I think you should probably ask your pain Doc that's taking the pump out to please prescribe something else for you. Your case sounds very different to what I have ever heard on here, so my humble opinion is follow and talk to your pain doc. Good Luck!
Hydromorphone is relatively short acting, with a short half-life, so the withdrawals from it, while intense, are as nowhere near as prolonged as something like Methadone of Suboxone.
That, along with the fact your doctor has been reducing your dosage, essentially tapering you down before they pull it, should help to make it more bearable, so it might not be quite as bad and prolonged an ordeal as you anticipate.
Hello and welcome. What type of pain have you been treating?
Long term opiate use intensifies pain. It is called hyperalgesia, opiate induced pain.
Your doctor can prescribe an old blood pressure med, clonidine. It helps with many of the withdrawal symptoms. scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Under the health pages,look up the Thomas recipe.
It will take a couple months to re-evaluate your pain levels post opiates.
At that point other methods of pain management could be implemented.
The pain does increase during withdrawal. Your brain changes during opiate use. Your brain will need to produce its own natural chemistry (dopamine, serotonin,endrophins) again. This will take time.
Don't fear the withdrawals. Treat the symptoms. Pray, pray, pray.
Listen to Christian music. Keep yourself busy.
Try to move around as much as possible.
Keep the faith.
Sending prayers, support and encouragement,
Debbie