Introduction/Help With Soon To Come Withdrawal Symptoms

Hello everyone here at h/w I am brand new to this website and sorry if this post runs a bit long i am here to cover a few topics including my chronic illness a little on my religion and my situation that will soon lead me to my 4th withdrawal period.

well I was born with sickle cell anemia so ever since i can remember ive been in the hospital (50 times by the age of 2!) anyway as i got older the visits became less frequent because of me taking better care of myself and tolerating pain a bit more (somewhere around the ballpark of one visit every 2-3 months). That being said, ive been gettin presciption medication since i was 7 years old and i am now 21. The 1st time i started taking pills just for the "high" and I was not feeling any pain at all was around middle school age (12-13) and sadly over the course of then till now have become addicted to narcotics mainly percocet, roxicodone, morphine, and dilaudid. While i do take more than prescribed im not an overboard addict (meaning instead of the prescribed 4 a day i nowadays take around 6-8 a day) and while that still isnt something im boasting about i just feel i can say it because i know about 3 people who take at least 10 or more roxicodone 30mg pills a day and others who are far worst than me with other/all types of drugs. I really do thank God for not letting me get to a point where it overtakes my life and i also know that im very wrong for not really making an effort to quit but nobody is perfect and this is one of my flaws, also i was raised in a strong christian family so God plays the biggest part in my life and he has always been there for me threw out all of my sickle cell crisis and any problems that arise in my life no matter how hard it may get.

now on to the problem

I have had three previous withdrawals in my life and they were absolutely horrible, one of which i faked being sick to get admitted in the hospital just for the medication. This month (on the 9th) I got my monthly prescription for my pills 150 roxicodone 30mg pills, and right now i am running low on them and i even started to cut down about a week ago and I know for a fact im gonna run out before the next script on august 6th because i do have actual pain in my hip which is pending for surgery next month. With this hip pain its hard for me to walk, sleep, bend my leg, and even sit down sometimes so when you combine that with my addiction the pills have been going unusually fast this month so my question is does anyone have any suggestions or ways to go about making a withdrawal period not come on so harsh or be as rough as they usually are...any remedies, tips, foods/drinks, anything is welcomed because im pretty sure by next week this time ill be taking my last pill if i havent already. I will continue to pray and hopefully ill get some responses.

Thank you in advance and if any of you would like to email me for anything personal im at: flybri87 at hotmail dot com

Im open to any and all emails regarding this so please do not hesitate.

(I rewrote your email address so web spiders can't find it)

Post Edited By Moderator (Chutz) : 7/21/2008 5:04:51 PM (GMT-6)

Welcome to the HW boards. I'm not sure that I can help you with managing the withdrawal symptoms or finding a way to make it easier to get through, other than strongly suggesting that you speak with your PM doctor.
You are taking a lot of medication, strong medication, and you have already gone through a substantial amount of them in the last 12 days.
I would strongly suggest that you find someone whom you can trust to hold your pills and start a taper plan to get you through the withdrawal.
Does you PM do any testing to verify that you are taking your meds, and at the right amounts? I would also worry about whether or not you are subject to random testing and what you will do if your urine screens or blood screens come back with too high or too low the amounts for the amounts you are supposed to have in your system?
Anyway, I hope that you can find a way to get some help with the abuse of the meds. It's a downward spiral that you can't control without the help of your doctor or a treatment center.
Sandi

Thanks for the welcome everyone I really appreciate them all.

mrsm123, starting next month i am definitely going to give the prescription to my mother to hold because i cant continue going on this way. Also to answer your question no, my pain management doctor does not test me for anything at all probably because he is only a temporary doctor to manage my pain till about a few months after my hip surgery (to slowly decrease my dosage over the months after the surgery and then i go back to my regular doctor prescribing percocet for back pain if it arises).

Morgoth I want to thank you for bringing up the good point about the kidney thing because while it wasn't the main reason it totally helped in wanting me to live pill free pretty soon.Truthfully I do pray to God for help, guidance, and the strength to get threw the withdrawals and I know it will be hard plus while that post may have seemed like i was looking for a miracle to pass by the withdrawal I was just looking for something to make it a bit easier but once again thanks for your advice.

I will continue to post here about how my days are going cutting back on my meds and how the withdrawal period is for me

Hi Dysin and welcome! You've been getting great comments and advice. If I may offer a couple of thoughts...no, remember I'm a mom and grandma so my view on things comes from that angle. This is a bit of tough love...ok?

First, yes you are taking more than you should. End of fact #1. It doesn't matter that others are taking more than you...what matters is what you do to your own body. So let's try to get you clean and straight and others are on their own.

Next, you are a very lucky person that your doc is still prescribing your pills. They will eventually find out if you're abusing. One time they will call before your next appointment and tell you to bring in your bottle with the last of the pills in it...and you won't have enough. Then they'll know you've been taking too much. Oops...busted! Once caught no other doc will touch you.

Now, you are trying to get thru til surgery. Are you sure? The pain is supposed to back off after surgery? Then they will start taking you off of the meds. Let's talk about surgery. When you get anesthesia they have to know all of the other meds you take..Especially any narcotics and the exact amount and when. That's how they dose the meds they give you for surgery. If you don't tell them the truth you could end up in serious condition and they won't be to blame.

OK, so far I've beaten you up pretty thoroughly and I'm sorry BUT I want you to live! You are playing with your life here. I take oxycontin and percocet every day and some days I hurt so bad I wish I had more to take but I don't. I just deal with it. No, it's not easy but it's where we are and what we have to do right now. I get no high nor buzz from the pain meds, just some relief if I'm lucky. If I take too much I get a blinding headache.

My suggestion would be to first tell your mom now. Don't wait til next month...but now. Hand her the pills you have left and ask for her help and love. Then I would suggest you get help getting off the pills. It's very dangerous going through withdrawal. People have died from it. There are medications they will prescribe to bring you down off of them without most, if any, of the withdrawal. Now is the time before your surgery. It's time to save your own life...I care about you!

Please keep in touch and you can email me any time you like.
Chutzie

Hey guys and thanks for the advice, while I know I don't need an addiction program or rehab your post did inspire me to make a few changes.

Well my mom already knew I take more than I should I don't think she knew how bad it actually was, so while I didn't tell her I was fully addicted I did give her the bottle and asked her to give me 4 a day as prescribed and so far I have not even taken one yet even though I do have a hip pain I keep reminding myself that I don't have to rely on them so...I don't. Plus don't worry if I don't finish them all by tomorrow I wont ask for 4 more, I was gonna probably cut down to 3 or 2 a day to save but that'll come with time.

Plus I'm very close to my surgeon and anesthesiologist and they know I take a lot of heavy medication from my family doctor and I having a few talks with them so I'm not worried about the amount of pain meds Ill get during and after surgery.

Palady I have not yet read your article but I did find the post so I will check it out and let you know what I think afterward but thank you and chutz for the advice I could tell you both wanted me 2 stop abusing and I do to. I'm heading out of town so I gotta get packing, and I'm bringing my laptop so Ill still be able to k.i.t. so Ill keep you posted.