I'm nevous and afraid of what I am going thru with these withdrawals.

[cetiya]

I am getting off the Duragesic Patch, that I have been on for about 5 months. Took it off Monday morning.  My doc was great and game me a million Oxys to get off the Fentanyl.
  One of my main fears is this strange violent "twitch" , it just lasts a second, but it's scaring me, maybe I have something wrong with my brain?
  Also, I have a weird rash on my face and hand, a low grade fever and a sore throat. I did go to a walk-in clinic and they gave me a creme to put on my face and hands.

[hippy]

i must say over the past year and a half. when i see
the words (I'LL BE TAKING QUESTIONS) , i do find it
hard to swallow, im sure the people who have posted this
phrase mean well, but it show's thier arrogance, and arrogance
is just a mask for low self esteem.
we are all in this together, it is best to set aside  our
differences and come together as equals.
there are more then a few people here at the fourm
who are very well informed, i have learned a lot from them.
one thing addicts really have a hard time with is being contradicted, or spoken down to.
this is a fourm where we share our experence of getting
off the pills  and going through the withdrawls.
there is also the part of the fourm where there are those
that have to take pain meds for pain management.
willow i agree with you , we all need to be kind to
each other , and treat each other with respect ,
and not speak down to anyone.
we can leave our resume;s at the door.
peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!hippy

[willowgirl]

I am happy to see you both stop the back and forth nonsense. I watch this site every day and I find certain people to be very very helpful, insightful and inspiring.  Both of you fall into that catagory. Although I feel you both have a different outlook on things and totally different ways of expressing yourselves, you are both very inspiring.
I am personally going with the tapering and I am starting to think I am just kidding myself because eventually when the pills are really all gone for good for ever I am scared ****, but then I read expillmans posts and feel that maybe I can do it. Today is just a bad day . It is raining out and I feel very blah and I would love to just eat pills all day and watch TV. But I am not going to do that for I want to beat this and I cant control the weather and I will not use the weather as an excuse " oh its raining so I need to get higH"  I swear I wont. I am going out for the day and I am going to keep on trucking. Again both of you are so helpful. Get your **** together and you two could be a powerful force against this BS addiction we all live with. People like you two are what we all need. I know not everyone will agree with me but I find both of your posts helpful- except when it is bullshit bickering about who is stronger or who is the correct one or who knows more. Who cares??? Your both great

[Nod]

Hey Hippy, how are you.  I've been away from board for awhile. You comment on the nuns and left hand made me laugh.  I remember those days well.  I've been up and down since last we talked but still not clean.  Made it one full day tho and really have cut back.  Just still haven't faced up to things yet or at least again like I did last year when went 8mos clean.  Pain sucks, but it ain't livin on the pills.  What a mess.  
Hope you are well- Nod

[mrmichael67]

If I had oxy in the house, I would have taken them as well.  Even if a non addict did, that is just self preservation as well all wouldn't want to feel like that.  Many people can taper, but most can't....well, most addicts can't.  If the taper is going at the proper rate, then discomfort should be at a very minimum and the non-addict would be able to handle that and not help themselves to more.  In the non-addict, they get on opioids and take them for the duration of their pain.  When the pain is over, they taper, get off, and don't look back.  They won't be craving the meds to get high because they weren't getting high in the first place.  I know when I crave, I crave that wonderful feeling I get when I am high.  That is from taking way more than needed.  The non-addict, through their therapy, were taking their meds as prescribed.  Except in the beginning, they don't feel their meds as the body quickly becomes tolerant to any side effects, except constipation.  There really isn't any feeling for them to crave.  People in pain management have been getting on and getting off of meds for quite a while now.  This has been accomplished through their docs and tapering their dose.  Just look at what caused them to realize a small number actually become addicted to their meds.  During the many studies, those patients were tapered down quite regularly.  And, it was done quite successfully.  In the addict, that is all another story.  Most addicts, that I have encountered, can't taper if their lives depended on it.  Some can.

[Expillman]

Good morning, Thomas!  First, I'm happy that we buried the hatchet and not into each other's skulls.  You are a worthy adversary, will you join my quest?   Oh, sorry, that's another movie that is playing in my brain.  Apologies to the Monty Python crowd, and yes, the Full Monty crowd also.  Now, on to the regularly scheduled programing.

I am in hour 136 of OXYCONTIN FREEDOM.  Reality visited me this morning as I awoke and fully expected to see Dorothy, that ankle-biting Toto and the Straw Man with the Oil Can.  All the pain I have is still here, I had shunted it into the recesses of my brain as I dealt with more pressing issues, i.e., detoxing myself from Oxycodone.

The contracts are a great idea, we did that all the time back when I was in Pain Management.  It was especially important with abusers, the ONE DOCTOR ONE PHARMACY contract, it sealed a bond of trust between the doctor and the patient.  The doctor agreed to provide adequate pain relief and the patient agreed not to doctor or pharmacy shop.  Health care professionals were instructed to keep good records of pain assessment to adequately treat the patient and to COVER THEIR ASS.

One of the big roadblocks was fear.  Fear of addiction.  Fear of regulatory agencies.  And for the patient, fear of running out of much needed medications and/or being denied or cut off.  Many, many physicans simply refused to deal with pain patients at all, a very tragic situation.  People were turned away as if they had some sort of self-inflicted leprosy.  PAIN??  UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!  GO AWAY, GO AWAY.

This was 10 years ago, but I would imagine that not much has changed.

EXPillman

[Thomas03]

I asked myself similar questions. "If oxycontins were embedded in the concrete foundation of my house, would I jackhammer them out and stuff them in my face?"

"If the Russians used hydrocodone control rods at Chernobyl, would I go snorkeling in their reactor?"

"Would I cut out my own liver and use it to distract a pit bull guarding a hospital narcotics strong box?"

Abso-fuckin-lutely!

And, does tapering work?

Sure, as long as it aint me doin it!

Seriously, I am like you in that I can't abstain when there are any narcs in the house, whether to detox or taper.

I generally advise people to do a cold turkey detox, but some people can't get the down time away from work or family to weather it. In those cases, I urge people to find a tapering partner they can trust, draw up a precise tapering schedule, and, along with their tapering partner, sign it like a performance contract. Still, easier said than done.

Thomas