Pain Medicine addiction/withdrawal Help!

[mindtwister1976]

Hello ya'll, I am new here, and i have been looking for the last couple days for some great advice, and support and this looks like the place for me. i have been addicted to pain meds, for aprox 6 years, vicodin, percs, morphine, tramadol, basically anything i can get my hands on, I have tried to stop a few times but have failed, my most recent attemp started last weds afternoon. and i went until saturday afternoon dry, but was having horribile withdrawals such as depression, No sleep due to my legs and arm were kicking, and just lack of energy and sickness, i really want to quit taking pain meds, they are not doctor subcribed, when i started i had a legit reason, but it got way outof control, i am taking 10-12 vicodin a day, or percs, and trams, basically any pain pill. I have hit rock bottom, and i am so ready to get my life back, basically i am looking for some advice on how to go about it, should i taper off of them? will that ease the suffering any? or should i quit cold turkey, and how do i treat the withdrawal syptoms? the legs and arm movements are out of control, i have really horrible withdrawals. which makes me fail at my attempts. also since i just recently went 3 days without pain meds, if i stop taking meds again as of now, will i have to start all over? and have severe withdrawals? Please any advice would be appreciated? thanks in advance, Paul

[Weney3777]

All I can tell you is from my experience. I went 15 days w/out pain meds and the w/ds were over(except for fatigue and a few sleep issues), so when I took them for 2 days and stopped again(it's been 2 days) the w/d's were next to nothing. I'm a little anxious, but that's it. I did get sick when I took them again, however. It was not how I remebered it.

[worried878]

As a rule..there is no way out of this that is wd free...u have some choices on how u quit..and alot depends on u and what u know u can do//what u can cope with..making a plan is important..making a goal...then keeping on track after the initial goal is met..this stuff doesnt get better/only worse//and u probably know that..5 yrs from now u may be taking 20 a day or more if u dont stop now..finding some type of aftercare in ur area asap will help tremendously..if u cant affor counseling..then meetings are everywhere and they r free...go to AA or NA and get a schedule...try a meeting tomorrow and let us know how it went..u dont have to be clean to go to one..u dont even have to say anything at all while u r there..but listen and learn..u will learn what u DO NOT wanna go thru before u let go of this stuff..it can take people into dark places..get a hold of it now

the health pages have lots of infor/thomas recipe rox/skim the health pages

I was at 100 mgs a day and did CT..just stopped cos i was a horrible taperer..many addicts r..i was on them 4 yrs...took a 4 day weekend and felt pretty good day 4..back to work/nurse/day 5...my physical wds were not bad..but i went to meetings each day, to gym each day altho the 1st day i only made it 20 minutes on the treadmill, and burned my fingers up typing here and googling about addiction so i can learn  

If u taper/then handing the to a trusted friend to dole out daily is almost the only way.  also, did u have pills in the house when u relapsed day 3?  pills gotta go...flush em when u r done with ur taper/or flush what u dont need to complete ur taper/even flushing one pill can be empowering/u take ur power back from the drug when u let them go down the commode...cutting off supply including dealers, friends and letting ur dr know u quit are also crucial to recovery..being sure no refills r at the pharmacy...put the balls in ur court...dont keep them available as u r not strong enuf right now,,,most are never strong enuf to have pills in their face

It takes most more than one, two or even 3 tries to get and stay clean for a considerable amount of time...so dont beat urself up..u r in the "I know i need to stop this " phase which means the pills just arent much fun anymore..u r on ur way to cleandom..u just gotta make a plan

As a last resort/if all else fails and u continue to relapse//there r maintenence drugs available/drugs to help with wd...risky business tho and can get u into deeper doo doo than u r in if u dont educate urself...both available maintenence drugs here in the USA are strongwer than ur doc and addictive

anyway..keep posting..lots of support here