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Pain Killer withdrawal question
Hi, Please don't laugh at this question, I know most people are in a lot worse situation than I am but I still want to ask. I've been on oxycodon 15 mg a day for about 2 month for a colorectal issue. I had surgery about a month ago and I was taking 40 mg of oxycodon a day for about 2 weeks, then about 20 mg a day of hydrocodon for that last 2 weeks. I stopped for the reason most people do...I have no more left and I feel like a bad person to ask for more. So I stopped altogether 2 days ago. I do not have any mental addiction at all from what I believe but I feel physically sick, flu like. Shivers, severe diarrhea, muscles pains in the legs and arms. I feel like I have a sunburn yet I'm freezing cold. I don't have much of a head ache but the diarrhea combined with the colorectal surgery brings me to a new plane of consciousness pain-wise (think about a metal wire brush being twisted around in your rectum, gout x10). I lose about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of blood every time I have diarrhea which has been 4-5 times a day since quitting. What should I do? should I ask for more pain medication since I'm still clearly healing from surgery, or should I continue to stay of the pain medication since I've already been off 2 days. If I do stay off, will I start to feel better in a week or less? Also is it normal to be sick even though it seems I was taking a relatively low does with some spikes for about 3 months? Hard questions, I know but any guidance would be helpful.?
So I was taking about 10-15 of the 30mg pure percs a day for the last year and a half, maybe 2 years. Recently I decided I am ready to have my life back! This is not me, I have never been addicted to anything, and I have no idea how or why I got to this state!? I remember bawling in my room by myself for hours saying why? why? how do i get over this? its never going to end!! Feeling SO trapped. I read about the waismann method that costs up tp $40k, and I read about Passages Malibu, that cost $50k... these were unfathomable options as I live alone in my condo, support myself off my bartending income and have not been able to tell ONE single person about this nightmare so I would not be able to recieve financial help. So finally I decided it was time! I made sure I still had a few percs in my possession just so that, mentally, I could know that if things got TOO bad or TOO impossible to handle, if I felt like I was just going to straight up die, then I could take one..... I also got ONE 8mg suboxine JUST in case as well.
So I took my last perc the night b4 the morn I was going to start at like 2am..... waited until I could not handle the shakes, chills, hot cold sweats, and pains anymore (bout 4pm the next day, so it had been 14hrs since I had taken a perc and usually I could not even go 5hrs without taking one so my wd's were in full effect) and i let a very tiny piece (1mg) of suboxine dissolve under my tounge. This seemed to help w the symptoms, or at least let me sleep thru the day. 24hrs into the withdrawls I could not get out of bed, everytime i did i felt as if i was going to double over and throw up.... now I do not smoke weed and havent in a very long time but in preparring for this week i was going to have to spend in bed I got a little from a friend. I smoked a little bit the first night as I had NO appetite and was feeling extremely weak from the WD's as well as not eating.. This helped incredible amounts.. I could eat, I could get lost in a movie and try not to just sit there and think about how my body was feeling. I would wait until it was absolutely unmanageable again and Id take another 1mg piece of sub. I slept thru the first night but with extreme tossing and turning. The 2nd day I felt incredibly out of it... my pupils were dialating like crazy and when I tried taking one more 1mg piece of sub it made me feel like i was throwing myself right back into withdrawls? Like after taking it Id be nautous and sweaty.... dont get me wrong I was still having hot/ cold shakes and sweating from parts I didnt even know I could sweat from (the tops of my fingers?!) but taking the sub seemed to intensify this? Or it was all in my mind, im not sure. By the evening on day 2 I was able to get out of bed... I was irritable and restless and feeling EXTREMELY weak... when I tried to talk my voice was even weak and sounded like i was losing breath or was breathless. I smoked more weed and got lost downloading songs and watching a movie, etc. I slept thru that night and now this is day 3! I feel 100 thousand times better... the only thing thats really bothering me is how my stomach feels raw and ripped apart. I had been taking tums and vitamins and aleve constantly thruout the whole process to help alleviate pains.
Now I know I am only on day 3 and am most likely not 100% out of the withdrawls but if I could get thru those first two days I can get thru any of the other symptoms that come my way! The chills were slight this morning but very manageable and I took an afternoon nap and now the chills are gone completely.
The point of all this is (not only to record my battle so i can keep reminding myself how those things are not worth all that ever again) but the point is to tell everyone, if I was taking 10-15 of the 30mgs pills every day (thats 300 to 450mgs per day) for almost two years and was able to finally get thru the battle and over the feeling of being helpless than ANYONE can do it! Just imagine how long it takes you to reverse what you have been doing to your body for years and be preparred to fight that battle to earn your life back!!! If anyone needs someone to walk them thru the process I will GLADLY be there for anyone bcuz I have never been so happy in my entire life.
So I took my last perc the night b4 the morn I was going to start at like 2am..... waited until I could not handle the shakes, chills, hot cold sweats, and pains anymore (bout 4pm the next day, so it had been 14hrs since I had taken a perc and usually I could not even go 5hrs without taking one so my wd's were in full effect) and i let a very tiny piece (1mg) of suboxine dissolve under my tounge. This seemed to help w the symptoms, or at least let me sleep thru the day. 24hrs into the withdrawls I could not get out of bed, everytime i did i felt as if i was going to double over and throw up.... now I do not smoke weed and havent in a very long time but in preparring for this week i was going to have to spend in bed I got a little from a friend. I smoked a little bit the first night as I had NO appetite and was feeling extremely weak from the WD's as well as not eating.. This helped incredible amounts.. I could eat, I could get lost in a movie and try not to just sit there and think about how my body was feeling. I would wait until it was absolutely unmanageable again and Id take another 1mg piece of sub. I slept thru the first night but with extreme tossing and turning. The 2nd day I felt incredibly out of it... my pupils were dialating like crazy and when I tried taking one more 1mg piece of sub it made me feel like i was throwing myself right back into withdrawls? Like after taking it Id be nautous and sweaty.... dont get me wrong I was still having hot/ cold shakes and sweating from parts I didnt even know I could sweat from (the tops of my fingers?!) but taking the sub seemed to intensify this? Or it was all in my mind, im not sure. By the evening on day 2 I was able to get out of bed... I was irritable and restless and feeling EXTREMELY weak... when I tried to talk my voice was even weak and sounded like i was losing breath or was breathless. I smoked more weed and got lost downloading songs and watching a movie, etc. I slept thru that night and now this is day 3! I feel 100 thousand times better... the only thing thats really bothering me is how my stomach feels raw and ripped apart. I had been taking tums and vitamins and aleve constantly thruout the whole process to help alleviate pains.
Now I know I am only on day 3 and am most likely not 100% out of the withdrawls but if I could get thru those first two days I can get thru any of the other symptoms that come my way! The chills were slight this morning but very manageable and I took an afternoon nap and now the chills are gone completely.
The point of all this is (not only to record my battle so i can keep reminding myself how those things are not worth all that ever again) but the point is to tell everyone, if I was taking 10-15 of the 30mgs pills every day (thats 300 to 450mgs per day) for almost two years and was able to finally get thru the battle and over the feeling of being helpless than ANYONE can do it! Just imagine how long it takes you to reverse what you have been doing to your body for years and be preparred to fight that battle to earn your life back!!! If anyone needs someone to walk them thru the process I will GLADLY be there for anyone bcuz I have never been so happy in my entire life.
I tapered from a large amount of medications at high doses to a very small dose of one medication. I found myself sneezing a lot every time I dropped my dose or cut a med out. It wasn't normal sneezing; I'd sneeze 7 or 8 times in a row. It would last a few days and then stop.
If the bleeding is a normal part of your recovery, then I guess you don't have to worry. I understand wanting to get off the narcotics. Even though I didn't have the "mental" part of addiction, I wasn't comfortable being physically dependent on so many medications, even if the doctors thought it was justified for me being on them. Even though I still have a lot of pain, I"m happy with my decision to taper down to where I am.
You're probably through the worst of it at this point. Hope you're feeling better.
If the bleeding is a normal part of your recovery, then I guess you don't have to worry. I understand wanting to get off the narcotics. Even though I didn't have the "mental" part of addiction, I wasn't comfortable being physically dependent on so many medications, even if the doctors thought it was justified for me being on them. Even though I still have a lot of pain, I"m happy with my decision to taper down to where I am.
You're probably through the worst of it at this point. Hope you're feeling better.
I am almost to day 20 off of 150/day ox and I am still sneezing.I guess that means I was in deep
Yes, sneezing is/can be part of WD. Who knew?? LOL It should stop after a few days.
The bleeding is normal to the type of surgery I had. I'm a notorious slow healer. Last time it took me 2 month to stop bleeding during defecation and the surgery was much more extensive this time around. I didn't run out of my scrip early, there was no timetable from my surgeon even though I asked for one. Just the standard, everyone is different take until you no longer have pain Really saying it was a person decision. I've also never taken more than the maximum dose or exceeded the daily limitations. One thing I forgot to mention...I'm sneezing like crazy and its killing me where the surgery was when i do! Is sneezing put of the WD for some people?
Totally true about the soak in the tub..that makes me feel better right away! I'll try the immodium too but that usually has no effect on me. I see the Thomas link now thanks.
The bad part about having colorectal surgery twice is that you KNOW what you're in for the 2nd time around! My advice to anyone taking pain meds after colorectal surgery. take 3 stool softners a day! Or you will be giving birth in the toilet every 3-4 days! I had to get two doeses of morphine in the hostpital to pass a weeks worth that was about the size of racketball.
The bad part about having colorectal surgery twice is that you KNOW what you're in for the 2nd time around! My advice to anyone taking pain meds after colorectal surgery. take 3 stool softners a day! Or you will be giving birth in the toilet every 3-4 days! I had to get two doeses of morphine in the hostpital to pass a weeks worth that was about the size of racketball.
Correct day 3 I felt better. Now day 4 and way better. It will get better for you day by day. Hang in there ! You asked no stupid question, only stupid ones are ones not asked. This place is a lifesaver. We are all here to help
I think you need to call your doctor right away. If you're have blood when you go to the bathroom, that's not a good sign, especially since you've had recent surgery.
If you're only physically dependent and not mentally addicted, why did you run out of your medication? You may need to get really honest with yourself about this. I'm physically dependent due to 9 surgeries that resulted in a bad outcome and left me with terrible joint pain, nerve pain and RSD. I've never taken more than my prescription called for and never misused my meds and I've never run out of my script early. I'm not saying you are addicted but you need to look at why you ran out early. Even though all my doctors think I need the medications, I've chosen to taper off a ton they had me on. I am at a low dose now and am thinking of coming off even that.
To answer your question about it being normal to be sick even though you've only taken them for 3 months: physical dependence can happen very quickly. It probably depends on the person but I think it can happen after taking them regularly for a few weeks. Maybe the withdrawals won't be as severe as someone who's been on them longer or at higher dosages, but it can still happen.
Call your doctor and tell them what's going on. I can't believe it's good for you to be going through withdrawals, especially with the bleeding, after recently having had such a serious surgery.
If you do go back on them, only take them as prescribed. If what they give you doesn't work from the pain, don't up the dose yourself; call and tell them and they'll either up your dose, change the frequency of taking it, or change you to a different medication.
When the time comes for you to come off it, your doctor will taper you off so you won't have the withdrawals. You may not feel 100 percent with tapering but you'll be able to function.
Best of luck. Hope you'll post about what you decide to do and what your doctor says. And I wouldn't wait on calling your doctor. It's getting late in the day and you need this taken care of ASAP.
If you're only physically dependent and not mentally addicted, why did you run out of your medication? You may need to get really honest with yourself about this. I'm physically dependent due to 9 surgeries that resulted in a bad outcome and left me with terrible joint pain, nerve pain and RSD. I've never taken more than my prescription called for and never misused my meds and I've never run out of my script early. I'm not saying you are addicted but you need to look at why you ran out early. Even though all my doctors think I need the medications, I've chosen to taper off a ton they had me on. I am at a low dose now and am thinking of coming off even that.
To answer your question about it being normal to be sick even though you've only taken them for 3 months: physical dependence can happen very quickly. It probably depends on the person but I think it can happen after taking them regularly for a few weeks. Maybe the withdrawals won't be as severe as someone who's been on them longer or at higher dosages, but it can still happen.
Call your doctor and tell them what's going on. I can't believe it's good for you to be going through withdrawals, especially with the bleeding, after recently having had such a serious surgery.
If you do go back on them, only take them as prescribed. If what they give you doesn't work from the pain, don't up the dose yourself; call and tell them and they'll either up your dose, change the frequency of taking it, or change you to a different medication.
When the time comes for you to come off it, your doctor will taper you off so you won't have the withdrawals. You may not feel 100 percent with tapering but you'll be able to function.
Best of luck. Hope you'll post about what you decide to do and what your doctor says. And I wouldn't wait on calling your doctor. It's getting late in the day and you need this taken care of ASAP.
HI.It's good that you do not have the mental part.That means you are not addicted but just that your body has changed to accomodate the meds.I would get some immodium and take a little more than is directed.Hope that this helps you out.
hi welcome to the forum and not a hard question at all your in the midsts of withdraws as for the bleeding its probably a lot less then what it seams you can turn a whole toylet red with just a few drops of blood you might want to scroll don on this page and look up the thomas recipe it will give you some stuff that will cut the diarea and some other stuff to make you more comfortable this is usually a 4 day process with you getting better on day 5
your defenently in acute withdrawals a hot soak will take away most of the symptoms hang in there keep posting for support and you defanetlly dont want to go back on them it will only make this harder to do good luck and God bless.....Gnarly
your defenently in acute withdrawals a hot soak will take away most of the symptoms hang in there keep posting for support and you defanetlly dont want to go back on them it will only make this harder to do good luck and God bless.....Gnarly
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