300mg a day seems like an impossible RX to get from your MD!! And...Yes...the FDA has changed the laws. Making opiates a class ll. A hard copy must be in the pharmacists hands in order to process it. But...just as of last week my RX was still for 240 tabs norco 10/325 for 30 day supply. And...When traveling for work if I needed early refill my PCP WAS able to put "ok for early pick up" on the hard copy and my meds were filled. I'm in California. But FDA laws should be consistent in every state? There must be "more" to this law? I have met a few people that have had the same kind of scripts as me in the past year or so.
There is no way you are prescribed 300 mgs. a day. The FDA changed its ruling, or whatever it is called, several years ago and opiates can now be filled monthly up to 180 pills. It cannot be more. So are you getting them on the street or was this a mis-print? We are here to support and help you but we need a starting point to make sure we are giving proper advise.
You are on 300 mgs a day of oxycodone, is that correct? That is a pretty high dose. Are you getting these through a prescription, from the doctor?
If you are, I strongly advise you talk to your pain mgmt doctor about the safest and most comfortable way to get off this dosage level. S/he may have some non-narcotic prescriptions for you that will help ease (a bit) withdrawal symptoms during your taper, especially if you end up having blood pressure spikes, which happened to me.
If you are not getting the pills from a doctor, then make sure you cut off ALL your suppliers/sources. You have to create a dead-end for yourself.
I would also ask you:
1. How old are you?
2. How many years have you been on 300 mgs/day? For that fact, how many years have you been above the 100 mgs/day level?
3. Is your general health good?
This is not going to be easy or pleasant, but it is 100% the RIGHT thing to do. Opiates will wreck your life.
Maybe make a list of the reasons why you want to get off them...every little thing you can think of, and post it here. You may need to read it during your taper and then withdrawals to remind yourself of why you SHOULDN'T go back on them...
Stick with us on here...post every day or even more than that. We'll support you through the thick of it.
Good luck...look forward to hearing back from you...
PS: Can arrange to take some time off of work, and for someone to help you with the twins? I'm not going to lie to you: there is no way I could have gone to work the first 4 days completely OFF oxycodone. After that, I could manage; I just told everyone i was coming off of a really bad stomach bug and that my blood sugar was low (I had mild tremors...they went away pretty quickly.)
As pillguy mentioned, we cannot give tapering schedules here, but at your dosage level, I would do not this except under the supervision of a doctor. Even your primary care physician should be willing to help you with this.
Blessings, and good luck.
Hi and welcome to the forum.....well tapering would be advised your on a boatload of oxy even if you just taper to a lower dose it will lessen the harshness of the withdrawal as said in the above post we cannot give taper sceduals on the forum we can advise that going slow is the best way.....congrats on wanting to get your life back what ever way you decide to do it we will be here to support you you no longer are alone in this this is 1/3 phyical and 2/3 mental so be ready to fight it out on both fronts it is kinda like having the flu if you just jump you go threw 4 days of hell and then start to feel better day by day try not to let fear in it is always worst in our heads then it turns out to be stock up on supplys get a case of gatoraid simple meals a bunch of movies for the long nights some epsom salts for the bath....a hot soak helps with most of the phyical symptoms and try to keep a positive attitude it is the best thing you can bring to the table everybody is uncofortable but suffering is a choice I have said this a million times but it should be your montra for the next few days....''you just got to be ok without being ok for a wile''' this to shale pass...we all look forward to seeing you brake free so keep posting for support I sent you a message so check your e/mail.......Gnarly
You need to taper (titrate) down. Think of taking the discomfort of a week of CT withdrawals and spreading them out over a month (or more). You will feel less crappy than CT but you will feel that less crappy (but still crappy) for longer. We cant provide taper schedules here. Its not allowed. You can google "Oxycodone taper schedule" Theres lots of examples of taper schedules out there. That's the only solution I know of that allows one to keep up their obligations and still get off the drugs. This isn't easy. Imagine having the worse flu you've ever had and the pills to cure you are right there. Not pills that will just make you better, pills that will make you feel great. Tapering is very hard to do.
How did you get to this point? Doctors play a huge role in this. In some fairness to them, they have very limited options for dealing with pain. Its narcotics, and pretty much only narcotics. In fairness to the patient, doctors fail in their promise to "do no harm' by prescribing narcotics and sending the patient on their way. Patients should be counseled on what they are getting into. It should be an informed choice on the part of the patient. Also, before the doc writes that script, there should be a plan for how to get off of the medication when the patient or doctor decides its not longer in the patient's interest to continue the medication. This type of planning virtually never happens when narcotic medications are prescribed. So its partly the doc's responsibility for prescribing the pills, partly Big Pharma for not having safer solutions for pain, and partly our own responsibility for trusting anyone else without doing our own research when it concerns our own body.
Cheers