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807206 tn?1245176646

Quitting Opiate Pain Killers

I am 23 and I have done many drugs in my life, you name it I have probably done it (with the excepton of acid) looking back everything was so easy for me to quit. I stopped using all drugs when I found out I was pregnant 5 years ago.

Well two years ago I got into two car accidents and that resulted in a buldging disc in the lower L-5 part of my spine and since then my sciatic nerve is always acting up. I was on Vicodin everyday I was taking 4 to 6 of the 5/500 for a year and half. I was able to stay off them for about 2 to 3 months but got sucked back in. My doctors wanted to get me off those so they put me on Darvocet 100-650 I have been taking 4 of those everyday since November of last year.

I WANT TO QUIT!!!! My husband and I want to start having children and I have never had such a hard time staying away and staying clean. This is the worst and I don't know what to do. Today is day one of sobriety and It started out great now not so much. How can I stay strong enough to stay away from the pain killers. I want to but physically it is killing me. I don't want to talk to my Dr. for fear of being blacklisted for life. I know I can do it on my own I just need advice on how to make it easier. All the drugs I have done I have gone cold turkey on and I am doing it that way with the pain meds.

Do you have any advice on how to make this easier?????
11 Responses
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666151 tn?1311114376
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Understand that opiate dependence is very common,  and very hard (if not impossible) to stop 'on your own'.  Most people addicted to opiates really want to quit.  I wanted to quit from the very first day of my addiction.  Like everyone else and like both of you, I was as certain as I could be that I was going to stop.  

At least, inpain, your physical dependence is quite low;  your withdrawal should be very mild.  As motivation to stop now, imagine how hard it must be when you are taking meds that are thousands of times more potent than what you are currently taking.

The general attitude to quit is NOT one of 'will power', as a person with will power has no reason to quit today-- he can stop tomorrow!  The way the twelve step programs work is by helping you see that you HAVE NO willpower;  that is WHY you must quit-- because you know that taking even one will return you to the world of active addiction.  

If you are unable to stop on your own, I encourage you to seek help sooner rather than later.  

Helpful - 2
896325 tn?1242169576
i am goin through the same thing right now except i am prescribed perc 10/325 u just have to make up ur mind once and for all and say no more thats what i did i am now 3 days clean which isnt longbut ive already wanted to take some but i havent cuz im stickin to my guns this time if u need me hit me up anytime we can go through this together ok good luck and god bless
Helpful - 2
807206 tn?1245176646
Thank you for all you advice and help. This is the hardest drug I have ever quit. It is scary to think that something your Dr. gives you can be harer to quit that street drugs. I just wish my life was back to the way it was before pain meds. I was clean for 4 years off all drugs before my accidents and life was great now I always find myself hating life and wishing it would just change on its own.

I feel like I am going to be craving the pain meds the est of my life. I cant imagine what it would be like not to LOL.

Thank you for your support and advice
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
Ask your Dr. to put you on neurotin, it really helps with leg pain from withdrawl, which can be one of the worst symtoms. Other than that, I am 3wks into quiting methodone & still sufferring, so don't let them put you on that med!!!!!  good luck!
Helpful - 1
905423 tn?1242656125
oh god dose't this **** suck. I am highly addicted too. I have takin suboxone and it helped but u can't abuse that, take it long enough to get the viks outta your system then quit them to, well thats at least what i am going to try to do, i go see a doc soon, so i hopefully will be quitting to.
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
I am sorry to hear about you getting into these pills. I don't know if you  have ever watched a show called intervention, but they had one on there about high school kids who were getting pain meds from their parents meicine cabinets, & then is basically started a epidemic of oxicotin use. The oxycotinbecame so exspensive to purchase, that they ended up turning to heroine because it was so much cheaper to get, with the same high. After being on these drugs for awhile& their lives were falling apart right in front of them, some of them ended up having to go to a methodone clinic to get off the heroine & oxycotin. I have been on methodone for the past 7yrs, before that I was on oxycotin, percs, ect. & it all started with vicodin, for my bad back. I am now 30 days off the methodone, & I just want to say it has been the hardest thing I have ever faced. I am 45yrs. old & had two children, & the pain of childbirth does not even hold a candle to the hard road of withdrawls from methodone. I know that the opiates can be just as hard & painful to quit,but I have also heard it is not near as hard to quit as methodone. Yes pain meds are very hard on your liver, thats why they try to put you on methodone, because they say it is not hard on your organs, but in reality it is the most difficult drug to quit. I guess this is not really answerring yur questions, I am just trying to help forworn you of the possibilities that could arise from you oxycotin addiction, & advise you to try to quit while you are ahead & young. I hope this is not offending you, but instead helping you. I only wish someone would have warned me before I got caught up in pain meds. Best of luck!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Isn't Vicodin more harmful to your liver because of the acetaminophen in it. I have been dabbling in pills since my Sophomore year of high school and here I am four years later making the same choices. I first started to pop Vicodin's but after awhile as I increased my doses the amount of acetaminophen was making me sick. So I tried various other pills and I found the best high was on Oxycontin. I just took it orally but after my friends showed me snorting it  was the fastest way I've been doing that since. Though when I first tried it I always used to throw up until about a week of doing it then I got a good high. Yes, I know I'm an idiot for continually taking it after it made me throw up more than once. After reading more about its withdraw is it safe to just stop abruptly.
I have tried a couple times getting off Oxycontin by using the cold turkey method. Should I wean my self off to be the best method? I also was wondering since Oxycontin is more concentrated then Vicodin is it less harmful to my vital organs.
Another question I have I'm all most positive that it doesn't matter if I snort it or ingest it orally I'm doing the same harmful effects to my body, correct? I know I have my whole life ahead of me and I'm trying my best day by day to kick this stuff. I'm just tried of a drug controlling me plus since I was never prescribed any of the drugs I took I'm ****** when I actually have severe pain.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sorry to hear about your troubles, but yes, opiates are strong medications derived from the Poppy plant, which heroin comes from as well. Most opiates are synthetic derivatives, but you get the idea.

If you've had prior issues with drugs and addiction, it's probably part of the reason why you're hooked on these. A lot of people with chronic pain are able to take them and not become addicted in the sense that they need and desire the drug post-pain.
Helpful - 0
896325 tn?1242169576
hey i hear exatly what ur sayin it is way aggrevating  cuz i use to do coke excessively but i could always walk away for months on end and be clean as a whistle but these damn percs they make u feel like ur losin ur mind completely its almost like u actually hear them callin ur name i used to have a love hate thing with percs cuz i loved the way they made me feel but i feel like i had no choice but to take them now i just hate them beacuse even if deep down i dont wanna take them i end up doin it anyways but like i have said a few times this forumis helpin me keep in check how many i take in a day which eases my mind a lil any ways all u guys specially u and a few others really help me its just to brutually true in hear u have to be mental not to see the point this forum is tryin to make
Helpful - 0
807206 tn?1245176646
I am taking them for both reasons. I will take them for pain and then I cant stop once the pain is gone. Eventually I will have a week or to break and then the pain will start again and will result in another 3-4 months of taking them.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So, are you continuing to take them for pain, or just because you can't stop?
Helpful - 0

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