Percocet withdrawal

It is extremely common for the pain levels to seemingly increase once you lower any pain medication that you are taking. The reason for this is that while you are taking opiate pain medication, it lessens or blocks the production of your own body's endorphins , and so once you decrease or stop taking opiates, it can take several weeks before the pain levels come back down again and your body begins to make enough endorphins to help with pain.
The good news is that your body will eventually start making endorphins which may very well help with the pain levels, and the pain levels will come down on their own over a few days to weeks....
The seeming increase in pain is also your body telling you that it became habituated to the opiate pain medications, and therefore it is trying to convince you that you "need" it, which is the reason that taking 1 or 1 1/4 tablets, which was more than you were taking when you stopped them previously, is easing the pain. It is really that the opiates have eased the brain/body's absence of the opiate that it became habituated to.

Thank you Mrsm123, your explations is very clear and concise. I often have the discussion with my husband between, dependance, addiction and withdraw. I think this may be described a way he can understand what I mean.

Michael BG, when I had my first major back surgery I was told to stay on the pain meds for the first few weeks because you didnt want to get into a vicous pain cycle. I think I started at 2 vicodin every 6 hours, then 1 every 6-8 hours, then a half every 8-12 hours. Once I stopped the meds, even at that low level, I too got nauseated, shakey, sweats and increased pain. It took me about a week, to start to feel sort of normal again. I couldnt believe that even after only a short time your body can build up that dependance.

I am sure that once you stop and get past that first week you will start to have your pain response normalize. have you gotten any recommendations from your doctor? Good luck.

You're welcome. Glad that I could help. I like the word habituated, rather than addicted, or some of the others commonly used when trying to explain the body's response to taking opiate pain meds. I think it's a far more accurate term than the others.
Anyway, I've been doing this pain management thing since 1992 , on and off so it's taken me a while to learn to explain things to someone else.
Our friends, family and even medical providers don't always understand and so I tried to find a way of describing the differences between addiction, tolerance and habituation so that they can understand it a little more clearly.
Sandi

Hi Michael,

I'm sorry that you are still experiencing some issues. The muscular aches and pains are most probably still from the absence of the percocet and your body's attempts at convincing you to take just a little bit of percocet.

Try some of the topical over the counter rubs, like bengay or aspercreme type of massage /pain relief rubs. Those may help ease the achiness.

As for the light headedness- it could be from the stopping of the percocet, but if it continues, I would at least see your GP about it.

Let him make sure your blood pressure isn't too low and that there aren't other physical reasons for it.....better to be safe than sorry.

Sandi