Have Been On Pain Killers for over 2 months

Hi ladies,
I need your help. My hysterectomy has been a tough one.
I developed and infection, and ended up staying in the castle off and on for 18 days, my Dr. was trying to clear up infection w/ IV antibiots, it did'nt work and I ended up having a second op, My delima is this..Since 9/21 I have been on narcotic pain meds, I am finally at the point were they are not necessary around the clock like they had been, since I have been on them for so long, I need to know the best way to stop them w/ out going through terrible with drawls.. My Aunt is an addict, and I have seen her so sick while trying to come off vicoden, I have been on percocet and darvecet, but I am sure there is not much difference between them and vicoden. Any advice or suggestions would be so helpful. This site has been such a God send and I would much rather talk w/ you ladies who have gone through this hyst w/ me then my male Dr. who I love, but he will never get it.

A Big and thanks to you all

Have you talked to the doc about it??? I would GRADUALLY decrease the nighttime ones first and then work to the daytime. You also may want to make sure you use Ibuprofen or whatever to help with any pain you may have yet. Two months is a fair amount of time, you may want to enlist a loved one to distract you when you think too much about how good the narcs would feel.

Do not go cold turkey. PERIOD. Realize you will likely have headaches, some shakiness and some blah days, but being off them will be sooooo much better! You will also pooh better too

Good luck, don't go through it alone. You are not your aunt, though, so it probably won't be as dramatic as you have seen her experience.

Hi dianalynn, I've taken percocet for over 2 years due to fibroids, 30 pills a month and I have never had a problem stop taking them when they are not needed. Try doing half dose at a time and then down to less times a day and you should be fine.

I have always preferred taking Ibuprofen because it doesn't make me nauseous like the percocet, but sometime the percocet is the only thing that will work with the extreme pain.

(LAVH/BSO)

Talk with your doctor about best way to reduce the dosage. I was on Vicodin & Motrin 2 months prior to surgery and then after surgery Percocet & Motrin for a 2-3 weeks and then switched down to Vicodin & Motrin. My doctor made recommendations of how I could slowly then reduce the amount of Vicodin (while still taking high-dose Motrin every 6 hours). Initially it was to go down from 2 pills every 4 hours to 1 pill every 4 hours and then eventually start to slowly spread out the time between doses (i.e. 1 pill every 5 hours, then every 6 hours, etc.). I actually jumped from 1 every 6 hours to not having any for over 12 hours. I haven't had any problems with withdrawl symptoms. But again, check with your doc for personal recommendations.

My surgery was a lot more intense than the usual TAH/BSO and I have a huge incision and lots of internal repairs, so I've needed to be on pain meds longer than most. I am finally getting to the point (almost 6 weeks post op) where I don't need much Vicodin (2 - 3 per day vs. the 10-12 per day I was initially taking after surgery), but not completely off it yet. I still take the high-dose motrin every 6 hours, but only take the Vicodin if that isn't managing the pain sufficiently (usually if I've been especially active).

Hope this helps!

Thankyou all for your advice, I did call my surgeon and he wants me to take the Darvecet as soon as I wake up then 2 hours after that 800 ibu, He said that at the end of the day when my pain increases do to activity to take the percocet then again 2 hrs after the Ibu, and when I go to bed take the percocet again. I had a diffucult surgery as well, ended up w/ a abcess resulting in a second op, due to scar tissue from 2000 surgery my Dr was unable to do lap the second time, and had to open me back up, I am now having trouble w/ my right ovary and may end up losing that as well. That is the biggest source of my pain now, the way my Doc has me taking them is maneging my pain. So I will stick w/ it. Again thankyou for all your advice