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MedHelp Member's Question

My Oxycontin Withdrawal Story HELP!

by buffalogal, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
I have been taking Oxycontin and Methadone under a Pain Dr's supervision for about two years. My pain comes from 4 herniated discs (2 in my neck from a car wreck and 2 in my back from a compression fracture sustained when I fell off a cliff) and arthritis. Before oxycontin, my pain had gotten to the point where I could no longer work and I spent much of my life curled up in a ball shivering from the pain. I got up to 120 mgs of oxy a day (3 x 40) and 90 mgs of Methadone. Life was tolerable and I could work again, but pain still consumed most of my days. In January 2003 my insurance changed and there are no pain specialists participating in my new plan. It was time to make a change. The choice I made was to stop taking oxycontin. The amount of relief it gave was not worth the amount of money, time spent at the doctors and implications of being physically addicted to a drug. I got a new primary care physician, asked him to help me get off oxy and dropped from 40 mg 3x day to 20 mg 3x day. The pain has resumed with a vengance, and I have started to have symptoms which I now see are withdrawal. Hot/cold flashes, sweating, irratibility, unable to sleep, difficulty swallowing, lethargy and severe depression. Luckily I found this site before I killed myself. My new PCP is an excellent Dr, caring and sensitive but I think we both need a better schedule. Suggestions welcome, also, what can I replace the Oxy with as I have to keep working?

Thank you for your time.
Member Comments (36)

by suzieneedshelp, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
To: Buffalogal;
WElcome to our site!  Plz feel free to post when ever about yur issues and some kind soul will offer their 2 cents worth or better!  WEll i am certainly no DR. but All i have heard about that might  be worth looking into wiht your insurance is buprenex which is supposed to be very effective for pain and also is used in detox.  It doesnt supposedly give much of a euphoria so not as likely to be abused although  it has been. It is new and expensive if your insurance won't cover it (which i doubt it will).  I just was given bextra which is a new time released anti-inflammatory (doesnt bother g i tract) approved for use wiht severe arthritis.   Might be a good option for u.  

Best wishes to your struggle and hope for yur recovery!

Suzie

by Bodymechanic, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
There is no way around it. You are going to have a rough time for a while.  Oxycontin and especially methadone are among the worst drugs to withdraw from.  The suggestion to use buprenorphine is a great option.  It will help you with the pain as well as get you over the withdrawals from the other drugs.  If buprenorphine is not an option then speak to your doctor about slowing down the detox.  There is no reason why you cant wean down over a period of 6 months or even a year.  The faster you go in the detox the higher the likelyhood of relaps. Keep your eyes on your goal and go forward slow and steady.

by Oxyclean, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
To: buffalogal
I was in the same boat about a month ago. I was on 160mg of oxy for nerve pain. My doctor weaned me down 10mg a week over a period of 3 months. She put me on the Catapress patch which is a bloodpressure med that helps take some of the withdrawal away. I also was put on Trazadone to help me sleep. That did not work for me. I am still having a hard time sleeping, but the flu symptoms are gone. It is going to be very uncomfortable but doable!(is that a word?) I do feel so much better now. My life does not go around pills. My family has me back. Don't get me wrong, I am still in pain, but those pills would have killed me in the end. Keep reading the posts here, this site helped me a lot! There are a lot of people here that know more than the doctors do about addiction. Good luck to you... stick with it... you won't be sorry.

by blessedtwo, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
To: buffalogal/everyone
Would you believe that it will get better. Most everyone on this site has been where you are. Its small comfort at the time and the demons will taugnt you day and night. I too had an auto mishap. Had back and knee surgery. Thought pain pills were the greatest. I was convinced my pain would be terriable if i stopped taking them. But I started feeling like my loved ones and friends as well as people in genral were seeing and talking with someone else. I started to feel like a fraud and a thief. A thief because I was stealing valuable time from everyone around me., and a fraud because I knew i was strong enough to deal with the pain. There are people dying with cancer that refuse pain meds because they dont want to lose their feelings. I admire those with courage. I have been clean 31 days. Thank God for this site and all the great people saying things would and will get better, and you know they arent lying. I"am feeling better. the pain is still there but I try to block it out and try to forget the pain. I wish you all the luck and will keep you in my prayers. IT DOES GET BETTER!!!!!! Peace2all robert

by poptart, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
I have been lurking on this board for about 6 months now and I have to ask...WHAT HAPPENED HERE? Is this place going under or what? Has anyone ever been to drugabuse.com? They have a good general message board and its FREE with unlimited posts.

by LastChance, Feb 14, 2003 12:00AM
To: Everyone/buffalogal
Hey, I am in the same Pain boat as you are.  80mg of oxy twice a day.  Never lasts 12 hours and I am withdrawing before I can take the next dose technically.  It is running my life and I hate it.  I am in recovery and I have someone hold my meds so I don't abuse them.  I just don't know how the hell I'll ever get off them.....I have to.  Anyone know what this Buprenorhpine is.  I am going to a new Neororigest on Tuesday.  I am going to ask him for it....Anything to get off the oxy's without going through hell.

by lisabet, Feb 15, 2003 12:00AM
To: poptart
Just checked out the site you suggested.  Thanks!  Do you post under this one?  Are you a recovering addict; would like to hear your story.  (Love your username...my son's favorite snack)...smile.  Love, Lisabet

by dysthymic, Feb 15, 2003 12:00AM
In reading about your problem I noticed that you decided to dicontinue the Oxycontin and continue the methadone. Buprenorphine is a partial antagonist which maeans it will cause you to go into withdrawal on doses higher than 30 mg.of methadone by itself. You would have to stop the Oxycontin and taper down the methadone start to have withdrawal and then start the buprenorphine.

by mrmichael67, Feb 15, 2003 12:00AM
To: Buffalogal
You mentioned the oxycontin didn't seem to work all that well.  That could very well be from the amount of methadone you were concurrently taking.  If someone is on high dose methadone and has a procedure which requires them to administer pain meds during it, they have to increase the dose by quite a bit just so it will work.  Methadone has a blockade effect, especially at the higher doses.  Ninety mg is a good dose.  I am sure it was working against the oxycontin.  I bet if you were to cut out the methadone and just take the oxycontin, you would be amazed at how much relief you got.  Or, cut out the oxycontin and adjust the methadone appropriately.  If one is on methadone and stable, they can't use other opiates for an extended period or the methadone won't work properly anymore.  So, it should basically be one or the other.  That is, of course, if you want to stay on the meds.  Keep on posting, people are more than willing to help you out here.

by minime, Feb 15, 2003 12:00AM
To: Buffalogal § Poptart
Buffalogal, hi and welcome.  Before you do anything about your meds, please make sure you talk with a DOCTOR.  Some people may offer you advice about how much to take of whatever, but they are not doctors.  Only a professional that knows your history can really help you with that.  This forum is, however, a great source of emotional support.  I am a firm believer that if a medical condition warrants taking pain meds, there is not a thing wrong with doing so.  Good luck in whatever you decide to do.



Poptart - YES, this board has really changed, and I will check out the site you mentioned.  Do you post there?  If so, what name do you post under?



by HarleyCat, Feb 15, 2003 12:00AM
To: minime § strenght
Minime--Jim (B'Belt) is still asking for you.  Email me for more info.  Also, Strength, email me, I am worried about you!



***@****



Connie

by freezing, Feb 15, 2003 12:00AM
To: buffalogal
I agree with mrmicheal.  The methadone will blow away the bit of oxy for the reason he stated.  



Are you getting the methadone from a pain doc and pharmacy, as opposed to a clinic?  I think you and I should both get another opinion from a different pain doc.



(I would get off the oxy, as it has a depressing effect (I hate that stuff) by being a kappa receptor agonist.  Ask your doc about fentanyl, as it is only a mu receptor agonist, without near the urinary