Oxycontin taper making me feel 100% better!

I've posted on here a few times about the struggles I have had with opiates. A quick re cap is that I have been heavily dependant on opiates for over 10 years. I suffer from a chronic pain disease and have surgical procedures every 6 weeks under general anaesthetic.  This resulting in me taking strong opiates on a constant basis.

I have tried many times to taper and every time has been awful. I get to a couple of days and then end up giving up and taking more again.  

This time last year I was taking around 450mg - 500mg a day at the worst times. Even on this amount I felt as if I needed more! All of this was prescribed by my GP I must add. 

My health has deteriorated significantly in the past 5 years since I have been taking Oxycontin rather than Tramadol. I have started the early menopause, been losing a lot of weight, extremly depressed and anxious, zero sex drive, no motivation to do anything like I used to and things I used to enjoy I have absolutely no desire to do anymore. In the back of my mind I have always thought that it is the Opiates that have been causing the problems, however medical professionals have always thought differently and in a lot of cases prescribed me higher does for the conditions I have been complaining about. Along with a concoction of other medications.

I truly was stuck in a rut with it all and a few weeks ago decided that enough was enough and no matter what I was getting off these demon pills that control my life. I decided to stick with the 10% a month reduction rule, but I felt I needed to do a more drastic taper as I could still feel the 'good' effects of the Oxy on that dose. I wanted to feel normal but never high so I reduced it to 10% a week. I went through every withdrawal you can think of for the first 2 weeks and was craving the Oxy so bad it was all I thought about. I started a diary of every hour of the day just making little points about how I felt. This really helped me to notice a progress in where I was going and how much better I was feeling. I make a point of doing at least 3 things that are good for me every day.

Yoga

Meditation

Exercise

Walking the dog

Reading a book

Watching a funny movie

Playing with my kids

Plus whatever else I felt would boost my mood.

Even when I really didn't feel any motivation and the sweat was dripping off me, I pushed myself to do at least one thing. I also work full time, thankfully from home. So I took a couple of weeks off work to try and get over the worst of it. 

I havent completely stopped and it really is a work in progress, but I can't believe how much better I feel. What I find incredible is that the less I take the less anxiety and depression I have. I'm now taking 80mg a day and continuing to taper at 10-20% taper a week.

If anyone out there is in the same position as I was and really knows they need to taper but can't stand the withdrawal please do it, you'll feel so much better for it. 

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