Question:
I stopped in to look for info on Rapid
Detox.
The price is 5k here in Canada, but I emailed 1 US place and it was almost
10k there! OUCH!
So, I'm seriously considering Rapid Detox to shorten my suffering. I've been
taking increasing ammounts of Oxycodone for the past year or so for migraine
headaches. Nothing else has worked for my headaches, but I am going off them
because they are as much of a problem as a solultion now, and they may even
be causing many of my headaches.
I'm taking 3, 10 mg tablets every 3 hours and I plan on TRYING to taper down
off but not sure how that'll go. Starting from 3 tabs every 3 hours, too 2.5
tabs every 3 hours, too 2 tabs every 3 hours, too 1.5 tabs every 3 hours,
too 1 tab every 3 hours, to 1 tab every 4 hours, too 1 tab every 6 hours. or
0.5 tabs every 3 hours, whichever I prefer. I am also taking 0.1 mg of
Clonidine, once or twice daily, and 10mg of Baclofen 4 times daily. I'm just
starting all this now.
I'm the one who wants to do this through outpatient.. my doctor wanted me to
go to a hospital to get clean. He's "very concerned" for me and doesn't
think I can do it outside of a hospital, or Rapid Detox.
So, I wanted info on anyone's experience of going off 'instant release'
opiods, such as whats the leftover withdraw like? How bad is it? How long
does it last?
Since my Doctor wants me to go into the hospital to detox I was hoping I
could also get some info on what that option would be like for me. My
question is, whats it like in a hospital getting clean? Whats my day to day
like, how do they help me? What do they give me to help? Do they make me go
cold turkey or taper off? How long do they want me to stay for? My Doctor
recommended 1 place called DawnWood in Toronto Ontario. Anyone heard of that
place? I can't find it on the internet or 411.ca or anywhere.
Well sorry for such a big post, I didn't intend it to be this big when i
started.I guess I had more to ask then I originally thought.
Answer:
Please Listen up - I've kicked all forms of opiates at least 8
times....Detox under Anesthesia is NOT a bad thing if you go to the
right person! Please read on..I know its long, but I promise its worth
it.
I kicked heroin & Oxy (a 20pill 80mgs/day habit) & went through Detox
Under Anesthesia. There IS a difference between rapid detox & UROD.
The facility that I went to was incredible. They did it in a hospital
(the procedure) because of the immediate access to anything that may be
needed, plus having an anesthesiologist on staff & every med you could
need. Anyway - my heroin habit was 1,000/day, IV..yep, all of my
inheritance down the arm I'm afraid. You are fortunate in that your
Oxy habit isn't actually THAT bad. I don't think it would be worth you
paying the $$ to go to a good place like I did - I had to pay 10,000
cash...now they are working w/ insurance companies. Anyway, its called
Florida Detox, in Tarpon Springs, which is close to Tampa. The
treatment you receive is phenomenal...they put you to sleep, then run
an IV from you to a bag of liquid Revia (brand name of Naltrexone) to
displace the opiates fropm their receptors. It was all done in an
hour, though when I woke up I felt like it had been 24 hours or more!
98% of my WD symptoms- GONE. I had a little weakness in my legs. The
nureses came by every 15 minutes to make sure I was OK & if I needed
anything - including meds - I could ask. I had a remote control nurse
buzzer as well! I had an IV in my hand where they would inject the
liquid valium ( I suffer from severe panic attacks, outside of
addiction)), and the pain meds (toradol) went in my butt, since its an
IM shot. Anyway, within 1 hour of waking up, I was up & walking around
the hospital! I had none of that anxiety, no diarrhea, no craving at
ALL for anything and MY biggest blessing - NO pain at ALL in my legs,
lower back or anywhere else! My legs were just a bit wobbly, a ittle
weak. They had me on & kept me on some pretty strong meds for the
first few days or so to make me as comfortable as I could be. I was
feeling absolutely 100% within 2 days. I couldnt BELIEVE it.
Its only 1 doctor who does the procedures, Dr. Sponaugle...he's
been doing them since I think 1995, he done thousands, tens of
thousands - and not ONE person has DIED or had complications. He has
perfected the art of this - he knows very well what he is doing. There
were 3 other girls there that I made friends with - one from there, had
Lupus and was coming off MS- IR & Ultram. One was from Chicago & was
coming off 120mg of methadone & heroin. The 3rd from Minnesota was
coming off of heroin & methadone too. They all had the same results as
I did...we were all so happy, we felt so free. We couldnt believe that
in 2 days, we went from being addicted to these substances, to feeling
100% and having NO desire for any opiate! We cried - it was truly a
miracle. www.floridadetox.com if you'd like to check it out. There
are loads of testimonials....I even wrote one. If you look at the
site, decide to contact them, then choose to go, please tell them that
I told you about them - so let me know what you decide to do...not only
b/c of that, b/c I want to know that you end up ok! :-)
Do you have anyone - friend, family member, spouse - who can stay
with you during your detox time? It's def. a plus to have someone
around who can get you anything you need. Because coming off of
Oxycontin is a bit tougher detox then Heroin, I'm sorry to tell you. As
the other poster said though, if you choose not to go, then get a
heating pad (or 2/3 - 1 for each leg & for your lower back, cause it
will hurt)...Serax is good, Restoril (temazepam) is a pretty good benzo
for sleep too. In addition a benzo for the daytime, to help w/ the
jitters...did you know that Xanax 1mg is 10 times stronger then 10mg
Valium? Klonopin is good, preferably 2mg ( I got 75 a month for
anxiety)-aka Rivotril, thats also a brand name of clonazepam. Ativan
2mg would be great. Supposedly Ativan & Xanax are the strongest of the
benzos....Hopefully you're not too benzo tolerant. I sure wish I
wasn't. Anyway clonidine, which was already mentioned - very good for
blood pressure which will shoot up once you go into WD; once your b.p.
is lowered it helps a little w/ the anxiety. Prepare youself for the
runs w/ Immodium- its actually chemically related (similar chem.
structure) to Dilaudid! Isnt that bizarre? Loperamide is the generic
name. Then, I highly recommend a skeletal muscle relaxant. Most are
crappy & they dont work well (IMHO). However, Myself & my ex both
found that Robaxin 750 (generic name is Methocarbomal 750), which has
been around for quite some time, really helped w/ the pain in our legs,
and lower back as well. Take 2 every 4 hrs.-- dont worry about
tapering, just take them until you know you're feeling better & about
90-95% of the pain is gone. Since Oxy has a longer half-life then
heroin, I would say to be prepared for the worst days - for H its from
36-72 hrs. For Oxy its from 42-84 hrs. Those are the WORST times -
after that it gets easier..you're not quite out of the woods, but you
can see the way!.
Drinks lots of H20 to flush your system & get your body to get that
junk out asap! Gatorade is good too b/c you'll lose a lot of
electrolytes through (possible) vomiting, sweating, etc. It will feel
almost impossible to eat, but its important to, so your body can get
nutrients...do you like fruits? Eat fruits, and soup, and if you can't
manage that then even just some saltine crackers will help.
**Oh, an be ready with clean shirts, because you will go from hot as
hell, drenching your shirt, to freezing cold. CHANGE your shirt once
you start feeling cold - I know a lot of ppl. in recovery (including
myself) that developed pneumonia around day 5 or so. So, just be sure
to change every time your shirt gets wet. A hot bath feels very good
too. It helps your legs/back, plus the heat gets the circulation
pumping, which removes the stuff in ur system even faster. B/c the
ultimate goal of a home detox is to get the bad stuff out of our system
ASAP!!! Drinking LOTS of water (but def. no more then a gallon/day),
eating jello/fruit/crackers/soup),
And EXERCISE! I know its the LAST thing in the WORLD you will feel
like doing, but if you put your gear on & go for a brisk 15 minute walk
( or longer if you can!), it helps more then you would ever guess!
(Just to let you know, I'm speaking from experience, I have kicked
opiates - pain pills (Oxy), H, morphine, methadone...you name it) 7 or
8 times I think, so, take it from me....getting out & exercising -
enough to break a sweat, is what you want.....it pushes the opiates
thru your system faster, some of it sweats out of you...so be sure to
take a shower/bath when you get home. And drinks lots of H2O,
ESPECIALLY after exercising, because those 2 together will REALLY get
the bad stuff out of you much faster!!!!
One last thing, & I promise my sermon novel will end (I apologize for
SUCH a looong email....I just intended to tell u about FloridaDetox.
I don't know where you plan on lying down - your couch, bed,where
ever...just made sure you have several layers, because when you go from
hot to cold, it is a frigid freezing cold...it seems like there arent
enough blankets to keep you warm! So I'm forewarning you
to load up with layers...preferably a sheet, a few blankets & a
comforter if you have one. Stay warm..then when you get hot, you can
remove as many layers as you want, and prob. just end up with a sheet
on you. I just thought of 1 more thing -- it is def. helpful to do
something, like garden, cutting the grass, clean the house, vaccum,
mop, polish....anything that is 'active' - it makes you feel a bit
better and you aren't laying in bed, with nothing to focus on but how
bad you feel.
OK, I'll be quiet now, I'm sure you have had MORE then your share of
me! I actually want to say more, but I won't.
