Matt posted in the comment section of the post entitled ” How Long Does Opiate Withdrawal Last?”. It was such a great comment that I felt everyone should read it and see what it’s like when you go through a  withdrawal. It can be done, you probably won’t die, you might feel like you wish you were dead but in the end everything will be ok.

I’d like to thank Matt for sharing his story…

Contributed by Matt, one of our readers.

After reading just about every single post here, I really felt I should contribute just in case my own information helps someone out there in the way that your information has helped me. So, first and foremost, THANK you ALL for everything that you’ve shared!

Back in September of 2007, I hurt my back pulling something out of the kitchen cupboard. I went to the doctor for it, remembering how much I loved Percocets back when I had my wisdom teeth extracted, and used my existing scoliosis as a tool to eventually convince the doctor to prescribe me Percocets monthly. I basically used charisma and lies to get it done. I never even considered the possibility of getting addicted. I just wanted to get high.

Over the following months, well… you know how it goes. You’re quickly buying off of people, doing whatever you can to not run out. I can honestly say that from September of 2007 to Sunday, August 28th (5 days ago), I never went through a day without some form of oxycodone. This is mostly due to my prescription increasing to 60mg OxyContin twice per day, with 120 10/325 Percocets monthly for breakthrough “pain.” This, combined with what I bought off the street, was enough to never run out, ever. My habit topped out at 240mg of oxycodone (in its various forms) per day.

Well, this last refill cycle, I decided to take a stand. I was tired of sitting alone on weekend nights just getting high and watching TV, sick of counting pills, sick of trying to think of excuses when I’d have sex without being able to finish (on the rare occasions where I had a sex drive at all!), sick of just about maxing out my credit cards because I was using cash to buy, sick of having no motivation to be active in any way, sick of declining plans if I didn’t have as many as I thought I’d need to get through those plans, sick of being constipated all the time (sometimes to the point of actual bleeding), sick of feeling like a zombie and not actually feeling real emotions anymore. What a horrible way to live! It’s not even living. It’s auto-pilot in a haze. It’s nothing. It’s brain death. It’s a vapid, soulless void with no love, no repercussions, no rewards, no compassion, no hope. Just a rinse/repeat life cycle that sucks you dry.

So, this past Sunday the 28th, I took my very last pill at 10:00pm, with my boss’s knowledge of what was going on and his blessing to be out on Monday and Tuesday only. I had to be back Wednesday. The type of job I have makes it VERY difficult to miss work, so this was a big deal. I had to make the best of it. I was armed with four .5 mg pills of Xanax, five sublingual strips of the 8mg/2mg Suboxone, and a wonderfully supportive woman who has never taken a pill in her life.

Timeline:

Monday the 29th: The worst day of my life. I had to make it to 10:00pm to pass the 24 hour zone and take my first Suboxone. I literally screamed into my pillow for 19 hours. Some of you talk about exercising, taking a walk, occupying yourself. I am amazed and happy for you! For me, there was NO way this was possible. I could barely even roll over in bed, let alone stand up on my own two feet. Aside from the restless legs, I could swear I could individually feel each cell in my bone marrow gnashing its little teeth and wailing. It was inSANE. Every few hours, I would take one of the .5 mg Xanax pills which would afford me about 30 minutes of sleep each. That’s it. Then it was back to hell again, until finally, 10:00pm rolled around and I took 4mg of Suboxone. Within 30 minutes, I was out like a light, and didn’t wake up until 4:30am, feeling “fine.” (read: medicated – the Suboxone is a drug, too, let’s not forget it!).

Tuesday the 30th: I basically laid around all day on the couch watching TV and feeling extremely lethargic. My energy level was probably at like 20%. In the evening, I took an 8 block walk, which was about my limit. I was asleep by 7:30pm, woke up at 11:30pm, fell asleep at 2:30am, and woke up at 6:00am on Wednesday. I don’t remember much else, but I can tell you that I did not take any Suboxone at all. This Tuesday was my first day opioid-free in 4 years.

Wednesday the 31st: I took 2mg of Suboxone at 7:30am because the heebie-jeebies were getting really intense now, and I HAD to go to work, participate in meetings, etc. I was “fine” all day. No real issues to report here. It’s incredible how far such a small amount of Suboxone (drugs! let’s be real) can go. Went to my first NA meeting, ever, at 7pm. Nice experience. Not sure I’ll keep going, though. But SUCH nice and understanding people. Fell asleep at 10:00pm, woke up at 4:00am. Not feeling great, but not feeling even close to Tuesday, let alone Demon Monday.

Thursday the 1st: I decided to NOT take Suboxone when I woke up, to see how long I could go. Pitter-pattered around from 4:00am until I got to work at 8:00am, and by the time I sat at my desk, I was so exhausted that I literally could not remove the foil top from the yogurt I brought in to eat. I had to use my teeth, because my arms were SO weak. How pathetic is that? But it’s completely true. I couldn’t even hold my head up. As soon as I realized my eyes were tearing and I was noticeably sneezing and everyone was basically looking at me dying, I took another 2mg of Suboxone because I knew I would not make it through the day at work. Then, of course, I was “fine.” After work, my girlfriend came over. This was the first time I had sex off of the oxycodone and, let me tell you, it was the best sex I had in 4 years. Did I last? NO. Haha. Suddenly, I actually have a sex drive and can feel sensations again! She was completely understanding, so we went at it two more times before bed. If there was any point during my recovery process where I was even more than 100% certain I was doing the right thing, it was then, and that’s why I’m mentioning it. Fell asleep at midnight (due to our activities), woke up at 4:00am (again, it seems 4:00am is a magic number for a lot of us!), and tossed and turned the rest of the way.

Friday the 2nd (today) – I did the same thing as yesterday, and the same thing happened at my work desk. I was falling apart, and did another 2mg of Suboxone. Got through the day “fine” (drugged on the Subs). Got home, and had enough energy to actually do my laundry. Now I’m sitting here at 9:37pm feeling alright, but I know it’s the Subs.

What will I do now? Well, no more Suboxone. This is luckily a three-day weekend (Labor Day), so from now onward, I take nothing other than potassium, Immodium, one-a-day multi vitamins, eat fruit, take showers, etc. But no more Suboxone. I only used it to make it through work. I’d ask “What should I expect?” but, guess what? It doesn’t really matter. It’s not like it’s going to change anything. I’m not going back to the pills. I’m not going back to that empty, hollow, lifeless “life.” If tomorrow will be like Monday again, then so be it. I will scream into my pillow until my throat goes raw, and I will be thankful for being able to feel it.

And until then, I will be looking forward to living my new life. A real life. The one where I crave sex, and feel emotions, and rely on nothing to make me happy but day-to-day experiences, conversations with strangers, a joke told over a delicious plate of food, maybe even just the food itself.

I can’t wait, and neither can you.

“If you’re going through Hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

Continuing the timeline:

Saturday the 3rd (yesterday) – Day 6. This was the first day of not using Suboxone. I woke up around 6:00am, walked 10 blocks to a coffee shop, and sat around for awhile trying to keep myself outside and active. I ended up going home after 2 1/2 hours, though, because people were talking to me and it was very difficult to focus. On top of that, the restless legs were getting the better of me, and they’re SO darned uncomfortable. I’ve been eating bananas and taking potassium supplements, and I guess they help, but the restless legs are still an issue, and it’s what causes me to sleep so little. When I got home from the coffee shop, I literally watched movies on my couch for 12 hours, finally going to bed at 11:00pm, though I didn’t fall asleep until 2:30am, and I only slept 3 hours.

Sunday the 4th (today) – Day 7. Woke up, had sex with my girlfriend, did my normal potassium / Immodium / Naproxen / multi-vitamin regimen, walked around the block to get myself moving, ate a banana, and treated myself to an hour long massage with focus on the legs to help with their restlessness. Afterwards, I went to a little cafe and ate a vegetable bagel sandwich. I didn’t much feel like hanging out, though, due to focus, so it’s 1:54pm and I’m home now. Probably going to relax and watch movies again. My energy level is extrEMEly low, and it makes me so lethargic, enough so that it’s just really hard for me to do anything at all. Even taking a shower, while feeling good, is a particularly taxing thing to do.

Even though this is Day 7 without various forms of oxycodone, it’s only Day 2 without Suboxone. I’m hoping that I make it over the hump soon. While my determination is unwavering, and while there’s no chance I’ll ever go back to the old life, I’m frankly sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

OK! Hi! I’m in MUCH better spirits today. The timeline:

Sunday the 4th part 2: After posting the above, I ended up taking a long hot bath/shower combo. Afterwards, I had a text on my phone inviting me to a Labor Day BBQ with some friends. I hadn’t been social for 7 days now, just wallowing on the couch feeling terrible, so I agreed to go. Drove the 45 minutes, hung out for only 2 hours, and went right back home. I just couldn’t handle the social situation yet. My brain was too foggy, my legs were going crazy and I felt like everyone might be staring, and just the act of moving my body felt like I was stuck in jello. I went home and went to bed early, like 9pm. I slept a full 6 hours!

Monday the 5th: Again, that jello feeling, just terrible still. I walked 10 blocks in the morning to a coffee shop, hung out for an hour, and walked the 10 blocks back. It’s funny, you know… getting yourself to the point where you start walking is darn near impossible, but once you actually start moving, it feels good. Still, my energy levels at this point were so low that afterwards, I collapsed on my couch, again, drifting in and out of that inconsequential, nourishment-less twilight-type sleep. Last night, I slept a total of 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Total.

Tuesday the 6th (today): This Day 9 is my turning point, I think. Unless the nasties return later or tomorrow! But it’s 7:34pm now. I haven’t had any form of oxycodone in 9 days, and no Suboxone for 4 days, and I actually had some energy today! I worked hard the whole day at my job and not once did I feel like I needed to lay down. I’ve eaten three meals, and even if I still have the runs, my appetite is awakening. So is my sexual appetite, although I really need to work on my endurance because I’m not used to all of those sensations.

I just wanted to make this Good News Update for everyone who may be reading out there, afraid of the process. Yes, of course it’s hard. Yes, you do have to accept that you are going to feel unwell for awhile. There’s an end, though! I know that I still have a ways to go to get to 100%, but let me tell you, 75% feels AMAZING.

Thanks again Matt for the contribution to the community..would love to hear comments…

Sincerely,

Larry C.

Painkiller addiction caused from back pain, herniated disks and Sciatica.

People are always commenting on the blog posts about getting off the painkillers, but what do they do about their back issues they have, that caused the painkiller addiction in the first place?

This is what I did and still do today…

I became addicted to painkillers primarily because of a back pain from an injury I had a few years back. The pain was intense and I tried to deal without taking anything for the pain. After several years of trying to tough it out with the back pain I decided I would try some pain medication. It worked great for a little while, gave me back my mobility and life for a short period of time, but it only covered up the symptoms and didn’t fix the problem.

I had tried physical therapy to no avail, swimming which worked great temporarily and chiropractic. None of them had any long lasting effect on me and I eventually started taking more and more of the painkiller I was prescribed until I was hopelessly addicted.  Eventually I couldn’t do it any longer. The lies, the working my doctors to get more, the going to street dealers for whatever I could get. I finally decided to get help and stop.

One thing had to be dealt with so I wouldn’t go back, and that was the back pain. I had heard on the radio, and see on the web this site called The Healthy Back Institute. I got their free book, which explained a lot but really didn’t give me anything to work with except to buy their program. I was skeptical at first but I kept reading their site and the blog and the more I read the more I learned. I learned that digestive enzymes help with inflammation, and so I went to my local Trader Joes and bought some digestive enzymes for like $3. I ate about 6 of them and my back pain started to go away in about 10-15 minutes after that.

Great so I get some temporary relief from digestive enzymes but I needed lasting relief. I decided to buy their program Lose the Back Pain System which was only $79 for the downloadable version. That was THE BEST INVESTMENT I’ve made for my back EVER! Within 30 minutes of getting their program and watching the videos, I was doing a set of stretches that gave me almost instant relief from the pain that had been plaguing me for years.

I had some questions and they asked me to send them some pictures of my body, standing in front, side and back views. I was then sent a specific set of stretches custom for me, and I have been virtually pain free ever since! These guys are GOOD. I mean real good! They are personable, helpful and will even talk to you on the phone.

I know that sometimes I start to slack and I can feel the problems starting to come back, so I do my stretching routine which takes maybe 15 minutes a day. Almost all back problems can be cured with some form of stretching. These guys have pinpointed and targeted ever know form of back pain to give everyone relief. Low back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, sciatica and herniated disks, they can help with it all. If you’re coming off painkillers and wondering what to do about your back pain that caused all this trouble, check these guys out, I am serious, they can help you.

There’s a free trial AND a 100% money back guarantee, you’ve got nothing to lose. Nothing!

Check out The Healthy Back Institute Today!

PS. my back issues were from a tilted hip issue. I used to be very active and then took a desk job. Sitting at a desk all day caused my muscles to tighten in certain areas and that caused my hips to be tilted forward. Once I started the stretches they gave me I was pain free. I’m still doing the stretches and I’m still pain free after 2+ years.

I am detailing what I call the “Larry Recipe”, an alternative to the Thomas Recipe for opiate withdrawal. I used this for withdrawing off Suboxone and what anyone can use for Withdrawing off Opiates. This is the alternative to the Thomas Recipe, because I cannot advocate the use of the Thomas Recipe because it is using other drugs and sometimes self medication can lead to death by overdose. The only time to use the Thomas Recipe is ONLY if it is supervised by a Medical Professional.

I will not include the original Thomas Recipe because it uses benzodiazepines(Valium type drugs), which can lead to overdose and death if not taken correctly. But I will explain the difference between the Thomas Recipe and My Alternative, as well as explaining how mine works as well. It does basically the same thing as the Thomas Recipe except it comes in the natural form of the same type of drugs.

The Larry Recipe is the best, natural way to withdraw off of opiates I know of. I will also include links to places to purchase the ingredients for when you are ready to withdraw.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I prescribe anything for anyone. Use at your own risk and discretion. This is what I used when I was coming off the Suboxone. It REALLY helped a lot, and didn’t include having to use other drugs, especially if I couldn’t get any from a doctor. Which means I wasn’t out hustling for more drugs illegally.

First the ingredients, then the formula:

• Gaia Melissa Supreme Herbal Tincture – A Lemon Balm tincture used for “Nervousness and to Soothe Excitability, Promotes Calmness During Times of Excess Energy, Promotes Healthy Focus and Attention”. This tincture is so good it really mellows a person out and really calms the nerves and mind. So well in fact I feel like I was on an actual drug. If I could recommend only one thing for withdrawal, it would be this! You can get Gaia Melissa HERE.

• • Melissa  Supreme Supports a healthy nervous system and nerve tissue
  • Gentle Calming Action -calms occasional nervous irritability, sensitivity, and excitement; relaxing muscle and nerve agitation; and calms the mind
  • Supports normal mental functions such as concentration, memory and alertness, along with having a relaxing affect
  • You can get Gaia Melissa HERE.

• Valerian Root Tincture – Positive results to support a healthy nervous system,  a normal restful nights sleep, and reduce stress. An alternative for benzodiazepines, Valerian is used for sleeping disorders, restlessness and anxiety, and as a muscle relaxant. Get Valerian HERE.
• Glutamine – An amino Acid used for for intestine disorders and diarrhea, helps brain function, and muscle functions. I used the powder, it is tasteless, and is cheaper than getting capsules. Get Glutamine HERE.
• 5-HTP – An amino acid used for depression, anxiety, insomnia sleep aid. Get 5-HTP HERE
• Vitamin B Complex(Especially B6) – Supplementation often helps depressed people feel better, and their mood improves significantly. Get b-Complex HERE
• Vitamin and Mineral Complex – Vitamins and minerals help the body to let go of toxins held by fat, and help to flush the system, get one with potassium and magnesium if you can. If you can’t find one with potassium and magnesium, get them separately. Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer. Potassium is an electrolyte needed to help with body hydration. The body needs both vitamins and minerals. It may be better to get a vitamin complex and then a mineral complex separately. Complete Vitamin and Mineral Complex HERE
  
• Postassium – Being an electrolyte, this will help with restless leg syndrome, which is a type of muscle spasm and is usually a deficiency of potassium and hydration. Get Potassium HERE
• Coconut Water – The clear liquid inside young coconuts. A natural sports drink because of its high potassium and mineral content, a natural refreshing drink full of electrolytes. (available at Henry’s and other health food stores) Get Coconut Water HERE
• Immodium – for diarrhea, if needed, I stay away from this but many will find it helpful. It’s a mild, partial opioid from what I understand, but you can’t get high from it, it works on the receptors that stop diarrhea. Get Immodium HERE

Start taking the vitamins right away, even before you start your detox. Especially the potassium. make sure to drink plenty of water, good water if you can afford it and/or coconut water.

Also start your detox with 10-20 drops of Melissa in a 1/2 cup of water, several times a day as needed, helps with anxiety, jitters and depression, may also help with sleep.

Valerian Root will help some with anxiety and sleep, suggest this at bedtime, also through out the day as needed but not when you intend to drive or use machinery.

Glutamine powder or capsules to help with diarrhea and to help with achy muscles and foggy brain. Great muscle food and brain food. Take this daily, several times a day.

5-HTP in the morning and late afternoon, helps the depression and sleep.

Vitamins and b-complex in the morning and evening if you can stomach it, or when you can keep things down.

Potassium once or twice a day.

Coconut water throughout the day to help flush the system and stay hydrated. You will need to stay hydrated if you are puking or have bad diarrhea.

Good luck with your withdrawal and please let me know how this works for you if you use it.

In Portsmouth Ohio, coal used to be king, now it’s Oxycontin and Oxycodone. The fifth-most-prescribed pain medication in the world, “oxy,” or “OC,” is a favorite of addicts, who crush and snort it or dilute it with water and inject it for a heroin-like rush. The drug and its cousin oxycodone are the cause of a prescription-drug-fueled epidemic that has brought Scioto County to its knees.

The county has seen a 360 percent increase in accidental drug-overdose deaths and has the highest hepatitis C rate in Ohio, a rate that has nearly quadrupled in the past five years, thanks to junkies who are shooting up.

Sixty-four Scioto County babies born in 2009 came into the world with drugs in their system — that’s nearly one in 10 births. And swamped drug treatment centers say they are turning away thousands of locals who need help for prescription-drug addiction.

This story is really sad, but you can read the rest of it HERE.

Perry Moore, The “Chronicles of Narnia” producer, was found dead in his SoHo apartment on Thursday. It is said he battled chronic back and neck pain and that pain sometimes interfered with his work. “He had a lot of chronic pain. It was always an issue we were dealing with on set,” said Mike Ryan, friend and Greyshack Films President, a producing partner on Perry Moore’s recent indie flick “Lake City.”

Moore’s father said his son had scheduled back surgery for the spring. “I hate to say he inherited it from me, but I’ve had several back surgeries,” Bill Moore, 69, told The News as he boarded a flight to New York City. The devastated father said his son’s initial autopsy was inconclusive, so formal cause of death is pending toxicology results. “I have no clue what happened. The examiner said he was in good condition,” he said. Sources said it appeared Moore died from an accidental overdose of the painkiller OxyContin.

I wrote a short article on how to get treatment for Painkiller Addiction at eHow.com

If anyone is interested it’s here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5464162_addiction-treatment-prescription-drug-addiction.html

I hope everythign is good with everyone, Thanks to all the people who have been emailing me this past week. I am glad to hear things are going good.

Larry C.

I read this post here:
http://blog.ronronmx.com/battle-drug-addiction/

and it brings me right back to where I used to be a while back. A person gets injured, they are prescribed pain meds to HELP with the pain, the next thing they know they are hooked. Then their whole life starts to change. I mean everything, their personality, their focus and their goals. Their focus starts to be on their pills, how many they have left, when they get their next refill, and if they develope a tolerance how they are going to get more.

My heart goes out to the person, and I hope he gets a seed planted. I personally am an active member of a 12 step program to helpme with my ongoing support and growth. Once a person gets clean they need on going support to help them keep the ugly head of addiction at bay. Just because a person gets clean, doesn’t mean it’s going to go away. Especially with an opiate drug, it will be there for the rest of their lives, waiting in the corner doing pushups getting stronger and stronger waiting for a weak moment, and then it moves in for the kill.  Opiate addiction is a problem that effects the brain in a long term, sometimes permanent way.  Depending upon the amount and length of time the person was using opiates will determine the extent of the damage done from the abuse. After a person gets off of opiates the brain has to relearn how to make endorphins again and that can take a long time. During this time the person will experience a wide range of roller coaster emotions. Anxiety, depression, happyness and so on. This period of time in which the brain is trying to get back to normal is called Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome or PAWS for short. This is and can be a dangerous time for the recovering opiate addict, because they probably just want to be back to normal, have a normal everyday life and experience normal everyday emotions instead of the intense range of roller coaster emotions they are feeling. There are several ways for the person to deal with this, one is to just push through it, for the next 6 months to a year or two, or do more opiates. There is also the way I went and that was with Buprenorphine treatment.  Buprenorphine fills the receptor sites where opiates used to fill, which is also the endorphine receptor sites as well, thereby acting like endorphines and keeping the person from having this wide range of emotions. One thing that I experienced was a feeling I hadn’t had since before I took pain pills a few years ago. It was the happyness I had from before being on pain pills. it was the feeling of normalness, the feeling of I had my life back and everything is going to be fine. I am so happy to have had this back.

Anyway back to what I was saying, PAWS is a critical time for the recovering pain pill addict where they need all the support they can get. From friends, loved ones, parents, wives, husbands and whoever else is close to them in their life. I mentioned the 12 step group, I have found a whole new set of friends through 12 step program I am in and I now have the support I need anytime I need it. I left a comment for the owner of the blog I linked to, This young man will get  a copy of my report if he wants one.  I can only wish him the best. He’s scared and I have been there too, it’s not pretty what opiates and pain pills do to a person.

anyway, hope all is well.
good night…

PS I forgot to mention that he is on his way to rehab. Rehab as I mentioned in another page here, is a rather costly way to get help, which doesn’t always do the job AFTER the person gets out. Rehab sometimes gets the person clean and detoxes them off the pain pills, but when they are done with detoxing they usually exit the rehab with no support tools for ongoing sustained recovery. Many times a person will relapse, and either re-enter rehab, or they will stumble onto somethign that might help them. What rehabs need to do is introduce them to AA or NA.

One more thing that I heard recently is sometimes a rehab center will use buprenorphine for detoxing a person, but once they are done they cut them off. Which is the wrong thing to do, they need to be on buprenorphine for a period of time until the brain gets back to some normalcy and the person gets some addiction recovery support system in place.

ok anyway now it’s time for bed.

ciao…

I use a supplement that I accidentally stumbled upon when I was looking to get off of painkillers a while back. It’s not too expensive and it have several qualities about it that I really like and still take it for and it’s called 5-HTP.  5-htp, otherwise known as 5-Hydroxytryptophan, is a precursor to serotonin, and is used as an antidepressant, appetite suppressant, and sleep aid.

While researching things in regard to opiate withdrawal it is one of the things that I took to help improve my mood and relieve pain from the withdrawal of an opiate. I have since kept using it as an appetite suppressant to help me lose a little weight, as well as helping me with ongoing improved moods and lessen anxiety

The thought that 5-HTP can cause increase in serotonin levels by causing the brains serotonin making neurons to increase activity in the making of serotonin. Increased serotonin making actiovity leads to increased serotonin release levels which then causes an improved mood. It is also said to help with anxiety, tension and appetite.

Some health care professionals say that a usual dose of about 50mg is right and doesages of 100mg+ is considered high. The higher dosages have also had some side effect that should be looked at. Before taking 5-htp consult a physician about it and your health to see  if it is a supplement you should take.

5-htp can be ordered at Amazon to be delivered to your doorstep here:

Their both good, I have my bottle of the Natrol right here next to me.

Anyway, hope that helps…

When talking to people who are not addicts or addicted to pain killers, I always find a recurring theme in that they do not understand the nature of addiction or addiction to pain killers or opiates as a whole. Opiates are a derivative of opium and  Opioids are synthetic opiates, or man made opiates. Many arguements have been started on which is more addictive but the fact remains they are both highly addictive and hard to get off and stay off of. There is just so much a person who has never been addicted to opiates just doesn’t understand because they DO NOT know the feeling, and believe me, opiate addiction is definitely a Feeling. When you such an intense gnawing little voice of fear, pain and need pulling at your whole being, it’s hard to say no. what I am talking about is opiate withdrawal. The clinical description of this would be something like this:

This is just the initial withdrawal from painkillers, we’re not talking about the post acute withdrawal period in which “post acute withdrawal syndrome” (PAWS) can occur. After the initial withdrawal or detox, then you have residual detox and the brain trying to function normally, but it just can’t. At least not yet, and it can take months or years for a persons brain chemistry to get back to normal. It is this period of time that can be the most difficultfor many to STAY OFF of the drugs, because it is here where the nagging and gnawing little voices start talking. I am not talking hallucinations, but I am talking depression and anxiety and the want to just be happy again. What happenes when a person is addicted to pain killers is their brain stops making endorphins, the bodys natural pain killers and the thing that keeps us from getting depressed. When a person starts taking pain meds for an extended length of time, their brain stops making endorphins because opiates look just like endorphins to the brain and the brain stops making them.  After so long the brain can’t make them and the pain killer is not depended upon for endorphins or the imitation endorphins. Clinically the opiate dependance is spelled out like this:

“Opiate addiction is recognized as a central nervous system disorder caused by continuous opiate use. Extended opiate abuse leads to the nerve cells in the brain to stop functioning as they normally would and stop producing natural endorphins. Because the body is receiving opiates and is no longer producing endorphins, the nerve cells start to degenerate and cause an opiate addiction.”

Pain Killer addiction is not somethign to be taken lightly. Remember the old cammercials that said ” Just say No!”, heck if it were that easy we would have just said no. but it just isn’t as easy as that. Opiate dependance is a huge problem in the world and it isn’t going away anytime soon.

There are now outpatient detox and treatment programs that use a new method of treating pain pill dependance. Part of the initial detox plan is with the use of a new drug that mimics the pain killer chemistry but it:

• doesn’t get the patient high
• it allows them to stop using pain pills immediately
• stops the symptoms of withdrawal such as bone and muscle pain, anxiety, nausea and all the rest..etc.
• let me just say this again, painless withdrawal from pain pills
• is easy to get off of once the patient is detoxed off the pain meds
• is affordable and is outpatient

which is as we all know much much less expensive than an inpatient treatment, and can be done at home. Another thing about treatment at home, especially with adolescents and teenagers, is it is less stigmaticizing than a big production of going to inpatient treatment and the person is more likely to cooperate with this than the other.

If you would like more information on this and the treatment  I speak of please sign up for my newsletter. You will recieve a 7 part series on addiction and recovery from pain killers as well as learn about the latest treatment drug and outpatient help.