No withdrawal from long term use of opiates

by Bonnie
(Carrol county, MD)

I'm not sure if this is really a paradoxiical reaction or not. i have a botched ankle surgery three times, leaving me with alot of pain esp. when walking. Working on a concrete floor 8 to 10 hrs a day six days a wk made the pain worse.

It was so hard to walk w/the pain. Finally went to a pain managemnt clinic for relief. They put me on Duragesic patches, the other meds didnt help the pain. I was on 150mg every 72 hrs for 6 yrs. One day faceing the fact the drug hindered my performnce at work.

I decided I didnt want to go thru my life w/a foggy mind & missing my deadlines @work & home. I decided to stop the patches & deal with the pain w/help from God. Im a born again christian, over the years my faith lessened.

Some of you will probably scoff at what Im about to write. I decided to ask God to help me withdraw. I knew I was addicted to this med. I knew I was addicted. I took 2 weeks vacation to get off this med. I figured 2wks to do this. I left old patch on,the med would lessen till gone.

Day 1, got down on my knees & asked God to increase my faith & pull me through withdrawal & not fear the days ahead. I was going to trust God to lessen my symtoms.

Day 2, meds weakened. No symptoms.

Day 3, leg tremors & tired. Prayd again. 2 hrs tremors gone just tired.

Day 4, headache. Took reg. Tylenol. Headache gone. Prayed again kept faith. Was able to sleep that night.

Day 5 a little nauseous , a few hours later nausea gone. Kept thanking God. Fell asleep until next morning.

Day 6 got up & showerd, then slept til morn.

Day 7 woke, feeling refreshed. My mind was so clear. Took a short drive for fresh air. Felt good. Went home, ate some real food instead of crackers & gingerale. Felt even better. Cleaned my house. Felt rejuvinated. I was drug free, no real withdrawl. Nothing like I expected.

Few years later my other ankle went bad. Had to return to pain clinic to walk on it to work. Had a new boss ( they changed like the direction of the wind.

Ended up on oxymorphine and hydrocodeine. Wasnt able to even stand on my ankle without it. Had bone on bone rubbing. Six yrs my whole ankle collapsed. Saw ankle surgeon. Need a triple fusion this time. Surgery a complete success. Asked God again to take control of everything. Three wks aftr surgery, not allowed to put weight on it for five more weeks. Decided again to trust God to help me get off the pain meds easy. Went off cold turkey.

Three weeks later since taking my last oxymorphine and hydrocodeine no withdrawal at all. Ankle doesnt hurt. Took a few steps on it against dr.s orders &no pain at all. Im drug free not even Tylenol. Whether some of you beleive me or not I feel great & thank God every single day.

If it hadnt been for God Id have never defied the norm, withdrawal free. For those skeptical, the word of God says " God is the great physician" . My faith has never been stronger.

Like I said before, Im not sure if this is a paradoxical reaction to opiates, or that I defied the odds. But I wanted to put this experience out there for anyone who is going to detox from this anchor around them everyday they live on drugs.

Trust God he helped me and I beleive if you ask him he will help you also. Just beleive. Have faith & just beleive.