Oxycontin Withdrawal

[Dennis]

My wife is at the point where she is getting off Oxycontin soon. She is taking 120mg/day to contol her back pain and her back will be repaired shortly.
My question, is it better to reduce the dosage quickly (say over 6 days) and endure the sterss of all the withdrawal symptoms and be back to normal sooner or to do a slow letdown and minimize the withdrawal symptoms? Also any estimates of how long the slow method could take?

Thank you

[tiredofit8340400]

I will try to condense this as much as I can. I have been taking narcotics for 7 years D/T Relex Sympathetic Dystrophy caused by a knee injury, and a few years later Fibromyalgia also set in. I have gone through all of the class 2 and class 3 narcotics, then when the RSD became very aggressive I was placed on the class 4's,Oxycontin and Dilaudid. I was taking 80mg Oxycontin every 8 hours, with 30mg Oxycodone 3 times daily as needed for breakthrough pain. So I took 330mg per day. After several years, narcotics (oral) were no longer working. Following the unsuccessful effects from a Spinal Cord Stimulator, my doctor suggested the implanted pain pump, which I agreed on and it was just implanted. After the pump was placed my dr.started weaning me off the oral meds in 5 day increments. I NEVER deviated from this schedule. He said I would experience some uncomfortable effects from the Oxy withdrawal, despite the accurate weaning. Uncomfortable is not the correct word to descrbe this!  I am so TIRED I can't hardly get out of bed. I ache ALL OVER, I'm jittery and nervose, it hurts to walk, my back hurts, I'm hearing things that are not there, I have urine retention, and I can't remember ANYTHING!!!!  He told me the withdrawal would not last long since we weaned the correct way and did not do "cold turkey," which I would not have done anyway! Well, it's been at least 3 weeks!  I AM VERY TIRED OF THIS!  How long does it take to go through withdrawal for gosh sakes? I guess it's probably a little different for each person but I can certainly see now how difficult it is for people to want to go through this! SH********!!!!!!!!!! So, how LONG does this last? (the side effects of withdrawal?). Appreciate any help at all. May God Bless you all!!!!.........                  

[katieken]

it becomes the words time of your life when you are cut off abruptly...I did this to myself becauce I had sedretaties at my dr's office question how ai funtion with a child at home. It's sort of like they cut me off for a day, until my next appt, and Iused it to empower myself, and stop on my own.  I took a private amount for about 9 months due to severe nere damage due to chemotherapy.  It was a free-for-all as far as my dr is concerned, but the office, and once thepharmacy questioned my drug scripts.  

All in all, the dr is the one that is the pain manager...**** secretaries/pharmacists, but this 1 secretary  DID empower me...

Im on day 2 of abrupt withdrawal, so typing is a miracle.  I do  hae a child at home, and the paradox is that withdrawal itself is causing the disfunction.  Thank God for a great husband, and great parrents...

Best of luck to all of you, and btw, depression, and mental side effects can last months, but the wort of the physical are oer in 3-5 days...Just fwi...

[brickjuice]

I used the fentenol patchs I just stuck one on my chest left it there for 3days.did that twices and it worked.Ive been taking 240ml per day for the past 3 years

[dang1]

well i started over a year ago a close friend was getting oxcodone 5mg and wow i snorted one with him and it maked me feel great I even had a cold i would take one and just woke me up and felt great..no I am scared i have spent alot of money i dont have and as u get addicted you feel the great high any more so i take 6 to 8 a day by snorting them and if your drinkng while on them you can pound the beer down, tappering and rebound back at times ,after long term use i have found the high is nothing like when you started , dont always feel good with them how should a tapper off these and how long

[CrazyScaredinCT]

My doctor prescribed oxicotin 20mg 2x day - I've only been on it for two months.  Forgot to take it last night and woke up around 3am with sweats, bad dreams, and upset stomache.  Now I'm getting really scared!  Thought this would be a good way to put off inavitable neck surgery, but seeing how easy it was to go into withdrawal makes me want to get off this RIGHT NOW!  Can pills be cut in half and taper off that way?  Don't want to mess with going back to a doctor that put me on something this harsh so easily.  Please help, I don't like this at all!

[oxy77]

I just posted something on a related page here, and everytime I read more I am amazed.  I have only been on this drug for two months.  I have taken it exactly as prescribed, and only took 30mg 2x a day at most.  I am currently having a hard time with the tapering even at this dose.  I can't sleep. coughing, sneezing, and feel like I am going to jump out of my skin.  I never liked the way this drug made me feel...no psychological addiction.  Physically, my body needs it to sleep and function normally.  I am so annoyed because I was never told by the doctors invloved (ahead of time) about the possibility of an addiction, tapering off etc.  Now that I have informed them of the problem the tapered me down to 10mg a day (withdrawal symptoms the whole time), and told me I can now take 5mg of oxycodone instead (or 10 if necessary)...this is not helping.  Right now it is almost 2 a.m. and no signs of sleep.  I am just going to tough it out, because I refuse to continue to take a drug that is doing this much to me at this dose.