There are people who can take it or leave it. (i"m not one of them)...
Addiction is still not fully understood....
It usually starts : habit-->tolerance-->physical dependence-->psychological
If i drink alchohol I will abuse it. If i take opiates I will abuse them. Guaranteed.
everyone is different....
the only sure fire way is to quit, see how you feel.
either way you'll be fine.......
we're here for ya to guide ya through it when ready..........
Free~
Thank you so much, Pat.. I'll keep everyone here updated. It's nice to have somewhere I can go where I don't.. have to feel like I will be judged or thought of as a bad person. It's really nice.
You can always cut then in half and take a half a pill twice a day as well.
See how that goes. You just don't want to increase what you are taking because like you said, it just keeps going up and up.
Good luck and please let us know how you are doing.
Nobody judges here and you can be completely honest.
Pat
Thank you guys. I gave in today because of the back pain again but I'll try the 24 hour thing on a day when it's not too bad. If I can dumb myself down to 1 pill a day, I think that will be a good starting goal after the first 24 hours. Then no pills a day unless absolutely needed..
I am really glad I found this forum.
I have a simular history I started taking Vicodin for Migraine pain. But then started taking it every day only about 1-2 per day, but it was everyday and the thought of not taking it everyday caused anxiety with me. When I would get migraines I would take a lot more, that is not the way you are supposed to be taking these for migraines, in fact I think by taking the Hydrocodone it has made my migrines more frequent, rebound headaches. So now I have decided to go off and it has been, not too bad. I thought it might be bad because I had been taking them this way for over 10 years. Yesterday I only took a 1/4 tab and today I'm hoping not to take any! Good luck to you, we can all do this together, this forum is the only place I have been able to get honest and it has been a life saver for me.
If you do experience withdrawals it will be like the flu. You can say you have the flu. Also, who would notice that you aren't taking your pills?
I would be honest and say I am concerned because I have read that Percocets are very highly addictive and I am being very careful with them as I don't want to have a problem. Does someone else give you your pills?
Percocet withdrawal is really bad if you abuse them. It is hell and I think if you are concerned about it, you should stop them now while you still can.
From what you have told me you are doing a very sensible thing and you should be proud to tell anyone that you don't want to become addicted to them.
I think that might be it. I made the mistake of looking at a good lot of other websites and forums before I found this one for addiction. People talking about being on the pills for four years, ten years, six years.. It didn't matter how long they were on them, the one thing that came out was still certain: withdrawal was really bad. In some cases, it just was difficult.
In others.. it was downright painful. And that scares me - why would I want to go through more pain when I'm trying to get rid of it?
Another thing is.. how am I going to explain not feeling good and not wanting to take my pills? Haha. I know that seems like a silly concern but it's not so easy to say "Oh yeah, I'm going through some minor withdrawals and my stomach hurts so I'm just, you know, not going to be taking my pills for a while."
Don't be scared. Is it some of the stories you have read about withdrawals that scare you? I really don't think if you do experience withdrawal symptoms that yours will be bad but it could be a big sign that you need to be very careful with your pills and only take them or something else when your pain is really bad.
I just hate the thought of anyone having to go through this horrible addiction and think you are doing the right thing by questioning it now.
I wish I had done that. You can save yourself so much misery by figuring it out now.
Thank you both, the advice.. I'll be honest, it sounds scary to me still. If I end up doing it and I feel nausea and like I have the flu.. then it means I really am addicted, doesn't it? But if I don't do it anyways, I could just get worse.
I'll have to just bite the bullet. I actually haven't taken a pill since 4:00pm yesterday, EST time! Albeit, I've been asleep for maybe 5 of those hours but that's still pretty good, right? I don't feel so bad so far, a little nausea but it doesn't feel flu-like and this is pretty normal for me anyways.
I'll keep an eye on it and hopefully I'll be okay.
Ugh migraines. They are brutal. I think that teridactyl is giving you some good advice. Pick a day when your back isn't too bad and of course when you are not suffering a migraine and don't take any. On the dosage you are on I don't think you will feel too bad but you may have some nausea, the runs, feel like you are getting a cold or the flu.
If you do feel like that, I would really advise you to talk to your doctor about it. You don't want to be like us and not be able to take anything stronger than tylenol when you get a migraine if you do become addicted to opiates.
Opiate addiction is pretty horrible and the more you take and the longer you take it, the worse your withdrawals will be and the recovery after.
I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Please let me know how you make out. I really do care.
Pat
Hi Orabel,
I remember the first time I quit taking my percs and oxys. I ran out of them and wasn't due for a refil for 3 days. About 12 hours after taking my last pill, I started to feel REALLY sick. I was truly convinced I had the flu.Day 3 with no pills and I was still VERY sick. Needless to say, about an hour after taking 30 mg oxy, I started to feel much better. That was when I realized my body and my brain had become addicted to the drugs. It has been a 4 year battle since that incident. I am now on day 4 of withdrawing from oxy ( with the help of suboxone). My advice to you is quit taking your pills and by the 24th hour of no pain pill, you will definitely know if your body is dependent on them. Then you can decide what your next step is.
Best of luck.
Thank you for the response, this really.. has surprisingly helped, feeling better just from being able to talk about it. And thank you for the kind welcome right off the bat, I don't think I was ever expecting this much.
I've been taking them for migraine pain and back pain for about half a year. Not as long as some people have, but I have a poor concept of time and it just.. seems like a while for me. My problem is, I get these really bad migraines where there'll be shooting pain in my head - and it'll settle back in my eyes and just become unbearable along with the back pain. It actually took me a while to get anything like Percocet, because I had been taking Tylenol and Advil off and on thinking that would help me and then it didn't..
Thank you for your help, Pat. I really appreciate this.
Hi Orabel and welcome to this wonderful forum.
Percocet 512 is 5mg which is the lowest dose you can take.
You say that you have very bad pain so they must be prescribed for you.
You are taking a very low dose and have nothing to be ashamed of.
I am thinking you are probably taking them as prescribed by your doctor.
These pills are intended for people like you who require them for pain.
That being said you can still become dependent on them.
I really think if it is upsetting you this much to take them you should discuss your fears with your doctor. You are being very proactive and sensible about this. Again, you are not doing anything wrong at all and have nothing to be ashamed of. You should be proud of yourself for recognizing what most of here would never admit to so early in our addiction. I was taking 20 a day which is totally insane.
Perhaps there is something not as strong that your doctor prescribe for you before you do develop a problem with percocet.
If you don't mind telling us what your pain is and how long you have been taking them that would be helpful.
I really am impressed with your common sense and your recognition that this could become a big problem down the road.