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Pill popping?? Need to stop
I've best posting on and off here for about 3 weeks and haven't run across any advice on how to get over the mental part that you need to take pills? How do you do that? Would therapy help? I'm tapering on suboxone so the narcotics aren't even on my mind, it's just that every 3 or 4 hours I feel like I need to take something!! I hate myself and get really down and now can't sleep all that good, so I told my doctor and he added an antidepressant and sleeping pills and it helps but again it's just more pills so I'm always looking at the time to see what I can take. Is this normal??
Thanks for any input/advice!
Thanks for any input/advice!
Well I wish you strength to make the changes you seem to want to make. It ain't easy but it's really worth it. I calculated it up and I was taking 9 various pills a day - thats 270 pills per month plus whatever motrin and tylenol I'd take (probably 4 or so per day) - that is A LOT of strain on my poor little liver who I'm sure is thanking me about right now for doing this.
Hang in there and treat yourself with care! Hugs
Hang in there and treat yourself with care! Hugs
I may be totally wrong and am not a doctor. But one thought hit me. It is almost like someone who is OCD. You have to take the pills because you have to. Does that make sense. Just wondering and wanted to throw that out as another thing to think about.
Thanks for writing, I see my pain management doctor and I've gotten all meds from there except the Phenegran, that I got for gastritis from my primary and my pain mgmt doctor knows all I take except for the Xanax, he doesn't know I'm tapering the subs, I know I should be honest but I chicken out when I get there. I started the xanax about a month ago and need to stop because plain and simple I like how it calms me down immediately, but again it's just another pill, so I'm going to continue tapering the subs and start doing the same with the Xanax. I know about the rebound headaches as I've been dealing with chronic headaches for 20+ years which was what started me on meds in the first place. I read on here where it takes 90 days to break a habit, so i'm going to start a journal and see how that goes. Thanks for all the advice I'm going to continue to get off of all this junk I'm poisoning my body with!
Elmijack - Many times with chronic headaches you will get rebound headaches by taking so much medication. I know it stinks but most docs who handle headache management will tell you to stop with the excedrin/tylenol etc. deal with several days of bad rebounds and then a lot of time they will let up. I've struggled with headaches my whole life - you might consider seeing a doctor who can help you specifically get that under control.
You are on a lot of different stuff and I'm concerned about interactions as well - I know most of them are all prescribed but are they prescribed by the same doc? Does one physician know the entire truth about what you are taking? If not I really want to encourage you to get some help here, find a doc you can come clean to.
As for being afraid of not having the pills - I DO get that, believe me I do. Those pills for people in chronic pain situations are a security blanket. For me - I was taking the pills and still in pain because my body was used to the dose and wanted more - I didn't want to give it more as that is a vicious cycle and in another year I would have been right back in that same position again and perhaps moved to another med that was worse than what I was taking. Anyway I understand how you feel.
I don't think there is any easy way out of the habit of taking that pill, I was really starting to ritualize my taking of pills when I decided to stop - they were no longer helping the pain but yet I continued. Keeping busy and replacing those behaviors with something else really is key. It's like cigarettes or anything else I imagine.
In the beginning I would watch the clock and missed the physical action of taking my meds, at 37 days it is honestly much better now. Now my challenge is psychologically living with my pain and learning how to handle it.
It sounds like you really might benefit from seeing someone, if you have chronic pain I believe there are psychologists that specialize in that where they give you cognitive behavoir therapy, biofeedback etc. I really wish I had insurance and could afford a therapist because I need it to learn to deal with the pain.
I want to share my xanax experience with you - I only ever took 1 mg at night to sleep with my ambien. It's a really low dose and detoxing off that low dose of xanax has been more uncomfortable than the hydro withdrawal in a different way and more extended since you have to taper really slowly off that. Please don't get yourself hooked on it. I just stopped my sleeping pill and xanax at night 4 days ago and I know the lack of sleep is just devastating. I try melatonin, some nights it works others it doesn't but I recently read taking less is better than more as taking just the recommended dose most closely mimics what your brain produces - taking more melatonin thinking it will work better is the opposite of what you should do (I did not know that and I had been taking 2 for good measure - 1 works much much better for me).
Right now focus on getting off the main meds you need in a safe way with a doctors advice.
I know this is long - I just wanted to reach out to you and share this stuff. I hope it helps.
Above all, please seek out some help on all the various meds you are on.
You are on a lot of different stuff and I'm concerned about interactions as well - I know most of them are all prescribed but are they prescribed by the same doc? Does one physician know the entire truth about what you are taking? If not I really want to encourage you to get some help here, find a doc you can come clean to.
As for being afraid of not having the pills - I DO get that, believe me I do. Those pills for people in chronic pain situations are a security blanket. For me - I was taking the pills and still in pain because my body was used to the dose and wanted more - I didn't want to give it more as that is a vicious cycle and in another year I would have been right back in that same position again and perhaps moved to another med that was worse than what I was taking. Anyway I understand how you feel.
I don't think there is any easy way out of the habit of taking that pill, I was really starting to ritualize my taking of pills when I decided to stop - they were no longer helping the pain but yet I continued. Keeping busy and replacing those behaviors with something else really is key. It's like cigarettes or anything else I imagine.
In the beginning I would watch the clock and missed the physical action of taking my meds, at 37 days it is honestly much better now. Now my challenge is psychologically living with my pain and learning how to handle it.
It sounds like you really might benefit from seeing someone, if you have chronic pain I believe there are psychologists that specialize in that where they give you cognitive behavoir therapy, biofeedback etc. I really wish I had insurance and could afford a therapist because I need it to learn to deal with the pain.
I want to share my xanax experience with you - I only ever took 1 mg at night to sleep with my ambien. It's a really low dose and detoxing off that low dose of xanax has been more uncomfortable than the hydro withdrawal in a different way and more extended since you have to taper really slowly off that. Please don't get yourself hooked on it. I just stopped my sleeping pill and xanax at night 4 days ago and I know the lack of sleep is just devastating. I try melatonin, some nights it works others it doesn't but I recently read taking less is better than more as taking just the recommended dose most closely mimics what your brain produces - taking more melatonin thinking it will work better is the opposite of what you should do (I did not know that and I had been taking 2 for good measure - 1 works much much better for me).
Right now focus on getting off the main meds you need in a safe way with a doctors advice.
I know this is long - I just wanted to reach out to you and share this stuff. I hope it helps.
Above all, please seek out some help on all the various meds you are on.
Look forward to hearing from you tomorrow. We will continue talking then.
Yes they're all prescribed except for the Xanax and Valium got those from my mom to help me taper and I KNOW you're not suppose to take them together but it calms me down, again I probably have an excuse for all I take, but I do realize it's not good. It's going to be hard to find a doctor to be honest with, but I'm going to do it. I can't keep living like this. Thanks for listening to me, it feels good being honest without being judged or yelled at! Going to try to get some sleep and will post back tomorrow!
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