Read the recipe, be aware of what’s about to happen to my body — and join me as I plunge into the dark, deep, nasty-ass, feels-like-flu-but-worse, world of Opiate Withdrawal. I’ll talk more on the other side of the recipe. When I first found the recipe online, it was a scant paragraph. Someone has revised it, written a more succinct recipe and now the information copied below is used by many vitamin sales websites. Don’t fall for that. If you need to take a multi-vitamin, go to the store and by something you know, like One-A-Day or Centrum. Get your vitamins from known manufacturers, from stores you trust. I’m not here to sell you anything except my story.

I keep calling Thomas by the wrong name, for some reason, I want him to be Henry. Perhaps I’ll write a Henry Recipe that is MY Recipe for Oxycontin Cessation. Henry can be my inner-me.

I had Ativan, no benzodiazepines when I withdrew from Oxycontin/Oxycodone. I only had 1 – 1mg tablet per day, so I hardly took a dose that was truly helpful. Had I known then what I know now, I’d have stockpiled the Ativan so I could take 3 a day, and then maybe my Dancing Nancies would have only done a waltz instead of some Texas Two-Step.

I did not experience much of the symptoms talked about here (diarrhea) nor did I feel a need to take any comforting baths (but man oh man, I have a huge clawfoot tub in this 100 year old house and it surely produces a soothing soak.) I found ice bags, the cooling gel stuff too, to be a big help. It’s interesting, rereading the Thomas’s Recipe because, in my opinion, those who did not abuse Oxy’s have different withdrawal. I didn’t take massive amounts. Prescription Use, or Taken As Prescribed, Rob said I should use that title. The stopping of Oxycontin/oxycodone is not as violent a reaction to the cessation. More of a creeping up of symptoms and pains you’d forgotten you had. Felt like the flu, for sure, for the first few days.

There’s so much to write about, like the fight by Perdue Pharmaceuticals to keep Oxycontin a special medication, not to be made generic and not to be taken more than once every 12 hours when everyone who’s ever taken it and any doctor who’s ever prescribed it know this — Time Release Oxycontin leaves the body in 7-8 hours. Hence the prescription for abuse. If you’re in an unrelenting pain cycle, like post-surgery, and your pain meds leave your body after 7 hours, what do you do with the next FIVE before you can take another pill? You fucking panic, that’s what you do. And you go ahead and take a pill. And then you run out because you’re taking 4 a day instead of two. You can read about it many places online, here are a few links, just for kicks and giggles, google it yourself and you’ll be amazed and upset.

Here’s an article from Stanford Law. I’ll find the Wake Forest Law one and link to it. And here’s The Conversation article about how it’s easier to get an Oxycontin prescription than it is to get treatment for addiction. I guess I need to make a link page … will do, I promise.

What I will also talk about, in a regular blog post, is the reaction of the neural transmitters (will do research and have full medical jargon for you) as they try to re-write (rewire) the neural pathways compromised by the Oxycontin. The neural pathways don’t just lead to pain cessation, they also hijack emotions and cause more physical reactions than just screwing up your bowels.

For the Recipe, You’ll need:

1. Valium (or another benzodiazepine such as Klonopin, Librium, Ativan or Xanax). Of these, Valium and Klonopin are best suited for tapering since they come in tablet form. Librium is also an excellent detox benzo, but comes in capsules, making it hard to taper the dose. Ativan or Xanax should only be used if you can’t get one of the others.

2. Imodium (over the counter, any drug or grocery store).

3. L-Tyrosine (500 mg caps) from the health food store.

4. Strong wide-spectrum mineral supplement with at least 100% RDA of Zinc, Phosphorus, Copper, Magnesium and Potassium (you may not find the potassium in the same supplement).

5. Vitamin B6 caps.

6. Access to hot baths or a Jacuzzi (or hot showers if that’s all that’s available).

How to use the recipe:

Start the vitamin/mineral supplement right away (or the first day you can keep it down), preferably with food. Potassium early in the detox is important to help relieve RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome). Bananas are a good source of potassium if you can’t find a supplement for it.

Begin your detox with regular doses of Valium (or alternate benzo). Start with a dose high enough to produce sleep. Before you use any benzo, make sure you’re aware of how often it can be safely taken. Different benzos have different dosing schedules. Taper your Valium dosage down after each day. The goal is to get through day 4, after which the worst WD symptoms will subside. You shouldn’t need the Valium after day 4 or 5.

During detox, hit the hot bath or Jacuzzi as often as you need to for muscle aches. Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of hot soaks. Spend the entire time, if necessary, in a hot bath. This simple method will alleviate what is for many the worst opiate WD symptom.

Use the Imodium aggressively to stop the runs. Take as much as you need, as often as you need it. Don’t take it, however, if you don’t need it.

At the end of the fourth day, you should be waking up from the Valium and experiencing the beginnings of the opiate WD malaise. Upon rising (empty stomach), take the L-Tyrosine. Try 2000 mgs, and scale up or down, depending on how you feel.

You can take up to 4,000 mgs. Take the L-Tyrosine with B6 to help absorption. Wait about one hour before eating breakfast. The L-Tyrosine will give you a surge of physical and mental energy that will help counteract the malaise. You may continue to take it each morning for as long as it helps. If you find it gives you the “coffee jitters,” consider lowering the dosage or discontinuing it altogether. Occasionally, L-Tyrosine can cause the runs. Unlike the runs from opiate WD, however, this effect of L-Tyrosine is mild and normally does not return after the first hour. Lowering the dosage may help.

Continue to take the vitamin/mineral supplement with breakfast.

As soon as you can force yourself to, get some mild exercise such as walking, cycling, swimming, etc. This will be hard at first, but will make you feel considerably better.

Thomas”

That’s it, copied from an online source and I’m not linking to it because this Thomas’s Recipe is all over the place online.