Hello everyone! It has been a while since I posted on the forum. A couple of reasons for that. First, I'm done discussing Mormonism. I just hit a point where I didn't care about it anymore. Second, I have been enduring some long-term health issues. A few of you already know about this. I have an intestinal issue with associated chronic-pain. I have been treating the pain with Dr. prescribed narcotic medications. I have been on some form of narcotic for nearly 5 years. The medication robbed me of my motivation to do anything. Pills, couch, blanket, pillow, videogames. And the dosages kept going up. Tolerance/pain/tolerance/pain/ad infinitum. Over the last couple of months, my oxycodone dose was over 360mg/day. I was taking 3 oxy 30s four times a day. Sometimes as high as 14 pills. I lived in 5-hour increments, always awaiting the next dose. I was no longer fighting pain, I was taking what I needed to hold off withdrawal and to try to feel a semblance of normalcy. I tried many times to wean myself off the oxy by cutting my dose, but that never ended up working. Chemical dependence. Near the end.
A little over a week ago I made the decision to change something. Anything. I searched online for ideas. I decided to try suboxone therapy. I read some good things about it. I also read some criticisms. But it seemed like a start and it was the only form of treatment I could afford. I made an appointment with a pain management Dr. last Thursday. We had an amazing discussion and decided that suboxone would get me off the oxy. He wrote me a prescription for suboxone film and I had it filled at the pharmacy nearby. I took my first sublingual dose last Friday at 11:15 am. Then hell..........
Hmmmm. Maybe I should have explained at the beginning that I'm writing this to 1. get it out of my system and 2. to offer some help to anyone who might be going through a similar situation. Feel free to PM me if you want more information or suggestions or help. I may post the next part of the story later. Not sure. Peace.
All I can say is: Good Luck with your struggle. I hear Oxycontin is a real bitch to kick. I would suggest seeing an addictionologist. One of the things I've heard (anecdotally, I must emphasize I'm not a doctor) is that rotating different pain meds helps reduce you chances of getting addicted to one. The other thing is ramp down slowly. I know these are probably things you've thought of or been told, but I'm just putting it out there...
I know that you are taking this for legitimate pain and not recreationally, but addiction is addiction. I would consider going to a Narconon meeting, if just for the fellowship. It also might be a good place to find a referral to a low-cost addictionologist.
Anyway, good luck. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
"The great problem of any civilization is how to rejuvenate itself without rebarbarization." - Will Durant "We've kept more promises than we've even made" - Donald Trump "Of what meaning is the world without mind? The question cannot exist." - Edwin Land
silentkid, get yourself to AA. Addiction is not something you are going to fight successfully on your own.
Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction -Pope Benedict XVI
