think i responded to all ur questions.

Hey,
I tapered for a while then quit cold turkey, but I went to detox for a few days. Tapering is great if you can do it sounds like you are doing well, the more you taper the easier the withdrawal as a rule, but you have been taking it for a while so it could be rougher. you are 22 years old you should be able to handle about anything and bounce back. Good Luck !

* best to see a Doctor this is based on my experience only.

I could never taper. Every time I quit it was cold turkey. Knowing I had pills around I just couldnt do it.

You had a great opportunity to detox.Thanksgiving holiday plus the weekend.

Today you would have been on day five and on your way to recover.

Oh well that the past, there’s always the Christmas holidays. Right?

Stay strong, you can do it.

Ivan

Welcome..

I too am a recovering opiate addict.. I started off with pills.. perks.. then OC's and finally moved to heroin when my tolerance became so high.. Tapering is a good start.. but its not guaranteed that you won't have any withdrawals mostly likely you will especially for the amount you have been taking and how long you have been doing it... I suggest coming clean with your doctor that way they can monitor your taper and they will know what is best for you.. Have you tried NA meetings?? I am fairly close to your area and know of some meetings if you would like me to send them to you.. Have you consider suboxones?? They were a lifesaver for me..but remember everyone is different... I also was in school and work so I understand how it is.. You better off breaking all ties you have with that girl.. If your trying to get clean she won't help one bit.. and you can't fix nobody but yourself..

If you really want to be clean and stay clean then do what it takes.. Even if you do have to go through withdrawals.. Just think a week of misery is a lifetime of happiness.. Stay strong and keep telling yourself you will get through this.. I will feel better.. But I would def. contact your doctor.. maybe detox or something.. Whatever you decide to do don't give up! If you want it bad enough.. Keep posting on SR.. They give great support and advice.. and it really helps.. If you want the list for meetings in your area just message me.. Best of luck hope to hear from you soon!!

the new girlfriend is helping and supporting my recovery...it was the old girl that was poison to me. Which i broke up with the bad one and kicked her out of my house.
But how long does detox take to feel normal (at home)? Will just a few days do it?? cuz these last 2 days i've taken more opiates than i've planned on taking. I don't want to get back into taking a high amount. My tolerance has finally dropped drastically and i don't want to **** away the last month and a half of working at this!! I've really been proud of how i've been doing and i can't go backward!!

Welcome to the boards.

Yes tapering definitely helps, the less you've been taking recently when you quit, the less bad the w/d's will be.

I don't want to give medical advice, but provided you take the same amount of milligrams, you're better off taking the oxycontin than the quick-release oxycodone. It's the exact same drug, but it's time-release so you won't be flooding your system all at once with the drug every time you take it. Maybe your doc would switch you to OC20's instead of 40's?

If I were you since you're doing well with your weaning I'd shoot for keeping up the wean, trying to get down to 10-20mg/day, then quitting when you get some time off school for the winter break. Get yourself off to a great start to the New Year :)

It takes about 7 days to get back to feeling about 90% normal when you kick a good-sized opioid habit. With oxy's, days 2-5 off of the stuff are definitely pretty unpleasant. Beyond day 7 there's usually some mild lingering effects that last about another 3 weeks, nothing too serious ... the fact that you're so young will definitely help reduce the length and severity of the whole w/d experience.

Good luck, and keep posting ...

hi tryin2stop

The fact is you should be speaking about this with your doctor.

We can't, and shouldn't, give medical advice here...although members here may know a lot about drugs, noone here knows jack about you - your health, your history, your circumstances....

Do yourself a favour and seek professional advice.

for the benefit of all...


D

well i appreciate the advice i got, i'm not trying 2 get medical advice. I was just wondering if anyone went the path i'm going is all. And i WILL NOT talk to my doc...i gotta do this one on my own. I hope i don't get banned for saying that but its the truth. I absolutely refuse to have anything on my record that suggests drug addiction. Regaurdless of the fact that the doc is who got me started...

You're my hero dude for trying to stop for the kids, that's exactly how I feel about stopping for my little sisters before they really start taking notice.

You can do it I can already tell you have the willpower.

I know exactly what you are going through. I am also in university, where it is very unforgiving with grades and make up. When I quit, the withdrawls hit me hard. I would take about 25+ vicodins a day, for about 7 years. It didn't start at 25+ a day obviously but it got there. At first I wanted to quit alone, none of my friends had any idea I was addicted or that I was taking any narcotics. However, while in school the withdrawls were to much to handle. What I would reccomend if you are going through withdrawls, is find a friend you trust in the class to make sure that he or she shares notes with you. As for me I confided in a friend who was in a couple of classes, and she even attended my other class with me or even for me sometimes to take notes. Your gf will support you, but I would highly reccomend getting a friend from class. The withdrawls are going to be tough, but the best way to get over it is to keep your daily routine, and choclate. I think it was Twix and Peanut M&M's that helped me get through the really tough times lol. Also make sure to eat healthy foods, you have no idea how much of a difference it will make. By the way, thanks to my friend I finished that semester with a 3.6, without her I would have done way worst. If you have any questions for me, please ask.

hey i really appreciate the comments. This board actually seems to help me a lot too. I'm really glad i came here. I'm down to about 1/5 of what i used to take, without a whole lot of ill effects. I'm finally seeing the light at the end of this tunnel and i'm soooo happy!! Thanks to everyone here!! the support is both needed and appreciated.

i appreciate that. But really the kids are helping me not want to take any pills. They are one of the main things that are helping keep me in check.

Hello trying. I was addicted to opiates in high doses for 10 years. I am 4 years clean, and tapered off, then used suboxone for a short time. You should see a doctor, and explain your situation. There is alot of help for opiate withdrawal, but the bottom line is that there is always a bit of discomfort. And probably a touch of anxiety. But, in my opinion a couple of days of discomfort, is so much better than a life time of chasing the drugs, and suffering in the throws of addiction. If I can get clean, any one can. I was the queen of opiates. Went Dr. shopping and was very successful at getting large quantities. I was only kidding myself. Your brain will crave for a year and a half after your clean so beware. I wish you the best. Send me a message if you need someone to talk to. Good Luck and God Bless.

Believe it or not, in the long run and proverbial 'overall scheme of things', having it on your medical record that you are an addict is not such a bad thing as you are imagining it to be. As a matter of fact, it can end up helping to save your ass, especially in the longer term.

And if you don't get yourself quit, truth is, eventually you're gonna end up with a much more public 'record' of your drug addiction ... if you catch my drift.

I'm no expert but if you can wean yourslef, that would help a lot. Like others have said, your still going to feel some W/D but it shouldn't be as bad if your can wean yourself down. I've been addicted to opiates for about three years now and have tried to quit more times than I can remember. Just be careful through, it is really easy to jump back in to old ways. I went through the hell of W/D so many times. I would be on my sixth day or so and just starting to feel better physically, then I would get paid and BOOM!!, I'm calling my dealer and buying a load of pills and taking them like I never even skipped a beat. I told myself so many times after going through the first five days of W/D, "Never again will I put my wife or myself through that", yet here I am still an addict. I will never stop trying though, until I kick this addiction. I own it to myself, my wife, and kids.

Sorry for the long post LOL, and I wish you all the luck in your struggle.

thanks...i tapered down below 100 mgs, and now i've switched over to methadone for the next three weeks. I'm hoping after this three weeks then the opiate addiction should be gone, or at least i shouldn't need the pills, i will only want them. I hope!!!

tryin2stop
 

Good luck on methadone In three weeks you may not want any pills, but you will have a bit of a methadone habit and subsequent withdrawal. Just curious but how many mgs of meth do you plan on taking?
Peace

I also suggest to stay far AWAY from the methadone. Funny thing is that before I started the methadone everyone on it told me not to do it. I thought, at the time: "I will be different, it will help me." HA! That's a joke; thousands of mg's later I was in a worse position than when I started.

Oh, yea, if you have to go to a clinic everyday I guarantee you will grow to hate it.

Question…and am scratching my head here.

First of all. Are you taking methadone with professional supervision?. Second. If your trying to avoid withdrawals from opiates. Wont you have withdrawals coming off the methadone too? Aren’t you afraid getting hook to the methadone?. I’m just saying…Where is the logic here.

This remind of the insanity I use to put myself through when I was active. I would use opiates to get off from heroin. Then when I ran out of opiates and the withdrawals started kicking in I would go right back to doing heroin again…Vicious, vicious cycle.

I hope your plan works…mine never did…

Ivan

Methadone is liquid heroin as far as I'm concerned. I may be wrong, but I know it's bad for the body, and very addictive as well. When you stop taking the methadone, what will you use to comfort the withdrawals from the meth? My heart goes out to you trying. There's no easy way out kid. Your gonna have to tough it out at some point in your life. However, there is good help out there, if you really want it. And ways for professionals to make your treatment a bit more comfortable with out the use of a more powerful and dangerous opiate. Oh and by the way, opiate addiction is never gone. Once and addict always an addict. Addiction is not curable, but you can live a normal life. If you just don't use drugs. Addiction is a sneaky disease. You never know when it's going to sneak up you. I hope you never let your guard down if you get off of drugs.

For me to get off heroin was not as hard as some make it out to be. It ended up being mind over matter for me, and with the guidance of the right spiritual help you will find that your inner potential has the willpower to overcome any addiction or obstacle in your life.
May the great spirit be with you and draw its power to over come.

I'll take an opiate withdrawal any day over a benzo withdrawal, which I'm still going through WEEKS later. Why couldn't this just last days?

Oh, I didn't get hooked in a day *le sigh* Best of luck. Personally, I'd just hang on for the ride. I relapsed when I couldn't afford the Suboxone I was on, and went through withdrawals from the Subs, which was worse for me than my hopefully last no drugs opiate withdrawal. I thought it'd be way worse, but it wasn't so bad, day 2 and 3 were the kickers for me.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but I'm sorry your suffering Zero.
It takes time to get off of these chemicals.
My heart goes out to you
I wish you peace and comfort
Turn to your higher power