10 months + off pain meds

[justlikeyou]

after taking pain meds for 3.5 years for a back injury i quit 10 months ago (thanks chiropractor) many people have told me it takes 18 months to feel normal again, i guess im on track, my post is just to let anyone know, who truely wants to quit pain meds / opium that it can be done, its not easy, but after 10 months im starting to see a life i can easily enjoy.

im 43 this year, looks like i have the rest of my life to life free.

this forum helped me a lot a few months ago,

given the choice between searching for pills all my life, or, getting off them and being free, im glad i took option 2.

nothing easy about it at all, im grateful i had the full support of a loving wife.

if you want to get clean, i recommend trying anything that you can to get clean.

12 step, treatment, re-hab, a friends couch anything.

and once you are clean, dont go back, no matter how bad you feel, because eventually, after months and months, if you are like me, you will start to feel alive and hopeful and free and positive and happy without any drugs in you.

its waiting for you, but no-one and no-thing can give it too you.

the ONLY way to be clean, is to not take drugs.

[justlikeyou]

thankyou,

i have no wisdom except,

if someone takes drugs, they cant live clean.

my secret to getting clean was to not take drugs.

my body hurt, my bones hurt, my joints hurt, muscles everything was BAD for a month.

months 2-6 i just felt cr@p all the time, weak, exhausted, but still i couldnt sleep for more than 1 hour (for 7 months) the odd good couple hours here and there.

after  7 months i went to a psychiatrist, i was ready to kill myself, this level of sleep deprivation did not sit well with me at all. seriously, i was considering suicide, i had felt so bad and slept so little for so long i couldnt take it.

psych meds (seroquel and lamictal) allowed me to sleep 7 hours straight (thankyou god) and calmed to psychosis that was developing as a result of the 7 months struggle.

ive been taking low doeses (biting corners off) of the psych meds for the last 10 weeks,
some days more corners.

i believe without them i would be in serious trouble.

it turns out a few members of my family have had 'psychiatric episodes' so im guessing the withdrawls triggerd something that was inside me already.

the last 2 or 3 days i am feeling pretty great, lots of energy, enthusiasm, enjoying my days, i feel hopeful and excited about the future.

ive felt like this a little before, an hour here a day there, and always gone back to feeling bad again.

the longer im away from the opiates, the more good days im having, but the back and fourth thing with feeling good and the feeling bad again is tough.

1 strange thing is,

the 'lamictal' im taking is for bi-polar disorder,  and what im thinking now is that i have been bi-polar all my life 40+ years, but never treated.

if you knew me you might agree :)

you know the kinda guy that cant sit still, always jumpy, edgy, fast thinker talker mover, a little too crazy and often scary?

well with the medication, im still me, but a much calmer more focussed less crazy version, i like it.

i will experiment with the psych meds over the next 2 months and see how i feel when i dont take them.

but for now, they let me sleep and function in a very good way, and for 7 months things were getting slowly worse to the point i was ready to go see a psychiatrist because i love my wife and didnt want her to come home from work to find me hanging by the neck.

im not sure everyone would need psych meds to get off pain meds, but i took pain meds every day for 3.5 years, and i think when i quit cold turkey, my body and brain chemisrty just couldnt deal with the change because it was already borderline bi-polar and psychotic to begin with.?

its complicated, but i have no desire.....little desire to party with opiates and alcohol.

ive been active in 12 step meetings for 17 years, and consider myself alcoholic and an addict.

so i believe recreational use of anything mood altering is impossible for me.

i resisted the psych meds for a longtime 6 weeks = or -? because of my 12 step history / belief that,

"you dont take nothing no matter what"

and i believed it.

i dont any more,

i believe there may come a time, where anyone may need help,

some of that help may be uncomfortable to accept.

peace and love to you all.

[PromisedLand]

Congratulations!

Jim

[toxictome]

Congrats on your 10 mos...

this can be an inspiration to others...

that it works if you work it!!!!!

The aftercare really is the most important part....

thanks for sharing your experience, strength , and hope!!!!

[Calzy]

Your story deserves a bump to the top again. You were here when i came here in August and your clean time and words back then helped me to get to almost 6 mos clean now....Thanks!!

[sickcookie]

Congragulations!!!! Great post Thank you

[Chi_Chi_Lover]

I have been clean for almost a year. It has been really hard for me because I didn't realize it would take so long to get back to "normal". I have been doing a lot of reading and everything I find says it can take up to 18 months. That explains a lot. It really took me about 9 months to feel normal again, have energy and sleep. I will still have an issue or so from the drugs I guess or maybe it's age and I blame it on the drugs.
Nice to hear from someone else that has some miles between them and the drugs.

[Jacqui805]

How long before you felt ok and could sleep?

[GoingToMakeIt]

Thanks for posting this. 10 months is so encouraging to hear. So many want to know how to get through the w/ds. All they hear is 4-5 days and the bulk is over. When in fact, the real challenge is staying clean!
For the sake of others, could you share some obstacles a long the way?

[liscamdave]

HEY SWEETIE>..how are you? You like dissappeared on me. Where did you go? I am so happy to hear that you are well. I am so proud of you. That is awesome. I am so happy to see that you are back and I hope you stick with us this time...lol...

Congrats.../.

xo, Lisa