Hi Everyone...I have been reading your posts for awhile and I hope I am at the right place for answers. I will try to not make this too long...I was in a car accident this past July and have been on oxycontin 40mg and percocet (breakthrough pain) since. I have been taking them as prescribed and am taking far less percocet now than a month or so ago, since my pain is starting to decrease. So what is the problem? Just in the last 2 weeks or so, I feel myself coming off of the oxycontin after just 9 hrs or so...sometimes even less. It almost feels like my skin is crawling from the inside and I am cold beyond belief!! Is this normal? I haven't been too worried about withdrawl from these pills until now, and I don't know what side effects are normal and how hard this is! Does anyone come off of this drugs easily? What can I expect?( I am terrified and I love that this forum is set up and that someone out there can help me.) Thanks for your time and good luck to everyone I have read about!
Jenelle, I have never been on oxy, so I can't really comment accurately on withdrawing from that drug, but I saw that no one had posted yet and didn't want you to think that you were all alone (be patient - sometimes everyone is on at the same time and you can't keep up with it all, other times no one is on and you're stuck talking to yourself... lol)
I was on Norco (hydrocodone), so the withdrawals are similar (though oxy and percs seem to be much more intense).
The skin crawling thing is normal.... I remember it feeling like I had a thousand little bugs crawling on me and my head wouldn't stop tingling. I also had a feeling like electricity was surging through my body - it didn't hurt, it was just strange.
You'll probably be anxious, have restless legs, some stomach cramps, backaches, things like that.... Everyone is different and it really depends on how long you've been taking it and how much. Some people experience diarrhea and vomiting, though I didn't. Make sure you drink plenty of gatorade and keep Immodium nearby.
Are you quitting the drug? HAVE you quit? Are you tapering down?
If you're going to do it, it seems like the more anxiety and uncertainness you have about the process, the worst you'll feel. This time, I told my husband "I'm going to treat this like I'm coming down with the flu" and I was prepared (though I didn't even really get sick). I spent the first day lying down, took vitamins, took cold medicine, and concentrated on nurturing myself.
And we are all here for moral support if you need us....
I was on Norco (hydrocodone), so the withdrawals are similar (though oxy and percs seem to be much more intense).
The skin crawling thing is normal.... I remember it feeling like I had a thousand little bugs crawling on me and my head wouldn't stop tingling. I also had a feeling like electricity was surging through my body - it didn't hurt, it was just strange.
You'll probably be anxious, have restless legs, some stomach cramps, backaches, things like that.... Everyone is different and it really depends on how long you've been taking it and how much. Some people experience diarrhea and vomiting, though I didn't. Make sure you drink plenty of gatorade and keep Immodium nearby.
Are you quitting the drug? HAVE you quit? Are you tapering down?
If you're going to do it, it seems like the more anxiety and uncertainness you have about the process, the worst you'll feel. This time, I told my husband "I'm going to treat this like I'm coming down with the flu" and I was prepared (though I didn't even really get sick). I spent the first day lying down, took vitamins, took cold medicine, and concentrated on nurturing myself.
And we are all here for moral support if you need us....
Thanks Danielle so much for your reply. I haven't started to come off them yet...my dr. just wrote me for another month the other day as my pain is still pretty intense.
The trouble is that now I am not sure which is worse, the pain or the pain medication. I have no energy (4 kids..2 of them under 3) I feel miserable and lazy. I didn't feel like this in the beginning, just recently. The same as the withdrawl feelings are recent! This seems strange to me, why would I feel these side effects now?
Anyhow, I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and thanks again for answering.
The trouble is that now I am not sure which is worse, the pain or the pain medication. I have no energy (4 kids..2 of them under 3) I feel miserable and lazy. I didn't feel like this in the beginning, just recently. The same as the withdrawl feelings are recent! This seems strange to me, why would I feel these side effects now?
Anyhow, I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and thanks again for answering.
When I quit taking Norco a few months ago, it took three weeks before I felt "normal"...... 21 days before I walked around thinking "Where did my energy go?" It was just like one day I woke up and mentally and physically I was okay.
It's tough because your body is used to having these drugs in your system.... so it's a shock once they're gone or the dose is reduced..... But the more you resume your life and stop obsessing about the pills, the better it will be.
When I quit, I remember that every little ache, every pain, every runny nose, I would think "Is this a symptom of withdrawal? Is this because of the pain pills?" I thought about the Norco CONSTANTLY.
Then, one day, I got a headache and just thought "My head hurts." I was tired and thought "I'm going to bed early tonight." The pills were no longer in my mind. Recovery got easier.
Keep trying to taper off of them..... you took the first step - often the hardest- by admitting that this was troubling you and asking someone to help.
I wish you the best
It's tough because your body is used to having these drugs in your system.... so it's a shock once they're gone or the dose is reduced..... But the more you resume your life and stop obsessing about the pills, the better it will be.
When I quit, I remember that every little ache, every pain, every runny nose, I would think "Is this a symptom of withdrawal? Is this because of the pain pills?" I thought about the Norco CONSTANTLY.
Then, one day, I got a headache and just thought "My head hurts." I was tired and thought "I'm going to bed early tonight." The pills were no longer in my mind. Recovery got easier.
Keep trying to taper off of them..... you took the first step - often the hardest- by admitting that this was troubling you and asking someone to help.
I wish you the best
Oxys are a bit-- to get off of, I was up to 400 mgs a day about 2 years ago, the major problem with them even if taken as perscribed is that they dont last 12 hours , at the 9th or 10 hour you know immediatly that its left your system and have to take another, wheras morpine for example you have a good 5 hours or so after the 12 before you feel it leaving your system. so In my opinion they are much more addictive. You could try to taper, go on short term methadone or go inpatient. just some suggestions Im sure others have some also but we wish you the best of luck . oxys are nothing to play around with and I personally would not suggest going cold turkey keep us informed Best Ray
Thanks a lot Ramon for your feedback...I was beginning to wonder if anyone else would answer my plea for help! I am at 2-40mg pills per day and I am trying VERY hard to hang on to that amount. Each day I feel the withdrawls strarting earlier than the day before and I can't stand the sensation. Today at 6 hrs since my last dose I took 2 percocet to get over the hump...and then my next at the prescribed 12 hrs...is this better than just taking the oxy at the time that I start to feel like s**t?? I feel like something is crawling under my skin and that I can't get warm, and I am freezing! Each day I feel more and more tired and depressed. I was in a car accident in July and until 2 weeks ago, I felt o.k..
Been going to physio and getting better and then about 2 weeks ago, I felt the oxy starting to kick off before the 12 hours...just out of nowhere. I started to feel lazy and depressed (crying all the time) and the most awful sensations in my skin and limbs! Does this sound strange? This is the first place I went to for help (my Doctor's office is closed until after the holidays, and even then, I wonder if she will have real understanding about this) I have 4 young kids, and I am crazy with sadness about all this time I am losing with them. Every day, it feels worse and worse, and I am sooooo afraid of what is to come? Has anybody been weened off of this without too much discomfort? I am trying as hard as I can to hold on to my 80 mg a day...but it is getting harder...today was terrible... I am Petrified of what lies ahead...PLEASE help anyone.....
Been going to physio and getting better and then about 2 weeks ago, I felt the oxy starting to kick off before the 12 hours...just out of nowhere. I started to feel lazy and depressed (crying all the time) and the most awful sensations in my skin and limbs! Does this sound strange? This is the first place I went to for help (my Doctor's office is closed until after the holidays, and even then, I wonder if she will have real understanding about this) I have 4 young kids, and I am crazy with sadness about all this time I am losing with them. Every day, it feels worse and worse, and I am sooooo afraid of what is to come? Has anybody been weened off of this without too much discomfort? I am trying as hard as I can to hold on to my 80 mg a day...but it is getting harder...today was terrible... I am Petrified of what lies ahead...PLEASE help anyone.....
Dear Janelle, I had a friend who had a serious condition and had to take large doses of oxy daily. Her condition started to improve but she felt terrible all the time. Her dr told her that even though she was taking her meds, she was in a constant state of w/d. Apparantly w/d starts quickly in oxys. She started a dr supervised tapering of the med which took months. She went down slowly and even then she was pretty miseralbe. She is completly off them now and can't believe how good she feels. Those things were zapping her of her energy, and just her will to do anything at all. Now she has a normal life and feels good most of the time. Good luck! Much love, Kat
Thanks Kat...How miserable was miserable? and how many months do you know? I realize that if you are on this message board that you have your own afflictions (or have recovered) Good Luck to you too and God Bless.
P.S. Has anyone ever come off of this stuff easily?? Reading these other posts sounds terrifying, since I have never met anyone who has taken legal or illegal drugs, or seen anyone go through withdrawl... Can anything make this easier?
P.S. Has anyone ever come off of this stuff easily?? Reading these other posts sounds terrifying, since I have never met anyone who has taken legal or illegal drugs, or seen anyone go through withdrawl... Can anything make this easier?
Well it looks like you have a few options. I would say talk to your doctor about weaning you down to a very low dose over a period of time. Then you may want to look into suboxone. If I had known about it when I was withdrawling off methadone I would have done it in a heart beat! It is for short term use and I don't know a lot about it but I do know if you take it when the withdrawls first start it should take them totally away. Also you can't take a percocet or something while taking it because you won't feel the "high" anyway! Maybe someone else with some experience with it can give you more info. I would first talk with your current doctor after the holiday's and hopefully she will come up with a plan to get you off them since she is the one who put you on them.
Another thing I do know how hard it is. I was taking methadone for a couple years and it was a living hell getting off and staying off but I did. Methadone is very simular to the Oxy withdrawl. I know a few friends that have been through it as well. If you have young children please keep in mind one of those pills of yours on the floor could be the end for them, so please make sure that never happens. Taking care of 4 children and going through withdrawls is a horrible combination. I know I have 3 and I have been down that road a few times. You can do it but I feel you need medical attention to see you through it, along with all of us. Hang in there. If you feel you can't talk to your doctor then Try and wean down a little each week. Like say every monday you take 5mg less than usual. Then the next monday you do the same. Take reg tylenol in between or motrin, hot bathes etc. Benadryl is great for sleep. Try and take vitamins and exercise if possible. It really does make a difference energy wise. Get some B-12 Lozenges. They dissolve under your tongue and work great for energy(since you said you were tired).. Best of luck to you on your journey!! Rae
Another thing I do know how hard it is. I was taking methadone for a couple years and it was a living hell getting off and staying off but I did. Methadone is very simular to the Oxy withdrawl. I know a few friends that have been through it as well. If you have young children please keep in mind one of those pills of yours on the floor could be the end for them, so please make sure that never happens. Taking care of 4 children and going through withdrawls is a horrible combination. I know I have 3 and I have been down that road a few times. You can do it but I feel you need medical attention to see you through it, along with all of us. Hang in there. If you feel you can't talk to your doctor then Try and wean down a little each week. Like say every monday you take 5mg less than usual. Then the next monday you do the same. Take reg tylenol in between or motrin, hot bathes etc. Benadryl is great for sleep. Try and take vitamins and exercise if possible. It really does make a difference energy wise. Get some B-12 Lozenges. They dissolve under your tongue and work great for energy(since you said you were tired).. Best of luck to you on your journey!! Rae
Jennelle, I met a guy at the docs office (suboxone doctor) that used sub to get off of oxy's and it worked great, he was about 5-6 weeks into the program and was in the process of weaning off of the sub. Weaning off of the sub is a WHOLE lot easier than weaning off of oxy's, according to him anyway I never took oxy's.
Good luck
JohnDee
Good luck
JohnDee
Thanks for the great advice!
I felt hope following your suggestions about suboxone and soon discovered that it wasn't available in Canada. It doesn't even seem if there is an alternative.
There seems to be little to no treatment centres around where I live which is dissappointing. Very little information, and the facilities seem more geared towards street drug users or those with severe addictions.
Does anyone out there know of an alternative to suboxone that is available in Canada? It sounded like it would have been the right solution for me. Today I was just 7 hrs into my dose when I felt withdrawl, and it is awful. I am so scared of what is ahead of me and you guys are my only link to any real advice. Thanks so much to those who have answered. This is the first time I have ever spoken to anyone on the net and you all have helped me so much. Just knowing that there are people out there with similar problems...now I just need help to get off these pills with not so much withdrawl!
Happy New Year to All!
Jennelle in Ontario, Canada
I felt hope following your suggestions about suboxone and soon discovered that it wasn't available in Canada. It doesn't even seem if there is an alternative.
There seems to be little to no treatment centres around where I live which is dissappointing. Very little information, and the facilities seem more geared towards street drug users or those with severe addictions.
Does anyone out there know of an alternative to suboxone that is available in Canada? It sounded like it would have been the right solution for me. Today I was just 7 hrs into my dose when I felt withdrawl, and it is awful. I am so scared of what is ahead of me and you guys are my only link to any real advice. Thanks so much to those who have answered. This is the first time I have ever spoken to anyone on the net and you all have helped me so much. Just knowing that there are people out there with similar problems...now I just need help to get off these pills with not so much withdrawl!
Happy New Year to All!
Jennelle in Ontario, Canada
Hi Jennelle..how much oxy are you taking? Since you dont' have treatment options..I would echo Danielle's advice, and try to taper..
I know how hard that is to do, but it sounds as if your body is now chemically dependent on them. Please be careful, and if you can catch this and stop now, you are better off..
Good luck, and you must be freezing...do you have heater blocks in your parking lots...lol...I don't think that I could handle the cold..
Kerry
I know how hard that is to do, but it sounds as if your body is now chemically dependent on them. Please be careful, and if you can catch this and stop now, you are better off..
Good luck, and you must be freezing...do you have heater blocks in your parking lots...lol...I don't think that I could handle the cold..
Kerry
jenelle first WELCOME!!! I can speak for myself when I say these people feel like family to me and I only joined in Nov.I may noy be able to answer your questions but I will try to help in anyway I can.The common goal here is recovery and I can say honestly everything you are now feeling we all can understand.My name is mollyjean or mj for short.If I can help I'm usaully on here in the weekdays 8am-3:30 or so pm.....mjps hi little beach HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!We MADE IT TO ANOTHER YEAR!!!!!
Hang in there girl!
I have never been on that particular flavor of pills but have been doing 16-18 pills a day for about 6 years. (codeine).
I just now finished what I call "the work" of detoxing. I tapered down rather quickly, and then just quit on New Years Eve. Its now 70 hours later and I feel I'm over the "scary" part of withdrawls.
My advice to you is to taper down slowly for days and just try to put up with the uncomfortableness for longer and longer periods of time until you are just taking enough to keep you from heavy flu symptoms.
Then just plan on 6-12 hours of very bad flu with NO sleep and constant movement of your legs and arms.
The hardest part is not being able to sleep for about 48 hours but feeling Dead tired.
I'm not going to sugar coat it! IT IS GOING TO BE WORK! But the hardest part is BY FAR! the dreading of doing it before you ever start.
Its 70 hours for me now and I still have about 50 pills in front of me. ( with NO POSSIBLE way that I will touch them. They will be a reminder to me that I have "DONE THE WORK"
I over heard a freind of mine tell someone who was playing with him about not being able to quit smoking, that "I'm stronger than you think I am". That impressed me because everyone is capable of being strong and just sticking it out.During those hard 6-12 hours of discomfort, I just kept repeating to myself that" I'm stranger than you think with the help of GOD and his grace".
It kinda was a chant for me when I was tempted to cave and take just 1 to releave the dicomfort.
This is a long winded way of me telling you, that If I can do this on my own, YOU can DEFINATELY DO THIS!
Stop dreading the process and just make up your mind that you will have the FLU for about 3 days. Be sick but be strong and remember. If you don't cave, you will start feeling like your over the hill in about 12-24 hours and then start to constantly feel better.
Be starong and GOD bless,
Selly
I have never been on that particular flavor of pills but have been doing 16-18 pills a day for about 6 years. (codeine).
I just now finished what I call "the work" of detoxing. I tapered down rather quickly, and then just quit on New Years Eve. Its now 70 hours later and I feel I'm over the "scary" part of withdrawls.
My advice to you is to taper down slowly for days and just try to put up with the uncomfortableness for longer and longer periods of time until you are just taking enough to keep you from heavy flu symptoms.
Then just plan on 6-12 hours of very bad flu with NO sleep and constant movement of your legs and arms.
The hardest part is not being able to sleep for about 48 hours but feeling Dead tired.
I'm not going to sugar coat it! IT IS GOING TO BE WORK! But the hardest part is BY FAR! the dreading of doing it before you ever start.
Its 70 hours for me now and I still have about 50 pills in front of me. ( with NO POSSIBLE way that I will touch them. They will be a reminder to me that I have "DONE THE WORK"
I over heard a freind of mine tell someone who was playing with him about not being able to quit smoking, that "I'm stronger than you think I am". That impressed me because everyone is capable of being strong and just sticking it out.During those hard 6-12 hours of discomfort, I just kept repeating to myself that" I'm stranger than you think with the help of GOD and his grace".
It kinda was a chant for me when I was tempted to cave and take just 1 to releave the dicomfort.
This is a long winded way of me telling you, that If I can do this on my own, YOU can DEFINATELY DO THIS!
Stop dreading the process and just make up your mind that you will have the FLU for about 3 days. Be sick but be strong and remember. If you don't cave, you will start feeling like your over the hill in about 12-24 hours and then start to constantly feel better.
Be starong and GOD bless,
Selly
