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oxycontin withdrawal

My son has been taking opiate pain meds for nearly three years, since a very serious injury.  His pain specialist has prescribed ever increasing doses.  My son decided that he didn't want to continue taking narcotics and began tapering down the dose. His doctor prescribed Methadose along with reduced levels of oxydocone.  My son decided to completely stop taking meds.  He's in his 5th day of something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.  He finally went to a hospital.  He's in physical and mental misery.  I know he's being taken care of and won't die.  My question to the forum is, can anyone give me an idea of how long this will last?  He's been on opiates for a month shy of 3 years and on oxycodone for more than two years.
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Avatar universal
he's taking vitamins and an anti-anxiety medication.  He was taking clonidine but that's been discontinued.
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Avatar universal
Is he on any other medications in hospital?
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Avatar universal
A lot of times the pain pills cover up mental health issues.  My husband smoked pot for years, and when he quit he found out that he was covering up his nervousness, anxiety,and phobia problems.  Having mental problems is not the end of the world.  It's just getting use to a different way of living.  He will still be your son.  I pray for his speedy recovery.  There is help.

God Bless
Tobybear
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Avatar universal
My son has been in the hospital for nearly two weeks.  He kept talking about killing himself, so he was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.  Now his physical symptoms seem to be pretty much gone, but he has really severe psychological symptoms --he sees conspiracies all around him and now he thinks someone is trying to kill him.  He was mentally fine before he stopped taking the pain meds his dr. prescribed (240 mg oxycodone and 40 mg methadone).  Is it part of the withdrawal process to have severe psychological symptoms?  I'm afraid that he'll finally be off the opiates but will end up mentally ill.
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Avatar universal
240 mg of oxycodone plus 40 mg of Methadone a day that doctor should be in frigging jail.......
what a frigging joke this guy is a doctor of MD are you frigging kidding me.......that post really pisses me off...........
unless he was about 80lbs and his body was full of cancer and tumors that doctor should have a hand gun put to his forehead and someone pulled the trigger until there were no bullets left in the gun.....

I have a question:  Is there always a mental addiction that accompanies a physical addition?

That really depends on what type of drug is used and for how long.............
Some meds warrent a serious psychological side..........oxys and Methadone used together are defenately qualified for this condition.......and that is why W/Ds are very tough but then when the W/Ds are gone termendous psychological side effects will be extremely difficult to deal with and will take some professional help to over come..........
His thinking will be heavily distorted, his emotions will be distorted, rational thinking will be very much impared........
Without support from loved ones and a professional addiction counselor is the only way to any type of successful recovery he will desperately need you love and support................

His addiction is very serious and his recovery will take every ounce of strength that he can muster, if he tries to do it alone he is doomed.........he will only start using again and messing with that much drugs only will get worse and result in jail time or even death if he does not get help.............

I will pray for you that he gets the help, love and support requried for his long journey to his recovery....

Best of luck to you
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm not sure what his highest dosage was, but his doctor reduced the dosage gradually.  When he quit, my son was taking 240 mg of oxycodone (60 mg 4 times a day) plus 40 mg of Methadose daily.  He will still have a fair amount of pain to deal with when the pain meds are completely out of his system.

I have a question:  Is there always a mental addiction that accompanies a physical addition?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Welcome to the forum,,,,

You said he was in his fifth day believe it or not he only has a short time to go as far as the W/Ds......
Remember when Methadone was used with the pain meds that was like throwing gas into a fire.....
Methadone should never be used to get off pain meds.........

Methadone is much more addictive than most pain pills with the exception of heavy Oxycotin use...

Yes he will fell aweful, vomiting and heavy diarrhea combined with cold sweats and of course some sleeping distortions........

Now this is something that probably you won't want to hear but to stop using pain meds is the easy part of getting to recovery.......
The really tough job is to get to recovery and most important to stay clean in recovery..........
His brain has been effected from the years of drug use and it alters the logic and thinking process along with his emotions.........the drug changes them for the addictive benefit to the addict.........
To become a true addict these changes must happen to the brain in order to sustain his addiction...

He will need to hit 90 meetings in his first 90 days........I would also recommend an addiction counselor to talk with at least once a month............

Addiction is a powerful disease and recovery takes hard work and will take 100%  of his effort and desire to stay in Recovery.........His addiction will fight him very hard it will lie in his ears in a very seductive way  like eve taking a bite of the apple it will be very strong.....triggers will be very hard to ignore........relapse generally is inevitable this is where your support will have to be there......he will feel alone and lost for a while........In N/A he will learn the tools to stay in a positive recovery.....

Any questions that you may have for me please don't hesitate to ask I was an addict for 37  years and now have been clean for 20 months....I have a degree now in Social Work and just started in addiction studies at U of D Mercy college where I will get my CAC (certified addiction counselor) you can ask me anything nothing would be to personal.......one thing about me and everyone here at the forum will tell you I am very honest, and very blunt I can answer the toughest questions that you have and I am here for you.......

good luck........
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Welcome to the forum,,,,

You said he was in his fifth day believe it or not he only has a short time to go as far as the W/Ds......
Remember when Methadone was used with the pain meds that was like throwing gas into a fire.....
Methadone should never be used to get off pain meds.........

Methadone is much more addictive than most pain pills with the exception of heavy Oxycotin use...

Yes he will fell aweful, vomiting and heavy diarrhea combined with cold sweats and of course some sleeping distortions........

Now this is something that probably you won't want to hear but to stop using pain meds is the easy part of getting to recovery.......
The really tough job is to get to recovery and most important to stay clean in recovery..........
His brain has been effected from the years of drug use and it alters the logic and thinking process along with his emotions.........the drug changes them for the addictive benefit to the addict.........
To become a true addict these changes must happen to the brain in order to sustain his addiction...

He will need to hit 90 meetings in his first 90 days........I would also recommend an addiction counselor to talk with at least once a month............

Addiction is a powerful disease and recovery takes hard work and will take 100%  of his effort and desire to stay in Recovery.........His addiction will fight him very hard it will lie in his ears in a very seductive way  like eve taking a bite of the apple it will be very strong.....triggers will be very hard to ignore........relapse generally is inevitable this is where your support will have to be there......he will feel alone and lost for a while........In N/A he will learn the tools to stay in a positive recovery.....

Any questions that you may have for me please don't hesitate to ask I was an addict for 37  years and now have been clean for 20 months....I have a degree now in Social Work and just started in addiction studies at U of D Mercy college where I will get my CAC (certified addiction counselor) you can ask me anything nothing would be to personal.......one thing about me and everyone here at the forum will tell you I am very honest, and very blunt I can answer the toughest questions that you have and I am here for you.......

good luck........
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Actually, your son could and will experiance withdrawal symptoms for up to a month, in ever decreasing amounts the longer he stays clean.  Detoxing the body from opiates is the easy part.  The acute post-withdrawal symptoms are what cause the most relapses. The mental aspect of withdrawal can be quite profound to the first timer, and can take a significant amount of time for the brains chemistry to find the right balance point again.
Stopping the Methdose was smart.  Don't get him trapped into the brutal cycle of metha-dosing.  It is just another synthetic opiate...
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222369 tn?1274474635
Wow. I'm afraid nobody here can even garner an estimate without knowing the dosage he was on, and even that would be a stab in the dark. Also, the withdrawal times will depend on what the hospital gives him. If he continues cold turkey..the worst should be over within a week..but again..that's just a guess.
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Avatar universal
another 2 to 5 days and he should be through the worst part of it but what is methadose?  Do you mean methadone?
Helpful - 0
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