Concerned

[gugu111]

I need advice of how to work myself down from 4 percocet 10/325 a day to nothing possible tomorrow.....very worried and not sure of what to ask my Dr. at appt tomorrow morning. I know that she is concerned with keeping me on them however not sure of what to do if she doesn't want me to stay on them....I have been dealing with minor osteoarthitis for over a year now w/ this medication and I do not have the option to rest often or not sure that I can handle cold turkey...Please help!!!

[Tryin2BClean]

Yes that's true.  Four a day is not terrible but I'm pretty sure that if u went cold turkey you would have diarrhea, anxiety, chills and perhaps insomnia.  The suggestion of anxiety meds is a great idea.  Those wld help with everything but the diarrhea.  In fact, at the local detox place, they only give Ativan to ppl.going through detox.  All the answers u got are good advice.  Good luck and let us know how ur doing.

[Dee1956]

Hi I don't know how long you have been taking however 4 a day does not sound like a lot to me for a painful situation.  I agree with people who have suggested you bring it up, it will go much better that way.
While I agree that most doctors will not just cut you off, some do.  I think it is wise to ask what you can do in that situation.  You also may be able to take an anxiety med with the reduced dose to help you over the hump.  Saying that you would have to stick to it and if you can't perhaps someone you trust could help you regulate the percocet.
Good luck to you.

[LivingInHope]

I don't believe you should go off the pain pills cold turkey.  If the doctor says she wants you to go off them, ask if she could prescribe a bit more and give you a regime to taper off of them slowly.  Ask her what alternative she has to offer to deal with the pain.  

I have advanced osteoarthritis in my jaw joints and was in a really bad way, but God has helped me tremendously by way of a physical therapist trained in TMJ issues who knows how to do ultrasound and electrical stimulation in the right places.

If your arthritis is in your knees, you might consider an experienced Chinese acupuncturist, as there was a study (saw on tv news a long time ago) that demonstrated Chinese acupuncture patients had improvement with their knee arthritis versus a control group where the very thin acupuncture needles were placed in the wrong places.  You might consider Naturemade brand of Sam-E, which is supposed to help with joints as well as flaxseed oil or enteric coated fish oil capsules, which has omega fatty acids that are supposed to be good for inflammation.  

Rest actually reportedly can make osteoarthritis feel worse, so movement is supposed to be a good thing, though for my jaws, rest feels better to me!  

[Tryin2BClean]

If u are worried she wants u off them, I wld either go in and preempt her denial by saying that u wanna talk to her about reducing ur dose to 2 a day.  In my experience, doctors will usually be black that ur aware that u need to take the minimum needed for pain mgmt.  If she absolutely doesn't wanna give them to u, tell her that because uve been on them for awhile ur worried that ull get sick if u stop suddenly.  That usually works too.  Most doctors won't just cut u off after uve been on them for awhile like that.  Wat I've seen and heard of a lot is them instead saying "ill go ahead and refill them now but u need to use them sparingly because I can't refill them again."  Also, the last thing u wanna do is seem desperate or eager.  Even if she seems reluctant, try to b cool and remember to express concern for quitting cold turkey.  Good luck!!  I hope it goes well