First post, this seems like a great group. Excuse my rather long story - I'm desperate for advice.
My family doctor suggested I go to a recovery center to detox from hydro which I was prescribed a couple of years ago (different doc) for a chronic pain condition. (I'm currently on 40mg per day - my husband gives them to me, as I can't take just one :) However, I have taken more- men can't hide anything very well :), not to mention that at one point I was getting them online thru various OPs. I was honest with my doc about this. I don't have any extras now, however, my husband has them all.
Anyway, when I was authorized thru the insurance company yesterday to go detox next Monday, the place I'm supposed to go also said I couldn't take the Klonopin. All my research seems to indicate that most pain pill detoxes involve giving you a benzo to help with anxiety, at least with the short term.
I tapered myself off Xanax a couple of years ago and it took 6 months. I tried too fast the first week (thanks to yet another clueless pdoc) and literally thought I was losing my mind and was going to die. I lost 15 pounds in one week. Well, I found a caring doctor and she helped me thru the taper. Did it on my own, it wasn't easy, but by doing it slowly I made it.
Insurance has changed so I have new family doc, nice guy, but I think clueless when it comes to this stuff.
The fear of getting off the hydro was enough, but now they said no Klonopin either! All this in 5-10 days??!! Now I don't know if I should even go. I literally cannot go thru that benzo wd hell again without tapering.
Perhaps I should get off the pain pills with the help of my family & then take a look at the Klonopin & taper if I need to? I don't abuse Klonopin; I just take it as prescribed (unlike the Xanax). I've had major anxiety issues for years. I'm also on Seroquel for bipolar II (they don't seem to have a problem with me taking that). The pain pill detox seems doable, but I literally can't imagine doing both at the same time.
Also, the hospital said don't bother bringing anything to read (I'm a major reader) cause I'll be in "group" 12 hours a day!! I thought, oh, crap, wouldn't you know it, AA! I did the AA thing for a few months 22 years ago when I quit drinking and it helped for awhile, but then it seems to become an addiction in itself (just my opinion, of course). I quit drinking once and never looked back. I cannot do the higher power thing, period. Are all hospitals like this? I know AA has helped a bunch of people, I'm just not comfortable with it.
So, if anyone here has a dual rx "problem", or has been thru this type of detox, any & all advice would be super appreciated. Thanks so much!
Hi! Thank you for posting
I am coming off Hydro and xanax. I began an out paicent program with a detox Dr back in Nov. I did the same thing with my husband. I gave him the bottle and he thought I was doing so well, but little did he know I had a hidden supply. I just want you to know that your are not alone. Everything will be okay ! Being honest and admitting you have no power over you addiction is the first step, and you took that. I want to say Congrats ! You should be proud of yourself.
I am coming off Hydro and xanax. I began an out paicent program with a detox Dr back in Nov. I did the same thing with my husband. I gave him the bottle and he thought I was doing so well, but little did he know I had a hidden supply. I just want you to know that your are not alone. Everything will be okay ! Being honest and admitting you have no power over you addiction is the first step, and you took that. I want to say Congrats ! You should be proud of yourself.
I CAME OFF OF HYDRO, KLONIPIN, ATIVAN, AND AMBIEN 20 MONTHS AGO. I HAD QUIT ADDERAL A YEAR PREVIOUS AND IT WAS HELL.
I WAS A GARBAGE HEAD-TOOK ANYTHING I COULD GET AHOLD OF.
I HAD A 36 YEAR PILL ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL ADDICTION. I HAD LONGS PERIODS OF NOT DRINKING-MANY YEARS AT A TIME.
BUT I HAD CONVINCED MYSELF AND EVERY DOCTOR ON THE PLANET I WAS A WEAK LITTLE WAIF AND NEEDED CONSTANT TRANQUILIZERS.
TRANQS CAUSE REBOUND ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW YOUR OWN FREEDOM THAT EXISTS, WHILE YOU INSIST ON STILL TAKING THEM. YOU HAVE TALKED YOURSELF INTO STILL NEEDING PILLS, RATHER THAN BEING PATIENT AND SEE THAT IT MIGHT BE A WHOLE LOT BETTER THAN YOU THINK.
FOR ME, I REGAINED MY WHOLE LIFE BACK AS NEVER BEFORE, HAVE JUST HAD THE BEST 20 MONTHS OF MY LIFE, AND 99.9% OF EVERY ILL, FOR WHICH I NEEDED A PILL, WAS RUBBISH.
OF COURSE AT A DETOX, THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE YOUR MEDS FROM YOU. YOU NEED TO LET THEM BE THE DOCTORS, NOT YOU.
YES, I DID GET ONE BENZO IN THE 3 DAYS I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL; I REFUSED ANY AFTER THAT, I WAS SO DETERMINED. MY SPIRITUAL AWAKENING HAPPENED IN THAT HOSPITAL BED.
I ALSO HAD DETOXED AT HOME (FOOLISHLY) FOR 2 WEEKS, AND NEEDED 911 ANYWAY.
YOU CAN'T ASK FOR HELP TO GET CLEAN, AND THEN SET UP THE RULES. CLEAN IS CLEAN AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAN, BY THE TIME YOU WALK OUT OF THERE.
FOLLOW THROUGH ON A STRICT AFTERCARE PROGRAM, GET TO MEETINGS-YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
YEA, I'M AN OLD FOGEY, BUT YOU ASKED FOR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS; THERE IT IS!!
GOOD LUCK.
I WAS A GARBAGE HEAD-TOOK ANYTHING I COULD GET AHOLD OF.
I HAD A 36 YEAR PILL ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL ADDICTION. I HAD LONGS PERIODS OF NOT DRINKING-MANY YEARS AT A TIME.
BUT I HAD CONVINCED MYSELF AND EVERY DOCTOR ON THE PLANET I WAS A WEAK LITTLE WAIF AND NEEDED CONSTANT TRANQUILIZERS.
TRANQS CAUSE REBOUND ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW YOUR OWN FREEDOM THAT EXISTS, WHILE YOU INSIST ON STILL TAKING THEM. YOU HAVE TALKED YOURSELF INTO STILL NEEDING PILLS, RATHER THAN BEING PATIENT AND SEE THAT IT MIGHT BE A WHOLE LOT BETTER THAN YOU THINK.
FOR ME, I REGAINED MY WHOLE LIFE BACK AS NEVER BEFORE, HAVE JUST HAD THE BEST 20 MONTHS OF MY LIFE, AND 99.9% OF EVERY ILL, FOR WHICH I NEEDED A PILL, WAS RUBBISH.
OF COURSE AT A DETOX, THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE YOUR MEDS FROM YOU. YOU NEED TO LET THEM BE THE DOCTORS, NOT YOU.
YES, I DID GET ONE BENZO IN THE 3 DAYS I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL; I REFUSED ANY AFTER THAT, I WAS SO DETERMINED. MY SPIRITUAL AWAKENING HAPPENED IN THAT HOSPITAL BED.
I ALSO HAD DETOXED AT HOME (FOOLISHLY) FOR 2 WEEKS, AND NEEDED 911 ANYWAY.
YOU CAN'T ASK FOR HELP TO GET CLEAN, AND THEN SET UP THE RULES. CLEAN IS CLEAN AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAN, BY THE TIME YOU WALK OUT OF THERE.
FOLLOW THROUGH ON A STRICT AFTERCARE PROGRAM, GET TO MEETINGS-YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
YEA, I'M AN OLD FOGEY, BUT YOU ASKED FOR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS; THERE IT IS!!
GOOD LUCK.
if you are serious about getting help then let the treatment center help you. they are wise to us addicts that want to call the shots. believe me!
my pat experience i know for me my way never worked. i really wanted helped so with the help of professionals that were at the treatment center i got help and the tools to recovery to help me in the real world.
so, if you don't go because they won't use a drug that you currently use (klonopin) then i guess that is your choice. sad, but true.
i know i changed one addiction for another, from booze to benzos, pain killers etc...
i had thought too, wow i kicked the booze thing on my own and to be honest i just changed from one addiction to another.
in my first treatment center i also wanted a benzo that i currently used (that i only took very little of (yeah right)! at that time it sounded good. in my own mind at that time i wanted help only because i was getting into to trouble and or to get people off my back. i was only willing to go half way. i wanted my cake and eat it too.
i was only fooling myself.
this addiction is serious stuff. it kills. i have seen death with so many. this disease/addtion can take you out when you least expect.
when people use to tell me about how dangerous addction is... i had to see it with my own eyes. and i have seen just that. it will take your soul.
i have danced with the devil in active addition and that is someplace i never want to go back too. i wanted my life back and i did whatever i had to. if that meant eating $hit 3 times a day i did it. if i was uncomfortable i GOT comfortable. because i wanted that bad. i had hit my rock bottle!
wish you well.
my pat experience i know for me my way never worked. i really wanted helped so with the help of professionals that were at the treatment center i got help and the tools to recovery to help me in the real world.
so, if you don't go because they won't use a drug that you currently use (klonopin) then i guess that is your choice. sad, but true.
i know i changed one addiction for another, from booze to benzos, pain killers etc...
i had thought too, wow i kicked the booze thing on my own and to be honest i just changed from one addiction to another.
in my first treatment center i also wanted a benzo that i currently used (that i only took very little of (yeah right)! at that time it sounded good. in my own mind at that time i wanted help only because i was getting into to trouble and or to get people off my back. i was only willing to go half way. i wanted my cake and eat it too.
i was only fooling myself.
this addiction is serious stuff. it kills. i have seen death with so many. this disease/addtion can take you out when you least expect.
when people use to tell me about how dangerous addction is... i had to see it with my own eyes. and i have seen just that. it will take your soul.
i have danced with the devil in active addition and that is someplace i never want to go back too. i wanted my life back and i did whatever i had to. if that meant eating $hit 3 times a day i did it. if i was uncomfortable i GOT comfortable. because i wanted that bad. i had hit my rock bottle!
wish you well.
Well, I appreciate all the input, but I found out that getting off the pain pills is going to have to be on an outpatient basis anyway.
The insurance company couldn't guarantee any more that 3 days of detox which would cost ME $1500. Now THAT was an awakening, only certainly not the spiritual kind! The max is 7 days....if they even authorize it. They said it could take up to a MONTH to get further authorization if I needed more that the 3 days. Please, you can't get off chocolate in 3 days. I can just see me paying the big bucks (at least to us), coming home & going back again for another 4 days somewhere down the line?? I don't think so.
I'm not trying to tell any treatment center how to conduct their business, but look at the threads (here & on other boards) and you can see for yourself how many times people have had to go again & again & again. So, something isn't quite right there. The relapse rate for AA/NA is extremely high. I honestly don't think addiction/dependence is a disease. It's a choice and I made the wrong one in accepting the RX for hydro for pain. It's far too easy to blame a "disease" than to take responsibility for your actions. This subject has been debated to death & was not my reason for coming here & I don't intend to discuss it further. (Sorta like religion & politics, I guess).
So, I've arranged to go on an outpatient basis with a therapist ($15 a visit - a bit easier on the checking account) for the painkillers and will address the Klonopin after that if necessary.
I've never abused the K, have never even thought about buying it online or hoarding it or whatever as I have a legitimate RX for it (with refills) for GAD. In fact, I've known people who have taken it for many years without increasing their dosage. Any rebound effect is when you stop abruptly (at least in my expericence). Actually, K is primarily an anti-seizure medication, and it helps enormously with nighttime back spasms.
Anyway, tapering off any benzo is absolutely the only way to go. In fact, there's a very real chance of seizures if not done correctly. A simple Google search will verify all this. Or check out the benzo UK site (which is awesome & helped me enormously with the Xanax).
From experience, I can't imagine why someone would voluntarily cold turkey a benzo. Why torture yourself like that?? If it took 2 years (just to pick a number) to develop a habit, a few months getting off while using meditation, exercise, guided imagery, among other healthy options shouldn't make any difference.
Any with-it doctor (and there are some, thank goodness), knows all this & will work with you on it as mine did. It's not like stopping drinking or pain pills at all. Getting off hydro is a walk in the park compared to a benzo. Sudden benzo WD is like your worst nightmare times 10. Perhaps I should've posted all this on the benzo thread, but it's the hydro I'm concerned with so I thought this would be the better thread.
Cold turkey from hydro doesn't even freak me out that much. And alcohol was much, much easier than I had ever anticipated. I stopped when I was pretty young, 24 years ago, as I mentioned, and have never looked back. I felt great from the very first day I quit.
My whole thing now is to get off the pain pills - the benzo isn't even an issue at this point. One thing at a time (to paraphrase). Thanks again for your feedback. Be well.
The insurance company couldn't guarantee any more that 3 days of detox which would cost ME $1500. Now THAT was an awakening, only certainly not the spiritual kind! The max is 7 days....if they even authorize it. They said it could take up to a MONTH to get further authorization if I needed more that the 3 days. Please, you can't get off chocolate in 3 days. I can just see me paying the big bucks (at least to us), coming home & going back again for another 4 days somewhere down the line?? I don't think so.
I'm not trying to tell any treatment center how to conduct their business, but look at the threads (here & on other boards) and you can see for yourself how many times people have had to go again & again & again. So, something isn't quite right there. The relapse rate for AA/NA is extremely high. I honestly don't think addiction/dependence is a disease. It's a choice and I made the wrong one in accepting the RX for hydro for pain. It's far too easy to blame a "disease" than to take responsibility for your actions. This subject has been debated to death & was not my reason for coming here & I don't intend to discuss it further. (Sorta like religion & politics, I guess).
So, I've arranged to go on an outpatient basis with a therapist ($15 a visit - a bit easier on the checking account) for the painkillers and will address the Klonopin after that if necessary.
I've never abused the K, have never even thought about buying it online or hoarding it or whatever as I have a legitimate RX for it (with refills) for GAD. In fact, I've known people who have taken it for many years without increasing their dosage. Any rebound effect is when you stop abruptly (at least in my expericence). Actually, K is primarily an anti-seizure medication, and it helps enormously with nighttime back spasms.
Anyway, tapering off any benzo is absolutely the only way to go. In fact, there's a very real chance of seizures if not done correctly. A simple Google search will verify all this. Or check out the benzo UK site (which is awesome & helped me enormously with the Xanax).
From experience, I can't imagine why someone would voluntarily cold turkey a benzo. Why torture yourself like that?? If it took 2 years (just to pick a number) to develop a habit, a few months getting off while using meditation, exercise, guided imagery, among other healthy options shouldn't make any difference.
Any with-it doctor (and there are some, thank goodness), knows all this & will work with you on it as mine did. It's not like stopping drinking or pain pills at all. Getting off hydro is a walk in the park compared to a benzo. Sudden benzo WD is like your worst nightmare times 10. Perhaps I should've posted all this on the benzo thread, but it's the hydro I'm concerned with so I thought this would be the better thread.
Cold turkey from hydro doesn't even freak me out that much. And alcohol was much, much easier than I had ever anticipated. I stopped when I was pretty young, 24 years ago, as I mentioned, and have never looked back. I felt great from the very first day I quit.
My whole thing now is to get off the pain pills - the benzo isn't even an issue at this point. One thing at a time (to paraphrase). Thanks again for your feedback. Be well.
