Aa
pain med after Vicodin
I'm on my 2nd day cold turkey off a 2 year 30 mg/day Vicodin addiction. I'm also 52, so I can't figure out if the cold sweats are withdrawal or menapause....life ***** in every respect. I have bad knees and a titanium rod in my lumbar spine from years of lifting patients, so, when the adrenaline swing of withdrawal ends, I will need an anti-inflammatory for my arthritis...I'm actually thinking aspirin (coated of course.) Any athletes or wear-and-tear jobers like mine with pain control advice? I don't want to use too much Advil or Aleve because of family history of kidney failure. Thanks.
My hubby and I have a plan just for that reason. I too am totally accident prone and have been since I started walking. Fell into a sliding glass door when I was 11 and did a real good job there. I had plastic surgery on my face before I was even in my teens. My best friend jokes that I will literally trip over a hair on the floor. I won't go into all the stupid things that have happended to me growing up. But anyhoo, being the A personailty I am, when I decided to get clean anxiety filled my head and the only way I found to get clean and stay that way was to sit down with my hubby in the very early stages of my recovery and make a plan for possible situations.
I have been accused of having the plan for another reason, but it you really think about it, you can't really abuse the plan. If something happens and I need pain meds. For example, I just had to have a root canal retreatment. I asked my hubby to hold all my meds for me. He keeps them and gives them to me if needed. I don't have any idea where he keeps them, he used to keep them locked in his safe in his truck, (which I have no key to), but he may have moved them. I haven't felt the need to ask.
Here was the plan I used when I had the root canal retreatment
1. He gave me a pain before before he left for work.
2. We knew he would be gone for 8-9 hours so he hid 2 pills (and only 2) in various places in the house.
3. When I called him to tell him I needed something, he told me where ONE pill was. That was all I needed, but if I had needed another he could have told me where to get it.
This is a pretty safe plan because he can always tell if I have been digging for pills (after 17 years of this he has picked up on it).
This is just something that has kept my anxiety at bay and when I had my gallbladder out about 3 weeks ago, I didn't feel anxious at all. As a matter of fact I went back to work within a couple of days.
For this plan to work you have to have someone you are not able to manipulate and get them to give you meds earlier than prescribed or at a higher dosage than prescribed.
I have been accused of having the plan for another reason, but it you really think about it, you can't really abuse the plan. If something happens and I need pain meds. For example, I just had to have a root canal retreatment. I asked my hubby to hold all my meds for me. He keeps them and gives them to me if needed. I don't have any idea where he keeps them, he used to keep them locked in his safe in his truck, (which I have no key to), but he may have moved them. I haven't felt the need to ask.
Here was the plan I used when I had the root canal retreatment
1. He gave me a pain before before he left for work.
2. We knew he would be gone for 8-9 hours so he hid 2 pills (and only 2) in various places in the house.
3. When I called him to tell him I needed something, he told me where ONE pill was. That was all I needed, but if I had needed another he could have told me where to get it.
This is a pretty safe plan because he can always tell if I have been digging for pills (after 17 years of this he has picked up on it).
This is just something that has kept my anxiety at bay and when I had my gallbladder out about 3 weeks ago, I didn't feel anxious at all. As a matter of fact I went back to work within a couple of days.
For this plan to work you have to have someone you are not able to manipulate and get them to give you meds earlier than prescribed or at a higher dosage than prescribed.
not an rn, but a paramedic, lots of lifting
i also have liver disease and auto immune disorder
so i can identify with the pain
i had to give it a year off all drugs before my "re-bound" pain went away
now i am able to handle the pain with out narcotics
oldrn, its been a couple of weeks since your original post, hope you havent thrown in the towel
i also have liver disease and auto immune disorder
so i can identify with the pain
i had to give it a year off all drugs before my "re-bound" pain went away
now i am able to handle the pain with out narcotics
oldrn, its been a couple of weeks since your original post, hope you havent thrown in the towel
First things first - check the yellow pages in the phone book (under A ususally) there is an 800 # that will help you find a detox in your area. Ask for a "state-funded bed" - not all detox facilites require you to have insurance, so if you feel inpatient would help you it is an option. Second - how long and how much you have been taking will be a huge determining factor as to how long or how painful wds will be. Generally, the worst part of the wds lasts around 5-7 days and then the residual wds can last longer than that. It will be very difficult to keep your life "normal" during an opiate detox depending on how severe your wds are. In reality, it would benefit you largely to be able to share this with the people who love you as support is a necessity to staying clean. Check the health pages on this site for the Thomas Recipe & Amino Acid Protocol - it has helped many people who have gone through what you're doing. Also, keep posting here as much as you need to. I'm sorry it took so long for you to get a response, but this was an old thread and they sometimes get overlooked. If you post again there's a green button at the top of the screen "post a question" use that and people will respond quicker. Hopefully you'll check in again!
Ok - this is the first time I have ever posted anything. I have been reading these help boards for about a year. I have been out of vicodin since Sunday. The only thing I had left was a 75mc duragesic patch and I put it on late Sunday evening. I am TERRIFIED of withdrawls. I have been thru them before and what a nightmare!! Sweating and leg pain were the worst. I currently see two different doctors to get my vicodin and I have been caught by one of the doctors. They told me that if I didn't want to be turned in, I better not call them again. I cannot tell you how humiliating that was. But to get a hold of the vicodin I'm about willing to do anything. The patch does NOT have the same effect mentally as the vicodin does. I don't feel "euphoric" as I do with vicodin. However, it IS an opiate and I feel thats what is keeping the withdrawls away for now. It will start to wear off sometime tomorrow and I'm scared to death of what is going to happen to me. I want to be FREE of vicodin!!!!!!! I have no insurance, so detox is not an option for me. I don't have a job right now and I have NO extra funds that could pay for something as expensive as detox. I'm married and I have a 19 year old daughter. My husband is an addict too. He had back surgery a year and half ago and has been on vicodin ever since. Needless to say we share our prescriptions. Can anyone help me?? What can I expect?? How long will it last?? There is no vicodin available in my immediate future and I thought now would be a good time to try and get off them. I'm scared to be totally out of commission because I take care of my dad who has lymphoma. I don't know how I could explain to him why I can't show up to do my "shift". I know he would be devestated if he found out. I want to try and keep my life as normal as possible while I get off these damn things. I think I am strong enough ONCE I GET OFF OF THEM COMPLETELY and get thru the withdrawls to never touch them again. Its just getting there and the fear of the unknown. helllp..
I also have chronic back pain.
the first thing i got rid of was the job. too hard on my back, even though it was good paying. (shouldn't have to take a handful of pills everyday to go to work)
then i moved to a better climate for injuries. low humidity and no more cold winters. hardly ever rains either. what a difference it has made.
hey, we are stuck with this condition for life and these are big changes but now i can cope with the pain level and don't take any drugs anymore. not even a tylenol.
the first thing i got rid of was the job. too hard on my back, even though it was good paying. (shouldn't have to take a handful of pills everyday to go to work)
then i moved to a better climate for injuries. low humidity and no more cold winters. hardly ever rains either. what a difference it has made.
hey, we are stuck with this condition for life and these are big changes but now i can cope with the pain level and don't take any drugs anymore. not even a tylenol.
52? OLD RN? What an insult to me. I'm sure your screen name is just for humor!
I detoxed in my menopause. I had my menopausal hot flashes under control w/harmones at the time. So when you say cold sweats, is it like you have a hot flash then become chilled after the flash stops?
Good news on the pain. First the bad news though. The pain will be almost unbearable during & after detox, so don't allow that to make you slip up. My worst pain days were days 7 & 8, then again on 16 & 17 for some reason.......and of course all the joint aches in between. But after about 3 weeks, you'll wonder how in heck you were taking all these pills for just this lil ole ache. Opiate and the brain work well together tricking you into thinking you have more pain than you reall do.
Best Wishes,
Pamela
I detoxed in my menopause. I had my menopausal hot flashes under control w/harmones at the time. So when you say cold sweats, is it like you have a hot flash then become chilled after the flash stops?
Good news on the pain. First the bad news though. The pain will be almost unbearable during & after detox, so don't allow that to make you slip up. My worst pain days were days 7 & 8, then again on 16 & 17 for some reason.......and of course all the joint aches in between. But after about 3 weeks, you'll wonder how in heck you were taking all these pills for just this lil ole ache. Opiate and the brain work well together tricking you into thinking you have more pain than you reall do.
Best Wishes,
Pamela
and ps....I"m also in my 50's and can't decide if my moodiness is age related or missing my vic. (it's been 9 days) Probably a little of both I suppose, so, I do understand how you feel!
To me...you've asked that million dollar question. What to do with pain when you aren't taking the drugs. I can't take Advil at all. I was supposed to have a fusion in my back and didn't...went to PT instead and of course, opiates.
Like avisg, ice and me are good friends. I also have lidocaine patches (they are non-narcotic) for my back. They help a little.
Good luck. You will figure out I'm sure other ways to help with the pain. You will also, as you know, get tons of great advice here!
Like avisg, ice and me are good friends. I also have lidocaine patches (they are non-narcotic) for my back. They help a little.
Good luck. You will figure out I'm sure other ways to help with the pain. You will also, as you know, get tons of great advice here!
asprin works really well for some people I have used it on and off it does help ,I am learning ice is a wonderful thingLOL Have you had any pt I just started it really is helping .Good luck you can do this .
Congrats on day 2!
I'm on day 2 as well, so I don't know how much help I can be. Life does suck for us right now, but maybe we can get through this together, huh? My biggest problem right now is my legs...oh, how they hurt so bad. I don't even know what to do with myself. I try to lie down, I try to sit up, walk, etc etc. but nothing is helping.
Sorry to hear about all your problems. Stick with it, hon, trust me when I tell you that you're NOT alone. :-)
I'm on day 2 as well, so I don't know how much help I can be. Life does suck for us right now, but maybe we can get through this together, huh? My biggest problem right now is my legs...oh, how they hurt so bad. I don't even know what to do with myself. I try to lie down, I try to sit up, walk, etc etc. but nothing is helping.
Sorry to hear about all your problems. Stick with it, hon, trust me when I tell you that you're NOT alone. :-)
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