weaning off of oxicodone

[christabus123]

I have been on different pain pills for over 20 years.....I do have chronic pain. I was up to 30mg. of oxicodone and now i take 2.5mg. 4 times a day. I was down to 3 times a day and then my knee flared up. It really hurts and I do not want to go up higher as tempting as it is when I am in pain. I know with pain pills your body gets used to the dosage and your body craves more..........I just do not want to go there When I went to my pain management 2 weeks ago(prior to when I said I want off)_ she goes I guess you did not make it. sarcasm as hell.....I told her about my knee although of course that did not hurt just my back. I feel stuck......any suggestions on getting off completely of pain meds. I heard that some people actually feel better pain wise when they get off. I think one reason why is when we take them like I said above and taper off the pain gets worse because the body wants more. I am hoping that when I get off the pain will lesson......I know I am not making much sense, just need some advice from others who have gotten off of pain meds and how they tapered off. Any advice please.......my PA is of no help at my pain management center.I started weaning off with someone else and then she came in the picyure

[philnoir]

Yes, opioid tolerance is a problem, however, when we have real pain, our nervous system responds differently so that lower doses work to control a percentage of the pain.

So please don't be afraid of opioid tolerance when you are in a pain flare. You may find that  5 or 10 mg of oxycodone is much more effective than it once was when you were taking 30, and your pain level was lower.

A lot of using COT when living with chronic pain involves dose adjustments, both up and down, depending on the pain and other treatment options.

And remember that your real enemy is untreated pain, which can cause more damage to your nervous system than any opioid dependence issue. (a fact that most doctors won't tell you, as they aren't aware of the clinical implications of untreated pain, unless they have specialized training.)

Best wishes.

[remar]

I'm sorry your pain Dr is being of no help. You're telling her you want to stop taking your medication and she won't help with with tapering?
I would recommend finding another pain specialist, if that's possible, and explain your situation. You want to stop taking your medication.
I wish I could tell you how to do this as far as tapering and and how long it will take. We're all so different and need different amounts of time when coming off of a medication.
What about your primary Dr? Do you have one? If so, maybe they can recommend another pain specialist that can help you with all of this.
We're here to listen and to help anyway we can. This is a great forum with wonderful and caring members. I'm sure others will read your post and be able to give you more advice.
Hang in there, okay. People do stop taking medications when they feel they no longer need them so it can definitely be done.Again, I'm really sorry your current pain Dr is not willing to help you with this.