i cant kick this addiction and i want to!

Dear lill33,
Welcome to the HW chronic pain forum. We glad you're hear but always sad to learn of another person in chronic pain. There's a a couple of threads (topics) discussing this very issue right now. Please read the one on Clarifying Addiction, Dependence & Tolerance and go to the link in the first post to read the article. But also read the thread from mrspile (I think that's the name) because she is struggling with similar things.

Can you not take your medication and not have your migraines? I don't know. That's for you and your doctor to decide, and we can be here for support and to provide some information, but we're not doctors. Most all of us would like to not have to take the medications we're on, and not have the pain return. But sometimes you have to face reality and make hard choices. The one thing I would say is don't play around with withdrawing on your own! Discuss this with your doctor. It can be dangerous to withdraw abruptly, plus then once your doctor sees you're not taking the medication according to his/her instruction, and you want to return to taking it, you could run into serious problems finding a doc who will prescribe. So work WITH your doctor around possible medication changes or withdrawing.

But it sounds like the withdrawal may be due to your running out? If so, why have you run out early? That could be a sign that you're not taking them as prescribed. I'm a little unclear if you just ran out a day or so early, or if you've still got several days to go. And are you on oxycontin? I'm a little confused about exactly what medication you're on. But I repeat, it's dangeorus to abruptly withdraw without medical supervision.

Try to share a little more info. with us.

PaLady

Hi lill. I am new here too and also working on getting off the percocet. I was going to do it on my own, and the wonderful people here made me understand to go see my dr. I did today and she gave me some valium to help with the restless legs. I get them bad. I do not get the headaches, of course, because it sounds like you have them from the growth you are dealing with. You need to go toyour dr and ask for help with this process and there are so many options out there. BUT my dr told me today, there is never such a thing as a comfortable withdrawal period, and each person is different. I wish you the best. Everyone here is so helpful and supportive.
God Bless

Are you seeing a pain specialist?

If so, maybe they can try some different injections or treatments. I've had occipital nerve blocks. If those work for you, for long term they might be able to do radio frequency nerve ablation (RF). I'm not sure how possible those are with your other issues, but maybe you could ask the doctor what other treatments you can try. The nerve blocks usually last me a week or so. The RF lasted a couple of years.

Also, I know some people who have done biofeedback for migraines. I tried to get it, but was disqualified because I also have Chiari, so I'm not sure whether you'll find someone who will treat you with that, but something to keep in mind. Other alternative therapies like craniosacral therapy (a form of massage) and acupuncture have also helped me to a lesser degree. Like Scarred, part of my issue was that my teeth were uneven -- in my case because I was grinding them in my sleep -- so I got an occlusial splint & mostly don't start my days with headaches any more. I would encourage you find a good pain specialist and ask him to discuss as many options as possible with you. A lot of the time they talk about meds first, which I guess makes sense since most of them are trained in anesthesiology, but if you keep asking sometimes you can find some really good alternatives to taking meds.

Hope you find something that works for you & best wishes on the withdrawal. We'll just all have to support each other as we go through that tough period.

frances :)