Percocet Withrdrawal - After 1 week HELP!

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icepack2010

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Is it possible to experience withrawal symptoms from percocet after taking the medication for only 1 week. I was perscribed 2 pills every 4 to 6 hours to aid with recovery from a tonsillectomy. I have taken the medication for 6 days straight (as prescribed) and stopped on day 7. Last night was the first night without taking the pills, and I have not been able to sleep the whole night (experienceing abdominal distress, anxiety and distress). I did take 2 extra strenght tylenol before bed last night instead of the percocet. Please let me know if this is a normal reaction coming off this medication. I have read on some websites that withdrawal is common after a prolonged period of use of this narcotic, but wasn't sure if this was also possible after 1 week of use.

I would appeciate anyones professional comments or past/present experiences. Thanks!
 
Hey Icepack,

Welcome :) Yes, I'd say it is possible, however it wouldn't be that bad. In fact, I'd be surprised if you experienced anything more than you've already gone through.

If you were taking the percocet as prescribed, then you would have taken 56 - 84 pills in six days. That's a lot of "pills" but not alot of "time." Make sense? You would have to take percocet for quite awhile, and build up a tolerance to experience some bad withdrawals (not that you'd want to ha ha).

I think it would be wise to mention your symptoms to your doctor - you never know - perhaps it pertains to another condition that you're not aware of yet. It can't hurt to ask :)

Good luck,
emsmom
 
Hey emsmom,

Thanks the quick reply! I'm new new this arena of blogging so I was really shocked when I got a response! Am I correct to assume you are an emergency medical specialist? You're right on with the amount of pills, I ended up taking 49 of the 60 pills prescribed and decided the pain wasn't strong enough to continue. I hope your right about not having to go through another night like that because it wasn't pleasant....in resprosect, the restlesness and awakeness I felt all night may have also been magnified by the huge bottle of gatorade I consumed 2 hrs before going to sleep...I then took 2 extra strengh tylenol b/c I was still in a pit of pain and thought something would help me to have a restful sleep (go figure - LOL)

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I appreciated your note and if you have any more suggestions to send my way please don't be shy. I'm heading back to the office on Monday so I really hope to get back to normal pain wise, and sleeping, so I can be ready for work.

Thanks!
 
Hey Icepack,

No, "ems" stanRAB for my daughters name (Emily) - but no worries, I get that alot :)

Sleep is very important right now so you may want to pick up some Benadryl or a sleeping aid from your pharmacy. If you find the withdrawals get to be too much for you, try taking half a percocet to calm things down.

You should be just fine for work on Monday, however if not, post here and I'm sure you'll get many suggestions.

There is a thread at the top of the page called "Sample Home Detox." I used some of the suggestions when I detoxed and I have to say it was great advice.

Try not to sit around "waiting" to see what happens. Get out and do something. Go grocery shopping, take a long walk, go hang out with a friend etc. It will pass alot quicker if you're out and about and you won't notice the symptoms nearly as much :)

If I can help with anything else, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hope tomorrow is better than today...

emsmom
 
I'm going to have to say yes it's very possible, it's a strong medication. I went through a similar episode where I had oral surgery done and I was prescribed 7.5 mg lortab, take 1-2 every six hours as needed. I was on them for about a week and then when I stopped I noticed some wd symptoms , I swithed to advil gels. I had trouble sleeping , fatigue, muscle aches and had the chills for about 3 -4 days, it was not severe to say just VERY uncomfortable. It began to taper off within another week I was fine. Percocet is corabounded to be stronger and longer lasting so It is possible you are experiencing slight wd symptoms. It should taper off soon , you were not on the medication very long to experience a long term wd. For sleep try and over the counter sleep aid , tylenol PM at night seems to help for me as it helped with my achyness.

Best wishes for you
 
Thanks!

Again you were right about the sleep. Yesterday I had a great day and visited with frienRAB and ran some erranRAB to keep busy. I was even able to eat relatively normal food (chicken and lenil soup) - so grateful to eat normally. Anyway, I'm getting anxious about the "no sleep" situation going on. To recap, Wednesday night I had no sleep and last night (Thursday) I was able to fall asleep for 1 hr, then woke up suddenly..tried to fall back asleep for a good 2 hours but with no success all the while feeling so anxious in my stomach. I stayed up for another hour reading and fell asleep in a chair for another hour but woke up again....I was able to get another hour again before waking up....I feel exhausted!......would you suggest taking 1/2 percocet? Just the thought of that makes me nervous....As an aside, I am a recovering addict with 10 yrs clean and sober....I was never into pills. I was thinking of going to a natural health store and purchasing some type of natural sleep pill, or remedy of some kind....I'm not sure what to do - all I know is that I am not in enough pain to not be sleeping due to pain, and I need to have good restful sleep this weekend to be ready to hit the ground back at work on Monday........please let me know what you think.

Hope you have a great day,
 
Hey Icepack,

I apologize - I didn't know you were a recovering addict. I wouldn't suggest taking half a percocet, not cause it would be considered a relapse (as long as you're taking your meRAB as prescribed, and for pain, not pleasure) rather cause you don't want to play with the fire - make sense?

Once an addict, always an addict. You obviously have addictive tendencies, and although that doesn't automatically mean you will abuse the percocet, it's not wise to test that theory.

The fact that you don't "need" them for pain anymore and that you've recognized this, is very positive. You are on a great path, Icepack. This could have gone very differently.

Regarding not sleeping, ask your pharmacist if he/she can recommend a sleeping aid that will help you sleep, but not make you groggy the next day. You only have three days left until you return to work, so you need to get a few good nights' sleep in before Monday. You need to let your body have at least a few days of normalcy. This will lessen the impact when you return to work :)

A great natural sleeping aid is Melatonin. You can find this at most pharmacies. Melatonin is already in our bodies, so you'd just be adding to what you already have rather than introduce a drug that will keep you sluggish the next day. I use Melatonin often when I can't sleep and it is great.

That's great that you enjoyed yourself yesterday. It's very important to stay positive, especially considering that the percocet withdrawal can/will bring on some form of depression. Make plans this weekend, find a solution to your lack of sleep, have fun and don't worry too much about Monday - I have faith that you'll be just fine :)

Sincerely,
emsmom
 
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