twoaday

[DutchessGolden]

Your post is now on page two so I am posting a new one here. If you were to stop taling the lorcet now, yes you would have withdrawal symptoms. Studies and research has found that the severity and length od withdrawal is directly related to the amount of the drug and how long it was taken. Since you are at a steady dose of two a day, your body is getting its endorphind from the pills and still producing some of its own natural endorphins. The more you increase the dose, the less of your natural endorphins your body produces. So when you stop cold turkey your body has to learn how to produce its natural endorphins again and for someoone on very high doases who keeps upping the dose to get high-their body will create more and more opiate receptors throughout the brain, spinal cord, lungs, large intestine and heart to receive all of the opiates it is getting and their withdrawal will be more severe and last longer. If you stopped now your w/d should not be as severe as the scenario I just gave you b/c your body is still producing some of its own endorphins and has not been forced to create more opiate receptors. So your body would be trying to make up for the opiates you have been getting from the pills and learning how to regulate them again and that is how long the withdrawal period would last.

You do build a tolerance over time to drugs and that is normal. So sometime down the road you may need 2 1/2 a day or 3 a day to relieve the pain and that is fine as long as you just take what you need to relieve pain. Often times when my patients build a tolerance to their meds I will switch the meds to a different type of opiate like ultram, this is usually very effective because it increases serotonin and norepinephrine as well as endorphins and the three together can be very effective against pain and I only know a handful of people who can get high from large doses of ultram so it really has almost no potential for abuse. For patients in severe pain I might switch them to codeine or morphine, sometimes darvocet( its a mild opiate but works very well for some) from hydrocodone when they build a tolerance, I do not like to give oxycodone much b/c it has such a high potential for abuse so I try oly to give it when absolutely no other meds can give pain relief. So if you are uncomfortable taking more when you eventually build a tolerance you might want to ask your doctor about some of these or other alternatives like flexeril which is a muscle relaxant that can be used with your lorcet and might allow you to not have to increase when you build a tolerance. There are always plenty of alternative combinations!

xoxo- D.

[bobbyjean]

So you are a medical doctor and can prescribe opiates?  Thank you, Bobbyjean

[DutchessGolden]

I am a doctor but not an MD I have two doctorates. I am a licensed psychologist with a specialty in neurology and pharmacology. I also went through a PA program while doing my first masters. As a PA(physicians assistant) or a NP(nurse practitioner) you can prescribe medication under the name of an MD. Often when you go to the doctor you will see one of the PA's that write prescriptions but if you look on the bottle the doctors name is listed unless the PA has the proper licensing and credentials then you will see doctors name/PA's name. I write prescriptions under a psychiatrist that works in my building.

xoxo- D.

[bobbyjean]

I was just wondering because it is rare that you see a real doctor on a forum giving advice without charging for it.  I was wondering if you could maybe advise me on my post below about Oxycontin withdrawals.  Thank you, Bobbyjean

[beachtowel]

ya just take two or three for pain........lol

[twoaday]

Thanks for that very informative message.  It gives me something to think about and plan for if I decide to go off them - right now I feel okay but at some point I may decide to change just to avoid the longevity.  The more I think about it and with the benefit of hindsight, I (think) see the gradual change in my personality especially with my moods (I'm referring to when I was taking more / 3+ a day - I do feel better or I'm trying harder).  I'm pretty good natured & easy going and I noticed that something insignificant would **** me off - at work, at home, in my car, with people I didn't know, with people I did know...  It wasn't all the time but enough that I started to pay attention.  Is this kind of thing normal?  Because I had a major change in my personal life at about the same time I was injured, I'm not sure which thing could be the cause.  I married a man with three (count 'em) children.  They're great kids and I have a good and different relationship with each of them, but I still went from being single and having "space" whenever I wanted it to being constantly surrounded, dealing with different issues, etc.  It's hard for me to decide which event brought this on but anyway, do pain meds cause mood swings and/or change in personality?  I'm guessing you know the answer to this because you seem to be very knowledgable.  Thanks again for all the information.  Maybe I'm just plain getting old and impatient.

This forum is addictive.  I've never participated in one before but I find myself coming here quite often to read about all the different people, amazed with the quantity and type of drugs being consumed, cheering for those who are trying to quit and feeling their pain (to some degree).  It's a stange thing but you feel like you have a bunch of friends out there.  Difficult to explain.

[DutchessGolden]

it's nothing strange a lot of us here are addicted to this forum, including myself. I'm always getting on here between seeing patients. Anyhow, even though it is not typically listed as a side effect, this is very normal, opiates ore notorious! for causing irritability and agitation. And I mean with every little thing getting under your skin till you want to burst. It doesn't happen to everyone but it is quite common, I was the same way during the period of time that I abused my meds. It is less common when you are taking a steady "normal" dose, but when you are taking a lot of meds and increasing what you take it becomes very common.

xoxo- D.

[twoaday]

good that means that since I feel less irritable it's because of my decrease in the number of lorcets not because of my personal life.  Everyone will be happy with the new more patient me.  Thanks!

[beachtowel]

Do you treat addiction?

[DutchessGolden]

Yes, with many of my patients I treat addiction.