Remember me? Took a hiatus from the site.

Howdie all,

I stepped away for the past 6 months or so. I think I was getting too annoyed with a few things here and so needed to take a break.

Anyhow, for all the good this site offers, I thought I would return.

Over the past year, I've been on Oxycontin 15mg x2 , Oxycodone 5mg x4, and Ultram ER 300mg. It really was great, but I found myself getting too cloudy, making it hard to work.

So, over the past 6 weeks, I dosed out of my Oxycontin. The result has been an improvement in mental clarity; but also a marked increase in pain. It is again hard to sit through dinner; and pain in the evening has made sleep more difficult.

Nevertheless, I stuck to my decision and today told my PM about it. I explained that I needed to find a balance between too much pain interfering with work and too much medication doing so as well. I finally became frustrated with my lowered productivity and so wanted to step away as best I could from the meds. Unfortunately, to make it through the day, I still need something, but wanted to explore further options.

I also returned to the Lidoderm patches I was prescribed 3 years ago, finding that they help with one pain in particular that has returned since dropping the oxycontin. So, at night, when ready for bed, I'll put one over that part of my back.

Lastly, I asked to switch from oxycodone to hydrocodone, as the latter didn't make me cloudy when I was using it years in the past.

As I've been seeing this PM for 5 years and we have a good rapport, I was fairly confident that he would be accommodating. So, after outlining the above to him, he agreed to my request. Thus, I'm now back to the meds I was taking 5 yrs ago: Tramadol ER 300mg + Hydrocodone 7.5mg PRN.

One issue with hydro that I forgot is that it takes 30-45 minutes to kick in, vs the 10-15 minutes of the oxy. That may prove to be a problem, but time will tell. The PM and I left it with an understanding that this month will be a test to see if the Hydro will be adequate.

If any of you old timers are curious about other events in my life...

1) My wife and I moved to a new house this summer (grueling transition).
2) Much of the past year has been devoted to book tour type talks around the country. I have an invitation to Germany too, but the trip will be too much for me I think.
3) As a result of my book, I've been promoted at work (with a nice raise), but thankfully still have a work schedule that allows me to be at home all but 2 days a week.

Oh, wow, congrats on the book tour. I was wondering about that. Wonderful!
Sounds like your life is headed in the right direction, many, many well wishes and good luck with that move. Moves take forever, especially to recover from.

Hi All,

Chart -- the move really did take a huge amount of time. May was packing; June was unpacking and doing some major repairs; July continued the repairs as new issues popped up. We discovered, for instance, that while an addition was built onto the house, the AC wasn't upgraded and so on hot days, there's too much space for the system to keep the temp down. Sadly, I think we'll have to get a larger system for next summer.

As for the Hydrocodone, I'm seeing already that it was a mistake. By the evening yesterday I had a headache (the problem that lead me away from it years ago). I'll increase my hydration today and see how it goes. Unfortunately, as well, I don't find the relief at 7.5mg equivalent to oxycodone 5mg. But I'll keep up with the hydro for at least a full week and if necessary, I have back-up oxys to make it to my next appt in 4 weeks.

Hydrocodone also gave me a migraine. I was taking Xodol 10/325 for years and couldn't understand it, I would take more thinking it would help my migraine but was worse. I switched to Perc 10/325 and those rebound migraines were gone.

Good to hear you're doing well in the career and finances. I too have an awesome new job as does my wife and we make a lot more than what we did years ago. Not too many stories like this considering how poor the career path is currently.

Welcome back :)