oxycodone withdrawal also on methadone

     I am on 200mgs daily methadone for pain for 10 years [ruptured discs] then found I have degeneritive back disease with arthrites so DR put me on oxycodone 30mg every 4 hrs I have been taking for 4 months, the pain has eased up enough to want to get off the oxycodone DR says that should'nt feel any withdrawel because of the methadone. well I know that when I tried to stop I had awfull neck spasams and sweatting with depression and serious anxioty, How do I get off this oxycodone, or convince my DR to help me with this

GB,
I think that's a common myth b/c my PM used to say the same thing to me. The good news is that oxy has a very short half-life (about 4.5 hours). It will be uncomfortable, there's no way around that, but if you can suffer through it, the w/d symptoms should last less than a week. The worst of it should be over in a couple days.

I wish I had better news for you, but try to hang in there. The people in this Forum are great for support when you are trying to struggle through w/d. Just keep telling yourself that what you're experiencing is normal & that everything will be okay.

As for what helps me:
1. Drink as much water as you can. If you can't stand water, Gatorade or herbal tea are almost as good.
2. Try to find a way to be as comfortable & relaxed as possible for the next few days.
3. Stay away from all caffeine - including chocolate; sorry :( but that should help with the anxiety.
4. Take a warm bath or long shower (not hot, hot though b/c that can raise hr & increase the anxious feelings).
5. Ask a friend or get a professional massage to help with the muscle spasms.
6. Apply cool washcloths to your forehead or back of neck.

If you just can't take it anymore, call your doctor again. Maybe it's not called "withdrawal symptoms" when you're not completely off all narcotics, but I know I have similar withdrawal-like symptoms & know other people who feel the same way. Describe to him what you're feeling, when it started & ask what he can do to help. Maybe he can more slowly decrease the amount of oxy you're on until you're back down to zero. Otherwise he could maybe treat the symptoms with Catapres patch or such. That's what I get when I'm too miserable. It is a bp drug, so you don't have to worry about getting off it, but not all docs write for it. Some people get muscle relaxants & anti-anxiety meds, but those also can be habituating so I try to avoid them at all costs b/c I figure what's the point of trading one dependency for another (unless you need to be on the muscle relaxants or anti-anxiety meds for good).

Anyways, that's probably more than you bargained for, but hopefully you will find something in there that helps. Hang in there & know there are lots of good people here all the time so it can be another good resource to help you make it through a rough few days.

feel better,
frances

PaLady, my DR is a pain management clinic ,and Iwas taking 30mgs tablets every 4-6 hrs I am down to 3-4 30 mg pills daily , when I go below that all the symptoms start and I need to try to catch up with the pills to get stablized and stop the symptoms. Thanks for your input.

someone out there? please i need support. the dam drs have had me on methadone for almost 8 yrs of ive gone down to 60mg a day but im tryn to go down by mysellf cuz i cant find ANY DR TO HELP. I HAVE DEGENERTIVE DISC DISEAse, broke my back. have cysts on spine. im about to just do myself in i am cryn for help anyone. im sweating thrown up, shakin so bad, im going crazy. my family no support. i cant take aby of it anymore. is nayone out there/?

Hello crst.

I am sitting in a quiet house, hurting all over have deg disc disease. You need your family and they need you. Are you still there? Pain is hard but it is not worth taking a bottle of pills. This forum is helpful to me. Sometimes I dont know how to cheer someone up but reading the notes helps me get thru the day. Hang in there

Gb welcome to the forum.

You have gotten alot of good advice so far as usual here.

I dont know what  your Doc is saying or why but you can find alot of info on a methadone thread here but I am going to cut some of it for you now.

Methadone hits on a completely different receptor in the brain then does any other opiate and in saying that I am saying oxy hits on an altogether different on so telling someone they arent going to "feel" w/ds from any opiates is well an uneducated guess in my book,not saying your Doc isnt good just saying he might not be all that versed in methadone therapy and alot of them arent.

Like they said you need to titrate down slowly treat the withdrawl symptoms the best you can and before you know it should be good as new. If your not dont hesitate to look for something else going on,those symptoms can be ones that go to alot of things. Too many times those of us on higher doses of pain meds get miss diagnosed because we may be NOT feeling the pain from say a heart problem,our pain meds block that pain that is normal to warn us something is going on with our bodies. I cant say this enough to anyone,if your showing some kind of signs of somehting going on and it is different then what you normally feel or if it last longer then you think it should get to the Doc and make them listen.

I am not trying to scare here but offer advise.

My best friend ended up with a ruptured appendix,simple little thing but because he didnt "feel" the pain due to high doses of methadone via the clinic it turned deadly and he spent months after surgery battling septicemia from the rupture and almost lost his life.

I hear ya man. I've decided to stop cold turkey after 9 months of 90mg oxycodone daily. I'm at the end of my second day and I've never felt worse. My legs ache, I can't see straight, I'm always too hot or too cold, I'm not hungry. Haven't slept yet. I'm really hoping that the pain tones down tomorrow. I wish you the best of luck! I've found that some strong alcohol helps dull the leg pain but not all of it. Maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I'm stopping cold turkey because I want this outta my system as soon as possible. I can't bear thinking about going through detox for a month while tapering down. This has to stop.

 

 

GB14

Hey, we have a great deal in common.. I also take Methadone, 120 mg. daily, and oxycodone 30 mg. 4xcdaily for BT pain.  I think you are going through the psychological part of the WD's.  You really shouldn't feel anything because of all the methadone you are taking.  Now, if you were stopping the methadone!!!! now that would be a different story.  I should know, I have been through that myself.  It was bad.. But with the Oxycodone you might feel more pain when you stop, but not WD's.

 

I have been taking Methadone for almost 5 years...and I know that when I tried to change to Morphine it was awful... The wd's were massive.  But I think you will be fine.  Why do you want to stop taking them?  I know that I get good relief with the methadone but it really helps to take something for BT pain...

 

If you ever want to talk you can get my email address at my profile....

 

Rhonda