72+ hours in

[tyguy83]

I'm over the 72 hour mark clean from 6 to 10 Norco a day for the last 2 to 3 years. I thought things would be much worse, but I've been sticking to the Thomas diet and actually making myself exercise as much as I can. I'm going to go to work today (I run a restaurant/bar and I found that i used mostly at work during the late night hours.) I have 2 big concerns. One being that my job is full of drug users, alcoholics, and drug seekers, how do I avoid those triggers when its my profession? Second, is that I have a fractured vertebrate from a hockey injury years ago, which is where the pain killers entered my life. I refused the surgery so they said I would have to be medicated daily. How do you deal with pain like I endure with my back, without using? I'm obviously an addict, but is there a way to be a controlled addict? I know everybody says that you have to quit totally, tell your doctor, not allow yourself the ability to use more, but what if you truly need the meds to function normally? I'm just scared that I'm going to be in too much pain to have a normal life. On the flip side, I dont want to live life as an addict coming on and off pills every time I run out. Sorry, for such a long post, my mind is racing. Thanks everyone.

[JayFive]

It won't take long for the opiates to be out of your system, but the risidual effects of them being in your brain for years will be there for a few weeks.
In my experience from hydro withdrawal it was follows:

70mg's daily for one year.
Cold Turkey
Day 1-4 were miserable with no sleep and no appetite. I had to take Imodium for the diarrhea. I also followed the thomas recipe and that helped alot.
Day 5 I started to see the light and my pain diminished. I did however still have knee pain as I tore my knee and that is why I was prescribed that in the first place.
Days 6-10 I noticed a huge difference in everything. I could laugh again, I could remember things much better. I had a new appreciationi for life and more patience with others. I was sleeping and eating almost normally. I quit all benzo's.
After 3 weeks I was better. As If I had never taken the stuff to begin with. Now again, this is just my experience.

As you've given your brain these opiates to tell it to stop producing its own natural pain relief your brain will be void of that for some time. So, that is actually a good thing. As your brain recovers and the receptors are no longer receiving the opiates your brain will begin to produce what it needs to deal with pain. Since you took the hydrocodone for over a few years it will ultimately take over a year for your brain to heal. This doesn't mean that it will take that long for you to feel better. Hydrocodone has a short half life and is significantly easier to come off of than oxycodone, oxymorphone, fentanyl, dilaudid, methadone and many other opiates used to treat pain. So that's another good thing. Try and stay away from the xanax as much as possible. Its good that you are solely taking it for sleep but try and take .25mg a day if you have to and then stop after 7 days. You DO NOT want to be on xanax for even a few weeks. The WD from xanax can be like a bomb compared to the gunshot wound you're receiving from the norco wd. They are a bit different but I think you know what i'm talking about.

Keep it up and great job!!

[gnarly_1]

Hi well for starters your pain will not be as bad off the pills as on them  it does take a wile for the natural endorphins start rto kick in you will go threw ''rebound pain'' first but for me I am in less pain since I have been off of methadone  as for recovery I highly recamend N/A it will give you a place to share and the people will understand you the 12 steps really help you deal with the train wreck of active addiction it also give you some structure for living clean keep posting for support YOU CAN DO THIS  ....Gnarly

[NeverAgain127]

It's impossible to predict what your physical body will feel like. Everyone is different, and I hear stories ranging from "I felt okay after 14 days" to "Its' been six months and I'm still not right."

Have you ever detoxed before?

I know that I didn't get diarrhea until day 4. And on day 14 I developed a dry hacking cough ("withdrawal cough") that is still here on day 39.   I have pain, yes.   But someone on another thread said "no one is in withdrawal forever. No one."  And that stuck with me.

You only were addicted for close to 3 years, right?  And you sound like you're in decent physical shape.  You might feel better than some folks do.  But that pain you talk about...have you discussed non-narcotic alternatives with your doctor?

[tyguy83]

Thank you to all of you who commented, and shared your thoughts. Its great to hear other people share their advice and hear things from another side.

I have a sponsor, who is a long time recovering oxy addict and they were really impressed how well I was doing with my detox. Its only day 4 and I am already back to work and nobody is any wiser on what is going on with me. It felt good to get excercise last night, even if it was just a childish game of kickball. It got me out of the house and got me to be social again. I've missed that. I know I am still really early into my struggles, but I am honestly scared that it has been so much easier than I ever imagined. I hate saying that knowing what some of you have expressed going through, but maybe its just because I am only just begining to feel the effects. My stomach has been in knots all day, and my depression is up and down. I have been taking a little bit of xanax just to sleep, and only to sleep as I know that is another thing I could easily become addicted to. My biggest question to all of you, is what do the next few days and weeks look like for me? I know that I need to give being clean a solid shot before I really know what kind of pain I will be in once my body gets settled again; but I am so afraid that I am going to let the thought of constant pain allow me to give in to the monthly scrips I get.

How long until I am really free of the opiates in my system?

Thanks for all who have helped, read, and commented.

[JayFive]

Which is worse, pain or addiction. I think you'd find that people here, with experience would much rather live with pain.

Try Aleeve. 220mg of Naproxen. It's the best pain reliever that you won't want to take if you are not in pain.

Best of luck

[NeverAgain127]

Wow, great answers here.

I totally understand where you are coming from.   I was also told---by my doctor---that I needed to be medicated for the rest of my life.  He has had me on oxycodone (stronger than Norco's, which I believe are hydrocodone) for 8 years.   Yes, it took care of my intense back and chest pain (which is from a bunch of places:  I studied classical piano from age 6 to when I started college---4 hours a day---it destroyed my chest muscles and gave me severe costochondritis--weird, huh? And then other stuff.)  

BUT.

Life with opiates sux.  It just isn't a good life.  I am 37 days off the opiates, which were ALWAYS prescribed, but I am not myself yet.  Can't work a full day.  I'm determined to find OTHER ways to battle my pain when I can get a TRUE reading of it.  I'm giving myself at least 60 days to normalize....I can't trust that what I'm feeling as pain now is REALLY pain or is just my opiod receptors screaming for medicine.

I have a massage therapist coming tonight.  It's $$$, yes.  Not covered by insurance...and I almost cancelled her tonight but she bartered the session (I read Tarot cards, so I'm going to give her a free reading in exchange for the mass.)

I'm going to see an acupuncturist also.   I did it once before, a LONG time ago, before the Opiate Parade started.  It WORKED.  I had to have patience, and it was very unsettling getting used to having tons of hair-thin needles stuck in my back and chest but after six sessions my pain went away.  

I get what you say about the hospitality industry.  Have LOTS of friends who own restaurants.  Or should I say USED to...my best friend's husband was a top chef and they owned a gorgeous little Italian bistro--very high end.  He died 4 years ago of full blown cirrhosis.  He drank such enormous amounts of wine, it was unbelievable.  

Then another good friend of mine...just died at 57 this past January.  He was found face down in his house...blood showed alcohol and opiates.   Owned a pizza/bar for 25 years that made him a multi-millionaire. Now he is dead.

I used to hate watching "Cheers" in the 1980's because it just seemed so unrealistic that Ted Danson's character, "Sam" could be a recovering alcoholic, yet spend ALL his time chugging soda water and watching his closest friends get drunk all day, every day.  IT pissed me off so much because I KNEW people in the same place and they just couldn't do it.

The restaurant biz is brutal...so many owners are alcoholics and addicts. It's easy to say "find another job" but hard to do if you've built your whole life around a business.

I'm in sales...hard-core, commission only sales. And pretty much all the top earners are either alkies or taking Vikes all day to deal with the brutality of the job.   So I'm starting over.  Yup, giving it all up...I just CANNOT do it anymore if I'm going to be off opiates and approaching life in a new way.  A healthy way.

So.  

You have big decisions to make.   Is this your first time getting off opiates?  Why do you want to be off them, if your doctor prescribed them?  I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, just trying to drum up some thoughts that might help.

Let me know what you decide...I'm truly interested...best of luck, mate.

-Robin

[clean_in_ks]

You said...... "How do you deal with pain like I endure with my back, without using? I'm obviously an addict, but is there a way to be a controlled addict? I know everybody says that you have to quit totally, tell your doctor, not allow yourself the ability to use more, but what if you truly need the meds to function normally? I'm just scared that I'm going to be in too much pain to have a normal life."

There isn't any such thing as a "controlled addict".  That's an oxymoron.  

There are a boatload of us on this forum that have ongoing back/pain issues.  But for the ones that are clean now, we had to get to a place where we KNEW we could no longer control our use of narcotic meds and learned they were not the answer for long term pain control.  I'm not sure you are there yet.  How long have you given your body a complete and total break from taking the pain pills?  If you've been taking them for 2-3 years...it will take a minimum of 30-60 days to TRULY evaluate your pain.

We have a member that has over 2 yrs clean that just found out he had 3 fractured vertebrae and because he is so determined to STAY narcotic free, he looked for other solutions for his pain.  

You played kickball just the other day and said you had a blast....so I'm thinking you'll be ok once you get your pain receptors used to not having opiates on them all the time.  It's really something only you can decide....and when you've had enough of the merry-go-round of addiction.

Let us know how you're doing.....and read up on opiate induced hyperalgesia when you can.  I had never heard of it until finding this forum...and I promise you I had it.  For the majority of us, our pain changes and lessens after the initial period of expected rebound pain.  

[lulu747]

I would agree, you may need to think about a job change.  I worked in that industry for over a decade, so I know what you mean.  It made me really sad in the end, and I was happy to be free from it (though I do miss the cash at times)
In terms of pain.  Listen, I have 4 incredibly painful chronic illnesses.  I was told by MANY doctors that I would need to be medicated for the rest of my life.  I couldn't accept that.  Towards the end of my using I was a zombie and my quality of life was zero.  I was on a ton of opiates (the number is too high for me to type it makes me sick) and I was STILL in pain.  It was through research and this site that I learned about opiate induced hyperalgesia.  Meaning, long term opiate use causes your body and brain to create more pain receptors, which need increasing amount of meds to fill.  People that must take opiates for extreme debilitating pain often take what is called an opiate break.  After detox you experience intense rebound pain.  Every injury you have ever had hurts like hell.  This goes away with time.  It takes about a month for your pain receptors to chill out.
I was amazed to discover that after about 60 days clean, I was in 90% LESS pain than I was on opiates.  So I threw myself into aftercare and I reinvented my life.  I began doing yoga daily, did a cleanse, and changed my diet.  I managed my illnesses and pain naturally for 2 years.
Then, in October of last year one of my chronic illnesses (the most painful one) returned.  I refused to take the pain meds that were offered to me for 6 months.  It wasn't until the pain became all consuming to the point I couldn't leave the bathroom because it was making me vomit.  I wasn't sleeping at all and I was afraid I was going to lose the business I had built in my sobriety.  Once I was scheduled for surgery, I gave in and went back on the meds.  It was only supposed to be for 3 months but my surgery got pushed twice.  I am a little under a month post op.  I am starting my taper this week.  I'm on about a quarter of the meds I was on the last time.  I have been engaged in recovery this whole time.
It is unrealistic to think that you may never take a pain med ever again in your life because sh*t happens.  But if you are involved in aftercare and have safe guards in place- i.e. having someone else hold your pills, sign an opiate contract, use something other than your DOC...These things can help.

But- I re read your post and I think this is your addiction talking to you. It is telling you that you are surrounded by drugs in your profession so that will be hard.  Because if everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't you?
It's telling you that you still have legitimate pain (which you very well might) and so what then?
Listen, before you decide anything, you need to get your a$$ to some meetings and do some recovery work.  You need to get some good clean time under your belt so you can evaluate your pain levels.
We have many members on this site with back issues like yours who manage without narcotics.  It isn't easy, but they do it and live full lives.
My point is- don't shoot yourself in the foot before you are out of the gate.
Think about it okay?
Lu

[Jillby]

Well, depending on where you place your sobriety in order of importance, you may have to thunk about changing jobs and friends. Although we both know that your drugs are your best friend. I wasn't working when I got sober 14 years ago, and I was lucky my friends were supportive and helped me out by not drinking all the time when I was there. You need to be involved in a 12 step program and get a sponsor. It's the only way to get guided through the steps to stay sober. You will make a new- healthy group of friends you can confide in. You don't have to be an alcoholic to join AA. It applies to drug addicts also- I met a lot of drug addicted members and they did very well.
You are in a very difficult spot as pain management and getting sober don't seem to go together. You will have to investigate acupuncture or massage or yoga or some healthy way to control your mind and body.
Maybe you want to save up and go ahead and have the surgery that will help with the pain issues. You have one of the most difficult circumstances to get sober- you need help from experts- join AA just for starters. You will love it.