I first withdrew from
percocet back in '97 after taking it for about 7 months (for knee surgery and a subsequent herniated disk). I remember feeling depressed for about a week; the withdrawal made me sleep a lot. Now I'm withdrawing again after being on it (off & on) for about 9 months (for lower back pain due to that same disk leaking disk fluid). I wish I could find an easy way to get off and stay off. I have about 40 pills left (5/325 mg), and plan to put them in a safe to help me resist temptation. Sometimes I think I'm "inventing" back pain to give me an excuse to take them. They give me energy, but after a few days, I'm exhausted, especially because they interfere with my normal REM sleep, and often cause strange dreams. (I recently got through some tough graduate courses on percoset--but they probably caused undue stress because I had a bad back pain recurrence.) I took 1.5 pills yesterday (i.e., 7.5 mg), and I'm feeling weak, lethargic, and depressed right now. I'm praying that God will help me through this. I just turned 54, had a drug & drinking problem when I was younger (i.e., in the late '60s through the '70s), but haven't had a drink since 9/14/80. I'm not taking any other drugs. I'm in the process of looking for another job since the federal agency I work for is closing. Looking for jobs is stressful, I need to be clear-headed, and I can't use percocet to escape from the stress! Any advice appreciated! And I know I haven't increased my dosage, but I feel I'm addicted to 1-2 pills at a time. Anybody know how long I should expect to feel sluggish/depressed/lethargic?