Life after Oxycontin!

[gene10]

Thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes on my trip to detox from Oxycontin abuse. I spent 6 days in-patient at a nice detox facility up in the woods.  They used methadone to detox me & prevent the withdrawal from the Oxy.  It worked very well & I was tapered from the methadone over the 6 days & am now off of everything!

Being at a detox center with many other addicts was a true eye opening experience!  I was with herion addicts, coke abusers, & alcoholics.  I was amazed that every heroin addict I talked to had heard of Oxycontin & knew to snort it for the full effect.  But they all progressed to shooting heroin eventually.  I met people who spent many periods of time in jail, lost their jobs, families, homes, etc.  I went to lots of AA meetings & lectures & saw films about addiction. And I realized that I am no different than any other addict up there, just luckier to have not lost my job of family.  I met a guy who spent $100,000.00 in the past year on drugs.  But everyone there wanted to stay sober & we all worked together to do that.  They told me that only 1 in 40 patients there will stay sober & that's a depressing thought but I am that one person!  Most of the people there have been to numerous detoxes before but this was my first & last.  (I hope & pray)

So if you are addicted to painkillers, there is a way out.  Call your doctor or insurance company or look in the phone book for detox centers (they are everywhere) & ask for help.
I find that I get a lot of help just reading the posts on this website.  It is therapy for me & I also put my own posts here & have gotten tremendous support from others - doctors & addicts.

I will be checking this website regularly so please write to me.

[tom to Gene]

Force yourself to exercise aerobically, i.e., vigorous walking, mild jogging (even 15 min will help) or lap swimming or anything that gets a large portion of your body in continuous motion 15-20 mins or beyond with sustained high-rate breathing (slow down if you get a headache, though). Emphasis on continuous and sustained (it's not aerobic if you stop and start, such as with tennis or handball). You're so used to manipulating your physical and mental state with drugs that you probably can't imagine that this will help, but it will save your life. Besides, there is a natural high at the conclusion of aerobic exercise that will appeal to your addict mind (think about the high from the start to motivate the addict in you -- it works!). Also (very important): frequent hot baths or jacuzzi's, especially before bedtime (or during the night). The hot baths go a long way toward relieving that incredible body ache and fatigue you're feeling right now (I know, it's horrible). If you can, eat like a pig. But, Gene, the thing that's really killing you now is that you're smack-dab right back in the very environment where you're used to being on Oxy. Everything you see, hear or feel is screaming at you to use Oxy. If you can, get out of there! Go somewhere where you've never been high. And stay away from anyone you're used to being high around. The very site of them will make you want to use. I know this isn't always possible or practicle (such as with your immediate family), but get as close to this as you can. Meetings, obviously, are the safest place for you to be right now. Good luck!

[Bonnie]

Gene,congratulations on your successful rehab.I am presently taking oxycontin and wish very strongly to stop it,but up until now I have'nt had the courage.I am planning on going to detox next week.Good luck and thanks for the encouragement you have given me.Keep up the good work!

[tom to Gene et al]

So it's your first and last rehab. You certainly have my best wishes that it turns out to be just that. Allow me to add a gentle caveat: Virtually everyone says and means that during or after their first rehab. There's nothing wrong or unusual about believing that. But, Gene, understand that recovery is now commonly recognized as a series of recoveries and relapses. This doesn't mean your recovery will go that way. But the danger in placing too much emphasis on 'the first is my last" is that, if you should relapse, you may feel so defeated and disillusioned that you fall even farther than you did before your first rehab. This is quite common. As much as we don't want to see ourselves as a statistic, we inevitably are just that. I said the same thing as you and meant it. I believed that I was different than the 39 who were coming back. But I wasn't. When I relapsed after that first rehab I fell into a despair of drugs and more drugs. I believed I had thrown away my one chance and set out to prove how hopeless I really was. I was lucky to live through it. But I was wrong on both counts: I wasn't the exception to the rule and I didn't have just one chance to recover. If you do relapse, Gene, don't think of yourself as a failure. Don't punish yourself by ingesting more drugs than before. Think instead, "I recovered once and I can do it again and again for as long as it takes. I am a decent man worth saving and my life is worth living, even if I fall again and again and again." It is enough that you go longer before each relapse. That in itself is a tremendous victory. Good luck to you and everyone battling addiction.

[Bob K]

Gene congratulations I wanted to tell you that I also have that very tired feeling. It will be two weeks for me tomorrow without oxy. I wonder if there is an antidepressant that makes you feel energetic. I thought I was ok but this is going to be quite an adjustment. For some crazy reason it makes me feel better when I post on this forum. Good luck we will get our energy back Bob k

[Brian to Sick and Scared]

First of all, congratulations!  You are starting on the sometimes difficult but always rewarding road of recovery.  Please don't get complacent once the post-acute withdrawal is over.  A cautionary note about Paxil--read the postings below regarding its potential for withdrawal.  I personally think there are many other antidepressants with much lesser side effects than Paxil that have the same result.  Beware.

[Gene to Joanne]

The methadone took care of the withdrawal quite well I must say!
The detox is only the beginning of getting the opiates out of your body.  I'm sure that what I'm feeling now is the post detox depression that I have heard about.  I am so tired that I can hardly function.  I barely made it to work today.  I feel like an old man when I walk or climb stairs.  I have bouts of anxiety & jumping out of my skin feelings. I am definitely depressed.  I am on 10mg of Paxil & I need to increase that dosage.  I guess sleeping is hard due to the withdrawal too.  Believe it or not, I am also going through withdrawal from methadone even though I was on it for only 6 days & it was tapered down slowly over the 6 days.  The only cure for the way I feel is to take more Oxycontin & that is not an option for me.  

There is no easy painless way to stop taking opiates especially when I was taking so much every day.  (160-320mg of Oxy)
I will just have to grin & bear it for a while.  Hopefully I will see some improvement over the next week or so.