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Posted 6/20/2009 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
Today is the first day of my self-imposed ramp down off of Oxycodone. I have set myself a schedule and reviewed it with my primary. He feels it is reasonable but wants to follow my progress. Last night was really the first night on the schedule which I actually put in place yesterday. Wow, at 3:00 AM I was wakened up by a storm and realized I was also starting the withdrawal symptoms. That was quick. So this morning I took a reduced dose and that seemed to keep things at bay. At least for a while, I hope. From previous experience I know that if I can get through the first week and stay on schedule the rest should come along more easily. Thanks all, for the great support. I'll keep you posted when I can.

Modelmaker
Posted 6/20/2009 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hang in there!  I hope you can keep your mind occupied reasonably well!!!  Build something for that grandson.  Please keep us posted.
Posted 6/20/2009 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
Modelmaker, I believe you can do it. If your mind is made up and you go slow, you will be fine. It's people going cold turkey that get very sick. I would never do it that way. It h

elped me marking my calendar to see the progress and it isn't bad if you taper slow. Best wishes.

Posted 6/20/2009 5:42 PM (GMT 0)
Grethen and Denim,

Thanks for words of encouragement! It helps, it really does.

As for keeping busy, not a problem. I am currently building a 1940s Chris Craft Barrelback speed boat. All mahogany. It takes A LOT of time to do it right. Very complicated build. No wonder these boats were considered the rich man's toy at the time. Of course, today there are only a few of these beauties restored and in the water. We used to live in MN and on Lake Minnetonka up there is a club of vintage Chris Craft boat owners. It was really fun to see their summer regatta when they attracted similar boats from all over the country. That's where I got interested in these boats. I can now better appreciate the craftsmen who built the original boats. Very highly skilled wooden boat makers.

Anyway, that's my primary diversion except from cleaning up a flood in my basement from a dishwasher that took on a life of its own! What it doesn't yet know is it will soon be living a life of its own in a landfill somewhere! That's another story. Got to keep a sense of humor through this.

Thanks again for all the encouragement. I never thought I would be counting and rationing pills into daily containers but I am.

Modelmaker
Posted 6/20/2009 6:00 PM (GMT 0)
Modelmaker,
Not only do I want to offer you encouragement, but I really want to say that the way you're trying to reduce your dose is the way it should be done - in conjunction with your doctor. There seem to be countless posts over the year or so I've been on this forum of people wanting instructions on how to reduce their pain meds on their own, and there's no good reason to do that. Yet if you feel you want to reduce or d/c your pain meds it's always worth discussing with your doctor. So kudos to you - you are our "model"!

And as far as building (restoring, I take it?) the Chris Craft - WOW! I've grown up on the Great Lakes, and used to have a small wooden sailboat (called "ok dinghey's) that were built locally to withstand the waves of Lake Erie. Many beautiful sailboats around here, but also I've seen some Chris Craft's in my day. The upkeep is horrendous though (well, maybe not to you! LOL). I did enjoy hand painting my little boat when I bought it, restoring all the rigging and such, but then I was 30 years younger. Sometimes when I close my eyes and remember sailing it seems like another lifetime. There's nothing like being on the open water, but it's sure hard on the spine. Much too hard for me anymore.

Anyway, good luck with everything!

PaLady
Posted 6/20/2009 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
Modlemaker, I also want to chime in on congradulations on doing your med adjusment the right way. Which one of us has not been tempted to quit but we also know the results. The boat project should keep you busy for some time. I am familiar with the boat and they are buitiful when restored. I told my wife we should sell the house, retire and buy a boat and live on it. She is not on board yet and I just love throwing her a curve every once in awhile to keep her on her toes. Good luck and my prayers are with you.

Posted 6/20/2009 6:16 PM (GMT 0)
Don't misunderstand, the boat project is for a large radio controlled scale maodel boat. Accurate in most details. Not the real thing. I don't have pockets quite that deep!

Modelmaker
Posted 6/20/2009 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
ROFL!! I should have realized from your name!!

Still, it's a project! And I could never do that kind of detail work. Maybe you'll have to post a photo on that website Chutzie has (which I can't remember the address of) when it's finished.

Thanks for making me laugh at myself. Any laugh is needed these days!

And fatherjohn - if you're going to throw your wife curve balls I suggest you be prepared to duck at the ones she throws back! :-)

PaLady
Posted 6/20/2009 8:34 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats Modelmaker! Sounds like your taper is going well so far. I agree with the others that you are doing it the proper way. Talking to your doctor, if you decide to step down on your meds or to d/c them as PA Lady said should always be done with the advice of a doctor.
I talked to mine when I decided to taper as well and it went very smoothly. I hope that you have the same results. Your working with your doctor also gives him an idea how it should be done as well, for future patients, and if you need help with managing some of the symptoms should they arise of withdrawal, he can help you medically manage them if needed.
There are no negatives to working with your doctor when it comes to stopping or lessening meds, and lots of positives to doing it the right way.
Hang in there,
Sandi
Posted 6/20/2009 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
People are talking about tapering, d/c (discontinuing?), reducing and a few other things. This is for pain meds, right?

If you all can reduce those meds, why were you on them in the first place at that level?

Is this an 'adjustment' of getting too used to one medication and going too high, so you are moving over to a different medication that your body isn't used to and so you can take a lower dosage?

I'd sure appreciate understanding this. I am on Methadone, and I'd be curious what I might move to if this happened to me (too used to it, and wanted to move to a different med). The way my PM explained this, I am 'at the end of the line' and there IS no med I could move sideways into. Pretty lousy getting THAT one when you first start on the pain med trail leading to too much. He said it, but I thought someone out there might have an idea while the subject is on the table...
Posted 6/21/2009 12:54 AM (GMT 0)

   Dear Modelmaker,

      I know you are increadibly stong, and if anyone can come out smiling, it is you. No doubt about it. *huggs* And your boat sounds so COOL! shocked   We want to see! Can you upload it some where and send us link?  :-) I bet it looks awesome!!!!

     *huggs*

     dani

Posted 6/21/2009 1:00 AM (GMT 0)
Tony,

You will find that after taking an opiod for a period of time the body develops a tolerance to the med and eventually you lose pain control effectiveness. So your doc ups the dosage to offset this effect. It's called the staircase or rollercoaster. You keep having to increase until you get to a point where the dosage is excessively high. Then you taper off and possibly start over again. In my case, I am switching docs and he felt that my dosage was too high (WAY too high) for him to do an accurate evaluation of my real pain and has me coming down. I don't know if he will keep me on oxycodone after his treatments (most likely Radio Frequency Ablation) or something else or possibly nothing. We have to see how effective the RFA is for me.

As for methadone, I am not sure if it behaves the same way but I would assume so from what I have heard. Perhaps someone here can add personal experience here.

Hope this helps.

Modelmaker
Posted 6/21/2009 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
Today is day 2. The withdrawal stuff started it 3:00 am. I am already through half of my alloted dose and it isn't even noon. This may be a very long day. I think I may have to allow a slight exception day today. After all it is Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

to Dani and others who have been enquiring about the boats, go to my Facebook models album at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2371&id=1801164006&l=b6da2c2438 and take a look at my boats. On the in-progress Chris Craft, if you look closely you can see the double hull. Inside are birch plys laid on the bias and outside are mahogany planks laid the long way. Makes for a very strong construct.

Modelmaker
Posted 6/21/2009 4:18 PM (GMT 0)
   Dear Modelmaker,

     I hope everything is going okay today. *huggs*

Your boats ARE AWESOME!!!! They look so real!! The detail is amazing. That is too cool yeah

 

*huggs*

dani

Posted 6/21/2009 4:22 PM (GMT 0)
   I have a facebook page too. Thou I get lost there it is new for me. I hope i am posting this right

 

 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30413&id=1801164006#/album.php?aid=7246&id=1371429944

 

 *huggs*

dani

Posted 6/21/2009 5:31 PM (GMT 0)
WOW modelmaker.  You are so very TALENTED!  I bet that hobby is so relaxing.  Does it help with your pain?  I know when I get into my hobbies time flies and my pain is pushed to the background.

Laurie

Posted 6/21/2009 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
Laurie,

Thank you for the compliment! I started building models as a kid with my Dad. We had some great times together building model planes. This was back in the mid 50s before radio control. So the plane was controlled by two wires and you just flew it in a circle. Still, I thought that was just the greatest experience ever. The little gas engines made a lot of noise and smoked a lot and left a caster oil film over everything.

After college I never built anything again. Just got caught up in other interests. Then when my accident put me out of work on disability and in lots of pain I had to find things I could do. So I decided to get back into modelmaking. The old building skills came right back! Things are much different now. Radio control is sophisticated and relatively inexpensive. Electric power has almost eclipsed the fuel engines. I tried planes again but my hand/eye coordination is not fast enough any longer for anything but a slow flying sailplane. So I turned to boats. You saw the pics of my recent efforts.

Yes, it does help with the pain. However, that's a double edged sword. The mental focus takes the mind off the pain until I get to the point where I have sat too long at the bench. Then the pain comes booming through and I have to quit for a while. But I've learned to pace my work. I also found genealogy is another great pain diversion for the same reasons.

How about the group? What kinds of hobbies and diversions do we have among us? I'd like to hear.

Thanks again for your interest and support. It means so much especially now.

Modelmaker
Posted 6/22/2009 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
Modelmaker,
Those ships and boats of yours are just gorgeous! Where , if I may ask, do you purchase the kits for the boats? Is there a website where I can take a look at ones similar to yours or is it a catalog? I'd love to see my husband do something like that with our two boys. Our big building projects are pinewood derby cars each December and January for the Cub Pack Pinewood Derby races. Although I must admit, our cars are rather creative. This year, I built a crayola crayon car, complete with various color crayons in the drivers compartment....LOL
Anyway, if you can direct me to some websites where I might find kits like the ones you are building or ones that are for beginners, that would be so very helpful!
Oh, I knit and crochet , mostly for charity, although I do make socks for the family and friends.....
Other than that, I volunteer with our sons' Cub Scouting program. I'll bet a local pack would love to see the work you do, or even a Boy Scout troop, with talent like yours, they'd sure put you to good use right away.
Want to move to NY?
Posted 6/22/2009 9:02 AM (GMT 0)
mrsm,

I don't know what building skill levels you may be talking about but MidwestProducts.com has kits of all sorts from beginners to more advanced. My Coast Guard boat and the LobsterYacht are both from Midwest. They also have airplanes, kites and of course, raw materials: balsa, bass, orther hardwoods in all dimensional sizes. I have heard, however, that they may be getting out of the kit business at least for some models but you can still find them at hobby shops.

Dumas makes great boat kits. Dumasproducts.com. That's where the Chris Craft came from. A word of warning, sometimes their directions are not as complete as they could be so perhaps some more parental help might be needed to interpret what they mean. The sailboat is also Dumas. Very ambiguous directions on that one. They also have kites and planes. Some of the models are strictly for show; others are for R/C so you have to read the descriptions to get what you want. But customer service is terrific. They are very responsive with help and replacement parts if needed. Their online kit prices are high for the market. You may find their kits discounted at online hobby stores like Tower Hobbies. towerhobbies.com.

If you want a little less building and more flying, try Hobby Lobby. Hobby-Lobby.com (include the hyphen). They have a wide selection of ready to run or ready to fly models. There are many, many smaller online resources for more specialized requirements but those are the biggies.

Hope your husband and son have a great time with the hobby. If you need more from me on this (since it is a little off topic for the Forum) contact me directly by email. Click the email icon to the left of my name. Good luck!

Modelmaker
Posted 6/22/2009 3:26 PM (GMT 0)
Modelmaker,
How are you doing today? I hope relatively well. Your post sounds upbeat.

I still have not figured out how to get on facebook and all those places! My cousins keep "inviting" me, but I think it's
this older computer and browser and frankly it's not high on the priority list to figure it all out.
If I do, I will check out your models. Would love to look at them!

PaLady
Posted 6/22/2009 4:22 PM (GMT 0)
Hi PALady,

I don't think you need a fancy computer or browser to get to facebook. It's at facebook.com and it's free. You don't have to post a picture of yourself or any other personal info if you do not want to. Just go to their home page and follow the instructions to set up your username, ID and password stuff. Then you're on! But if you just want to see my boats you don't need to sign up, just copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2371&id=1801164006&l=b6da2c2438 This will take you directly to my photo album called "models" of all things.

Today is going better than yesterday. I have found that, within the daily allowed max, I am better off with small but more frequent doses. Works much better at staving off the withdrawal symptoms. However, the pain has increased in a huge way. Someone here warned me that that might happen. Kind of a rebound effect where the pain seems to be worse than it actually is. Does that make any sense to you?

PALday, what part of PA are you in? My hometown is Jamestown, NY in the southwestern corner of NY State. When I lived there (a long time ago) I got to see a good bit of western PA. Nice country. That large reservoir near Warren (Kinzue) was newly opened (that dates me) and the parks around it were very nice for hiking. We used to take our kids there on weekends.

I hope your day is going well with low pain.

Modelmaker
Posted 6/22/2009 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
     Good Morning Modelmaker,

 

     I added you as a friend on facesbook. Hope I did it right.

*huggs*

dani

Posted 6/22/2009 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
Modelmaker,
I'll try the facebook a little later and see if I can get it to load right.

I'm around Erie - about an hour from Jamestown. Have been there often over the years, especially when visiting around Chautauqua. I haven't been able to do
a lot of the traveling and such because of pain and finances. Haven't been over that way in a few years.

Had dinner a few times with friends at Bemus Point. I really like it there.

PaLady
Posted 6/24/2009 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Mondelmaker,

Good luck with your taper! It sounds like it will be tough, but do-able. I've been lucky, that every time I have tapered off my meds, we have gone slow enough that I've never had any withdrawl symptoms (but then again, I haven't gotten any pain relief from these things either). It usually takes me several weeks to get off of a substantial dose of meds. I hope it is all smooth sailing for you, so to speak.

I did see the pictures of your models & they are beautiful! It really amazes me that the replicas look so real AND that they function! It sounds like a fun hobby. Unfortunately, I don't have much of any hobbies at the moment. Sadly, I can't even read for fun anymore. sad I miss that terribly. Sometimes I listen to books on tape, but unfortunately, most of the books that I read are not on tape!

Skeye
Posted 6/24/2009 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
Today is day 4 of the first week. Things are going OK except for my wacko neighbor but that's another story. I have successfully adjusted to the first step of my 5 step program. I no long have the withdrawal symptoms (at least at this step) but the pain is really bad sometimes. As one of you said, perhaps it is a rebound effect from coming off the high does that inflates the pain sensation? I don't really know -- couldn't tell the difference -- pain is pain.

I am about to lay the fiberglass on the boat and I am a little nervous. This is a one shot deal. There is no going back. If I mess it up it will be almost impossible to fix right. I have so much time into it so far I think I will wait for a little better day pain wise.

Modelmaker
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