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Avatar universal

Help with withdrawal ms contin

I'm 44 and have been on ms contin for 6 years now. I was taking 300mg 3x daily two years ago. To help with the drowsiness my doc gave me dexedrine 45mg 1 x daily. The dexedrine got out of control and I stopped using it last year and now I'm kicking the morphine and need some help.
My latest dose is 180mg 3 x daily and I've weaned myself down to splitting the 60mg tabs into halves and taking one half 3x daily.

Like any long term user, I've left my meds at home while on a day trip or even an overnight stay along the way.... so i know exactly what the withdrawal is like but I don't know what to expect for anything longer than 24 hours.
I have 10 ea. 60mg pills left and they will be the last ms contin meds I ever take. I want to know what you all think is the best way to help me get through the next two weeks.
I own a business and I cannot stay at home in bed kickin this habit.. This demon will need to be fought head on in front of everyone so I need to have some sort of herbal supplements or something to help with the edge.
I've had diarrhea for the past month and today my stomach hurts so bad I can barely stand straight.
For some reason the hot flashes get me worse than anything else.... I will sit and sweat until my socks are wet.. its the worst.
As you know, Morphine causes constipation and I''ve literally been constipated for 6 years. So having the runs doesn't bother me... in fact, I welcome it. It may sound crazy but after crapping cotton balls for the last 6 years it feels good to empty my intestine.

I've used drugs most of my life including meth. I used meth for 17 years and still ran a business.. All be it my business eventually failed do to my meth use I have to hand it to the human mind for being able to function after a sleepless week.
I just gave up smoking too, 15 days ago ( I know right!) so I'm a glutton for punishment. I did find an old can of Copenhagen in my desk and I have to admit my lip is full of dirt and my trash can is rather gooey at this moment.

I'm having my first child in 4 months, I promised my wife I would welcome our baby into this world sober and by God that's exactly what I'm doing. Free from everything intoxicating so that she can intoxicate my life.

So, I've made it from 180mg 3x day to 30mg 3 x day but today i weaned myself a little more and I'm only taking 1/2 pill twice. My body is hot flashing so its time to let you good folks give me your ideas and prayers if ya got em.
My wife is big on herbal stuff but I've always been a skeptic so if you have any kind of over the counter stuff to help me with the withdrawals I would be thankful.

Thanks again and God Bless
R.ALLEN
27 Responses
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Avatar universal
HI I just wanted to take a minute and welcome you to the forum you have been given some good advise already I would just like to try and help also...one of the best things you can do is go into this with a positive attitude...that will do more then any other single thing...what you are about to undertake is difficult it is ez to get discouraged..try to use your symptoms to strengthen your resolve to quit...take a negative and make a positive out of it..I alway tell everyone doing this get comfortable with the saying..."you just got to be ok without being ok for a wile" remember this is only temporary ....it is about 1/3 physical and 2/3 mental so be prepared to fight on both fronts the physical only last about a week...its the mental 'mindscrew" that brings most people down...the best way to prepare for the mental angle is with some form of aftercare N/A and A/A our free progams and many here on the forum have used them successfully if thats not a good fit try a substance abuse conslor or and addiction therapist but some outside  help is critical to making it threw the mental side of this thing...I to share a life time of addictions the last one was to narcotics for 16 1/2 yrs...I have found aftercare to make the difference in making it or not for me...we need to dig down deep to find the root that drove us to the drugs in the first place otherwise the high will always win so get pluged in somewhere it will make this whole process ezer...the best thing I have found for treating the immediate symptoms is a hot soak in the tub...it works on a host of symptoms
hang in there keep posting where all out here to help you get threw this good luck and God bless......Gnarly          
Helpful - 0
1384888 tn?1279952339
Hey brother, I wanted to come in here and see how you were doing. I know it's rough, believe me I know. Your a good man I can tell. And you will do this. Your gonna go through close to the worst thing you probably ever will for one of the best reasons you ever can.  I'll tell you, I was not far off from your dose when I quit. I quit cold turkey too. ibklean is spot on. Tapering delays the inevitable. It's a medical fact that the only drug you can suffer death from is dt's from alcohol. You may feel like your gonna die but your not. Contrary to some opinions you canNOT die from wds from opiates. The toilet may be your friend for a couple of weeks but you will live. And you will get to be free with your wife and baby :) if you need to talk you can call me 24/7 I will list my number in my profile. Don't worry, I get calls all the time. You won't be a bother, OK. GOD bless and I'm praying for you.
Helpful - 0
617347 tn?1331293081
Hi,...

did you have a look at the thomas recipe and the amino acid protocol ? there are some stuff that can help you now, rallen.



i will copy a list so that you can start with, ok ?

immodium ( diarrhea )

advil

a good vitamin complex and a good B's ( best sublingual )...

some magnesium chelated+calcium supplements... to help you with muscle cramps and aches

potassium rich food... apple/orange juice  , bananas, spinach, raisins, nutcrackers..

a good chicken soup, tomato soup, eat as healthy as possible ...some protein shakes.

this is very important, .....drink a lot of fluids to keep you hydrated ... gatorades, green tea ( theanine on it, will help your mood and to relax), tonic water ( it has quinine and it will help you with RLS )

Hylands restful legs to help you with RLS

maybe some natural stuff to help you with sleep like melatonin and valerian root ( good for anxiety too and it helped me with the stomach cramps , imo).

lots of hot baths ( with epsom salts if you have them ...)

start with walks and some light exercise as soon as you can to boost your endorphines, enjoy the sun ...





good luck with your new life and congrats for your baby !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)





Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Haven'T had meds since yesterday and I'm feeling it.
I have to be strong... i heard coming off of 60mg a day was hard so 90mg is probably worse.
Not to mention being on this stuff for 7-8 years now. I'm sure every fiber of my body has opiates in it.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Today has been tough but not as bad as right now.
After reading a post from IBKleen I decided to quit tapering and just do it cold turkey.
I'm not sure if IBK is man or woman but he said "detoxing is like removing a band aid, either you remove it fast or slow.
I figured why agonize any longer than I have too.. So I didn't take my taper dose and flushed my remaining script (no worries septic here).

This *****.... I'm sweating like I'm in a sauna and I have ants crawling.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Good morning everyone,

Last night was terrible....... I managed to sleep for less than an hour and still had to come to work. Unfortunately I own a business with employees and a phone that never stops ringing. I can manage a sick day or two along the way but I can't do 5 days away or it will cost me.

pillguy: thank you for the post... we have similar backgrounds and bad habits habits my friend. Meth was such a huge part of my life (for much of my life), it's only now that I'm able to make fun of how bad it really was. I spent hundreds of thousands on meth in my life and if it wasn't for my wife I would probably still be using.
You know you have a meth habit when: "you hire your connection and give him a menial job just so you have the convenience of getting your stash the minute you walk into the office" Ha!

recoveredfromamonster: thank you for the post my friend. According to the manufacturer; ms contin has a wax built directly into the medication itself. Unlike most time released meds that use an outer coating of the pill to dissolve the medication by time, ms contins wax makes the entire pill (including the medication itself) dissolve by time. So, it shouldn't matter if the pill is split or not. That's how I understand it works. The manufacture states that when IV drug users shoot ms contin they are shooting the wax too, even after removing the outer coating because the wax binds with the medication during manufacturing.
I took six baths last night, sometimes they help other times not so much. My wife put lavender in my bath, supposedly it helps too.
No worries about over dose my friend, I'm cutting back from 900mg a day to 60mg. That's a huge swing over the course of 12 months. My last intake was 2:00am this morning. I'm at work, sick and chatting with you good folks. Thank God for all of you here. I really needed to talk to other addicts. I've tried NA but the people in there are usually in a much different place than I am.

Florida_guy: Thank you for the post my friend.
Your the third person to say Thomas recipe so I'm gonna give it a try. Were very close to the same age and I hear everything your saying. When will the sweating stop? I hate it so much, I would rather have the chills any day.
OK this is gonna sound strange. My dad was heroine user for 40 years... i remember one time he told me that whenever he was sick it felt like ants were crawling up his ***... I have that exact same feeling. My sickness makes me clinch up and I feel that awful feeling... when the heck does that stop? It's as bad as the sweats... if not worse.

I would stop using and trying to taper if i was out of pills but I still have a few left. I still think that I take too much medication to be cold turkey. Last night at its worst, I actually considered going to the hospital. I heard Suboxone was a good med to use when going through this but dammit man,  I don't want to get on another medication.

My only relief and will power came when I reached over and put my hand on my wife's stomach and waited to feel the baby move. I just laid in bed sobbing asking God for strength to get through this. It's really sad when you think about it. I've been married 3 times before and each time was a mistake. The marriage always ended in one way or another because of drug use. I'm an addict. I always have been, and always will be.

I love my wife unlike I've ever loved anyone in my life. It's a miracle that anyone can stand my bull sh*t more than a week and I know its hard for her. That's another reason to get clean. Sitting at bar in Hawaii 11 months ago, my wife looked at told me that I never spent one minute with her sober... That little remark hit me hard because I relized she was right!  
I didn't need to be on meds any longer. Pain from surgeries had subsided years before but you know what they say, "old habits die hard".

Thanks again, God Bless

RALLEN
Helpful - 0

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