I am 52 year old fem. with a history of pres. addiction 23 yrs. ago then off and on til I had over 5 years clean. I was injured while running and put on opiates for pain when no one could diagnose or fix me. Now my MD at large univ.med ctr. wants me to do a slow detox. to see if meds (oxycontin) were causing the pain?? I need help to cope with all the evil detox. symptoms as well as info. from other chronic pain patients who are also addicts. The insomnia and stomach problems, anxiety/depression make me not want to go on, I am soo tired of fighting this pain and addiction. Any ideas,hope etc. would be sooo great tonite thanks in advance.
Hi lesliemb, Welcome to SupportGroups.com . If it is your MD that wants you to detox and you are doing so and having problems then I would report the problems to them. Usually any withdrawal symptoms you may have will eventually get better with time. Keep hanging in there and taking it one day at a time. Keep letting us know how you are doing.
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lesliemd, Hi! I too was on opiates for very long term (20years)pain & was addicted to them. After I detoxed and went through all the same side effects you talk about, the stomach stuff(nausea,for me),anxiety like crazy, mood swings back & forth all the time,and the insomnia( I could go on & on). But believe me it is worth it to finally be off the pain pills. I was on them for a total of 10 years and have been completely off now for over 4 months. The only big problem I still have is the insomniawhich my doctor contibutes to my Bipolar Disorder. Hang in there!! It does get better though it seems to get worse at first. The first couple days are the worst, but after that it does get better. Trust me I've been there. I know exactly what you're going through.keep us posted!! You can do this!
DeeJaye, can I ask you how you detoxed? Was it cold-turkey or did they wean you off of everything. I've been taking pain meds for my endometriosis and all that comes with it (severe cramps, back pain and spasms -- I have 5 slipped discs in my neck and back -- migraines and now fibromyalgia) for about 15 years, but it's only been in the last 3-4 years that I had to start taking them everyday just to function. I want to get off of all of it, or at the very least get it out of my system and my tolerance back at a normal level, so that if I absolutely need to take something, it will get rid of the pain, not just take the edge off slightly. But I'm absolutely PETRIFIED about doing it. I don't know if I could handle the pain mentally or physically. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
Ash