⚠️ Someone who is snoring or making gurgling sounds and cannot be woken may be having an opioid overdose. Treat this as an emergency.
Call 112 now⚠️ Last officially confirmed via DRUGSinfo/Trimbos: 8 April 2026. Counterfeit oxycodone containing nitazenes is still circulating.
Read the warning →The way back exists. But not on your own. Stopping oxycodone after long-term use is not a matter of willpower. Your body has adapted, and undoing that takes a plan, time and someone who monitors it. This page explains how a supervised tapering schedule works, what to expect, and what to say if you do not know how to start.
If you have been using oxycodone for a longer period, do not stop abruptly on your own. The Dutch GP guideline treats use beyond one month as long-term use and recommends a gradual, individual taper. Withdrawal symptoms can also occur after shorter use.
There is no single evidence-based taper that fits everyone. As a practical consensus, the Dutch GP guideline often uses reductions of 10-25% per week, with a slower pace after longer use or when symptoms or patient preference call for it. Agree the pace with your doctor or pharmacist.
harder to stop than to start with an opioid, in the words of a specialist in the Zembla documentary. A statement, not a measurement.
Quote from Zembla, not a research figuredeaths from opioids in 2024, against 40 in 2014. The highest year was 2023, with 178.
Statistics Netherlands, processed by Trimbos / National Drug Monitor, reference year 2024people received oxycodone through community pharmacies in 2025. So you are far from the only one dealing with this.
Zorginstituut Nederland (GIP), reference year 2025 · reimbursed outpatient use onlyThe GP is the only one who can create a tapering plan and refer you onwards. They have a duty of confidentiality, share nothing with your employer, and cannot report you. What they need is an accurate picture of what you are actually using.
You do not have to have a well-formulated story. This is enough:
"I have been using oxycodone for longer than intended and I am using more than we agreed. I do not know how to stop on my own. I would like a tapering plan."
If it helps, write it on a note and hand it over. Many people find it easier to write down than to say out loud, and a GP has heard it before.
A supervised taper usually takes weeks to months, depending on your dose and how long you have been using. Withdrawal symptoms are unpleasant but not dangerous in themselves, provided you go down in steps and someone monitors you. What is dangerous is stopping abruptly on your own.
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Every plan is different, because it depends on your dose, how long you have been using and what else is going on. But the outline is almost always the same.
How much do you actually use per day, including what you take outside the prescription? For how long? This is the basis of the whole schedule. A schedule based on an understated dose is guaranteed to fail.
Do not be ashamed of the number. With tolerance, the dose can rise quickly, sometimes within weeks of starting. What that looks like from the inside →
Usually a reduction of ten to twenty-five per cent per step, followed by a period of stability before the next step. The pace is set by what your body can handle, not by a calendar. Long-acting forms give a more stable level and are often easier to taper with.
Restlessness, muscle pain, sweating, nausea, trouble sleeping and a general sense of illness are normal and temporary. Your GP can prescribe something for the worst of it. Say when a step is too heavy: the schedule is adjustable, and that is the point of doing it under supervision.
If you were given oxycodone for real pain, that pain does not disappear by tapering off. A good plan addresses both: the taper and a pain approach, through a pain clinic, physiotherapy or other medication. Tapering without a pain plan is the main reason people relapse.
Is there more than pain, such as low mood, anxiety, a busy head or sleep problems? Then the oxycodone was probably damping that too. Tapering brings all of it back, often at once. Tell your doctor, because then the plan needs more than just the taper. Why that works this way →
Most people do not taper in a straight line. A step back does not mean the plan was wrong; it means the pace needs adjusting. What matters is that you say it, so the schedule can be changed instead of you quietly starting to top up again.
When tapering off you almost always have medication left over. That looks like a detail, but it is not: what stays in a drawer is the easiest starting point for a relapse, and at home it is the biggest risk to someone else.
Every pharmacy takes back leftover medicines, even ones you did not get there. You do not have to explain anything and there is no charge. If the pharmacy is not an option, your municipal waste depot accepts them as small chemical waste.
Not down the toilet and not in the household bin. Opioids do not belong in the sewer, and in a bin they are within reach of children and animals.
For a small child a single tablet can be life-threatening. Keep the box high up, out of sight, preferably locked away. Not in a bag on the floor, not in the bedside table, not loose in a pill box on the table.
Has a child swallowed something anyway? Call 112 or your GP immediately, even if the child still looks fine. Do not wait and see: with opioids the symptoms may only start after one to two hours. Take the packaging with you.
Physical dependence on an opioid is not a matter of discipline. Your body has adjusted its own pain regulation to a substance coming from outside. Undoing that takes time, and during that time your body protests.
People who succeed do not have more willpower than people who fail. They have a plan, a pace they can sustain, and someone who knows about it. That is what makes the difference, not character.
And if you have already tried and it did not work: that says something about the plan, not about you.
That is very common and it is important to mention. Opioids damp not only pain but also tension, low mood and restlessness. If that plays a part for you, tapering becomes harder, because you lose more at once than just pain relief. That is not a reason to avoid tapering, but it is a reason to make sure the plan also addresses that other side. Say it; it changes the approach.
Tolerance and physical dependence can develop with repeated opioid use, but the timing varies greatly from person to person. Do not use a fixed number of days or weeks as a test of whether it can affect you. If the same dose seems to do less or you feel you need more, discuss it with your doctor or pharmacist.
If you have been using oxycodone for a longer period, do not stop abruptly on your own. The Dutch GP guideline uses more than one month as a practical definition of long-term use and recommends gradual tapering. Withdrawal can also occur after shorter use. After a period without opioids your tolerance can fall, so returning to an old dose can carry extra risk.
It depends on your dose, duration of use and symptoms. There is no single evidence-based taper for everyone. As practical consensus, the Dutch GP guideline often uses reductions of 10-25% per week and advises a slower pace after longer use or when the patient needs or prefers it.
Restlessness, muscle and joint pain, sweating, chills, nausea, diarrhoea, trouble sleeping and a general sense of illness. Also anxiety and low mood. Unpleasant but temporary, and they say nothing about your willpower. Report them, because the schedule can be adjusted and something can be prescribed for the worst of it.
"I have been using oxycodone for longer than intended and I want to stop, but I do not know how." That sentence is enough. You do not have to explain everything at once. A GP has a duty of confidentiality, shares nothing with your employer, and has heard this before. If speaking is hard, write it down and hand over the note.
Oxycodone can cause drowsiness and dizziness and can impair driving. Whether and when you may drive depends on how you use it, dose changes and side effects. Follow the current Dutch pharmacy driving guidance and ask your doctor or pharmacist if unsure; do not drive when drowsy, dizzy or less alert.
Alcohol can increase the drowsiness and sleepiness caused by oxycodone. Dutch pharmacy guidance therefore advises avoiding alcohol or drinking less while using oxycodone. Other sedating medicines, including benzodiazepines, can also add risk; discuss combinations with your doctor or pharmacist.
Ordinary tablets, capsules and liquid start working within an hour and last four to six hours. Slow-release tablets, recognisable by additions such as retard or MGA, work for about twelve hours. That difference matters when tapering: long-acting forms give a more stable level.
Tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are pregnant or planning pregnancy and do not change treatment on your own. There is not enough information to give a general assurance of safety in pregnancy. Use close to delivery can affect the baby's breathing, and use in the final months can cause withdrawal symptoms in the newborn. Make an individual plan with your doctor.
Yes. From around the age of 70 opioids act more strongly and for longer, which increases the risk of drowsiness, confusion and falls. Interaction with other medicines plays a part more often. There is a knowledge document on reducing and stopping opioids for this group, arising from the Dutch multidisciplinary guideline on polypharmacy in older people. Ask your pharmacist for a medication review: that looks at all medicines together rather than at the oxycodone alone.
Ask explicitly for a tapering plan and say you want it in writing. If that does not work, you can register with an addiction service yourself, or ask for a referral to a pain clinic. You can also switch to another GP practice. Getting stuck between care providers is exactly the pattern Zorgfuik documents.
The help page lists who is reachable today, including anonymous options, and what to say if you do not know how to begin.