Replies To: Oxycodone's Deathly Issue

Ginny says

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:45:41 -0800

Hello All,
I'm hopeful that those of you who posted their intent on lowering or quitting their use of Oxy... have continued on with your decision and have made some real progress since you last posted. Let me know how things are going. Remember, even if you gave up on this attempt, it does not mean you can't try again and again and again until finally you succeed.
IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ALL:
Has anyone else heard the chatter on the internet (unconfirmed) that the manufactures of Oxycontin are going to take it off the market in the next month or two? Would like to know if this is true or what you might know about this rumor. Thanks.

Ginny says

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:46:55 -0800

Hi Lucy,
I am hoping that you won't mind responding to a few questions I have about your pain issues and related pain medication used for it. I ask because I'm curious how many others on Oxycontin have similar pain development issues. I'm wondering if your nerve related pain seemed to progressively become more frequent, intolerable and disabling once you started using Oxycontin? When your dosage was increased for pain, did you notice that after a few months the pain level and nerve related issues would increase as well? Also, have you been experiencing painful and debilitating spasms' in areas of your body which were not actually involved in any injury? If so, did it begin in your fingers and toes and after several years of Oxycontin use progressively move into other, larger areas of your body? Let me know if any of these issues apply to your health issues.

Ginny says

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:38:23 -0800

Lucy,
It's great to hear that you have decided to just do this! Do you know that percocet is the same drug as Oxycontin? The difference is it is not time released. I too used high doses of gabapentin for the steadily increasing nerve related pain over the years. After I stopped all use of Oxycontin, I discovered that a great majority of my nerve related issues and pain went away. I now believe that my steadily increasing pain and nerve issues were created by the Oxycontin. Following that, I was able to reduce my daily gabapintin intake of 600-mg. to only 200-mg. per day, and cut my Soma use for spasms' by 2/3 rds. Keep me informed of your progress and good luck.

Lucy65 says

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:55:59 -0800

Hi Ginny,
Thanks for your support. I decided to gp ahead and start weaning myself off the the oxyconton. I normally take 60mg in the am and 60 mg in the pm. On Saturday I decided to begin with 40 in the morning and leave the others as is for now. I plan on reducing by 20 mg at a time for one week each and continue on that path. So far, it's been going well. I look forward to the day that I never take another oxy. I am trying to rely on gabapentin and amatryptaline for the nerve damage pain. I still have percocets that I can use for breakthrough pain meds which are a much lower dosage than the oxycontins. I know that this will become more difficult but I have a wonderful support system in my family and I have warned them of the potential withdrawl symtoms so that they are prepared as well. I look forward to havin gmy life back, getting out and havimg fun, being able to work again, etc. I'll keep you posted of my progress.

Ginny says

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 18:46:29 -0800

I am now into my seventh month of detoxifying from Oxycontin, in addition to reducing five other pain medications by 75% each.
Hear is the good news:
I've only had two episodes which made me desire an Oxycontin High throughout all these months. Both incidents occurred while I was going through emotional pain, not physical pain. I immediately recognized that my use of pain pills over many, many years had created a broader use for them beyond pain.
This has forced me to re-evaluate my liberal minded, PILLS are HELPFUL policy.
I threw out my old way of thinking, and replaced it with a structured and semi-objective list of questions which have helped me evaluate, reduce and cut some medications completely off my long list. I now ask and respond to the following questions before I allow myself to take a pill for pain:

WHERE: Where is the origin of my pain right now?

WHEN: When did it start? When did I last take a pill for this? Does this pain have an hourly pattern? When does this pain surface the most? When did I last try alternative methods to reduce this pain? When did I start taking this pill, and for what? When did the dosage or amount of pills become so large?

WHY: Am I experiencing this pain? Why do I think I need, or want, a pain pill? Why don't I wait X more hours before I take a pill for this..

WHAT: What other methods and treatments can I use to reduce my pain other than taking a pill? What physical treatments and exercises can I do to help my body over this hump? What is my mental state of mind? What is my short and long term goal to reduce this pill or stop using it? What rules and regulations must I follow hourly and daily in order to reach my goals? What did I accomplish today towards achieving my goals? What are the negative effects of this drug on me?

These questions have led me down a new path which helped me stop Oxycontin overnight and reduce five other pain meds by 75% in less than three months. I'm still working on reducing, slashing and cutting pills from my daily life. Hope this helps someone, it sure has helped me.

HOW: How long should I attempt to reduce my pain before I feel I have a valid need for a pill. How is this pill going to change my behavior immediately, tomorrow and each day after. How does this pill effect my physical and mental abilities? How has this pill contributed to my counter productive behavior and state of mind? How can I view my pain and revaluate it's normalcy considering the circumstances and my bodies condition. or
unbearable, short term, long term, a body warning, avoidable, emotional state

Ginny says

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 13:26:29 -0800

I want to point out that a couple of people have posted their responses to my question asking if they too had seen full pills pass through them undigested, or experienced getting super loaded at odd times and other times never feeling the drugs effect in their system when it's taken. I did not hide the fact that I think this indicates a faulty slow release issue with this drug. Some have referred to these pill sightings as ghost pills, which indicates the pill has retained it's outer shell and shape, but the medication inside has been dispersed through osmosis. This is the limit of my understanding regarding what they were speaking about. I'm sure that their explanation is valid for some pills, but I think Oxycodine does have a release issue. I felt so certain about this issue that I told my husband if I die due to an Oxy. related overdose, I want you to have every inch of my stomach probed for unreleased pills still intact within my stomach. If my theory was proven correct under these circumstances, my family would have a legal case. However, it is important that readers remember this is an untested, unproven theory which is legally meaningless. In other words, please understand that I am not a scientist and my gut feeling may be the basis of absolutely nothing.

Ginny says

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 12:08:34 -0800

Topher,
Your statement about just falling without reason, or cause, really floored me. What finally got me to just quit the Oxycontin and substatianally reduce the dosages of all of my medications is because I had a long term desire to get off these mind numbing pills, and when I too began falling it lit a fire under me. Until I turned 57yr's. old, I had been a highly coordinated person and had never broke a bone in my body, nor fallen. However, last summer I suddenly began falling about three times a month. One time I was standing in a stationary position at a counter preparing food when I fell flat onto my back without even a foot movement. I felt like I had blacked out for a nano-second or something. My body and head hit the floor with tremendous force. Prior to my full body falls, I frequently had noticed times when things would just drop out of my hands as if my involuntary muscle reflex just stopped working. Later, my full body falls seemed similar in nature. These falls were bizarre because I never had any warning that I was about to go down or fall over. I was not tripping; I was just falling. I told my Doctor about it and expressed how concerned I was about falling for no obvious or logical reason. She didn't order any test or concern herself. I said to her, If I keep this up I'm going to break a bone. Less than a month later, and on my eighth fall in three months, I broke my elbow. While I was In the E.R. getting my elbow cast, they did a cat scan, or MRI, of my brain because I told them about the previous falls I had been experiencing. That Doctor was quite concerned, but fortunately they found nothing. I left with my arm in a cast, and I just knew it was the drugs that were causing my falls. Since I quit the Oxycontin, I haven't fallen even once or dropped anything either. There is no doubt in my mind that this drug, combined with others or alone, creates some form of mili- second black out resulting in a loss of body or muscle coordination. I won't even bother to get into discussing how it does a similar thing to the brain which leaves you wondering where you just went for a minute or more.

topher1019 says

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 09:52:53 -0800

Hello, i have found that all of these posts have been most useful. The whole thing about the pills not breaking down the way that they are supposed to. i was at work several weeks ago and took my normal medication in the morning after breakfast and 3 hours later found myself collapsed and convulsing underneath a ladder at work. i was told that i just passed out and it was due to being overheated but i knew that it wasn't the case because of me physically convulsing. i never abuse the medication in any way, yet there i was on the concrete with no idea what just happened to me after falling off a ladder. i have been using medication for the past year and a half and have been just taking hydrocodone in moderation according to pain, but recently was perscribed oxycodone. maybe that was the culperate, since i have multiple stomache issues and the possibility of multiple pills releasing at once is likely according to your diagnosis. all i know is since i read this thread last week i have stopped taking everything. Thank you, all of you.

Ginny says

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 04:25:26 -0800

Hi Lucy,
I'm glad that my posting have been able to find the person I was hoping they would reach. I thought of detoxing for over a year, yet I couldn't find any online information other than clinics and essentially treatments for heroin detoxing. I refused to go down that road and that is why I ended up doing it by myself at home. Thankfully I have a very supportive spouse who has been very patient and helpful through out all of this. I hope you have someone as well, but it can be done alone as well. There is a manner in which you and I can obtain each-others private emails if you decide that you would like to personally communicate with me while you take on this challenge. I would be more than happy to offer you any form of support via emails if you think it may be helpful to you. If so, just post a message that you want to make our emailing private and I will submit a request to the moderator to provide you with my email address. Once you have it you can email me and we can talk in private. Again, Good Luck. You Can Do This!

lucy65 says

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:15:01 -0800

Thanks Ginny, I appreciate any info coming from someone that has already been throught this. I look forward to getting my life back. I have always been a 'go getter' and I want to be that person again. Mentally, I still have those tendancies, am always there for other people and have the mental motivation to follow my dreams but physically, I feel like I'm being held back. \Everything seems to revolve around the oxy. I am familiar with every friend's and family's spare rooms, as I almost always end up having to go and lay down half way through a get together. It's things like that which I find so depressing. Everyone knows me as a sick person. Although I will still have health issues such as kidney failure and neuropothy, diabetes, etc. I know that I should be able to live a relatively normal life, once I get off of the oxy that is. I plan on doing this very soon, so I will let you know how things are going and I will likely go through some pretty bad anxiety, but I have been through many difficult situations in the past and I always get through them with a positive attitude and renewed strength. Thanks for your support and info.