Please do not go cold turkey. Would you mind sharing what you are trying to get off? My son just went cold turkey with his Norco because he lost his medical insurance and he does not recommend going that route. It's been two weeks and he is still going through it. There is a new drug out that my Aunt sent me that is for Fibromyalgia but i believe the paper said it is also given for people getting off medication. There is another one as well but my son said it's very expensive and his Medi-Cal won't pay for it. I just went to look for the paper with the name and now I can't find it. I'm sure if you go on line and type in the information, it will come up there. I will continue to look for that paper for you though. I have been taking pain medication for 15 years but I take it as subscribed. It's not always easy when you are in a lot of pain. Do you have someone that you can trust to hold onto your medication and just give you what you need, allowing you to go down until you are down to 1/2 a pill a day and then nothing? I'm afraid for you in two ways. If you tell the doctor what is going on he will red flag you as a drug seeker which could hurt you when you really need something for pain. What you could do is ask him to put you on something that is weaker or a medication that isn't considered a narcotic. I know there is one but I don't remember the name. you say that you have hurt people? How have you hurt them, may I ask that question? you are going to need something if your pain is anything like mine, so you can't go without anything but I do think weening yourself off is the best way to go. But you will need someone that you trust, to help you to do this. At least you have admitted what they are doing to you and others and that is a big step. I give you a lot of respect for that.

If you are able do it yourself but if you are not quickly find someone to help you. A husband, trusted sister, mother.
Don't let this rule and dictate your life. Every day you lose to it you can't get back. Go to the people you have hurt and ask them to forgive you and never do it again.
Only take your meds as prescribed. You can do this. Don't allow weakness to stop you, Take this bull by the horns and demand restitution! You are the one who has been stolen from,Demand satisfaction and know that God will give you the strength to carry on if we ask, and trust and obey.
Hugs to you.
I pray for healing for you. God bless you,

Please, PLEASE listen to gramy and don't go cold turkey.... I did last year and nearly lost my mind and my life. My withdrawl was so hard it hurt other people just to watch and that was only Neurontin, tramadol and a muscle relaxer. If you cold turkey it can make you "not right" in the head for a VERY long time!

How many pills a day are you talking about and what kind?

Gramy is right, if you tell your dr you will be red flagged for the rest of your life and you will receive no pain meds ever.

Sweetie, first of all, you have just made a huge step in the right direction by admitting you are powerless against your drug of choice. I applaud you for that! Remember this: " A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step..."

Unfortunately, for you, and so many of us, if you suffer from chronic pain, getting off the pain meds...and especially doing it cold turkey...can be very difficult. You may have made some bad choices along the way, but this is NOT your fault. Go easy on yourself. Don't worry about the people you have hurt, for now. Those relationships can be repaired, and if they love you, they will understand and forgive you.

I do think you should tell your doctor. It's critical that he/she be made aware of your situation, so either he can guide you into the tapering process of your meds, if that's what you choose...and also there are some meds that can help you...with the anxiety, depression and also cravings.

You still need, and DESERVE, to be treated adequately for your pain. So you need to discuss some options with your doctor. I just want to mention (and I am in no way suggesting or recommending this med, because everyone is different and it may not be right for you)...I started on the Butrans patch yesterday. It is for moderate to severe chronic pain and lasts for 7 days, then you change it. It's a class III opiate. There is the potential for abuse, as with all narcotics, but the risk is significantly less. I have had problems in the past with self-medicating and substance abuse, so I feel this is a good choice for me, as I don't have to take any pills. I'm also not experiencing the peaks and valleys of breakthru pain. It is buprenorphine, which is what is in Subutex and suboxone, only it doesn't have naloxone in it, which causes withdrawals and counter-acts the opiate. Anyway, this is just something you might want to mention to your doctor.

I would also recommend you either get into a substance abuse program in your area, or attend some Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings. This can all be worked out, and you can do it. Please stick around here and let us know how you are doing. We all care, and so many of us have been in your shoes.

Sending you many gentle hugs...

Lorilynn
Do you mind me asking about the patch you are going to be taking. Right now I am on the Fentynl patch at 50mcg and it gets changed every 3rd day. Unfortunately the only good day is the day after I have changed the patch, so typically a half a day without the severed pain. I have not heard of yours and thought I may mention it to my doctor. Thanks for letting me butt into this post and ask the question. GramyBear Thank you to both of you.

Shlay,
If you truly want to stop taking pain meds, go to a detox center that specifically deals with narcotics. DON'T go cold turkey- it may endanger your life.

Or, you can wean off the meds slowly, under your doctor's supervision. It's not something to do alone.

I hope this helps- I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this.

Sandy

Shlay,

First off, don't think your the only one that has this problem...you're not by a long shot, so don't think that you've done something terrible or your a failure or whatever people may say, just don't. I've moderated a couple of addiction & withdrawal boards in the past, and I can even begin to tell you the numbers of people I've met who are right where you are. All of us CP'ers who take daily narcotics are dependent, it's a natural fact and sometimes it's not too hard to cross over into addiction. The main thing is, your admitting you have a problem and that's the most important thing of all.
There are ways to safely get off the meds and ease into being sober without the horrendous withdrawals. Tapering is the most widely recommeded way to do it, it's the safest way. I'm not sure what meds and what dosages you are on, but quitting cold turkey can be dangerous and even life threatening for some....please don't quit cold turkey. Your Dr. can help you setup a tapering schedule to get off the narcotics, he can educate you on what to expect as far was withdrawals and detoxing go, and he can help you come up with a plan for how to manage your pain afterwards, because you'll still have to do that somehow.
There are also Methadone and Suboxone treatments for detoxing off of pain pills and they help with some kinds of pain, not all..it's just something else to look into.
There is a safe way out of addiction, I won't lie to you, it's a lot hard work, you have to be strong, diligent and really willing to work with your Dr. and follow the plan you've set up.
Let me know if you want more info. I can give you lists of things to help while detoxing and some things to expect from withdrawals...I've had to detox off of narcotics and benzo's a time or two...it's not easy and not fun, but it can be done safely.

I hope you find some peace in your decision.

Kat

I've weened off my of my meds before, for the months I took too much at the beginning of the month. I'm slowly weening down from the 8 pills I have left. I will get sick, and I will be prepared for it. I don't have to do much the next week or two so I should be fine.

I agree with those who said not to tell my doctor. They are very, VERY strict with it where I live. If I said I had a problem, I would never get any again. I just need a break from them to get my head clear.

Right now I am trying to ween off of percocet. I was taking nucynta and that helps better than the percocet, but it was worse abuse wise.

I can't do the patches, they never stay on and they make me really anxious and I'm already on anxiety meds. I was on a feyntal patch and it made me nuts!

Again, if I ever told my doctor, that would be the end of it. And I know I will have to go back on them at some point.

shlay, i agree with all the advice here. i admire your courage and just want to send my support and hope to you.
please keep us updated and e safe!
hugs and hope, serenity

you can go cold turkey off of the pain meds. you won't die. you'll just feel like you're dying.

if the anxiety med is also a problem for you, you must not go cold turkey off of it. that can result in seizures and worse. you absolutely need to be very careful if you are planning to ditch your benzos. there are plenty of websites that might be helpful to you. without medical supervision or a very sound plan, you can actually harm yourself.

you've taken a huge first step here, you have the desire to actually stop now. without that, your success rate plummets.

you should be really proud of yourself. now comes the hard part. but, it does end. the benzos can help ease some of the withdrawal. be nice to yourself. plain ibuprofen or tylenol can really help with the body aches. for your digestive health i suggest high fiber, low fat with fresh bananas and apples. whole grains and high fiber will reduce the diarrhea.

you can do this!

Shlay- when I went off all my meds I went to acupuncture everyday. The woman that was helping me just so happened to be an addiction specialist in acupuncture. She said to help make withdrawls easier, eat lots of protein avoid caffeine and sugar like the plague.

I was one of the rare that had very severe w/ds from Neurontin. I was only taking 600mg a day when I cold turkied. Everything was fine until like 5 days later when my heart started racing, almost passed out, severe anxiety and terrible deep dark depression, couldn't quench my thirst no matter how much I drank, couldn't eat. I went to the ER.....no real help there......went to the dr....explained......no real help or taper plan there....I said well, I can see that you drs are good at getting us on drugs but have no idea how to get us off them. I don't bother with drs for getting off meds anymore. They will either take you off too fast or say something like "I was told it didn't have a w/d".
The biggest help is from real patient expierience like brokenyolk suggested, websites that help you get of xyz.

I wish you all the luck, if you need to talk post here or you can message me. I'm always here to listen.

Shay, hi I am from Rochester Ny. A little closer than others. I have been tappered off a lot of meds mostly narcotics. Instead of doing something so hard as cuttting pills in half and going far off so much this is a better way and it may sound strange but it works much better. A lot countries people can get small liquid amount of narcotic or they actually make there own but I found that to be confusing and I didn't want to mess around with this. Anyway. if it the perc you are addicted to you are going to have to not snort it at all. Keeping getting script from you doctor because YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO COLD TURKEY. MY anxiety would go up and my doctor would have to give me Xanax with my Klonipin to get off Fentonyl patch the worse things I got off for and other narcotics. First go for a very small titration just by biting of a small bit from the pill. Don't cut it in half because this will simply be to much. I know it will not be exact each time you do it but it is much much slower than cutting pills. When you get used to the small piece out take a bigger and bigger piece off. I am talking very small small piece of a pill. No more crushing it and snorting. That is where it will be a big problem. You may have to go to some support group if you need others to talk to. My mother went to AA and NA but really didn't like NA because she had chronic pain. I was thinking of this as a last resort. You need to have support system to help you. You can't tell your doctor but do you have anyone you confide in, If not there other groups on line and this. Please talk my advice with the tiny amounts taken off at at time. also go slow because the way a doctor want you to get off is not always how our body can take. I know several times I wish that I had been put in the hospital to get off the med's I had grown tolerances too. When you are thinking more clearly you have a chance to apologize to the people you have hurt. Be selfish and concentrate on yourself right now and handle this for yourself. Be proud that you have asked for help. You are very brave. when you are getting off med, try as iggy said to try things to keep you relaxed. I have really bad anxiety withdrwals, I sweat, get sick to my stomach, If your you have to Make sure you don't get off of too much at one time.

Last piece of advice, try to stick with w/ding only 1 med at a time. Anymore than 1 may lead to failure, the w/d becomes too overwhelming.

Another thought down the road, maybe find an addictionologist. many deal with chronic pain patients that have addiction issues. I wish you the best of luck.

Just want to wish you all the best and think your an inspiration for wanting change...... Huge Hugs Shlay....