Originally Posted by dllfo

Thanks for the encouragement. It was 167 hours ago that I took my last morphine.

Due to either bad doctors or uncaring doctors, take your choice....my wife figured out the Librium was causing my RLS. I quit it and have not had SEVERE RLS in a couple of days. Of course, we HOPE it is that simple. I raised my Neurontin from 900mg a day to 1200 during this time, hoping it might make some difference.

I have had 3 or 4 days where I sleep all day and my wife can't wake me up. She shakes me, she yells at me, my Medic Alert Dog is frantic... my wife tells me she licks my face, sits on me (I was laying on the bed), she will even lay on my chest (45 pound Portuguese Water Dog) and lick my face or "punch" my chin with her nose. After I finally got enough strength to get up today, she followed me to the shower and laid outside it until I came out, she followed me into the family room and laid in front of me.... watching me the whole time. I have never seen her so worried (?) apprehensive (?) instinctively concerned (?).
I am amazed at her intuitiveness. She is my Service/Medic Alert Dog and .... wow ... she even follows me to the bathroom. Before I started this ... CCHS ... I quit breathing a lot when asleep. I did not say that well. CCHS is self explanatory. When you sleep, your brain/CNS tells your heart to beat and for you to breathe. Mine does not tell me to breathe. My brain does not know when it is out of oxygen. At the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, CO they ran my Pulse Ox down to 18. EIGHTEEN folks. At 88 your doctor would want you to be checked out. I knew my chest was warm, but I was talking to the doctors the whole time. What I did think was odd was that we had a LOT of people in the room while doing this...seems like at least 7 doctors and nurses. So going to sleep without my Ventilator and oxygen is dangerous for me.

Anyway, my wife is quite concerned too. She does not want to hospitalize me, but she is quite concerned about my not breathing and being so hard to wake up. It can take her a half hour (easily) to wake me up. If she shakes me, I roll over. If she yells at me, I ignore her (so she says ... I really don't remember). I am so tired I can't hardly stand.

BUT I DON'T MISS OPIATES, I DON'T LIKE OPIATES AND I HAVE NO DESIRE TO TAKE THEM.
I HAVE MORPHINE WITHIN 3 FEET OF WHERE I WATCH TV AND DON'T CARE. I WILL TAKE THE AVINZA TO MY DOCTOR AS TOXIC WASTE. I CANNOT IMAGINE WHY I WOULD TAKE ANY MORE.

That said, severe RLS means I have to take Oxycodone. I have taken it 3 times since last Saturday. 7.5mg once and 15mg twice. Since I don't seem to have any symptoms tonight, I won't take any. (Famous last words) It does seem like....if I don't take any and I have a problem, I need 15mg to "catch up" and defeat the RLS. If I take 7.5mg as I go to bed, I "get ahead" of the problem and sleep all night. I may be kidding myself. But I do NOT desire the opiates. They are merely a tool. I tried 2400mg of Neurontin, 15mg of Valium, ReQuip and something else ---- did no good. 15mg of oxycodone nailed the RLS in a short period of time and I could sleep.

If I did not mention it, I only got a few hours sleep the first few days. I fought severe RLS and refused to take an opiate. I think I am better off taking the 7.5mg or even half of that
so I can get some sleep.

If any of you understand this detox stuff, please tell me if I am making a mistake. I know every human body is different, but this seems to work for me.

I had hoped for the legendary "4 day detox" and that life would be wonderful by today. Now I am just gritting my teeth and taking it one day at a time. I am so amazed at how tired I am. Not sore and worn out exactly, just dog tired. As my wife has noted, I have slept most of at least 3 days. Makes no sense to me. Every time I wake up I have a little black nose on my chest or next to my face. My little girl and I are getting closer by the minute. She isn't a fur kid because she has hair, but she has really become my dog in the last few months. She knows..... somehow .... I am sick and she is determined to take care of me the best she can. I wish I were half as good a person as she is. I will win this battle. Never fear.

PS - when I started this, I thought I might get off morphine a few months to see if my other medical problems got better. And if they did not, I would go back on it. NO WAY.
Not after this. I pray to the Lord above I never need them outside of surgery. I am one of the luckiest men on Earth that I don't like them. I don't crave them. I am not addicted. In fact, I have forgotten to take them a few times. I don't want to push my luck. One detox is enough for me and my wife and my little 4 legged girl. Prayers gratefully accepted.