Weaning of Oxycontin

[Lindy]

Can someone please tell me if I am currently taking 30 mg Oxycontin 2 times a day is it possible to wean myself off this medication without any of the terrible side effects that come with it? Can I slowly taper off without the depression and the willies and everything else that goes along with it? I have been on this medication for 8 months. I take it for Fibro. I have had it with the running out too soon. Vacations ruined because I have run out. Visits to emergency rooms in towns where I am on vacation. I want to try to wean off myself first then get outside help if I cant do it alone. But can someone tell me how  can do this?  Thank you for reading this and any response you can give.

[KURT to LINDY]

D
ear Lindy, Please allow me to tell you a little story.But first, let me correct you on your dosage. They don't make oxycontin in 30mg.pilHEREls. Only 10mg [white]-- 20mg [salmon color]  --- 40mg --yellow].T                                                             There's even 80mg pill now.I started doing pot,cigarettes and drink heavily at the tender age of 12. I am 38y/o. No Drs.
were willing to prescribe anything. I was shooting up 40 mg @    
20 mg of oxycontin [oxymorphone] And 65 mg of methadone.I flew  
to the East coast to   get rapid detox .I need my warskate        

[KURT to LINDY]

D
ear Lindy, Please allow me to tell you a little story.But first, let me correct you on your dosage. They don't make oxycontin in 30mg.pilHEREls. Only 10mg [white]-- 20mg [salmon color]  --- 40mg --yellow].T                                                             There's even 80mg pill now.I started doing pot,cigarettes and drink heavily at the tender age of 12. I am 38y/o. No Drs.
were willing to prescribe anything. I was shooting up 40 mg @    
20 mg of oxycontin [oxymorphone] And 65 mg of methadone.I flew  
to the East coast to   get rapid detox .I need my warskate        

[From Aunt Lindy to Mariah]

I take 30 mg 2 times a day. A twenty and a ten.

[Bob Churchill]

Hmmmm....several interesting points have been made since my last post.

I finally got in to see the pain control clinic at our teaching hospital. In meeting with the pain control doc he explained to me how mechanical my pain is. I abhore the thought of any mor invasive treatments, but when he pointed out that I wouldn't ride my motorcycle with bad brakes unless I got them fixed, it really made sense. All of this means that I'm faced with one of several invasive procedures (ie; disc heating, "nerve burn", or the ever popular multi-level fusion). He also suggested steppin up the Duragesic from 50ugh to 75ugh, or just changing to 80-100mg of Oxycontin daily. I have no desire to change the patches for pills, but I'm still taking 7.5mg Percocets @ 3 per day and I have asked them to trade those for 2 20mg Oxcontin's so maybe I can get some sleep.

As for the docs and Fentanyl, every article that I've read never mentions the patches, they all refer to IV use of the anestesia form. However, my brother (a doc, and an addict himself), he says that when docs wanna get loaded it's Dilaudid or Fentanyl.

My sponsor says whatever needs to happen will happen, and all I can do is go with it, and clean my side of the street.

Peace!

[Brian to Sick and Scared]

Managed care is a pain and does cut into time a lot.  Tons more paperwork and the pressure of moving people in and out quickly (because you get paid very little for office visits).  The website idea has crossed my mind, but at the moment I need to keep a low profile due to some issues related to my prior narcotic abuse and my position.  With respect to alternating Darvon and hydrocodone, it's not a bad plan and, more importantly, it's working for you--therefore stick with it.  I wasn't recommending that you go to oxycontin, only if you have chronic pain which is not responding to anything weaker should you make that choice.  It is highly addictive and has a particularly severe withdrawal syndrome in many people.  You may wish to switch at some point from Vicodin to Vicoprofen which has 7.5 mg of hydrocodone and no apap (it has ibuprofen).  As to the Darvon, I'm glad it works for you.  Many patients report little pain relief, and even the manufacturer (Lilly) released a written statement at some point saying there was no proof that it was more effective at pain relief than two aspirin.  Finally, just beware about staying on narcotics for too long.  I am never one to say people should suffer, but you should be aware that at some point your tolerance will increase and your doctor may decide not to increase the amount you are prescribed.

[tom to Brian]

Thanks, Brian, for the as-always conscientious and non-judgmental response. If you ever open your own site (as in great idea) don't go without leaving a forwarding URL. Would that my doctor was as forthcoming. I think he would be if he was not in such an HMO-inspired hurry. I owe him more than I can say for his compassionate but still professional response to my "pain predicament." Consider the Fentenyl idea shelved. I hope I never need anything that powerful. As for my Xanax comments, they were more memoir than anything. I haven't used benzos for several years and don't plan to start. I would like to know what you think about me alternating Darvon (Darvon 65 4 times a day with 500 mg enteric aspirin added for nighttime doses - not the normal formula, but it works without any appreciable sedation), month by month, with Vicodin (5 mg) as a way of forestalling an increase in tolerance to either or both. It really does seem to work. I have been at a 4 per day rate for about a year and haven't had to bump them up. I don't use Darvocet because I also like to lay off the APAP when I can and, for some reason, Darvocet nauseates me while the hydrochloride form of porpox does not. As for the orthopedist, it was actually my idea to get a fresh MRI and see him, mainly because I wanted the MRI so I could approach my treatment from an informed perspective. I will settle for maintenance because I fear the unintended consequences of more surgery. Judging by the posts on this site, Oxycontin seems to be alarmingly addictive, with tales of chewing pills and so on. How is Oxycontin's track record when used normally at normal rates? I hesitate to ask for it because it's Schedule II. Everything and everyone gets very serious when you cross that line. I also think my doctor will not want the increased scrutiny that the triplicate script represents. Besides respecting him as a doctor, I have a lot of (platonic) affection for him as a human being. I believe he would give me the Oxy but it would be one more worry for him to bare. Under the circumstances, I think I would be exploiting our relationship. How about just going on as I am?