My goodness these withdrawals are awful

[darienguy]

Greetings all- I had built up a habit of 200+ mg a day of oxycodone for many months and have been on pain meds for years- what gets me is i quit last year when i was "only" on 60 mg daily- i had an injured shoulder which is why i was getting the script- anyway, i was operated on to resolve the majority of the issue so i wouldnt have an excuse to keep getting the pills- i love them and that is the reality

i went clean 5 days ago but have to admit the withdrawals got me to go to tramadol, fioricets, or whatever else i could find- it seems that the lack of energy phase is over but obviously the brain is far from well- i understand next week will bring its own set of issues

question- what can i expect and how have those successful staying clean did it?

[darienguy]

greetings people-

after having my a$$ dragging- i must admit i took to get a boost- although not anywhere near where i was- i was at 200+mg a day of oxycodone ( ive been told i was closer to 250-275) - anyway i took 6 10/660 vicoden- and damn was i flying- now im not proud of it and realize it was a mistake- what i am shocked about is that 6 vikes wouldnt have made a dent 3 weeks ago- now it feels like it is too much- in 2 weeks my tolerance dropped significantly- this does in a weird way give me hope- tomorrow i am off the stuff again but have to say i am thrilled how the body heals itself

for what it is worth- the experience has given me hope- i know i will win this time- will i do this again? perhaps- but as long as i see the progress (as in significantly lower tolerance) it really helps the mindset

[triedeverymed]

It's so hard to say how long they will last. When I tried to go cold turkey I was physically ill for 3 weeks and gave up. I was just too sick. I had to use the Suboxone program. It allowed me to function normally while quitting.
Let me say the Suboxone isn't the only thing you do to get sober. My doctor made me work hard. I had to attend and AA or NA meeting ever single day I was in his care and I needed to have paperwork signed to prove I went. I also had to get set up with a counselor to work on the issues that made me take pills in the first place. He also had me back in the gym 4 days a week and I had a nutritionist that I worked with. The last person I saw was a naturopathic doctor. He had me on some supplements that helped my body get back in whack.
As far as the mind goes, it takes 1 year for your brain to return to pre-drug abuse state. It's not an easy road but if you look at it as your new job and really work at it 8 hours a day, your mind will be occupied and recovery will be in everything you do. Hit the meetings if you can, I used to go to 3 a day somedays. They will be a great place of support and fellowship. You will need that support now more than ever!
Best of luck to you!!

[avisg]

You are really doing great .I know this is really hard but you are doing it .PLZ stay away from the tramadol that is my DOC it is very addicting and hell to WD from .We are here to support you and help you threw .

YOU CAN DO IT

[desperate1111]

stay strong! you're doing great! i let the pills rob me of so much. no more.

[darienguy]

good morning all- another 3 hours of sleep- spoke to a friend who went back on last night- didnt crack my resolve but would be lying if it didnt have me thinking- she was clean for 90 days

[joann1975]

GTMI has a good point.... I wish I had found this site years ago!!!

[GoingToMakeIt]

PAWS does not happen to every one. Although you may experience lesser degrees of it. It is good to know as knowledge will help you in that hour. I think if we knew all we know now. We would never have used or abused them.

[darienguy]

PAWS really just bummed me out- what the heck did i do to myself?

[GoingToMakeIt]

Please read up on the Thomas recipe, the Amino Acid Protocol and the 3 parts of PAWS. These will help you immensely. They can be found in the Health Pages at the top right of page. You are doing well to be doing cold turkey. Since you mentioned doing this on Vics, this tells me that you didn't have your aftercare in place. Line your aftercare up now so that this doesn't come back to bite you again. Good luck with things and good job.

[darienguy]

thanks- it does- 25+ is a huge number

[joann1975]

Oh no I am sorry....I was just answering the question about percs or oxycodone that you had asked someone b/c they are the same... I never snorted pills. My DOC was hydrocodone (lortab,vicodin) 25+ per day. I tapered from those a long slow taper.

What I was saying is the tylenol is already mixed in these drugs....the lortab, vicoden, percocet.

Hope that makes more sense! :)

[mimi1313]

Joann's right, it was such a wake up call to me when I realized I was taking so many a day. Pain or not It was twice as much as I should have. It doesn't matter though if its twice as much or you take one a day for the high, its still addiction. So don't let the amount get to you. Its worse on your body but the perosn taking one a day to get high will eventually take more.

[mimi1313]

Hi,

Thanks for the congrats, I've had a lot of help on here.

I tapered so I had mild withdrawls for about a month and then when I stopped I had them for about 5 days. I was still able to work the whole time.

My energy was really slow to come back but I didn't know about exercising. I didn't that until i was clean for a few weeks. I can't stress enough how important that is.

After about 2 weeks I gelt good but I was still tired.

After 3 weeks is when I noticed I felt really good. My personality came back and I was just much happier. Day 25, I remember it very clearly. That was when I stopped being so concerned with days.

After about 6 weeks I remember having cravings and have had them a few times since. It generally gets better day by day.

I haven't slipped yet but I had someone who has the same date as me and we kept each other on track.

This forum helps becasue if you post, you are holding yorself accountable or letting yourself be held accountable by others.  Its really helped me.

And nothing is wrong with you. We've all been where you are. Jsut respect the power of the drug that you're addicted to and that really helps.

good luck,
Melissa

[darienguy]

so you snorted the oxy and tylenol combined??

[darienguy]

agreed- but i cant fail this time- i have 18 percocets looking at me and must remain in the right frame of mind- this aint easy- i have turned the corner and need to continue on this path- i cant stay on the pill path- and need to convince myself of that forever

[joann1975]

percs are oxycodone.... i believe the difference is oxycontin is time released oxycodone and percs are oxydone .... and of course the tylenol....if i said this wrong someone please tell me! :)

[joann1975]

You have to stop beating yourself up for it....of course we do have to accept the responsibility for our actions but let go of beating yourself up because it's not going to help you feel better at this point. We probably all should have known better and did know better....addiction is sneaky and it creeps up on you. Especially when you are taking them for legit pain reasons. I was stunned when I figured out how many pills a day I was capable of taking....I was and am ashamed of that. However, at least here we know we aren't alone and this place really helped me get clean and I am forever grateful for that!

[darienguy]

SAM-E really helped??  curious- u snorted percs or oxycodone???

[soreadytodetox]

that got you thinking hard didnt it? i went ct after a 4 yr. snorting percs 20 plus pills a day habit! the hardest thing i've ever had to do!!! i used the health pages like a bible!!!! i still take the animo acids, (sam-e),muti-vitamins,excersice, and a few more supplements i also gave up all soda's no caffine just my coffee! high protein intake. im now 43 days clean! try to keep your mind of the drug, it will just slow you down keep your mind busy with good things, trust me!!! ggod luck keep us posted   sherri

[darienguy]

i blame myself because i should have known better- for years Saturday night was vicoden night- 5-6 10mg/660 vikes+ some booze knocked me out- and it was only a Saturday thing-- within 2 years im taking 8 times as much??? im mad at myself

[darienguy]

mimi-

you have been clean for 160 days- serious congrats- what were your stages? did you ever have a slip up in all that time??

i remember my vicodin days- what a difference from oxys- the last time i went clean i didnt really have symptons except desire- this time is significantly different

[bandnmom]

Addiction is what was wrong!! Try not to beat yourself up over it. It is something that happens to the best of us but the important thing is, is that you are admitting to it and taking the right steps to correct your life! Congrats to you for that!

[darienguy]

thanks for the words of encouragement- and yes- i can tell the mental part will be worse than the physical part- i want them- but cant have them and a life- i do feel like i have turned a corner today- a little lethargic but better in the energy dept than the last few days

i simply cannot believe i was taking the equivalent of 40-50 percocets a day- what was wrong with me??

[joann1975]

Welcome to the forum....bandnmom pretty much said what I would have said! She has 7months clean....so she knows something! :) I tapered so I don't have alot of cold turkey experience or knowledge. Like she said....read the Health Pages...I know for me the vitamins & aminos helped SSSOOOO much still do. I have been reading on here, books and of course caring for my son so that occupies time!

You can do this....just post, post and post....it will help you more than you think!

We are all glad to help so always feel free to ask any questions no matter what it is... if you need to PM one of us that is fine too!

JoAnn