endorphins&hydro w/d

[chawk47]

freebird4good...Thank you for your information.I am a 40 yr old male married for 17 years with 4 children. I had been perscribed tabs10mg for my lower back 5+years ago. they actually tried all kids of stuff and nothing seemed to work like the hydros.i took 4-7 per day as needeed. Somedays i only took 2-3. fastforward to today!! I finally came to my senses and realized that the pain in my back was from me going through withdrawls and not my "actual "back pain.Once i realized this i threw all of my script out and did not want to ever see those nasty things again.I went through 4-7 days of pure agony and hell.I drank a lot of gatoraid and water. then came phase two...total sleepness night sfor about 6-8 days. I litterally only slept about 7-9 hours that whole time. But during that "phase" i had read on this post about the endorhins. Sooo i decided to go walking at about 1-3 am when i could not sleep. I would literally walk/jog 4-6 miles every night. It did not help me sleep at all during that"second phase" because i had severe RLS and RAS and it gave me the heebie jeebies. i did the hot soaks and excersise and vitamins but got no relief at all. (by the way i did this all cold turkey after 5+ years of use)...probably pretty dumb but i could not taper at all...would cave in!The "third phase" lasted 5-8 days of feeling very confused and lethargic but still could not sleep well(2-4 hours per night) this phase was probably because of all the excersise and little sleep. I amon the last part i hope "phase four" on week 4 1/2 and feeling pretty good with the exception of have a bad day every once in a while (depressed/confused thoughts). I am finally feeling the endorhines working after excersise. Last night i walked 2 miles and ran two miles. When i got back took hot shower and crashed hard!!only 4 1/2 hours of sleep ...but no RLS/RAS and it was a hard deep sleep.....so the endorphins do work!!!!! I had to do all of this with out my wife kids or any family knowing. Was not able to take off of work (own my business and wass not an option to take off) everyone thought i had flu and the rest of time i sucked it up best i could. I amsure a few people have their suspicions but i had to do whatt i had to do. My wife new i smoke pot years back when i was in college but that has been over a long time ago....if she knew i was addicted to these things and took them for so long she probably would of left me. She had advised me against them years back after i perscribed them to not take them but they seemed be the only thing that helped manage my pain then...then became much more than that (the perfect social/work drug) could get wso much accomplished with not any stress....then go home after 10 hour day to my wonderful 4 children and not have any stress there as well. We all know about the wonders of this drug....just wish i would of found this forum earlier and learn of the down sides before i had taken them so long. I am blessed and do not crave them at all.....i do not know how i could after the pure hell i have been going through for 4 weeks. I pray for all of us to get off these things and our bodies can heal themselves....from there i hope we can all deal with the pain/issues that led us to take this medication in the first place and not have those issues as well as the addiction issues.So for anyone out there wondering if it can be done cold turkey and or how tlong they can expect certain things/symptoms please ask. This forum was the only thing i had and it helped tremendously. I did not write (this is only my first real post) but read it and what all of you had gone through. It helped prepare me and let me know what to kind of to expect so i did not freak out thinking i was going to lose my mind. For that i am forever grateful and hope i can in turn help out anyone wanting to know more(again i know we are all different with different doses /time periods/age/gender etc) but at least you can use it a i did a guide to kind oif know where i was at in the process. It was the hardest thing in the world to do...but like i said why would i want ot feel like that again even for one day more.....so i stayed the course and as you have all heard before you do feel better as each day goes by and if you just gut it out it will get better ....just be strong and ride it out!!! Thanks for letting me ramble and write this down its very theraputic!!! I can not wait for the day that i will have some sort of normal sleep patterns and totally lose the confused/depressed feelings. Like i stated ealier it only happens everyso often now but four days go by and BOOM i wake up and feel confuse and very depressed(only for that day)....does any one know how long "this phase" last or if ths is even a "phase" it might be that i am just dealing with depression that i did not know i had.....it does run in my family(they have a history of severe depression)...but i had never really had issues with it in my life before this w/d that is why i feel it is just a phase of the withdrawl...Hope i did not run everyone off with such a long post!!!! take care please respond!!

[chawk47]

i am on week 4 to 41/2 ...was 4-7 10mg LT's for 5+ years everyday without ever stopping at all even for a day. I am experienceing eye sensitivity to light and mini head aches. They are not strong and only last 5-20 minutes. Also i get a very strange light-headedness for a breif moment every once in a while too. Has anyone ever expereinced this at this stage at all? I am not on any med's at all...quit cold turkey....been long horrible haul ....but only way i could do it was cold turkey. please offer any help or help sites i may be able to look into these issues i am dealing with now. They have only been present for about 2-3 days now...just want to know i am okay and have not freid my brain too!!!

[chawk47]

Thanks for the response "narc-vet"! Yes it was a very long term habit and i am so gald to be rid of it. It has been a very profound experience "waking back up"!! My mind/brain will feel strange some days for short periods of time. I really can describe the feeling...almost like i am "high" for a breif period(30-45 seconds) and i get slight headaches for short periods of time(5-20 minutes).This has only been happening the past few days and i am on day 33-36 of my withdrawl period if that helps. When i excersise these go away immediately.Do you have any insight to these issues ( has anyone experienced this at all)? I will try the valerian root tonight....will go to the GNC immediately after work today. No side effects or addiction issues with this stuff i hope!! again thanks for your posts!!!

[narc-vet]

Oh, try some valerian root for the sleep.  Worked for me.

[narc-vet]

You had a long term habit.  It will take serious time for you brain to "rewire" itself and learn you are not going to give into the cravings.  Sleep always seems the last thing to come back around to being normal.  You have been numbed to the world for a long time, now everything is waking back up.  It can be a profound experiance, exhausting, yet you will only get through this with time.  Time heals all.

[chawk47]

Thank you so much for your reponse. The feelings we get from ridding our bodies of this **** is un-real!! I think i will just"DEAL" with it because i do not want any kind of meds at this time....i have become so ANTI-meds since this has happened. As long as I know others have been through it and it is something that comes with the "territory" then i will deal. I hate the not being able to sleep though. I never got much to begin withso not getting that little amount has really been a bummer. But let me tell you i went for my walk/run last night in the storms and all . When i got home showered and laid on the couch to watch some tube....woke up 2 1/2 hours later . I had crashed and crashed hard. I get such a deep sleep for those few hours that it is hard to back to sleep. But from what i have read on these posts that with time hopefully my sleep patterns will return somewhat back to normal. I am just so glad to be off of those buggers. I never thought i would be able to do what i had done and it WAS the hardest thing i have ever done in my life but well worht it . it has been about 32-34 days and feels so much better and stronger. Rosie have you ever taken the melatonin? is this more of a herb or is it a drug? if it is a drug i do not even want to go there...but if it is a natuaral herb?......if it helps sleep then?.......Freebird4good had given me a site to go to to read up on and have not been able to get there yet. thank you so much for replying.Like i said it was my first post and actually was liberating letting people know in a way because i have been doing this all on my own.so again thank you for you time and response!! Jon

[VOsRose]

Hi, buddy.  I just wrote you a lengthy response to your post and for some reason it didn't get posted!  I'm sorry.  I don't know if I can duplicate it right now, so I'll just say this...

What you're feeling is real, but not necessarily permanent, so don't let it freak you out.  Depression is very common, as is anxiety.  If it becomes too bothersome, you might check with your doctor for some anti-depression meds.  My doc put me on them once after rehab and I hated them, but some people swear by them.  I will write more when my fingers recover!  LOL

Sorry the post didn't get through... I don't know what happened there.  

Talk soon.

Rosie