Life after Oxycontin!

[gene10]

Thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes on my trip to detox from Oxycontin abuse. I spent 6 days in-patient at a nice detox facility up in the woods.  They used methadone to detox me & prevent the withdrawal from the Oxy.  It worked very well & I was tapered from the methadone over the 6 days & am now off of everything!

Being at a detox center with many other addicts was a true eye opening experience!  I was with herion addicts, coke abusers, & alcoholics.  I was amazed that every heroin addict I talked to had heard of Oxycontin & knew to snort it for the full effect.  But they all progressed to shooting heroin eventually.  I met people who spent many periods of time in jail, lost their jobs, families, homes, etc.  I went to lots of AA meetings & lectures & saw films about addiction. And I realized that I am no different than any other addict up there, just luckier to have not lost my job of family.  I met a guy who spent $100,000.00 in the past year on drugs.  But everyone there wanted to stay sober & we all worked together to do that.  They told me that only 1 in 40 patients there will stay sober & that's a depressing thought but I am that one person!  Most of the people there have been to numerous detoxes before but this was my first & last.  (I hope & pray)

So if you are addicted to painkillers, there is a way out.  Call your doctor or insurance company or look in the phone book for detox centers (they are everywhere) & ask for help.
I find that I get a lot of help just reading the posts on this website.  It is therapy for me & I also put my own posts here & have gotten tremendous support from others - doctors & addicts.

I will be checking this website regularly so please write to me.

[Jason]

Dear Bob,
  Congratulation!! you have come pretty far.  For me My withdrawl symptoms are almost over.. I feel a lot better than I did a week ago, but just because I'm detoxed does not fix everything, Now I have to treat my addiction for which there is no known cure,but the feelings of addiction could be put to rest. I'm not done with my program yet, I got about another 6 weeks, this is the part with group meetings, therpists, counselers and stuff like that. Just remember that "One is too many, and a thousand is never enough"

"We're all in this together"
Jason

[Jason]

I am so glad I found this site!!! I have been addicted to perscription pain killers for 5 years, it started with Vicodin ES, and Percocete, and through the years , due to tolerence levels increasing, I moved to Oxycontin 10mgs, then 20mgs, then 40 mgs, then 80mgs, then 160 mgs......I realized at this point I had a problem, couldn't do a thing without having them. I don't have any medical reasons for taking these, but after dental work 5 years ago is how this all began, but I didn't need them for maybe a week or so after the dental work, but I "LOVED" the way they made me feel. After a while I was dependant on them.
     So on Fri. I checked into a detox, I was very scared as to what was going to happen. But I wanted my life back!! I wasn't treated with Methadone though, I'm glad of that, because I think it's like trading apples for apples, however the did put me on some meds to mask the withdrawl symptoms... the doctor explained to me that I will still feel discomfort and man she wasn't kidding, I had every withdrawl symptom as mentiond earlier except for vomiting. I'm on my 4th day of detox, I'm almost there...but one thing that really helped me was attending some NA meetings, when I went it made me realize that addiction shows NO mercy, everybody from senior citicens, to kids younger than me , I'm 25.  Sometimes those meeting get very emotional, but it helps to know I'm not in this boat by myself. also you pick up some powerful messeges such as "One is too many, and a thousand is never Enough".  
     They say I should be detoxed by Fri, but then there is the after care session, with group sessions, counsilers, therpists and stuff like that.
     This is the hardest thing I ever had to do in my whole life!!  But it is worth it because I get to have my life back. But what scares me is the statistics as discussed earlier, and I would be ignorant to say that it's not going to happen to me. But I "hope" it doesn't, I brought this fear to the floor at the meeting...I got some encourageing words though, after the meeting several members came to me and said "What screws up the odds is the people who are there because some judge in some courtroom sent them there and these people really have no desire to get off drugs." The desire to get off drugs is the only requirement to join NA.
    I hope I don't relapse, I don't ever want to go through this again.
     The support at this web site is great also, I'm glad I found it...another messege NA spreads is "Just For Today".
    
     We're all in this together, right?? So let's keep this postive energy flowing. Thank You for rour time I will return to let you all know how I am progressing.
Jason

[Gene to Joanne]

Way to go Bob, flushing that 40mg!  I am starting to see improvements in my sleeping & muscle spasms but I still feel quite bad with a constant headache & a few migraines to boot.  I am sooo tired & am almost ready to quit my job of 28 years beacuse it is so hard to drive around & fix copiers feeling like this.  Everything I do is such a chore! Plus, all of the pain I was covering up these years has come back to haunt me. I am really torn as to what to do.  I think that if a doctor offered to put me on a daily regimen of opiates, I would have a very hard time saying no!  But no doctor is going to do that for me so it's just as well.
I really hope I start feeling a lot better soon, I don't know how long I can take this.  I am real glad you are doing so well.  Keep up the great work!  I am up to day 23 or 24 now.

[Bob K]

Gene how are you doing today? I hope its getting a little better for you. Today is a big day for me it is day 30 without opiates. I still have the sweats but it is about 90 degrees in Philadelphia. I found a 40mg under my sofa while cleaning. I must be getting better I flushed it. These last few days seem to be getting much better for me I hope the same happens for you and anyone in our crazy boat. Bob K

[Gene to Joanne]

My wife is on Vioxx & raves about how much it has helped her!  I have a doctor appt Monday and will ask him about those two drugs you mentioned.
However, my sponsor is advising me to stay away from any pills, even non-narcotic, because that might put me back into the frame of mind that it's OK to take pills for pain & could lead me back to opiates.  I understand his line of thinking but I don't think that my suffering is going to do me any good at all.  In fact, it makes me want opiates again.

Thanks Kimmie for the words of encouragement!

[From Aunt Lindy to Mariah]

Hello Gene,
Have you tried Vioxx or Celebrex? I dont know if it would help but even if you got SOME relief it may help you from feeling so physically drained. I wish you the best. I hope you can hang in there.  Having a sponsor like you do puts you so ahead of the game!
Sincerely,
Kimmie