Am I weaning the right way??

[emilyanne]

Hi. I've been on and off this board for years, having gotten clean, relapsed,etc. I relapsed in october and have been taking oxy 80's,percocet, vicodin, whatever I could get my hands on...couldn't even tell you how many a day...sometimes up to 30 a day ( not 30 oxy 80's...the days i had those, maybe two a day). Anyway, on Sunday, I took my last 8 pills. Started to feel horrible w/d that night. On Monday, got hands on 2 vicodin 10mg and took those to ease the w/d. On Tuesday, got hands on 8 vic 10mg, today took 4 vic 7.5's, and although im feeling the w/d, its easier weaning a little. there is no method to my weaning, but this is my question.....should I take 2 vic tomorrow, since took 4 today, then go cold turkey on Friday? will it be easier on me than just stopping today, after the 4 that I took? I guess what im asking is this...is this fast wean beneficial at all? Will those last two tomorrow be helpful and lessen the cold turkey on friday? I know weaning is most effective with a slow, calculated, planned out wean,  so am i helping myself any by cutting down the way I am? I don't HAVE the two for tomorrow, but could get them if beneficial. The weird thing is that I dont want to take these...its not like im stopping cuz I know I have to but i dont want to...i really just dont like taking them anymore and have no desire each day to take them. im only still taking them to ease the w/d. Can anyone help or answer me?? Thankyou so much in advance. and sorry for spelling errors,,,have my 4 year old climbing all over me!!

[merrymaria]

yes stress is a major trigger for cravings...you just got to get through it no matter how hard and deal with it straight up....don t let your mind trick you into thinking i will be okay to take one pill..NO..it will not work.  some days i feel like i m going to blow (stress) but i do remember that pill popping is only temp and won t help at all...you got to fight fight fight everyday...and everyday it will get better and better..maria

[Anna82]

I feel you on that one...I have a son. He will be 4 in June. Quitting is an energy zapper, especially when u have kids.  When i quit before I just kept telling myself to get through it and it will get better.  I tried to keep myself positive by doing things that keep me calm or distracted like drinking hot tea...or reading....or a long hot shower when I felt my worst.  Calming music helped too.  When I felt like I was reaching the crazy point I would stop and yes...sounds crazy....I would talk to myself and tell myself that it would be better and take deep breaths.  Triggers were a major things in trying to quit.  Figure out what triggers u....I read that somewhere else on here too.  My triggers are stressful things like when I gt frustrated with my son or bills or the fatigue...I would have to close myself off and just calm down for about 10 mins...no noise just me thinking over and over..this will get better.

[cattalina]

Good for you about making a choice! Remember to just stick with it no matter what. People say Hyland's Restful Leg is helpful (or a knock off), ibuprofen or aleve helps a bit too. The lack of energy is definitely one of the hardest parts. That can last longer than just a week, so prepare yourself now. This may sound silly but exercise will give you some energy. It will feel like torture the first couple times but you will be surprised as to how much better you feel after a couple days! Hang in there!!

[emilyanne]

Gosh, Thank youall so much for such fast responses!! youre right...im just going to stop today. at least im stopping from 4 today, rather than 30. i just want to get this over with. I don't know about you, but the absolute hardest part of w/d for me is the lack of energy. I literelly have to struggle to walk to the bathroom and im not joking. my son asks for toast, and getting off the couch and walking to the toaster in the kitchen feels like i am using ten tons of energy that i never had to begin with. the RLS at night is torture, but the lack of energy is worse. How much longer will all this last? I mean the late-night RLS? even with the taper, its horrible. i feel like im going out of my mind.

[merrymaria]

i agree with cattalina....some people can taper...some can t...for myself i tried to taper back a year ago...no luck cos i got some pills...i finally ct in july.  it was bad for about 4 days but nothing i couldn t handle.  tapering to me was prolonging the agony....i just had to stop....period and it worked.   whatever works for you you should choose but don t keep taking pills to lessen wds...it will keep pulling you back..good luck to you....maria

[cattalina]

Tapering/weaning off pills, or drugs in general, is super hard. Some people can do it and some people can't. I can't tell you which way will be better for you cuz I really don't know. But if you don't have anymore right now, and you're already sick.... why get more? It will only help make you feel better for a couple hours then you're back to being sick. Sometimes just getting it over with is the best route. Then on the other hand, doing a taper would make the wds less intense, just longer over a period of time. So... long and drawn out with a taper? Or just bite the bullet and suffer now? It's up to you what you feel like you can handle - but with an active child to care for, either way presents its problems. Whatever you decide to do - just stick with it. That's the bottom line, don't give up on whatever plan you choose!

[Anna82]

But with tapering aren't the withdrawls a little less severe?  I quit cold turkey and spiral out of control...depression(which I had before but it wasn't as bad as now), diarrhea and horiible cramping, severe fatigue...don't you think tapering is easier on the body?  There has got to be an easier way....I have to get a job and the w/d make it sooo hard to work especially in todays economy.

[philster]

see a dr if you can. You are gonna be needing some more to get you through this unless you go cold turkey which will be hard off oxys. It will be so worth it. You can do this. I am praying for your sucess

[allaboutmary]

I think if you take more tomorrow, you will just be dragging out your detox. In other words you detox will probably last one day longer. Keep pushing ahead and get it done with.  (just my opinion).   Hang in there and keep us posted.

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

You would normally want to be at dose for a week to ten days to get acclimated......then continue to wean. In my opinion you are just torturing yourself with your approach.  I used to approach tapering in the method that you describe. I am no good at it. Just had to finally stop cold turkey. Cold turkey did work and I am at least glad that I got something done! Its worth it...........

[Anna82]

I'm no expert on weaning since I can't quit taking pills...the longest I quit for is when I am sleeping..but I would think since you slowly increase the amount as your body becomes resistant to a drug I would think that you would do the same when coming off.  I started with vicoden 5 mg and went to 7.5s probably a week or two later.  Then I had to up it to 10s to get the same affect.  So I would say slowly come down the way you slowly went up. Like I would need to take a little less mgs than I am taking now for a couple weeks then decrease  my dosage again for another couple weeks until I get to zero....The main thing in weaning is willpower and commitment though. If you have them right in front of you can u limit yourself to taking what you want to limit yourself to?