Hi Junie,
I started detox around July 19th and it is January 19, 2009. SIX MONTHS. No opiates since around the first part of August and that was for Restless Legs Syndrome.

Looking back on it, I have mixed emotions.

Opiates apparently masked my RLS, TN, PN and Fibromyalgia. I just don't know which end is up right now. And I am a little scared. Nerve problems are nasty (in my opinion). I won't bore you with the specifics, but the spinal pain was more severe (at its worst). The new problems are too weird. Both knees quit on me two nights ago. I could not stand up. I now have a Power Chair from the Scooter Store because my feet will not always allow weight on them, so I fall. I use my Forearm Crutch even if I feel ok because I never know when some lower extremity will "short out" on me. Again, this pain usually only lasts about a half hour. There are exceptions, but the other "good" thing about nerve pain ... so far ... is that I can usually "get away from it" by moving my body. By shifting my body, I relieve the pain and can do without opiates. So far.

My Respiratory System is MUCH better. No more taking a half hour to wake me up. My Service Dog/Medic Alert Dog still monitors me closely, but she has not had to rescue me in a few months. My memory is bad. Cognitive skills are slow and not as good as they were.

I am sorry you have to be on opiates and other drugs. I am 63 and have so many weird things happening to me ... I don't know where or what condition I will be in next year. But the Lord has been good to me and life is good. When I fall in the floor my dog runs over to me and loves me. When I can't get out of bed in the morning because my knee won't work, my wife helps me. I am so lucky. It could be a lot worse and maybe it will get worse, but all you and I can do is take it One Day at a Time. Good Luck Junie.

Hi, I am new to this site. I had fought against taking Narcotics for the first 17 years of acute to chronic pain. I was an a car accident and also have brain damage.

About 3 years ago I went broke. All the ways I managed pain, acupuncture, massage therapy, hot / cold contrast baths, Letha Yoga; which is a system where somebody else stretches every muscle and joint in your body for you, are now too expensive. I have Medicare and Humana drug coverage, so Narcotics is the only thing I can now afford.

They enter my system as poison. I want to die for about 15-30 minutes, then I get 4 magical hours of no pain. If I can get the dose just right. Not enough does nothing, too much puts me to sleep.

My doctor convinced me to go on pain killers full time. This ended the poison feeling. For the first 2 years, they worked great. The problem now is, I kept hurting myself and did not know it.

The pain meds no longer make me feel energised and ambitious. Now they just make me sluggish and stupid.

I was using 75 Fentanyl Patches and 60 mg morphine every 4 hours. My doctor advised I schedule down in 3 day increments. My pharmacist felt that was too quick and thought 5 day increments would be better.

I got Valium and Klonopin, just in case. I am also bi-polar, and was epileptic for a time after the accident. I had a bruise on the right temporal lobe of my brain.

I started cutting down on December 28th. My last 25 Fentanyl came off 3 nights ago. I took the last dose of 45 mg Morphine 2 days ago. Last night I took a sleeping pill, Restoril.

So far so good. I am not planning on risking any type of irratic brain stuff, since I already have too much of that. I doubt this is the last morphine I'll take.

What do any of you find is the difference in effects of Morphine and Oxycodone? I have them both. I won't take any more Fentanyl, since I have two dogs. The last patch fell off and I have never found it. I'm praying it was already "dead" when it fell off, it had been over 3 days.

I'm on my 2nd day off pain meds. Have you noticed any difference in mental ability on Oxycodone versus Morphine?