15mg a day hydro WD.

[Liptonbuddy]

I've been an on and off addict for about 4ish years now, and most recently went through a pretty decent sized addiction, taking about 150-200 mgs of morphine a day. I've recently been tapering myself down to avoid bad withdrawals. I've been tapering myself down for about a month now, and have got myself down to about 15mgs of hydrocodone a day. The thing is, throughout this whole time, I still have a few symptoms of opiate WD. I haven't had a solid bowl movement this whole time, and not even immodium helps. I still have minor hot/cold flashes with the inevitable sweating, and my mental cravings are just rediculous. The other day, it had been 15 hours since I took my last 5mg dose of hydro, and the physical effects weren't bad at all, but as soon as I started thinking about pills, I noticed they worsened significantly. Do you think it's just a mental thing that's making it worse? I know 15mgs of hydro a day is nothing to most of you, but as soon as the mental part of withdrawal hits me, it seems like the physical part just comes on alot stronger. Any advice you guys could possibly give me? Maybe just try and occupy my mind with something so the mental part doesn't come into play? Any help would be most appreciative! Thanks guys!

[devilsdrug]

definitly stay occupied ur fukkin mind will trick u if u give it a chance , a cocktail cud help at that level also

[ZodiacKiller]

It definitely could be that the mental aspect of WD is playing a part in your discomfort. Don't discount that mental aspect---it's powerful. Plus, don't feel as though it's only you, we all get it and deal with it to varying degrees of success.

The Immodium will not help you have a successful bowel movement, in fact it will have the opposite effect. If you're down to 15mg of hydro a day, I'd stop taking the immodium and you may find that bowel function will return, possibly with force; if not, a mild laxative taken sparingly may help.

Not too long ago I kicked an opiate habit in the milligram range that you're talking about; I did it with Percocet and I can tell you that even when I was down to 2.5mg a day (a half of a 5mg pill), I was feeling the physical shit almost exactly as you describe. It's at that point that I stopped taking the percs and then began taking immodium. If you didn't already know, it can help fight opiate withdrawal because it binds to some of the same receptors---but it will bind your bowels up too, unfortunately.

If I were you, I'd continue tapering yourself down 'till you are at next to nothing, then take immodium, perhaps a few benzos if you've got 'em (but don't over-do them!), and perhaps a sleeping aid for the insomnia after that, if you need it. 2-3 days after that, all physical shit should be diminished significantly.

You're almost there anyway, and if you are determined, you will be able to accomplish this. 'Tis a sad fact that once you have a habit like yours, you won't be able to completely avoid some physical WD, however minor. As they say: "if you wanna play, you're gonna have to pay", and unfortunately it's true. Hang in there, though, and you can do it.

And yeah, keeping yourself busy will definitely help with the mental aspect. The depression, horrid cravings, anxiety, and sheer boredom can last for some time---which is the worst part of it, for me anyway. If it gets too bad, you could always look into a Suboxone program, but honestly, it sounds like you won't need it anyway, given that you've tapered down so far already. Feel free to PM/e-mail me if you need any help or advice.

Best of luck to you.


ZK

[orangejuice]

yeah i agree with dd on that one. Lipton i have that same prollem with the mental possibly making the physical worse. I havent found much that will take my mind off of it once i start thinking of it, but hobbies of mine help, no matter what, DO NOT GET BORED, sorry for caps but its serious. If you get "idle hands" you are gonna slip and think about it or even worse, go and score. But dude i have the same trouble as you while tryin to kick tha methadone so good luck

[goagirl23]

Even though you may not be feeling the greatest, I find it best for me to get out of my house as much as possible, having something to do to keep your mind occupied. Sitting at home is such an easy way to get bored and start thinking about those pills. Good job on tapering yourself down! That takes some serious will power! You will make it!!

[Liptonbuddy]

Thanks for all the kind words guys! Yeah, I definately spend way too much time in my house bored as all hell, and that's when the cravings start. It sucks at work, too, because we won't get busy again until the end of the month, so at work I just sit around and think all day. I haven't technically been "high" in a month now, so that's a positive thing to think about. I just wish I had some money to my name, so I could actually get out of the house and do stuff. My whole first paycheck went to my car insirance and credit card bills. >_> Anyways, I'm gonna have myself on 10mgs a day now for about 4 days or so, and then do 7.5mgs for a few days, and I should be ready to cut out completely. I just have to remember that although I'll still feel WD effects, I know they'll be NOWHERE near as bad as my morphine habit WDs.

[candy]

Hey Lipton,
Do not take Immodium anymore. It is used to stop diarrhea. If you still have not had a bowel movement, I would try some stool softeners, like Colace(Docusate Sodium) and keep taking them 2 times a day until you have a bowel movement and then once daily at night to keep from becoming constipated again. Stool softeners are safe to take daily and work by softening the stool, not causing motility which will cause that awful pain we get from laxatives.

Try it and stay away from the Immodium!

[Liptonbuddy]

Oh, I'm not sure if I clarified, but my bowl movements aren't hard, but look like a mix of liquid and phlegm. Yeah, I wish I was constipated, hehehe. I was taking the immodium for the diahrrea, but it's not helping. Sorry if I didn't clarify that earlier. I thought I did...Oh well. :p I think tomorrow I'm not going to dose myself and see how I feel. Even if I feel bad, at least I have work all this week. I'd actually rather be at work doing stuff and occupying my time rather than sitting all alone in my basement just dwelling on the fact I feel shitty.

[antigonemuse]

Oh, I'm not sure if I clarified, but my bowl movements aren't hard, but look like a mix of liquid and phlegm. Yeah, I wish I was constipated, hehehe. I was taking the immodium for the diahrrea, but it's not helping. Sorry if I didn't clarify that earlier. I thought I did...Oh well. :p I think tomorrow I'm not going to dose myself and see how I feel. Even if I feel bad, at least I have work all this week. I'd actually rather be at work doing stuff and occupying my time rather than sitting all alone in my basement just dwelling on the fact I feel shitty.


actually - i musta been reading it werid... but i totally got what you ment in regards to your bowls

what a way to start

anyhow... good luck...I Kicked a fairly large habbit not to long ago, and chipping now. Its nice to have an option to - do or not - with out severe wds "in the mail"... If your serious enough to taper yourself from morp habbit, you should be able to deal with the WD's. I did it cold turkey... projectile vomit and all. pretty sure everyone on this site has. Not easy, but just doable... good luck... let us know

the site has alot of great support info and members on it

[Liptonbuddy]

Well, I got myself down to 10mgs a day, and the lortabs have run out. Here's hoping I keep my mind occupied during the week. Work should be interesting since the air conditioner broke, heh. I feel slightly clammy, and it's been about 22 hours since I took my last 3.3mg dose. I should be in the clear, though. This should be fairly easy, though.

[EndRun]

The broken AC would be a godsend for me, as I get bone-chilled cold when in WD. Sounds like you're over the worst of it, but now comes the mental game. Are you prone to depression? Hopefully not. Get yourself a good book, video game, or movies - that don't involve drug use in any way. I was doing just fine one time, and then someone in a movie is shooting up, and that was it - I was high within an hour. If possible, get around non-using people who don't know your situation. Being forced to act normal can help, when the sickness isn't too bad.

Immodium for the bowels, DXM for the mind. Not too much, as it is a dissociative that causes intense hallucinations in high doses. I weigh about 160, and I find 60-75 mg works well to take tha hard edge off reality.:cool: