“How can I stop opioid dependence?”
After a serious car accident, I was prescribed Oxycodone to help subdue the pain from my back injury. But now it's 4 months after the accident, and I think I'm dependent on taking these. I take them constantly, for every little pain. I don't want this to turn into an addiction. What should I do?
2 Answers
Take them as prescribed, and talk to your dr. to start weaning you off the medicine.
Unfortunately this is an incredibly common problem. I worry that the longer you take oxycodone, the more you'll hurt. (Look up "opiate-induced hyperalgesia.") The next step depends upon whether you can find an addiction specialist nearby. If you lived in Los Angeles near me, I would perform a Suboxone detox over a few days. That's a little bit uncomfortable, not bad for most, and then you're done. You could try to talk you primary care physician into switching you to tramadol, which may help as well. You'd taper tramadol over 7-10 days, then stop. That's easier to stop than oxycodone. Other helpful detox medications include Clonidine and gabapentin, but they are potentially dangerous unless supervised by a physician.
