Oxycodene withdrawl advice please

[ghengiskhan]

I have been taking 2-3 x 30mg oxycodone per day for the last 4 months without missing a day. Prior to that 1-2 30mg oxycodone almost every day for about 9 months. All in all a little over a year of of and on use slowly getting to the point where I am at now.
  What can I expect as I start  serious effort to quit all togeather today. Is cold turkey best or maybe drop down to 15mg per day for a week then 7.5mg for a few days then nothing? I have been trying to stop a few time latly and find the restless leg thing very frustraing.
  Should I try the suboxone route or am I not taking enough to need to?
I had many years clean and sober and lost it because of back issues and a weakness in my recover. Now I am in a jam. My wife who is a surgeon doesn't know about the extent of my use. So out right treatment is not an option unless I can't do this. Need some solid advice on this please!

[ghengiskhan]

Thank you for the consise advise. I have been reading the other post since I posted this one and gained a bit more insight as what to expect. If the truth be told and this sounds crazy. I have been throwing away the vast majority of my perscription each month. I was totally schocked when I went to the doctor the first time. He wrote me two scripts one for oxycodone, another for Xanex. 180 and 60. Went home and took one of each. Woke up 18 hours later! I had just passed my 4th year soberiety date during the Thanksgiving holiday season. I actually did n't quit realize what I was getting into a first. never really took pills for anything. But after 3-4 months of taking 2-10 pills and throwing away the rest. I began to take them more and hide the use of them from my wife. I noticed that I began to look forward to the buzz rather than the relief of neck pain and shoulder pain.

  As a true believer and lover of Jesus Christ I have been so torn by this. In the past before I was saved. Something like this would have happened, I would have been done and gone down that old familar highway to self destruction. But through it all I have been able to fill the love of Christ calling me back and lifting me up each day. Even as I continue to fall. I keep my faith in him. It has even grown if that makes since. That has been an unbelievable experience for me.
  
One of my biggest motivations for quitting, is to get back to that place of purity with God that I had in my heart before this started.  I did the 12 steps as laid out in the big book. It took me about two years to get through the steps and tavel around the country and make some major amends, especialy with my family. It worked I found relief and a life second to none. God had done for me what I could not do for myself after 18 years in and out of recovery. I shared my experience at meetings and in istitutions.

  Then I felt like the Lord was asking me to come closer, to trust upon him more and less upon myself and other people. I turned away from my AA roots. It hurt me deeply when my friends cursed and used Gods name in vain in front of me. These were my so called best friends in AA! So I dove deeper into my prison ministry and followed what I thought and still think is the right path. Somehow i new it was risky, but I have always been a junkie at heart. I want more and more of this relationship with God. I have expiernced his love and grace. After 48 years of living in the darkness. I will gladly give up the rest of my life to serve him.

  I know the raod back to him and soberiety starts with honesty and honest desire to let go of self centeredness for me and learning to walk through my fears again. The biggest one is loss of my marriage if my wife finds out. She is so judgemental and critical. I can't see how to get to a place of truth with her without losing my marriage.
  I am very uch in a venerable spot at this pouint. I understand the AA anwser to all this  is that meeting makers make it. I have gone to a couple AA meetings again recently and found them very helpful as always. The thought came to me that Jesus won't send me to hell for going to an AA meeting LOL!
  AA is where I felt most comfortable when I first got sober. Drugs where my first choice though. It is all the same. Once you get the drugs and alcohol stable then people, places, and things become the issue including co-dependency. Some may wish for me to continue in my search for self understanding. I myself believe that the power lies within God. I just need to open the door wide for him again and allow his healing , love, grace, and mercy. The problem for me is why do I not see myself as worthy of it. I wish a good ending for others, but not for myself?

I am at a place where I have fallen into old ways and a life full of sin. But somehow I believe in my heart of hearts. God is going to use it and me for his own good and glory if I just come closer to him in what ever ways I can. I think getting off the pain meds will be the first thing. I know from the past that it is so. I wrote this mainly to get my head a bit clearer. feel free to share if you like. Hopefully I will make it through the next few days. For now just getting through tonight will be a struggle.

[ThisIsIt983]

Hello & Welcome,

I would not try the subs.You haven't been using too too long & the level is high but not excessive. I was on a very high dose of oxy up to 400 mgs a day & tapered myself down but i was thinking about suboxene before i did. I googled info about it & it was like the wonder drug. Then i started thinking I am just going to take a drug to get off of a drug? Then I found this forum & heard how hard the subs were to get off of even worse than the oxy. That is when i made my decision to taper. Even tapering i still go thru alot of pain. Not the restless legs syndrome that is only when i have quit c/t. I get the restless arms also.

Tapering is very hard to do. If you don't have someone who you trust to dole them out we almost always fail. I did many times before i  made my mind up to quit for good. But on the level you are at and you have not been taking it too long i would just quit. Tapering also just prolongs the inevitable. As i said even while tapering I had pain with the worst thing being the stomach problems that i have every morning. Now everyone is different that is just my suggestion.

There is also a vitamin regimen called The Thomas Recipe on the health pages of this site. There is even something called Hylands Restful Legs which many has said helped a lot. You will be sick for 5 days with days 3 & 4 being the worse. After that you will physically get better. So if you work you will need to call in with the flu & in a way it is just like having a really bad case of it.

Also make sure you set up some aftercare. That is so important. Aftercare meaning NA meetings, an addiction therapist or counselor. Very important because so many relapse if they don't get the help they will need after they get physically clean. That is just one step in the journey to living a clean, happy & healthy life again. I know you don't want your wife to find out the extent of your problem but since she is a doctor she may be a lot more understanding than you think. And coming clean to her is a good step towards recovery to make. Again just a few of my suggestions & I am sure many others will also give you some really good advice. This a great forum for people in all stages of recovery. Keep posting to let us know how you are doing & read the many posts on here. You will find them very helpful.

Good Luck & God Bless