[familygirl]

My husband has been taking percocets for the past 3 years. He began at one or two per day, 3 years ago. At his worst (just last month) he was taking 45-50 percocets per day. He finally stopped last month, but he is having a really difficult time with the withdrawal symptoms. The first week was the worst. He is now into week 3 of being clean, but he still has a fever all day, every day (99.4). He also has body aches all day, every day. He cannot sleep and he is either anxious or exhausted thoughout the day. We both thought the withdrawal symptoms would be gone by now. Does anyone know how much longer he will have to suffer with these symptoms?

[dizzy23]

I personal don't know anything about perc withdrawals but here is a website about withdrawals that might help.Good luck.

http://www.addictionwithdrawal.com/percocet.htm

Debbie

Try to be correct!But not always successful!

[familygirl]

Debbie,

Thank you very much.

[dizzy23]

Hope it helps!!Sorry I could not be more help.Don't want to give opinion on something I know nothing about.

Debbie

Try to be correct!But not always successful!

[cluelessNJ]

Is he eating? Drinking a lot of fluids? I know it takes time for your body to replenish it self. It does get better. I know I felt pretty bad for about a month. Drink lots of water! It will help flush his system. Take vitamins. One with B-12 for energy. I take a multi vitamin. It does help.

Not so clueless,

CLEAN DATE 1/23/06

[familygirl]

He really doesn’t feel like eating, but he is trying to drink lots of water. I’m worried about the fever. Is this normal?

[dizzy23]

quote:Originally posted by familygirl

He really doesn’t feel like eating, but he is trying to drink lots of water. I’m worried about the fever. Is this normal?

Percocet Withdrawal symptoms include but are not limited to:

feeling as though you have the flu
gastrointestinal distress
anxiety
nausea
insomnia
muscle pain
fevers
sweating
runny nose and eyes


Debbie

Try to be correct!But not always successful!

[mpvt]

When you take opiates in large quantities and for a long time the receptorsin your brain actually change shape.Your seretonin and dopamine levels drop off.When you suddenly stop taking the opiates then there is nothing there to fill the receptors and you go into withdrawls.It takes a while for the brain to make enough endorphins to fill these receptors and it also takes time for the seretonin and dopamine levels to return to normal.He may have depression symptoms for up to a year.If he doesn't shake the depression within a month after quitting then he should see his doctor and tell him he's depressed.He could tell the doctor the truth which would be best but alot of times people don't like to tell the doctor that they are an addict.If he's not eating then get him to take a multi-vitamin everyday and keep the fluids in him.Also if he can get out and start walking.Exercise like walking helps promote endorphin growth.It takes time but things will get better.Good luck and hang in there....Dave

[EasyMeds]

I would also throw in that if he is having difficulty eating get some Ensure. That will help with nutrition. Also sports drinks like Gatoraid will help with electrolites.

David

[PercWithdrawer]

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?

[thekodewarrior]

Originally Posted by PercWithdrawer

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?

Your depression shouldn't be that long...at least related to the percocet. you say that you are taking 1-2 pills at a time? How often? if you are taking a total of 10mg oxycodone (the addictive ingredient in percocet) every 6-8 hours you should not have a withdrawl lasting longer than a few days. Depression from this can occur, but at very high doses for long periods of time. It appears that you have other contributing factors that you may want to discuss with your physician: Failed surgical interventions, job issues. These stresses alone can create a depression far greater than an opiate addiction.

Good luck to you.

[notsoperky]

Not to hijack the post, but I also have a percocet withdrawal issue.

I shattered my ankle and had surgery 5 months ago. Initially, I took liberal amounts of Oxycontin and Percocet, but cut way back after about 2 months- the Oxycontin made me feel too drugged. My Dr. switched me to Vicodin for 2 weeks, then abruptly told me I had no more pain (um... what?), and cut me off. I still have pain, I can manage it during the day with Motrin, but at night- not so much. The kicker is that he told me over and over- "don't stop taking these too abruptly....". Yeah, thanks for that.

A friend who had had back surgery gave me 40 5/325 Percocets he had leftover, which I have been taking only at night to sleep. I have 10 left, and I'm starting to panic. Last night I tried to skip the percocet, and I was a crazy woman- tossing, turning, crying, I ripped my pillow with my teeth, cut my hand on a water glass, and was generally just nuts, and yes, the legs were very restless. I took about 10 melotonin, 3 benadryl, anything to get me to sleep- nothing worked.... so I finally took 1/2 a percocet at 5 am, fell asleep at 5:45 ish, and slept until 11am, but I still feel kinda crazy/edgy/wide-eyed. And scared.

So, I have 9.5 pills left. What do I do? Cut them in quarters to wean myself off, or stop cold turkey?

[sparkey]

Originally Posted by familygirl

My husband has been taking percocets for the past 3 years. He began at one or two per day, 3 years ago. At his worst (just last month) he was taking 45-50 percocets per day. He finally stopped last month, but he is having a really difficult time with the withdrawal symptoms. The first week was the worst. He is now into week 3 of being clean, but he still has a fever all day, every day (99.4). He also has body aches all day, every day. He cannot sleep and he is either anxious or exhausted thoughout the day. We both thought the withdrawal symptoms would be gone by now. Does anyone know how much longer he will have to suffer with these symptoms?

How on earth did he take that many perc's a day without overdosing? Geesh i was taking 6 a day and thought i was overdosing many times the way my heart would tick. That is just unheard of. Are you misprinting? Or is he trying to kill himself?

[mpvt]

When you've been abusing opiates for a long time your tolerance goes through the roof.I didn't much like percocet as I found it to weak after about my 5th year of abusing.There were the odd times when I would have to buy them and thery usually came in 120 pills. I would start out taking 30-40 at once and the 10-15 every hour after that.I don't know how my liver made it I guess I was very lucky.This is what I mean when I say your tolerance goes up very quickly especially when your taking the weaker quick release opiates like hydrocodone,codeine and oxycodone........Dave

[justus2]

Originally Posted by familygirl

My husband has been taking percocets for the past 3 years. He began at one or two per day, 3 years ago. At his worst (just last month) he was taking 45-50 percocets per day. He finally stopped last month, but he is having a really difficult time with the withdrawal symptoms. The first week was the worst. He is now into week 3 of being clean, but he still has a fever all day, every day (99.4). He also has body aches all day, every day. He cannot sleep and he is either anxious or exhausted thoughout the day. We both thought the withdrawal symptoms would be gone by now. Does anyone know how much longer he will have to suffer with these symptoms?

hi , my name is bill. iam writing because i came across your site and concern, i went threw withdrawals a few years back on methadone. boy i tell you at that time it was like give me a gun so i can end this. after a few weeks of every symptom you can have and no body to help you i came intouch with a what i call a angel in distress. she ordered me these patches called catapres- tts-1 to put on 2 patches once a week on your shoulders and i did and what a miracle all my symptoms come under control. it works with your nervous system. because that is what gets off balance bad. all the movement cant stay still. aches sweating all come from the nerves.they been trained to be different from normal. all i know is it helped me . a family doc can perscribe this and i would look into it. i hope it helps and i feel for you both.

[david95]

Hi, it looks like my reply is very late, from the date on your post.. Percoset is one of the worst drugs to use, if you have to use a lot of it or if you already have liver damage.. The maximum amount of acetaminophen you should have in a 24 hour period is 2000 mg, your husband was probably taking more than 26000 mg... He has probably done a lot of damage to his liver and should be seen by a doctor... acetaminophen really doesn't do any good at all unless you have a very minor headache, it is a very barbaric way to keep people from abusing pain medication and to take people off of welfare permanently...

[Mike VG]

How about talking with the Doctor about what's going on and that he needs something for his depression and/or anxiety. The max.on acetaminophen daily intake is 4000mg not 2000. So that should ease your mind a bit. He really does need to be under a Doctor's care. And a prescription for Effexor or Celexa.
Mike VG

[Far AwayEyes]

i have been taking percocet and vicodin for some time now.i take up to 5 a day.2 just isn't enough,and i take them every day...illegally.i want to stop,because it's taking all of my money,and i feel as though it is taking over my life.i called a suboxone clinic,and i've heard many wonderful things about this treatment.as of right now,i cannot afford the treatment.i must admit that when i have tried to stop taking them,it was hard,but i survived.from what i've read,though,it seems to be dangerous to just stop altogether.i mean,is it safe to just stop without treatment?

nicole

[KathleenP]

After complications from back surgery when blood clots formed along my spine, my left leg was paralyzied. I had extreme pain in my back and down my leg. Then I fell when I was alone and fractured my right wrist and have had 2 surgeries on it. I have been on percocet 10 / taking anywhere from 6-12 a day for almost 2 years. Last Fri, 4/18/08 I took my last one. I knew I had to stop and deal with the pain with Ibuprofen. The first 3 days were horrible with extreme anxiety, chills, clammy and weakness. No Food for 2 days - drink plenty of Ice Tea (decaf) sweet. Then Wednesday was better, Thursday wasn't bad and Friday was normal. Today I feel good again - Exactly 1 week after stopping. So for those who want to know how long it takes, I did it and so can you. I will say that you may want to try to take St. Johns' Wart to help with the anxiety... about 4 pills every 4 hours. Also, take some type of muscle relaxant to help with shaking - you won't need them after the 4th day. You can take Melatonin to help sleep (over the counter Herb) 4-5 pills about an hour before bed. I would not try to work during the first 4 days. Stay in bed the first 2 days. Hope this helps.

[Toe Tag]

White male, 54 yo, MD...Infectious Diseases, 10 years Africa, 8 years Soviet Europe. Cracked C-6 diving accident age 16. Father, Ophthalmologist, prescribed Darvon to ease pain. After father's death, continued to get Darvon for and other pain killer for additional three years. Almost caught...clean for 32 years. 2006 severely injured back while removing victim from golf cart to perform CPR. Put on daily routine of 4 Percocet tables. After several months and epidural injections my need grew to 10 tabs/day...then 20/day. It was not the pain, but the pleasure of the high. Many lies, deceptions to my wife, depression to myself. But I was high as a kite, so why worry.

However, today I am becoming clean. I know there are those who want to know how to drop the habit, tough love...you're not ready. Back soon.

Yours,

Toe Tag

[greenday]

Toe Tag,
I think it was very brave of you to admit you are a dr. It must be VERY VERY hard for you to be exposed to prescriptions all day while trying to take care of your own problems. How are you doing? I am 4+months clean from oc/perk. Just remember all the good you do for people. I really wish you the best. Check in and let us know how you are doing!

[KathleenP]

Toe Tag: I understand and it is great for people to realize that anyone, from all ages and classes can become dependent on pain medication. I am a grandmother (and worked as a marketing exec) and no one knew. Even when I went through withdrawal, no one knew. I just claimed to have the flu with a tummy bug. At one time, I was close to 12 a day (10mg ea) - but never got a "buzz" even when taking 2 at a time. Strange - huh ! I took them for pain - not for the feel. Took about 5 days to actually start to feel normal once I stopped. It was a week this past Sat. I am still in allot of pain from the complications arrising from back-surgery and I still wonder if I take just one, will I become addicted again. So, I just take the 800 Ibup. and lay on a heating pad. Good Luck !