Opiate withdrawal

[Saraopfree]

Hi everyone-- As you can see from my post I am on day 5 of quitting painkiller addiction.  I get dilaudid for legit reasons; however I am sick of riding this roller coaster ride.  Do I abuse them- hell yes!  Do I mean to- no.  My tolerance has gone through the roof.  I need help and encouragement to not refill this nasty drug- it's hard as I have trigeminal neuralgia that can be hard to deal with.  I am having surgery for this soon- I quit before for 4 years this time is much harder.  I must admit that I do need them at times , but nothing really comes good out of taking the dilaudid please don't say I made it cause i am on day 5 and I know what paws is

[Ejm7263]

Hi & welcome!
Many of got tired of living in our tolerance, dependence, addiction. 3 words that nearly killed us. I started 7 years ago very legit. Herniated a disc then 2 fractured vertebraes & surgery. I live in pain but I got tired of piling on meds trying to make it leave. My tolerance is so high it took 3 mg of IV diluidid to get real relief. Then I found this site & received courage to live without medication get healthy & deal in other ways.
I'm 17 days off methadone, hydrocodone, Valium ect.....
It's been hard at moments but so much better than waiting to die.  In 1996 I used AA/NA to get off street drugs but this snuck up on me then it was to late I was hooked with high tolerance.
It's so worth it.
So glad your here.
The hope on this website is overwhelming.
I'm getting dressed everyday & going to a meeting. Waiting for energy to live life because I'm so ready. It better ever day.
Instead of waiting to die I'm starting to live.
It feels good even when it doesn't with even 17 days.
GOD bless you. We're here for you just as you are for us.

[lulu747]

Dilaudid is not as hard to come off of as heroin unless she was taking it via IV in large doses.
I've come off dilaudid with not many issues at all.
In fact, did you know that it is the least abused of all pain medications?  It is also a good pain killer when it is taken as prescribed for bad pain.  I should know, as I have terrible pain and have tried every painkiller under the sun.
Fentanyl is awful to come off of.  Oxy is AWFUL to come off of.
Dilaudid is not bad comparatively.
In the past I abused pain meds and nearly lost my life.  I got clean in 2011 after I had recovered from the surgery that 'fixed' me for 3 years. I lived happily and healthfully without any drugs. Then my disease (stage 4 endometriosis and suspected adenomyosis) returned about a year ago.  I was terrified to take pain meds after fighting so hard to get off so I lived in constant and debilitating pain until April of this year.  I was supposed to have surgery in June and so I conceded at the behest of my doctor and family and partner to take pain meds to see me through.  My choice was the dilaudid because I knew it worked and that I would not abuse it.
To be sure I didn't I signed an opiate contract with my doctor and enlisted my partner to hold my pills.  Well, my surgery was postponed until Oct.8th.  I have maintained my dose and often take less than prescribed.  After my recovery I will taper off with the help of my doctor.

I'm not sure what your disease is, but if you are living in terrible pain, not having meds before surgery can be a bit dangerous.  You want to be in the best shape that you can be before surgery.  Pain wears down your immune system fast.
So- if you need pain meds to have a decent quality of life I would recommend you getting help so you don't abuse them.  Get some aftercare support and have someone hold your pills before and after surgery.
Sometimes, pain meds are necessary, even for addicts.
You just need to put the proper guard rails in place.
Wishing you well....
Lu

[clean_in_ks]

Hi and welcome to the forum~

What's the timing of your next script coming up and your surgery date?

Are you 5 days clean only because you ran out early?

Can you tolerate your TN pain without dialudid prior to your surgery date?

[PurrfectlyKrazy]

I only want to say one thing....post-operative pain!  My hubby was also on a high-dose opiate...two of them in fact.  Then he had open-heart end of July '13 and Lung Surgery the end of September '13.  The intensive surgical unit said they'd never had anyone who needed quite so many pain medicines before and this was AFTER he'd cut back for 6 weeks before the surgery.

If at all possible ask the doctor to put you on the lowest dose of opiates as possible and explain that you are concerned about post-op pain.  After surgery is the time to discuss whether or not you can completely go without opiates.  This is definitely not the time....no yet.

My advice is to deal with the surgery issue right now...everything else can wait.  Post-operative pain can make physical recovery harder than normal when it comes to surgery so it is important that they are able to manage that.  Make sure whoever is your immediate nurse after surgery understands they need to give you your baseline first (whatever you are used to taking daily) and once you have your baseline they can built it up a bit at a time.

If you really want off the evil opiates (they sure were evil for me lol) then you can discuss putting a plan into place after surgery to get you off of them.  That's what they did with my hubby.  He is now off of all pill form opiates and they are slowly getting his body accustomed to not having the fentanyl patches.  Each month they lower the amount of medicine given to around 10 to 15% of what is normal for him.

Best of luck and please keep posting with us :-)

[mlynn2014]

Paws isn't a forever thing. I was on suboxone long trek once and yes the first month I felt crazy with it. I won't lie. But after that as I started to get my life back it somehow faded and I got happy again. That is why I am holding into this for dear life. Dilaudid is as bad to come off if as heroin so you are kicking butt at day 5!!!!

[mlynn2014]

That made me laugh. A lot of this does s#ck or more strong words than that!!

[cherrymichellelindsyalanajacob]

Wait, we cant say s*cks?? I just saw it blocked all my ***** (s-cks, thats a U) out!! Omgosh, I needed a good laugh!! I dont even cuss and it looks like I do from that post!! BAHAHAHA!! Oh thank u Father God for that, u must have known how bad I needed to laugh!! *-*

[cherrymichellelindsyalanajacob]

Saraopfree, I promise, I wont say u've made it lol but I will say u r doing a GREAT job!!  I cant give much advice because im not sure what any of that meant. I dont know what trigeminal neuralgia is but it must not be good if u r having to have surgery :( I think I know what dilaudid is and if im right, isn't it what they give u in the hospital when u r allergic to morphine? If so, WOW!! Fantastic job getting this far!!
Like I said, I cant give much advice. But I can give u love and support. U have come sooooo far and done what a lot of people cant. I know u r hurting and in pain and I'm sorry for that. It ***** that we have let our lives/addictions get so outta control that we r now where we r. Pure hell. It's gonna be hard not to take that script in and get it filled, especially when u r feeling as bad as u do, but I know that u can make it Sara. Look how far u've come already!! Do u really want to go back to day one? Trust me when I tell u, IT *****. I keep doing good and then screwing up. Hang in there saraopfeee. Dig deep down and find ur strength and then when all this is over imagine all the people u can help!! U r gonna be fine and u r gonna do great. Im praying for u and sending hope, strength, and love ur way. U can do this!