Desperately want to quit pain meds

[Lady2bfree]

Hello all, I posted a couple days ago with no response,so think it was a different addiction forum here.

I'll try again. I have been on pain meds for 5+ years now. After being hit by a truck in a crosswalk the doctor i saw after hospital prescribed hydrocodone 5mg. Two pills 3 times daily, so 180 per month. Now I'm prescribed the 10's @ 2 pills 3 times daily. For some time now taking two does not help with the pain and depression I've felt since my injury, so I take more daily and am down to less than half a pill twice a day the last 3-7 days before refill day and it is agony. Every month I tell myself I'll pace myself better so I don't suffer so much and some months i do better than others, but this has been going on a very long time and I absolutely hate this dependency.

I have custody of my grandson,have had him since he was a baby, he means the world me and I hate my mood change when I'm nearly out of meds, I'm not as patient, tired from lack of sleep and in pain. It's not fair to him. He deserves much better but I'm all he has. We lost our home a couple years back due to roommate leaving suddenly so we've been living with family in a very small home where sleeping in isn't tolerated,and compassion is at the bare minimum. There is simply no way I have the luxury of taking tranquilizers and sleeping for days,and I do not have help with my grandson.

You see my dilemma then. I keep trying to find natural supplements that will help me through the first week. Once we're in our own home again i know I can do this. The thought of the pain and depression once off the pills terrifies me, but I want a better life than this for both of us.

Sorry,rambling on a bit. I really want help and wonder if there's a way to withdraw here where I am in a non-conventional way.

Any help so appreciated.                      

[del677]

There's some new remarkable research in chrinic pain which suggests it can now be cured. There's an explanation in the book by Norman Doidge, M.D., The Brain's Way of Healing. 2015. See chapter 1. There's also a professor at UCSB, Paul K. Habsma, who has a website about curing chronic pain. I don't have space here to explain the theory behind it. Just that it's consistent with everything I know.  Best wishes!

[del677]

Paul K. Hansma.

[JustAnotherAddict]

I was on the same dosage as you.  180 10mg per month.  I'm on 36 hr cold turkey detox so far.  It hasn't been easy but it hasn't been quite as super terrible either.  I believe there is truth to what someone else saying that our dosage was not super high because that person was taking 24 a day and we are taking 6 per day.  I was also taking 120 tramadol per month.  I have been able to survive so far and I believe you will be able to also.  Please be strong.  Godspeed.

[JustAnotherAddict]

I was on the same dosage as you.  180 10mg per month.  I'm on 36 hr cold turkey detox so far.  It hasn't been easy but it hasn't been quite as super terrible either.  I believe there is truth to what someone else saying that our dosage was not super high because that person was taking 24 a day and we are taking 6 per day.  I was also taking 120 tramadol per month.  I have been able to survive so far and I believe you will be able to also.  Please be strong.  Godspeed.

[atthebeach]

Lady2bfree are you still with us.
  As you taper yes you will still have some with drawl symptoms but they will not be anywhere near as intense if use just stopped cold turkey. Maybe you tried  to taper too fast last time or you dropped your dose too much.

[dominosarah]

We need to feed our bodies some good meds now so supplements would help.  Check them out.  I am glad you are here so keep talking with us.

[dominosarah]

Is this something you could talk to your doctor about?  Tapering might be a better option for you but it can be hard to do also.  The wd's wouldnt be as bad.  Your tolerance has gone up and it will continue which is very dangerous.  You are still young enough to get your life back on track.  I am 57 by the way!

[Lady2bfree]

I appreciate your responses, I really do. I have actually spoken to my doctor about tapering off and tried a few times. I was miserable. He recommended taking other pills to help get off the pain meds, I said NO to more drugs.

I wonder though if the supplements mentioned would help me while trying to taper off?

[dominosarah]

Hi and welcome to the forum.  Have you always had depression?  Those pain meds are not helping with this at all, they are actually adding more pain and misery.  What sort of accident did you have?   when we have been taking pain meds for some time they will turn on us and make our pain feel worse.  Get yourself some good viatmins like B-6 and some Ester C.  Magnesium is good for helping with pain also.   Talk with your doctor about some anti depressant meds.  They have non narcotic meds that will work.  You dont have to be chained to those pills anymore.  You deserve a better life~

[Lady2bfree]

Thank you both for responding. My age is 58.I have injured my back three times in the past twenty years. The first time was a lifting injury at the nursery i worked at and my doctor then prescribed Vicodin which I took for a year and a half until in doing research trying to find natural solutions to healing i began reading about how pain killers stop the healing process . I was a naive then about withdrawing from Vicodin and I just flushed the rest of my pills down the toilet and called my doctor and told him to never prescribe them to me again. I went through about 3 days of nasty withdrawals then and swore to myself i would find a natural way to heal myself.

You see I was and am metaphysically inclined in my beliefs. It took a couple years before I could do most of the things I used to before the injury, and when some pain came up i had ways to pace myself and alieve the pain some. Life was good again and I felt hopeful that someday I could heal.

Five years after I fell and reinjured my back

[Lady2bfree]

that time I only took pain meds for a few weeks,but occasionally ended up in ER when I was spasming badly and for a script for a week or so. No problems wanting more, but 5+ years ago I was hit by a truck which caused nerve damage to another part of my back. I was raising my then 4 year old grandson so did not have the luxury of being laid up in pain so after the first months of taking the hydrocodone and my doctor just kept prescribing i allowed it thinking i could handle getting off of them again as I had the first time I was injured, but convinced myself I had to have them for awhile to keep up with my grandson. As others here have said this time they have me energy and I felt more hopeful. And once the pain got a bit better i would just quit like before. The first year i did more reading on opiates and realized I was addicted,absolutely addicted this time.

I take the 10's often taking extra pills,extra doses. I think the most in one day has been around ten pills. I hate being controlled by these pills,it's maddening! I want them out of my life.

[Lady2bfree]

In answer to the question about my depression- I have had mild depression off and on in my life, it runs in my family. I tried antidepressants a couple times in the past but did not like how I feel at all. I have seen nearly every member of my family go through gammit of antidepressants and have not seen a happy difference in them. They just make me uncomfortable. I don't want to get one drug out of my life only to take another pill. There has to be a natural,healthier way.

Anyway, thanks again for answering me.

[HomeChef]

I'm sorry you are going through this.  I too, was dependent on painkillers for many years.  I just decided one day to stop and resigned myself to having the flu for a few weeks.  I was on about the same dosage as you, I think:  about 60 mgs a day, right?  You will be uncomfortable (read:  miserable at times) but it's not like you will be an invalid.    You'll have the usual suspects in terms of withdrawal symptoms, nausea, diarrhea, body aches, sweating, trouble sleeping, feel downright yukky.  

You sound like a tough cookie; I think you can do this.  There isn't a way through it but through it, so pick a day and just stop.  You can let your doctor know so that he can keep an eye on you.  Sometimes you'll get prescribed clonodine to help with blood pressure and sleep, but it is by NO MEANS a miracle cure for withdrawals.  

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[hydrofusion]

How old are you?  And how much are you taking now each day?  It doesn't sound like you're at that high of a dose believe it or not, I was at 24 10mg pills per day before I switched to a treatment medication.  Do you have any support groups or anybody who knows what you're going through?