Please help with 12 day sleep loss from oxycontin

[bronzeback75]

I have been 12 days since cold turkey quiting of 160 mg daily of oxycontin,I need serious help in the sleep department I beleive i am throu the worst of the physical withdrawals but need sllep soon or will have another nervous breakdown please help i also have lost 14 lbs due to lack of appetite

[bronzeback75]

Hey guys whats up! day 17 free of the oxycontin and im now starting to feel better    ive been taking centrum,and the l tyros, I am still having trouble sleeping but its starting to  let up slightly each day god i can barely concentrate,and still have  severe headaches I am so glad I have been strong enough to do this i have no interest at all for the oxy but struggle to feel normal again the depression is the worst I quit on my own with the help of you,my parents and god. May you all have the strength to keep on this battle      
                                           bronzeback75

[cindi]

that is a long time to be on pain meds  I really would check out the treatment if at all possible...even in treatment I had a difficult time but at least I was under medical supervision...cold turkey is nasty  just pain nasty..no sleep,  that is a given.  but there is light at the end of the tunnel...you ridding your body of all the toxins...you will finally be free rather than a slave to the drugs,,good luck and God Bless                cindi

[J.B. to Brian and Vicky]

Hello and a big welcome to you!  Your story is somewhat similar to my own in that I was taking some pretty powerful meds for pain control over the past two years.  I have gotten off of morphine(MS Contin)lately and am taking plain old Vicodin in small amounts these days. Today I can barely walk without the pain knocking me down, but it's Sunday and should be relaxing anyway!

I used to think that going "cold turkey" was the best way to stop an addiction.  Hah, was I ever wrong in believing that. Four years ago, I lost a good friend and just two weeks ago lost another. And of all things, the two died while home detoxing from alcohol! At least that was the coroner's conclusion.

My advice is that unless you've had some experience detoxing on your own, seek medical advice.  BTW, seizures killed both of my friends but really it was the drug addiction.

As far as what to expect, just read through the many posts here on this forum.  You will not find that anybody that goes through withdrawal brags about the experience.  It's awful to say the least...for a long time both physically and psychologically.

Keep searching and maybe you'll find the answers...

J.B.

[Dawnslight]

I'll be going though detox of oxy 60mg per day w/20 lortab 10/500 per day starting Tuesday.  I didn't know what to expect and wondered if anyone could help with their experiences.  

I didn't realize there would be a sleeping issue as well.  I've been on these meds for 10 years.  4 years w/the oxy and have never tried to stop.  I have chronic pain but the drugs are getting too out of control and I just want to stop, check my true level of pain and find another way of coping with. I have ambien at home, I guess I'll use it if I have too.  But I was going to get rid of all my meds.  Is this detox dangerous to try cold turkey alone (hubby will be w/me at night after work).

Any comments of help would soooo be appreciated.  I'm terrified of the un-known.  Should I go to detox or can I do this alone at home w/my spouse.  I'm taking all of next week off work.  So I have 8 days to get it together.

Thanks in advance!

[Unwise]

Thanks for the link. I will look up the horror stories.  I've read plenty of testimonials (on the detox sites, of course) and a few "objective" aritcles in the media, but I suspect it's not as easy and miraculous as it sounds.  

Good luck with the naltrexone.  Since I have been suffering severe depression with no relief yet from the prozac, I have actually be considering electroshock therapy as both a means of getting out of the depression and quite possibly the addiction.  Since it was two severe seizures that "cured" me three and half years ago, I'm starting to think that going through the same process in a controlled environment may be my only hope.  It sounds drastic, I know, but my pasty history indicates that I tend to only respond to drastic measures when it comes to kicking habits.  I think I would gladly trade some memory loss and the risk of brain damage at this point to get out of what has become a suicidal depression and an addiction that I cannot seem to taper down from.

We'll see.  In the meantime, you should be proud of yourself, and I hope all goes well with the naltrexone.  Keep us posted.

I'm off to read the rapid detox horror stories.  You may have saved me five to ten grand, so I owe you one.

Keep the faith.

[Schlub]

I have heard so many horror stories of anesthia-assisted opiate detox -- and I mean from people who have undergone it! People talk about coming home aferwards in agony. I don't know myself, but you can read some personal experiences at:

http://heroin-detox.com/Forum/default.asp

As for Naltrexone, I'm about to go on it myself in afew days, and what worries me is not the unlikely chance that I may be injured and need opiates, but the possibility that Naltrexone may not only block external opiates but internal endorphins responsible for feeling good as well.

The research seems to be mixed on it, with a slight weight towards those who say it does NOT cause dysphoria.

But you know what, the single greatest threat to my life right now is relapse -- greater than accidental injury, and greater than depression. So I'm going to at least try the Naltrexone, and if it doesn't worsen the funk I'll already be in from detoxing, then I'll use it for a few months to build up some "clean time" and get some distance from my addiction.

I lived clean and sober for 18 years once, so I know if I can just get some distance away from my addiction, I'll be fine.