Hey sweetie, don't take the xanax... I don't know about you but it makes the withdrawals worse for me.  I know you can do this, I was up to 400mg of percs and oxy's a day.  I'm on day 9 and I almost had a relapse yesterday but e1 here pulled me through it and I feel way better and thank god I didn't.  Just remember to try to relax, think about bein' on the beach with the wind in your hair.  I know it's hard believe me I know... but try.  You have any children?  Do you like reading?  The second day for me was hell but I managed to set in my mind to calllmmmmm dowwnnnnnn... then I thought in my head to sing a song to my little girl... and it brought tears in my eyes because she was lookin' at me with her big brown eyes and I knew that I had something to do this for.  I didn't wanna die and leave my children motherless.  And that's what was gonna happen if i started it again.  400 mg? I don't see how I was doin' that and still livin?  YOU CAN DO THIS!!!  Don't worry e1 here is very helpful and will get you through the rough time.  I will be praying for ya!!! Take care, lil.

Just hang in there...The thing about our addiction is, there are no shortcuts or easy quick fixes. The only thing that is going to help is time. I wish there was some wonderful cure that could make us feel better instantly. Only day by day will our minds and bodies heal. Take each moment as it comes...remind yourself of why you want to quit. Think about how bad you feel and promise yourself that you will never allow your body to endure this kind of suffering again. You've come this far....it's only a matter of time before you are a free soul. I'm on day 4 clean...there is a really bright light at the end of the tunnel...it just may be hard to see from where you are.

i am right there with how you are feeling right now..... and I never thought that i would have anyone to share what i was going through with.  My last pill of any type was less than 48 hours ago, but cutting down from 20 in a day to one last one, has been the worst thing ever.  Until i found this site at 4 am, I was still not confronting from w/d symptoms head on.  Now, I know that what I am feeling is normal, though it is about the worst feeling ever.  I don't know if I can do this thing cold turkey, without help to slowly get off them.  and truly, despite all the **** that has happened to me, if I had the means to get pills right now, i know that I wouldn't be doing it this way at all.  so more power to any of you, that have pills in your home, and u have decided not to take them... u are stronger then i could ever be.  

I am on day 2 and you are gonna have to get tough.  Day 2 is HELL and TORTURE!!!!!!!!!! So is day one and day 3 will hopefully have some light in it.  Please do this for yourself.  If I can do it anyone can I really am not that tough!  I also stopped taking my prozac while on pills b/c i felt so great but you need the prozac it will help!  I started mine 3 weeks before I started c/t and I am thanking god that i did!

no one single addict trying to kick is alone in their efforts and this site proves it--we're fortunate to be able to turn to the worldwide web when we feel so alone in our experiences. Thank god for this forum which i discovered this morning after i awakened drenched in  a cold sweat (a damn miracle that i was able to even sleep) and sufferring once again (ten years of the vicious cycle of on-again-off-again abstinance from opiates) from the physical and emotional pain of trying to stop...it pains me to read of others sufferring, but comforting all the same. there's nothing like coming to the end of yet another run on opiates, taking so many pills and still not being able to feel high, eternally searching for that original warm and fuzzy buzz of that first time but realizing (once again) there's no such thing anymore as that naive girl years ago, discovering the dreamy and comforting effect of something as seemingly innocent as a teaspoon of coedine cough medicine....a few years later experiencing the serenity of a single (!) vicodin washed down with half a beer, (yes, it's hard to believe: if you're like me there really was a time when ONE produced the effects we chase now with more capsules than our gag reflex wants us to swallow);  then the car accident and hospitalization where she discovers the true elation of IV narcotics etc., etc., each seemingly unremarkable and innocuous incidents playing yet an integral role in paving this long, dangerous, serious, difficult, mind-bending, personality-bending (what happened to that nice girl?) down the long and serious road of narcotics addiction leading to this dark and dreadful morning.

My boyfriend is in recovery with several years clean and sober--he is an AA Nazi and is very close-minded and unable to understand anything that isn't in his Big Book--reminds me of a fundamentalist zealot behind any cause....he thinks he knows it all but knows/remembers so very little, especially about what i'm going through. don't get me wrong, i like 12-step recovery, and hope to be able to stay clean so i can incorporate it into my life, but there is another world out there that explains why "Just Don't Pick Up No Matter What" and  and "Ask Your Higher Power to Relieve You From Your Obesession to Drink/Use," isn't so simple, particularly with opiate abuse, and especially early on. There are so many things going on physiologically that 12-step recovery doesn't address/consider. I obviously needed a place to vent; in my life right now there's no one to talk to that understands how hard it really is. I look at the huge numbers of people posting at this site and, most, like me, have a lot of experience kicking, but all have equal experience relapsing. this makes me sad and feel somewhat hopeless for long-term recovery. i so want to get off this merry-go-round for good but like many posters have said, there's no easy way, we have to go through the pain, learn to feel true emotions and get to the other side of them, alive and well (surprise, surprise), and let our physical selves heal so our body can get back to it's very good  job of creating natural painkillers via endorphins, norepinephrine, serotonin, etc., etc., I need to realize it's not my job to do that. Blah Blah Blah...sorry I am going on and on.

Okay, what has worked for me in the past are many things. I want to post these things as others have but I am suspicious and looking for other options since obviously these things never led me to long-term recovery. But I will anyway; perhaps I am thinking too damn much. Here are two things that I believe have helped me in the past, and hopefully will help me again:

1) STAY BUSY--many have suggested this and it has helped me in the past. not easy, though, when you're feeling the depressive withdrawl effects and wanting to isolate and curl up in a ball at home alone. I found that if I plan (the day before) to participate in one single activity the following day that this helps prevent me from slipping into that lethargic mode that often leads to picking up again. Take a look at the things in the past that have brought you pleasure without drugs. Here are mine (as an example): hiking, yoga (so, so very good for early recovery as long as it is super gentle (no hot yoga or advanced classes), reading/writing in my favorite coffehouse/cafe, going to the library (this is an under-rated activity for those who love to read--libraries usually have a wonderful, calming energy about them), walk my dog on a short (take it easy!) but beautiful walk, stopping to chat (yes, REAL interactions with even strangers helps bring me back to what I love and miss about the world sans drugs and isolation), go thrift-store shopping (thrift shopping with a $15 budget works for me--if I went to any other kinds of stores I'd either overspend (and experience that same, familiar addicted feeling that inevitablly will lead me to using again) or if I couldn't, feel a sense of scarcity that leads to feelings that will also take me back to wanting a drug. If you have friends still that you enjoy, make a plan with a friend--this keeps you accountable. Whatever you do, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. Go to a health food store and buy something that's good for you--something healing--some have mentioned the amino acids, vit. B & C and i'm all for it but truly beleive the healing power of such things is in the actual ACT of erforming in a loving and caring way for your body. This helps create the habit of taking care of yourself--something I fail to do when using, and need help with when I try to quit. You will eventually find yourself, however, back at home. If you like to cook, try a new recipe. Ask your friends for a good book recommendation--check it out at the library or buy it but make sure you've confirmed it is a page-turner--this helps me immensly but then again i love to read. Make yourself herbal tea. Call relatives who have wondered where the heck you've been.

2. FORM A ROUTINE & STICK TO IT--i am self-employed and this is a double-edged sword when it comes to recovery because it means i can make my own schedule. those 9-5ers who can't imagine this to be harmful, i promise you, waking up with a blank slate will take a person whose struggling to stop using down faster than anything. If you have such freedom (or even if you don't), try creating a routine e.g. Wake up by a certain time everyday--sleeping in is not a great thing for me when I'm kicking, have coffee, read a short (TAKE IT EASY!) passage from an inspiring book, check my e-mail, EAT BREAKFAST (what is your favorite??? Treat yourself with whatever you love best. If you can't eat this early, gag down a little of something--half an energy bar or Odwalla, then try eating more later. Do what you can to get some fiber in your gut--i don't think i need to explain why unless for some reason you never experienced the level of brutal constipation most opiate addicts manage to achieve through lengthy using. go to a meeting (if that's part of your process), take the dog for a 30 minute walk, come home and make the bed and do the dishes. These simple acts have helped me tremendously in the past. I had a 12-step sponsor who I really hated one time but learned from her this very reliable tip: You want to build self-esteem? Then perform esteemable acts. For me at this early stage in kicking, making a bed and doing some dishes is HUGE. HUGE! Try it. Okay, what next is on the routine? I usually work for 2-3 hours, then get out of the house and do my scheduled activity. I like to go out for lunch if I have the cash. I eat whatever I want--all my favorite foods. when i'm too depressed to come up with a favorite food i can always resort to mashed potatoes and gravy--good old comfort food and i know just where to get them in my town. many have mentioned the promise of eating lots of carbs--i'm a believer. i also know that once i get over a certain "hump" in early recovery i need to work toward eating a proper combo of all food types--particularly complex carbos and protein so i don't end up experiencing a hypoglycemic episode. okay, back to the routine. In the evening, I try to stay up until a certain time so that I am authentically tired enough to hopefully sleep. I turn my clock away from me so i don't obsess over the time when i wake up in the middle of the night, if i do, which i usually always do early on. if i lie there awake for more than 15 minutes or so (just guess) i try reading my fabulous book with a headlamp so i don't wake up my partner; if that doesn't work, i get up and try a cup of tea or warm milk (yes it works! Glorious, glorious L-Tryptophan!). eventually i'll go back to sleep and if i don't, oh well, it really isn't the end of the world.

If anything, just writing this out has helped me remember how to live through early recovery. thank you, thank you for this wonderful space to express myself. and perhaps i may have helped another person sufferring--i don't know.

TAKE IT EASY. We might just get through this. Be kind to yourself. i'll try doing the same.

I know some of the symptoms but not all of them. I heard days, weeks,& months. Does a person have to detox or wean from suboxone, too