Aa
How much should I taper?
I have been on Oxycontin since March. I was taking as much as 160mg twice a day. I did not crush them etc. I am now down to 20mg in the morning 10mg in the afternoon and 10mg at night. I have been hospitalized because the doctor tapered me down too fast. I have diabetes so when I start withdrawing I get very sick. My question is my doctor wants to taper me down by 10mg every week. The last week he wants me to take 10mg every other day. He says that I will not have any withdrawal if I taper. Do you feel that this is true, and how do you feel about this taper?
I have been wearing a Catapress#2 patch since the taper began.
Thank you, Oxyclean
I have been wearing a Catapress#2 patch since the taper began.
Thank you, Oxyclean
I read with interest all the comments rergarding addiction to prescription pain killers. Let me tell you a little about what I can only describe as a hell even 5 weeks after going cold turkey.
I've been taking narcotics for a crumbling spine now for at least 20 years. Started with only Digesic (Paradex) but with tolerance my doctor started me on MS Contin (Morphine) 10mg became 30mg then 60mg, 100mg, 130mg twice daily, went to a pain clinic and was prescribed Kapanol (Morphine in granuals) taking 250mg a day, then 300mg and later 400mg. After about a year this was changed to methadone (the so called miracle drug), after 5 years on this I realised the this was the drug from hell. I was taking up to 120mg a day as my tolerance grew ever faster and on top of that I was still swallowing up to 400mg of Kapanol ( the stock I had left).
At 46 years of age I began to think what would happen if I got cancer or some other painfull illness, no pain medication would touch it.
So I made the decision, time to leave my comfortable haze. Cold Turkey I chose, I did not know what lay ahead, first 2 days fine, the next 4 weeks I had NO sleep, knawing torment throughout my upper body, chills, distress indescribable, stomach cramps, diarreah like I've never known which after 5 weeks is still just as bad as 3 weeks earlier along with a wieght loss of currently 10 Kgs and still falling off. I am an immotional mess, even TV shows bring me to tears and as for my wife, well nothings happened between us in all that time.
The lessons I learn't and are still being reinforced is that be aware when you see your Doctor, don't take the first option, do some research first. Narcotics are not the answer unless you only have a short time to live, then addiction doesn't matter.
The hell of withdrawels is far worse than any pain I've ever experienced and as I write this, this hell goes on, for how long no one can tell me, this alone is extremely frustrating. Maybe someone in this forum may know. I am very weak now from the continuing diarreah, even if this could stop things would be improved. All medication has failed for this and my doctor has no answers.
It would be easy to return to the drugs but this would be a personal failure that I could not live with. I feel sorry for those that have gone back, they must be torn apart inside.
Aussie152
I've been taking narcotics for a crumbling spine now for at least 20 years. Started with only Digesic (Paradex) but with tolerance my doctor started me on MS Contin (Morphine) 10mg became 30mg then 60mg, 100mg, 130mg twice daily, went to a pain clinic and was prescribed Kapanol (Morphine in granuals) taking 250mg a day, then 300mg and later 400mg. After about a year this was changed to methadone (the so called miracle drug), after 5 years on this I realised the this was the drug from hell. I was taking up to 120mg a day as my tolerance grew ever faster and on top of that I was still swallowing up to 400mg of Kapanol ( the stock I had left).
At 46 years of age I began to think what would happen if I got cancer or some other painfull illness, no pain medication would touch it.
So I made the decision, time to leave my comfortable haze. Cold Turkey I chose, I did not know what lay ahead, first 2 days fine, the next 4 weeks I had NO sleep, knawing torment throughout my upper body, chills, distress indescribable, stomach cramps, diarreah like I've never known which after 5 weeks is still just as bad as 3 weeks earlier along with a wieght loss of currently 10 Kgs and still falling off. I am an immotional mess, even TV shows bring me to tears and as for my wife, well nothings happened between us in all that time.
The lessons I learn't and are still being reinforced is that be aware when you see your Doctor, don't take the first option, do some research first. Narcotics are not the answer unless you only have a short time to live, then addiction doesn't matter.
The hell of withdrawels is far worse than any pain I've ever experienced and as I write this, this hell goes on, for how long no one can tell me, this alone is extremely frustrating. Maybe someone in this forum may know. I am very weak now from the continuing diarreah, even if this could stop things would be improved. All medication has failed for this and my doctor has no answers.
It would be easy to return to the drugs but this would be a personal failure that I could not live with. I feel sorry for those that have gone back, they must be torn apart inside.
Aussie152
Well, I described tapering with a twist, really.
Hellbent isn't the only one with that approach. You just described tapering. What a breakthrough!!!
Hellbent has the right approach to getting off of any physically addictive narcotic. I would emphasize that one should wean as far as they can on their opiate of choice, and then switch to a different milder opioid in the smallest amounts possible, for the shortest time possible. The idea is to get the physical problems down to the point where you must deal with the psychological, rather than the overcomplicating fact of the physical. And, oh yeah, lots of Benzos . . .
OLDTIMER obviously knows what he is talking about.
wow guys! I thought I was having it bad. I've been on perks for 4 months steadily and off and on before that. I have back pain everyday and take my perks faithfully. Now, Iam tapering to one or two a day sometime I try to go without out on the weekends. Problem is lately I have had some bad dizzy spells to the point if I am driving I have to stop my car. Is this caused from the perks or withdrawls? I just started happening
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