any good advice

[donewiththis]

hey all


my story is long but i will keep it short..  i've been on percocets 10/325 for about 17 months now.
i never take more than prescribed, which is 4 pills a day, and i do not take them all at once either..

heres the thing, i want to stop with these, i am mentally ready, but the physical hardship i will go through is not welcomed right now. i live a very active life and cannot be sick with withdrawals..  i have approximately 80 pills left.  does anyone have any suggestions on how i could break this down so i dont feel too sick??  any great advice would be awesome!!  if someone could write this down for me it would be great.. i will definitely follow the plan!
thanks for the help and thanks for reading.

[blink8682]

I'd recommend talking to your Dr. about this -- he or she will know the best way to taper off.

You're fortunate to have kept it under control. At the end of your taper process, you will have minimal-to-no withdrawal symptoms, in my opinion.

[beatingthis]

I agree. I did a taper as well and was on hydro for 5 years and triple the dose this person is on.
4 a day..
to a bunch of us on here that is a very low dose. Start knocking off 1 pill a day every 4 to 5 days untill you get to 1 then break it in 1/2. If you can. The taper schedule above is good but I don't think you need to drag it out that long since you have been on a low dose and it has not been that long for you.

Good Luck!!

Terry

[jstntime]

If you were doubling up, you were not tapering.  

This person is not showing signs of addictive behavior and apart from a little anxiety about "what they have heard" about wd, they should not even GET depression.

If there ever was a candidate for tapering, this is the guy (gal) !!!!!!

bob

[fogmussher]

I know almost everyone thinks tapering is the answer but I spent 2 years tapering and it seems like it was just as bad in the end. It prolongs the inevitable. It might be the way for some but when I did it I still ended up in treatment and have to take 3 and 1/2 suboxone every day. Tapering lead to a long gradual depression. a depression that I never thought existed. I have a new understanding of it now. The physical part of withwrawl is not bad compared to the depression that follows.
When I was tapering I found myself taking a minimum most days but on the days I had to actually get out a do something I had to double up or I couldn't get out of bed. You haven't been on the stuff very long and you will bounce back pretty fast I hope. You're doing the right thing to stop now before it drags on for ten years like I did.

[Lisahhh]

Congratulations on wanting to get off the train. Because you're not taking more than prescribed and seem to be able to handle the discipline, I'd recommend tapering. If it were me, I'd immediately cut down to 3/day for a week, then 2/day for the second week, then 1/day for a week, then maybe 1 every other day. Your dose really isn't all that high and a quick taper shouldn't be too hard. While tapering, start yourself on the Thomas Recipe, which you can find links to on this site.

I'm in the process of doing a relatively fast taper of a very high dose of oxycontin and am doing just fine with the above method. Good luck!

[jstntime]

Absolutely we can!!!!

The good news is, you have not used too long.  The better news is that your dose is low.  The best news is that you sound dependant not addicted which would make tapering your dose an easier prospect than someone dealing with addiction.

If I could taper (and I can't), I would do this:

You are at 40mg/day now, reduce by 5 mg/day every 5 days or so.  Let your symptoms do the talking.  If you feel crappy, stay at the same dose for another day or 2.

Conversely, if you don't feel anything, you can go a little sooner than 5 days.  So.....

Start taper with 35 mg/day  which is 3.5 pills for you.  

After 5 days, go to 30/mg, which is 3 pills and so on......

You can jump at 5 or 10 mg's per day if you're feeling good.  I did some quick math and you have just enough left to follow this plan!!!!

Take some deep breaths, you worry too much, your active life is fine.  If you can follow that taper properly, you will likely barely even feel wd.

Wish you the best.......

bob