[melodyl]

Thanks for the prompt replies. This site has been incredibly helpful through my spine surgeries and recoveries. I want to reassure Dr. J and Terrry that I am under a doctor's help with the narcotic taper. However....he is not a pain management specialist and there are not any in the area I live. He has been my primary physician for 25 years and we have a good relationship. I have made it this far with him and don't want to start over with someone else. Like lots of you, I have a job, family (including 2 wonderful grandkids), home and all the other pleasures and demands of life that take so much time to accomplish. I see my primary dr. every 4 weeks for pain meds, my orthopedic surgeon (90 miles away) every 2 months and a massage therapist every 2 weeks.

Dr J- thanks for the conversion of fentanyl to oxy. It should be easy to take a little extra oxy for the first few days that I remove the final patch and then taper off of the oxy by taking one less each day as soon as my body adjusts.

Terry-you mentioned Tramadol......which is something my dr. and I discussed at my last visit. Dr. thinks I should be able to start converting from oxy to Tram. when I get off of the patches and under 30 mgs a day of oxy. I have mixed feelings about that....stemming from conflicting information I've heard. Some say Tramadol is NOT addicting and others say it is? I would hate to have gone through all of this only to be dependent on another prescription.


Terry brought up a great point regarding shame. I truly appreciated his remarks. It is/was easy for me to request time of off work for my surgeries and recovery. However......I haven't said a word to anyone about not feeling well during the taper process. It is an embarassing subject. hmmmm....might be worth starting a new thread.

Last (at least for now).....the withdrawal symptom I am finding the most annoying is excessive sweating. I had to get out of bed and change pj's twic last night. I brought a blow dryer to work and have had to use it to dry my hair and body in between appointments/clients. Lucky for me, I am at a normal menopausal age. I prefer letting clients and co-workers think I am having serious hot flashes. If anyone has any suggestions for helping with that symptom, I'd love to hear it!

Katie....keep us updated on your surgery and recovery.

THANKS!!! The support from this group is just what I needed to get through another day of tapering! You are all fantastic, caring individuals.

Melody