XPost: alt.support.chronic-pain   
      
   Doug wrote:   
      
   > Biker Babe  would you be kind enough to send me the info on your forum???I   
   > would appreciate it.It sounds very interesting and helpful to some.   
   >   
   > Thanks   
   > Doug   
   >   
   > P.S.  I was thinking of cutting back on my meds and see how bad the pain   
   > is.I do not think I could stand the pain without my meds after 13 years.  I   
   > heard some people take a drug vacation???   
      
   Heya Doug, everything Ive heard about drug vaca's is that they arent   
   helpful at doing whats expected, and thats to lower tolerance.  And   
   whaddya do about yer pain in the meantime?  Why suffer for something   
   thats never been proven to work.  As soon as ya take yer meds again, yer   
   dose jacks back up to its old dose.   
      
   If drug vaca's worked, believe me, I'd take one.  I'd luv to get my dose   
   lower again!   
      
      
   >   
   > email Gliss47@mailexcite.com   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > "BikerBabe"  wrote in message   
   > news:RnQvd.5814$2r.3699@fed1read02...   
   >   
   >>mikey wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>Hello, im trying to quit this nasty hydrocodone habit that I have.  I   
   >>>have been doing this for 2 years, and in the last year its been an   
   >>>everyday habit of 50 to 100mg.  The reason why i have all of a sudden   
   >>>decided to quit was i started feeling sharp pains in my left mid chest   
   >>>area.  I would only feel this pain if i took alot of hyrdo in the 80 to   
   >>>100 mg area.  I have no cut myself down to 50 mg a day and am going to   
   >>>do less and less each day.  I have even started to do cold water   
   >>>extraction to give my liver more of a break (if thats the problem).   
   >>>   
   >>>But i have been having problems.  On the first day of extracting all   
   >>>the APAP out of the hydro, that night I woke up cause i did not feel   
   >>>right.  I was sweating a little and proceded to take my blood pressure   
   >>>and it was up to 155/100.  My normal is 130/80 usually around.  I also   
   >>>had a physical a year or 2 ago and i do have very high cholesterol and   
   >>>tryglycorides.  I have been eating better and i have lost 25 lbs( not   
   >>>sure if thats cause of the hydro abuse though making me eat less ).   
   >>>Anyway  I was able to go back to sleep.  I pretty much guessed that   
   >>>this was because i went from taking 2500 to 3000 mg of APAP a day to 0.   
   >>>The next day I took 1500 mg of apap and i did feel better and with no   
   >>>pain in my chest.   
   >>>   
   >>>But unfortunately the next night I woke up sweating and cold (because   
   >>>im wet) and a bad headeach.  I took 10mg hydro and 325 mg of apap and i   
   >>>felt better instantly).   
   >>>   
   >>>Can anyone offer any advice on my condition?  I have been pondering   
   >>>going to the hospital if this gets any worse.  I do not want to go to   
   >>>my family doctor since i dont want them to know im a drug addict.  I   
   >>>have been able to quit hydro before (when i was doing less amouts)   
   >>>   
   >>>Im going to do 40 mg of hydro today and take a tylenol before i go to   
   >>>sleep and hopefully i should sleep better.  Thankfully as long as i   
   >>>stay below 50 mg hydro/1500 apap i havent had any left chest pains.   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>>I am concened am i having liver failure? causing my body to sweat to   
   >>>fight of colds since its not working?   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >>(posted from alt.suuport.chronic-pain)   
   >>   
   >>You are in withdrawal.  I run a forum for people who want to get off their   
   >>meds they have gotten addicted to, whether by choice or by just being on   
   >>them a long time after an illness.  There are both medical and street   
   >>addicts in the forum, so you won't feel out of place.  We are all very   
   >>similar once our bodies are addicted to opiates and we can help each   
   >>other.  You are more than welcome to check us out. Just let me know if   
   >>your email address is correct and I will send you the info you need to   
   >>become a member there. (The one I post here with is NOT valid.)  My forum   
   >>has no doctors on it.  I am not a doctor.  We are just a bunch of pain   
   >>patients and addicts who have gotten together to help each other and   
   >>support each other either thru a detox or to take our meds as directed   
   >>without crossing over the line into addictive behavior.   
   >>   
   >>I would guess you built up enough tolerance that you started into WD   
   >>(withdrawal) when you didn't do an increase in your meds and that made you   
   >>feel something was wrong.  We all build a tolerance to opiates over time   
   >>and need to adjust the mgs. we take accordingly.  If we don't, we start   
   >>having WD's.   
   >>   
   >>During WD you will feel like you have the worst case of the flu you've   
   >>ever had in your lifetime .. and then some.  It won't kill you, but you'll   
   >>feel like you want to die.  My forum has a 30+ year addict that has come   
   >>up with a recipe to make a CT (Cold Turkey) detox much easier, which a lot   
   >>of addicts prefer, since they find doing a taper impossible. Even though I   
   >>can taper, I've used it myself since I prefer to just do the week or two   
   >>of being sick to the months on end of it that you get from a taper.  It's   
   >>the difference between night and day using the recipe over doing a detox   
   >>with no help.   
   >>   
   >>Do NOT go to the hospital.  If you do, you will be put down as a drug   
   >>addict.  There is nothing they can do for you that you can't do for   
   >>yourself at home.  The last thing you want is to go on record as a drug   
   >>addict if you are also a chronic pain patient.  (Even if you aren't for   
   >>that matter.)   
   >>   
   >>As far as the Tylenol goes, you can safely take 3000 mg a day.  Some   
   >>places say 4000 mg, but that would be really pressing the high end.  The   
   >>reason it helped you feel better, is cause of the WD pain you were   
   >>feeling.   
   >>   
   >>The more opiates you take and the type you take, all factor into WD.  A CT   
   >>WD from hydro usually gives you about a week of bad symptoms .. oxy and ms   
   >>contin figure on 2 weeks. After that you will deal with the ensuing   
   >>depressing and general malaise feelings.  Each day you will feel better as   
   >>time goes on.   
   >>   
   >>The rule of thumb when doing a taper off opiates is to drop by 30% once   
   >>every week, 2 weeks, or month, depending on how quickly you adjust to the   
   >>lower dose.  It's always best to have your doctor aware of what you are   
   >>doing too, but if your doc isn't the understanding type, you will have to   
   >>go it alone.   
   >>   
   >>You didn't say you have a medical problem that you are taking the hydro   
   >>for, so I'm writing this assuming you take for pleasure and not for pain.   
   >>If you do have chronic pain, then I would question why you want to stop   
   >>taking the meds. I would then advise you to talk to your doctor and tell   
   >>him you aren't getting the relief you used to and ask him to make and   
   >>adjustment in your dosage.   
   >>   
   >>BB   
   >   
   >   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)