Help with addition

[Chiqui1554]

2 months ago I had Lumbar spinal fusion, but before the surgery I was taken Norco , so it's about 4 months I have been taken this pain killer, I know is addictive , today I decided to take less, but I feel so bad, anxiety , depressed, what I can do to not feel this symtoms . Need help, still have pain due to my surgery.

[Chiqui1554]

Thank you so much for all the information, I will contact my doctor and hope he can help me with this issue. God bless all

[rozie78]

I encourage you to continue tapering down.  The alternative, staying on opiates, will only prolong and quite possibly worsen your withdrawal when you do decide to come off of them completely.  My experience... I chose to stay on them and wish that I had toughed it out in the beginning. Staying on them led to tolerance, then to changing to long acting opioid, and then to addiction. I'm not saying you will travel down that path, but you do increase your risk of long term opiate dependence/or addiction by increasing the amount of time you're using them. Anti-inflammatory medications in conjunction with other forms of non-opiate pain management DO work for many people, and I truly hope that you will find an alternative to your pain management other than opiates.  They really mess up your body's chemistry/balance!!  You can do this!!  I suffer from MS and experience severe bouts of pain. After my Norco dependence, was changed to Methadone x 7 year. I noticed the pain surging back while coming off of methadone. It was grueling, and the suboxone really wasn't helping all that much. I began to increase my acupuncture sessions and it truly was amazing how much the pain began to decrease. I went from 10/10 to a manageable 3-4/10.  I can live with that!! After a week of suffering with suboxone, I took Subutex for 3 weeks and have been substance free for 3 days. I experienced increased pain without Methadone.  I have tremendous pain, however, I began acupuncture approximately 3 months ago. I don't think I could be feeling as good as I do without it. I have hit some pretty bad lows during my opiate use, and really would hate for you to travel down any path that might even have a chance of being similar.  You haven't been on them long at all.  I know you can do this.  Best of luck to you!

[PurrfectlyKrazy]

You haven't been on the opiates for long so you should probably only feel like you've got a flu bug...I don't think you will get the granddaddy of withdrawal symptoms.  Stay hydrated...don't get dehydrated which will make things worse.  Stay busy, keep your mind occupied.

Ask your doc about Lidoderm Patches...non-opiate and really, really help with pain...also Voltaren Gel (an anti-inflammatory) and heating pads and/or thermacare heat wraps are good.  There are ways to manage your pain without giving your life over to the opiates.

We are not allowed to give tapering advice because we aren't doctors but I will advise that you talk to your doctor and let your doctor set up a tapering schedule.  It will be a lot easier on you.

[Chiqui1554]

I just to take about 6 to 8 daily , now I star taking 3

[jifmoc]

Hi. That's withdrawl you are describing. Anyone who takes opiates regularly is gonna feel withdrawl when they take less. There really isn't any way around it, unfortunately. How many are you taking daily?