when am I going to feel better??

[cetiya]

I've been clean off optiates since Aug 18th and I still am weak, emotional and clumsy. I have literally fallen every singe day, I bump into walls, smashed my head on an open coboard. When does this get better? yeah I feel better than before, but this weakness, lack of motivation and constant crying is getting to me. Even my sleep disorder doctor disowned me cos he said my sleep issues are too complicated for him. I have a feeling my next addiction will be to sleeping pills cos I have pretty bad insomina and restless legs. I honestly felt better when I was on optiates. I'm not saying I wish I could back, I have no cravings for them, I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

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Never forget the fallen heros of 9-11

[Philster2003]

Not remembering how much you were taking and for how long but generally it takes weeks to get back to "normal"

It took me 6+ weeks before I really started coming around and then it was like 2 months before I really started feeling "Normal" again. Remember it took weeks to get addicted and it takes as long if not longer to get un-addicted. There are studies that say it takes quite along time to get the body back to pre-addiction status, some would say upwards of 6-12 months. I think most folks feel fine within weeks and the first few months. To get truly 100% may take longer but when you're feeling so poorly coming off the drugs you feel the big gains early on. It's the 80/20 rule, the last 20% takes the longest.

phil

[cetiya]

my stupid new doc put me on Fentanyl patches and didnt warn me they were addictive. so when I wanted to get off them, he gave me 500==500 oxycondones to get off. they were only 5 mg I was supposed to take every 4 hours. then i was sick of taking pills every 4 hours so he put me on oxcontin. my body couldnt tolerate less than 80 mg a day. when I told him I wanted off them too, he refused to give me some benzos which I thought would be a good idea cos then when I went into withdrawals, I could take something that wasnt an optiate, and I wasnt addicted too. he wouldnt do it. I am mad at him for refusing me the drugs I needed, soma and benzos, (the benzos would have been really short term) because they are addictive but he offered me Methadone, fentanyl and oxycontin. I'm off all opiates but stil take soma and sleeping pills or I'd go nuts. I also take Elavil, but it doesnt seem to be helping in any way.

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Never forget the fallen heros of 9-11

[kennyseven]

Why not consider long-term therapy with either methadone or buprenorphine? Detoxing and using again, detoxing and using again, in between all of this, feeling like crap, wouldnt it be much better to be stabilized? If folks could just get over the stigma of Opiate Replacement Therapy there would be a lot less suffering people in the world. I have been on methadone for a long, long time, I live a perfectly normal life, have a loving family and a great job, and most importantly, have no cravings, and am very comfotable in my own skin. I would not have it any other way. People often say to me, "Why not get off the methadone, it obviously works, you dont use drugs anymore?" That is exactely why I dont get off it. BECAUSE IT WORKS. Why would I stop taking a medication that works. That sounds pretty stupid to me.

kennyseven

[rockingham]

for cetiya,

in my experience as an addict i have used elavils on their own and in combination with methadone and soma. please be careful cetiya, when i was at my worst i took 160-200mg of methadone 100mg elavil and 4 soma 350mg = rockingham = COMATOSE. i arrived at a job at 3:00pm and passed out inside my car until 7:30pm when the owner of the house had come outside and had to knock on my window to wake me up. i was a complete zombie and had supreme difficulty in walking. i was able to drive home but i never should have been behind the wheel under those circumstances. to this day i thank my maker that gentleman woke me. i was so loaded i wonder if i would have ever woke up. it scared me. i just wanted to warn you that taking that combo in high doses is dangerous, an od is possible. i dont want this to happen to you.