Tapering experiment...(Interesting) results

[Frivolousz21]

I have always chewed my pills....instead of swallowed.

well here is the deal...last night I took my last 7.5 mg pill at 9 pm...by 2 am..WD's were bad....I slept till 9 am..woke up in full WD's.

I am trying to taper down before my next surgery....

so I decided to start swallowing the meds...to my surprise....Hydro Half Life is 3.8 hours...

so 20 percent gets absorbed as hyrdromorphone..however lets ignore that.

I took a 10/325 hydro at 9:10 am...WDs stopped at 9:30, never felt buzz..but felt good and normal until 11:15 am..rapid onset of WD's...I fought it until 11:45 am..when I was driving I was getting blurry vision...based on Half Life of Hyrdo...at 11:45 am when I swallowed 2nd  10/325...there should be 6.5 mg of hydro in my system or so left.....within 20-30 min WDs were gone and I felt normal and calm again...at the peak of this time frame about 14 mg would be in my system at peak time..it is now 2:40 pm...nearly 3 hours from last dose..and I feel min WDs....I thought by now I would feel terrible...I am starting to notice them...but only slightly...based on Hydro Half life...since hydro breaks down at a constant rate....I should be around 8-9 mg left in my system..if 6 mg or so is the magic number of severe WD...then they should be on-setting shortly and nailing my by 3:15 pm..in which I will take another 10/325...so unlike this morning.....WD's have taken much longer to affect me...now I know..once I take the next dosage..it should last till somewhere between 6:00-6:30 pm..I will be very interested to see how the next dosage takes.

I always felt like if I took a larger first dose....then I could take less all day and get by....now it makes complete sense....and since I didn't chew the pills..the hydro is broken down slower...so while I may not get the ephouric effects...I Will get longer relief from the WD's.

[vicki595]

Very interesting...

Keep posting about this!

Vicki

[Frivolousz21]

It is 5:30..and I haven't taken another dose yet...the first signs of withdraw are starting...a bit earlier then before...but I have also eaten much more then before.

I was tempted to take a 5 mg pill now..then a 10 at 7...but I will wait until 6 pm and see where this takes me..

I can't believe its almost 6 pm and I have only taken 3 pills so far and have had a normal day...

[vicki595]

Well..this is great so far...and a normal day,too. Keep track of this.  Who knows,you may be on to something!!!


Vicki

[Frivolousz21]

I held out until 6:20..by then I was yawning with a lack of energy....again, the relief came about 30 min later..right now I have a bit of a headache but feel ok with everything else....I feel a bit down today....as expected...but I am very happy this was so seamless so far....I am going to take my last one around 9:30-10...then go to bed about 11 pm.

tomorrow I plan to do the same except wait 3:30 min in between doses no matter how bad I feel....

[leeisgettingclean]

yep---keep putting more time between doses!

[Frivolousz21]

I took my last 10 mg at 9 pm...if I WD to bad before bed..since I am staying up late tonight about 12-1..I will take a 5 mg..before bed so I can sleep.

5.5 then total or 5.0 total...not bad at all and I had a great day.

[Frivolousz21]

I woke up in bad WD's...slept 9 hours..

10 am
12: 45 pm
3:50 PM
7:20 pm doses so far...

not bad...as the day goes on they get longer.

I am taking a 7.5 mg instead of a 10 mg at 10:30 pm

so I will have taken 4.75 mg down from 5.5 yesterday...not bad....getting there..I hope to be at 4 mg by Wednesday..and 3 mg by Sunday

[Frivolousz21]

I ended up taking 5.25....I couldn't sleep and then the WD's kept me so restless...I took a 5 mg and in 20 min passed out....I woke up about 7 am soaked in bad WDs....then went back to sleep and felt terrible...I woke up again at 9 am..and took a 10 mg then...today I will wait till 12:15 no matter how crappy I feel...remember the 1st dose is the shortest because there is less hydro in my system..pretty much none....

by staying consistent with doses....overtime maybe a week or two...my body will adjust to this dose...once that takes place..I can lower the dose more...I hope its less then a week...I am going to try to push to 4 hours between doses and not suffer 2 hours of bad WDs.

[Frivolousz21]

Dosing day 3:

9 am: 10 mg
12:15 am: 10 mg
3:00 pm: 10 mg
6:00 pm: 7.5 mg
9 pm: 10 mg.

getting there.

[moonshyne777]

That's great, your doing well with your taper.

[Mike_B_]

I like your plan.  I too have always chewed my pills when I take them.  I take 4 10/500 per day.  I have been wanting to stop so I think I will try it like you are doing.  Let me know how it works out for you.

[Frivolousz21]

It has definitely helped.... I took a 7.5 mg at 9:15 am i am def WDing now....the mental toll is starting to weigh on me...that urge to get high is there...so I am going to take a 7.5 mg at 11:30.

then a 10 mg at 2:30.

I know around 2 pm...I am going to start feeling it hardcore...but I can do this..I have to do this.

[sweatinit]

I ahve been following your post as it is very interesting to me. Good job and thanks for sharing it. I know the mental part is really tough, but keep pushing through it. It does get easier...i promise :)

Keep us posted pn how you're doing. we are all wanting to see u suceed!!

[Frivolousz21]

thanks...

the hardest part is how slow the taper is..
but it does work.

[Mike_B_]

I woke this morning around 3:30 AM and could not go back to sleep.  My back was hurting really bad.  I got up and chewed me a pill and turned on the tv.  I laid there until it was time to get up and start to work.  I decided to work from home today.  I just now took my noon time pill and I did not chew it up.  I will let you know if it lasts longer than it normally does.

[Lawsonsdad]

I am trying this but its taking a long time. For the past year ive been taking 10/500 Watsons. I suffer from an inoperable back injury. I take anywhere fron 10 to 15 a day. Now im down to 6 to 8 so its working. Thanks!!!!

[sweatinit]

Good Luck with your taper Mike.

Friv~ I know about the slow tpaer. I had to do it as well and it can be torture...the mind that is.

[vicki595]

I know you're working hard at this...

As Lee said...try to get some more time between doses.  This works well, also, because right now you're hitting peaks and valleys.  But,if you can get 5 hours between doses around the clock you may not feel that w/d so severely.  You can also break those 7.5's in half...
In addition,you're having a hard time with the mental stuff.That will be around for a while;you need to work on that.  I'm not sure if taking 7.5 at 9:15 and 7.5 at 11:30 and 10 at 2:30 is the best thing to do.  Just my thoughts but your last post sounds like you're giving in to the mental cravings...

Vicki

[Frivolousz21]

Thanks to all...

yeah today I have def. been a struggle..but I figure I win if I don't use more then I planned..I know there will be very hard days.

I figure
7.5
7.5
10mg(230)
10 mg(600)
10 mg(930)


So I finish with 4.5 tens again....One thing I hate is sleepign with WD's...but I have a feeling....WDing at night..every night is good..and will help bring my tolerance down....you gotta thing...if I take a 10 mg at 930 pm....by 1230 pm I am WDing....that is 8-9 hours of starving my body of the drug..overtime..when I wake up....the morning dose should satisfy that need....I have noticed that I get more of a buzz with a 10 mg then I did 4 days ago....thats why I dropped to 7.5 mg today..it did work...just not as long..which makes sense given the Half Life of the drug.

[Mike_B_]

FYI, I did the 10/500 whole at 11:30 AM and then again at 6:00 PM yesterday.  I only took a half of one around 8:00 PM plus the early morning dose like always.  I made it through the night ok.  So I have cut my dose from 4 a day to 3 1/2 a day on the first day.  Wonder how many days I should do that before I cut it down to 3 without much trouble?

I tell you the last time I tried this I was taking Ultram at the same time and it was pure hell.  I cut out the Ultram about 2 years ago and now I guess it's time to start cutting down on these now.  I do have a lot of health problems and the pills help me to deal with the pain.  

Keep me in the loop on how your doing and if you want to send me a message that would be fine too.  Good luck to you.

[Frivolousz21]

THanks...

slow cuts are good...so we don't cut to fast then binge later.

my surgery date is March 25th, 2010.

I plan to be completely drug free on March 23rd.so I get 2 and half days clean....before I go in..this will hopefully shut my tolerance some.

ANYWAYS...yesterday I had the same dosage as before.

the most amazing thing is...this morning...I actually felt somewhat better..not good, not great..but not horrid...I got up at 9 am..and didn't dose till 10:10...I showered, played on the cpu, dropped my gf off at work, and then went and got a gas station soda...my energy was low and my chest was tight..but nothing else really..not that can't function feeling...I bet the overnight WD's are helping out a ton.

[Mike_B_]

You know it's tough when you have real pain and try to keep your dose as low as you can.  I have had surgery many times and now that I have gotten older it has affected me where I am in pain a lot and take the pills so I can function and do my work without complaining about the pain.  

I have gone 2 days taking 1/2 a pill less each day.  I know that does not sound like a lot but I think if I can do that again after 3 days I may be on to something.  I've added Advil to help with the pain and I take a lot of vitamins so that helps.  Keep posting so I will know how your doing.

[Frivolousz21]

I didn't take a 2nd pill until 2 pm today....that was 4 hours apart...wow that hour was rough....after the breakthrough WD period....I felt ok.. no yawning..just a little hazy and out of it.

now I feel normal again....I am going to push for 6 pm for the next pill..then 10 pm and see if I can make it on 4 pills...would be quite a feet for me.

good luck buddy..the pain does get pretty sharp when I am not on the pills...however the WD's for me at least overshadow that quite a bit.

[Mike_B_]

I take mine just opposite from you.  When I get up in the morning I am usually hurting so I take one and lay back down until it starts working normally around 6 AM.  I then take one around 12 and then I was taking another one at 3 and 6.  After going a couple of day of missing the one at 3 and taking a half at 8.  I am going to try to skip the half tonight, and see if I can get through the day with just 3.  It's hard to believe a pill can make it where you have pain or function without the pain.  But, like everyone on here you just get tired of taking these darn things.  Making sure you don't run out early because you know you will have to call the doc and ask him to ok an early refill.  I try not to do that but I have.  I had 4 kidney stones from late Dec until I passed the last one last Feb,  I had to take a few extra during that time,  I used to take the 7.5 but they got to where they just where not working anymore and my dr did not want me taking to much Tylenol so I switched to the 10/500.  I am trying to do some natural things to help with the pain and I am having a little luck with that so I want to see if I can cut back or even stop if I can.  Good luck to you.