Is this normal

[again35]

Hi all, have been reading on these boards for awhile now, and have finally decided to post about my story. The long story short version is, I have been taking about 15-20 (5mg) vicodins everyday for about 2-3 months now from chronic pelvic area pain including endometriosis, ovarian cyst etc... but yesterday at 11:30 am I took my last 5 vicodins. Naturally I started to panic and was trying to think of what I could do to get some more, but nothing worked out so throughout the day I kept having these crying spells, and then later that night I started feeling anxious. I took some sleep medicine around 8:30 pm and pretty much slept the whole night with no problems. then today I got up and was actually feling ok, but then I started getting really hot and sweaty, feeling a little anxious and my side started to hurt. so I went to the ER to be evaluated. while i was in the hospital I started getting real anxious and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, so they gave me some ativan and phenergan while they were doing my testing. turns out I now have 2 cyst on the same ovary and one of them is the size of a golfball, anyways they told me to follow up with my obgyn dr. and gave me a small script of 10 vicodins, so when i left the hospital it was about 3:00 pm and I actually wasn't feeling bad at all, I mean I wasn't jonesing to get to the pharmacy right away to my script filled, but of course I did get it filled and it is now 10:20 pm and I have taken all 10 pills, but this time im not panicked about being out, im in the mind set that I don't want to be controlled by a bottle of pills anymore, my question to everyone is for the day and a 1/2 that I went without taking anything the withdrawals were not nearly as bad as i thought they would be..is this normal? or was it just not long enough to get the full effects of the withdrawals? i know i blew it by taking the pills but I also know that I have tapered them in the past 2days as well because I went from 20 on friday to 5 on saturday to 10 on sunday and now none tommorow, so should i expect the withdrawals to get worse then what I have already experienced? or is this it? thanks for any advice.

[TayTay06]

Agian-
You sound like me...not fun I know. Sounds like you are going to experience anxiety, depression, and maybe some fatigue. Should get better by the 4th or 5th day....with plenty of water.

Usually it takes about 8-16 hours for withdrawl to kick in and its at its peak between 48-72 hours...depending on you. For me, my worst couple of hours is between 24-72. By day 4 my anxiety subsides, Im not as tired, and its only the depression that is killing me. Oh and I get a bit achy too. At worst you may get flu like symptoms.

Read the first thread on here...I think its called the Home Detox Plan. I wouldnt expect for your WD's to get worse but I would prepare for it. I know how those crying spells go.

HEY REACH!!! What was the name of your thread that you posted about mourning your drug???

Anyway...
Again,
When Reach tells us the name of that thread, I think you should go back and find it. It helps put some justification to your sadness during detox. It helped me accept it rather than fight it and get upset that I was depressed.

Good Luck!
Let us know how it goes
Tay

[coder]

Hello,

You have been taking 15-20 vics a day for several months. That is a lot of narcotics being ingested on a daily basis. Going one day with 5 and another day with 10 is NOT a taper. When I quit my 14 pill a day habit, I had forced myself to "taper" to just 3-4 pills the last several days (because I had used up everything else early!) Most likely you WILL have a significant withdrawal episode lasting anywhere from 3-7 days, with the worst period being days 2-4. By the time you read this, providing you have not taken any more of the drug, you will be nearly 12 hours without any vics. For me, the 12 hour point was when the withdrawal really started to kick in. The symptoms you described that sent you to the ER are the EXACT symptoms I experienced through my withdrawal for about 5 days.
I am not writing this to scare you but I want you to be prepared and not think you are "out of the woods with an easy sailing ahead of you. That sort of mind set is a recipe for relapse. You have to have the steel-will-power to grit your teeth and get yourself through this first week. It will not be easy, but, if successful, you will come out on the other side with an entirely new outlook on life....FREE of drugs.
Isn't a week of misery worth getting back your freedom from pills? If you are anything like me, you probably found yourself counting pills each day, obsessing as that bottle got emptier and emptier (unless you were obtaining your source through illegal means). If THAT is true, then you can celebrate the FINANCIAL freedom you will experience for I KNOW that getting this crap off the street can mean financial ruin for the true addict.

My post is in no way intended to be harsh, heartless or without empathy. Just 2 months ago, I was in the exact boat you are in now and I KNOW the row. Life is by no means a bowl of cherries for me even at this point, but I am FINALLY starting to see daily improvement and yesterday, on day 53 clean, I woke up for the FIRST time since quitting with a smile on my face, thinking that LIFE was a good thing.
Keep strong and you can beat this. Please post often and let us know how you are doing. I also recommend that you try as many of the "Home Detox" suggestions posted at the top of this forum... They helped me immensely in lessening some of the withdrawal symptoms during that first week.

Good Luck,
Hugs,
Lou

[feelbad]

honestly,the best way to "view" what you will be going thru with the WDs is to get the mindset that you just have the 'flu'.anyone can survive the flu ya know?this is what i did.i just really tried to "pretend' that i was going thru an episode of having the flu.it makes things sooo much easier inside your head to look at it this way,really it does.drink LOTS of water,it helps flush your system a bit better and a bit more quickly.also,when the kicks set in,buy some epsom salts that you can get at any drug store and soak in a nice hot(this can also help sweat out toxins from your system) tub with a cupful in the water.the epsom is just magnesium granules(natures little muscle relaxer)that do have a natural muscle relaxing quality.it gets absorbed right thru the skin so it goes directly into the muslces.you may have to keep repeating this but it really does help.

my concern for you tho is what are you going to do about the cystic pain?being honest with your OB about your hydro usage really needs to be said to her/him,right at the outset so they can help you come up with alternative plans for pain management.i know when i had endo,once they did a DnC and also a laprascopic procedure to pop those cysts that had grown on my ovary,things pain wise got sooo much better for me.you just really need to look at all this very realistically and form some kind of plan for yourself to follow.setting this up thru your treating docs is really the best way to go actually.if you have very real pain that needs to be managed,without that plan its just way too easy to fall right back into the old patterns.

just wanted to also mention to you that you should probably have your liver and kidney labs checked just to make sure everything is okay.you were on quite a high daily intake of tylenol for a while there.you just need to make certain that there was no residual damage.i do wish you lots of luck with this.please keep us posted on how things are going.Marcia

[skych]

Hi there Again35...

I want to say welcome to the board and glad to see your posting and being honest.

I am not a doctor, but I feel that every person is different when it come to health and body issues.

First I would be getting in touch with my OB to come up with a solution to the Eno and cyst problems, as well as informing him abput your abuse of the pain meds if he/she does not already know.
Maybe you should be getting with your regular doc or a Pain management Doc to help you go through a detox. There are so many options.
A 15-20 a pill Vic or whatever is a lot to just stop....Just like Coder said.
We have all watched and listened to him and supported him through his ordeal as we still suppport eachother we will be there for you as well.

I had Eno and cysts so bad that I ended up having a Hysterectomy because no other treatments were helping. At that time I was also going through a break-up of a relationship, a work related injury that I am still 3 years into and my first semester of school. At that time I was not on continuous pain meds for my work related injury or my female issues.
I have been sober and clean for a few years, and did not abuse the pain meds....but like Coder said you gotta mentally prepare yourself for the detox because it is a tough deal.
Later during the three years of my injuries I have had 2 female surgeries and 4 on my left arm I was put on Methadone for the arm.
This was serious and although I followed the docs directions in taking them and in tapering them it was very very hard to get off. I did not have cravings for the stuff but I am still dealing with the emotional stuff and the physical pain from my injuries. I also still have stomach and bowel issues that I am not sure are just part of the no oopiate thing or just my regular issues.
Please know that You don't have to do this thing alone. We are here to suppot you and listen and answer questions. I would like to make one last suggestion and that is that you try an AA, CA, or NA meeeting. A 12 step program will help you to understand where you have been and who you want to be.
Best of luck and keep us posted as to what is going on .....Chrissy