Ask The Former Percocet Addict

Post by **Surlethe** » 2005-07-30 01:37pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Surlethe wrote:What does being addicted to something feel like? Does it eventually get to the point where you reach for the pills, don't even think about it? Or is it an urge? What sort of physical compulsions occur as the body feels it needs the drug?
It's hard to explain what the compulsion is like. It's like a very strong urge that is impossible to resist. I can remember standing in front of the bottle of pills and it being like I was having an out of body experiance in which I took the Percocet or oxycontin and then later I returned to normal and hardly remembered taking them.

Were the urges periodic, continual, or random?

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-07-30 01:38pm

"taking 4-6 oxycontin "

Holy Jesus.

Thats pretty insane, that is 640mg-960mg at a time, that is like hard core heroin addict levels of dosage.(the equivalence is 5mg of heroin = 10mg of morphine = 15mg oxycodone, some heroin addicts will get up to a full 1g of pure heroin a day but most level off about the 300-500mg mark)

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-07-30 01:43pm

Surlethe wrote: Were the urges periodic, continual, or random?

It really depended on the kind of day I was having but on a whole I'd say they were continual.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-07-30 01:47pm

NapoleonGH wrote:"taking 4-6 oxycontin "

Holy Jesus.

Thats pretty insane, that is 640mg-960mg at a time, that is like hard core heroin addict levels of dosage.(the equivalence is 5mg of heroin = 10mg of morphine = 15mg oxycodone, some heroin addicts will get up to a full 1g of pure heroin a day but most level off about the 300-500mg mark)

Well you'll notice that at no point did I say that any of this was reasonable.

My whole purpose of this thread is for people to sit up and take notice of how easy it is to fall into the trap of abusing perscription painkillers.

In fact if it wasn't for my wife and mother basically begging me to flush the oxycontin down the toliet I would still be taking it. As I still have the pain and can easily justify taking it to the doctors. As it is now I have progressed from oxycontin back through Percocet to naporoxen (a non addictive anti-inflammitory).

nickolay1 · Post by **nickolay1** » 2005-07-30 03:26pm

Would you mind elaborating on the nature of your injury?

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-07-30 03:34pm

nickolay1 wrote:Would you mind elaborating on the nature of your injury?

I was electrocuted and sustained 3rd and fourth degree burns to 20% of my body.

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-07-30 04:15pm

Ouch, i can see why painkillers were given, as well as why you are on anti-inflamatories now.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-07-30 04:22pm

NapoleonGH wrote:Ouch, i can see why painkillers were given, as well as why you are on anti-inflamatories now.

Yes painkillers of some form or another are a fact of life for me now. At least right now there just antiinflammitories. I found some that are effective enough that I don't forsee having to go back to opiates again.

The Jazz Intern · Post by **The Jazz Intern** » 2005-07-30 10:37pm

What made you stop, and how did you stop?

PS. Your brave for answering questions like this

Tasoth · Post by **Tasoth** » 2005-07-30 10:59pm

Did you ever realize you were addicted or were there times when you thought you could kick the habit?

nickolay1 · Post by **nickolay1** » 2005-07-30 11:57pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
nickolay1 wrote:Would you mind elaborating on the nature of your injury?
I was electrocuted and sustained 3rd and fourth degree burns to 20% of my body.

Sorry for going off-topic, but the severity of the injury itself has piqued my curiosity. I'd love to learn further details regarding the circumstances of the electric shock itself, if you don't mind.

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-07-30 11:57pm

Tasoth, from the way Kendall is telling it he never had a "habit". Due to the fact that he was taking the meds for pain management purposes and due to his apathy or even dislike for the "side effects" of the drug I would wager that he never had a "habit" to kick. Habit is a term which refers to the psychological dependancy which comes with anything which is enjoyable if used frequently. He had an addiction where the internal chemistry of the brain changes so as to produce a need for the presense of a chemical for the brain to function normally.

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2005-07-31 12:03pm

NapoleonGH, you seem to have a lot of knowledge about this and it is very interesting and I thank you for teaching me these things about the meds he was on.

I just hope you're not pulling this stuff out your ass, which I obviously doubt you are

I also tend to agree that my husband is very brave to be answering all these question especially seeing as though he has PTSD because of the fact that it happened, he's facing the PTSD head on by talking about what happened and I think it's a good thing...so keep the questions coming

I'll let him answer the questions but I just wanted to say that he was not addicted for the fun of it. It just took his pain away and NapoleonGH explains the addiction quite well in his last post.

@The Jazz Intern, in response to your question about how he managed to stop taking the meds has already been answered in the thread...

Cpl Kendall wrote:In fact if it wasn't for my wife and mother basically begging me to flush the oxycontin down the toliet I would still be taking it. As I still have the pain and can easily justify taking it to the doctors. As it is now I have progressed from oxycontin back through Percocet to naporoxen (a non addictive anti-inflammitory).

We begged him to stop because we saw what the drugs were doing to him. He flushed the Oxicontin and never went back but still fell into traps of the other opiates he mentions. It was only about 2 months ago that he finally saw all the negative things that the Percocet was doing to him and after much begging from me and his mother again to get him to stop.

I think the part that really made him stop the Percocet 2 months ago was the fact that his mother came for a visit (she lives in BC, and we're in Ontario) and when she found out he was on it again she teamed up with me and gave him other solutions so when she left I managed to get him to talk to our doctor about it and he managed to continue to talk my husband out of taking another prescription. So he stopped and finally found a medication with the help of our doctor that works which doesn't give him horrible side effects, which is the last medication he mentioned called Naporoxen.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-07-31 12:22pm

nickolay1 wrote:
Sorry for going off-topic, but the severity of the injury itself has piqued my curiosity. I'd love to learn further details regarding the circumstances of the electric shock itself, if you don't mind.

I was on a military training exercise and we ere ordered to setup our radio truck under a power line. A radio antenna mast went up and hit a power line, it was raining so the power treavelled down the mast and outhe ground spike of the truck and out into a puddle that I was standing in. I tried to reach what I thought was a safe trailer that was insulated by it's tires but it was grounded as well and I got electrocuted, fell over and got electrocuted through the back again.

nickolay1 · Post by **nickolay1** » 2005-08-01 02:03am

Damn, you're lucky to be alive.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-08-01 01:28pm

nickolay1 wrote:Damn, you're lucky to be alive.

Indeed.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2005-08-01 01:35pm

This is a question I've always wanted to ask someone who had this addiction - as someone who had to take painkillers because of kidney stones what is it about painkillers that got you addicted? I only took anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen) for my kidney pain after discovering much to my chagrin that Aspirin mixed with Codeine did Jack and shit for my kidney stone pain yet three Advil knocked the pain right out for a few hours. I remember my doctor acting very reticent and warning me about the Aspirin with Codeine being addictive but frankly since it did nothing for me I didn't see a reason to take them anymore once I discovered the wonders of Ibuprofen for my pain.

So long story short (too late) what is it about pain killers like Percacets and Vikadens (I had a GF who was addicted to them but we never discussed it) that makes you want to take more? Do they feel good and what do you mean by feel good. For instance I hear heroin is like a long slow orgasm so I can see the attraction for more.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2005-08-01 01:43pm

Opiates plug directly into your brain's natural pleasure receptors. Taking heroin is something like having an orgasm on command--the same receptors which would recieve a rush of dopamine when you orgasm are being activated by the drug. The problem (besides the obvious psychological implications of giving a human the power to experience that kind of pleasure anytime he wants) is that over time, two things happen in the brain: first, it becomes desensitized to the drug (your first hit is the best you'll ever have--addicts call trying to achieve this level again "chasing the dragon"), and it reduces production of its own natural endorphins to compensate for the consistently elevated level of stimulation in the brain. So you consistently need more of it, AND if you cut it off, you suffer until your brain restores normal endorphin production. That's why opiate withdrawal is such a cast-iron motherfucker, and so many addicts who sincerely want to quit can't.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-08-01 03:34pm

That's a shitload of acetomenophen. Did you suffer any liver or adrenal problems?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-08-01 03:42pm

Stravo wrote:So long story short (too late) what is it about pain killers like Percacets and Vikadens (I had a GF who was addicted to them but we never discussed it) that makes you want to take more? Do they feel good and what do you mean by feel good. For instance I hear heroin is like a long slow orgasm so I can see the attraction for more.

Vicodin feels like a nice long lethargic content and pleasure zone. They definitely gave me more than I needed after my jaw surgery, but that was an awesome two weeks.

I can see where the attraction comes from but personally I don't like the lethargic aspects. But opiates - in this case hydrocodone, as opposed to oxycodone in OxyContin and Percocet are very addictive. Your body gets used to functioning with their constant presence, which is why you can get fatal withdrawals. You see when your body is constantly pumped full of opiates that slow your heart and lower your blood pressure, your body compensates. If you go cold turkey, your blood pressure and heart rate can spike and you can die.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-08-01 03:43pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:That's a shitload of acetomenophen. Did you suffer any liver or adrenal problems?

Nope, thank Zeus. I must have gotten lucky.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-08-01 03:47pm

Stravo wrote:This is a question I've always wanted to ask someone who had this addiction - as someone who had to take painkillers because of kidney stones what is it about painkillers that got you addicted? I only took anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen) for my kidney pain after discovering much to my chagrin that Aspirin mixed with Codeine did Jack and shit for my kidney stone pain yet three Advil knocked the pain right out for a few hours. I remember my doctor acting very reticent and warning me about the Aspirin with Codeine being addictive but frankly since it did nothing for me I didn't see a reason to take them anymore once I discovered the wonders of Ibuprofen for my pain.

So long story short (too late) what is it about pain killers like Percacets and Vikadens (I had a GF who was addicted to them but we never discussed it) that makes you want to take more? Do they feel good and what do you mean by feel good. For instance I hear heroin is like a long slow orgasm so I can see the attraction for more.

I can't really pin down why I wanted to take more. Certainly being asleep most of the time was appealing as it let me coast through my life's problems without confronting them, in a way being an addict was a lot easier than being sober, because now I have to confront all these problems that I never had to deal with before and that's not easy or pleasent.

But to get to the heart of your question I think it was the lethargic feeling that I craved, that and the "fuzzy" feeling in my head that went with it. It was pleasent and when I was one the meds I was just zoned out on the couch, I realise it's not much of a help but it's the best I can come up with.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2005-08-01 07:57pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:That's a shitload of acetomenophen. Did you suffer any liver or adrenal problems?

Actually that reminds me, I should get my liver functions checked again.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2005-08-01 09:25pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Stravo wrote:So long story short (too late) what is it about pain killers like Percacets and Vikadens (I had a GF who was addicted to them but we never discussed it) that makes you want to take more? Do they feel good and what do you mean by feel good. For instance I hear heroin is like a long slow orgasm so I can see the attraction for more.
Vicodin feels like a nice long lethargic content and pleasure zone. They definitely gave me more than I needed after my jaw surgery, but that was an awesome two weeks.

I can see where the attraction comes from but personally I don't like the lethargic aspects. But opiates - in this case hydrocodone, as opposed to oxycodone in OxyContin and Percocet are very addictive. Your body gets used to functioning with their constant presence, which is why you can get fatal withdrawals. You see when your body is constantly pumped full of opiates that slow your heart and lower your blood pressure, your body compensates. If you go cold turkey, your blood pressure and heart rate can spike and you can die.

Just so everyone knows this, as I didn't find out until I was told by my pharmasist: Vicodin=Lortab=Hydrocodone.

At this time, to help with my back pain, I am taking 1 50/500 hydrocodone tablet every 4 hours. More than that leaves me dopey, unable to move. Less leaves me limping like a arthritic granny. Days like today (when my supervisor ignores my Doctor-prescribed "restricted duty" and I'm forced to be on my feet all day, bending, stretching, fetching, and carrying 5lb books) after two hours the hydocodone stops working and I need Tylenol or Bayer Asprin to try to cut the pain in between doses.

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-08-02 11:11am

" (your first hit is the best you'll ever have--addicts call trying to achieve this level again "chasing the dragon"), "

This is not necessarily true. Most people their first time do a low dosage which isnt nearly as strong or "good" as when they take a high dose later.

Also "chasing the dragon" is used to refer to smoking opium