Hydrocodone Addiction - Need help

Guest wrote:

I've been on a chronic pain treatment program for almost 9 years now. At it's worst I was give 60mg Oxy, plys 40mg Norco a day. Then I'd add my own source for another 10 Norco a day. Now I am quitting - It's been 4 days and each day is worse. Can anyone tell me how much longer it will get worse before it gets better? I don't know how much more I can take. Are there other medications a doc could proscribe to help out (without becoming addicted to that as well)?? How much longer? How much deeper will this go...

i have been on vicodin for about 3yrs now i have never taken more than 6 a day because i am very into studying alot... and i am a dental assistant, pharmacy technician, and medical coder and biller.... you have to be very careful it is the acetaminophen that willl cause liver damages... yea i kno they make you happy and full of energy... but you cannot abuse them... i am very strong willed and in tons of pain from 12 car accidents and i have been very depressed due to the fact that docs suck and couldn't figure out why i was in sooo much pain... but believe me i found a website and an angel and i will be having surgery soon to fix it and then no more vicodin.... you just have to be strong and not overindulge as to with anything in life you can eat a piece of cake you just cant eat the whole cake understand..... live by that and you will be fine. i will pray for you all....

Hey , i've been on on Pain management for about close to four years and I am 25 years old . I got to where I was taking close to 400mg of oxycodone per day .I've been through many accidents . I got hit by a car when I was 6 , fell off a 75-100 foot cliff when I was 17 , and been in 3 car wrecks . Due to all I have shattered and broken alot of bones in my legs and back because of this I have a lot of metal in my body . I have tried to stop so many times and always get sucked back in , due to withdrawals and aching . This time I have quit officially 14 days now , the longest I have ever made it . Im sleeping normally now but still get cold chills and sweating . How long does it take for this to go away .

After I lost my first and only child, I continued my hydrocodone use as I discovered it numbed the emotional pain some too. A total of 3 years, starting out with hydro, all the way up to 80mg of hydro per day. Now I even find myself taking the occasional Oxycontin. Thank goodness I had friends to tell me I had a problem. So i quit cold turkey. 2 days and I'm feeeelin like helllllll, so the 3rd day (after I threw up) went to the doc. He said I could go to the hospital for detox. I said no. So he prescribed Catapres (yes its a blood pressure medicine, but it has its uses here too), and Klonopin, one of the milder benzos for anxiety. The two were prescribed in a step-down weaning method. But tonight is the end of night 4. Early in day 4 I kinda felt like back as a kid when you recovered from a realy really bad case of the flu and everything seemed new....like walking, talking, and seeing straight, lol. I'm almost through the roughest part, but again....the worst part is to be strong enough to stay off the narcotics.

i have a hydro addiction. i have been taking them constantly since my junior year in high school, i am now 19. i have done everything to get my hands on them, i am in debt now because of my addiction. i have gone to many many different doctors just to get it, and i now cant afford it so i find them on the streets, or i take them from my mother.

i cant afford treatment

there are no "groups" where i am from. i live in a small town.

i dont know what to do.

being in debt from them, causes stress which makes me need them even more...

lots of people know about it, but they dont know what to do.

i think my mom has a sense, but she doesnt know what to do

im lost.

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For I have done for 2 years oh what a life I have not seemed to remember for I have not only smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day.
I have become numb do I will ever see the common things that have got me here today. People I love only if they knew I was well beyond a addict without any thought or care for what I have became.

It will get easier talk it out as you are now doing it for yourself just for once you need to feel the pain to remind you what you have become.
each shooting pain ache sleepless nights need to happen to remind you never again never will i forget another day for what a pill will do for ones soul. suffering will be my recovery.
I do love life things will occur to remind of that first high but looking back is it going to be one more day i forget so i can get in a state of mind because im selfish and care free of my surroundings

Everyone of you are doing great keep it up it does get better just imagine 10 days from now you will be all better and you will pass the same message of hope to one another.

I was addicted (and still an addict) to oxycodone for 6 years and oxycontin for the last 2. When I finally got help I was up to 160mg. of oxys a day just to maintain. I'm a 32yr old mother of 3 kids. the last one was carried through my addiction. Its an all consumming thing. It makes everyday all about one thing "scoring your fix". I almost lost everything I really don't know how i didn't. But anyway I too live in a small town far away from anything. There's no groups no anything just like you. You have the best tool the internet and if you also have the determination I'm sure you can get off those life sucking thing before you get any worse and it always gets worse. I finally found a suboxone dr. about an hour away and that is how doing it that and staying away from everybody i used to know. Good luck!

I found out today my wife takes a 10mg Hydrocodone a couple times a day. She started with 5mg tabs but that stopped working so she upped it to a 10mg. Its been like this for about a year, maybe a little less. She does it to help numb some depression from an event that happened in her life about a year ago. She can go a few days without them but as soon as they are available to her she takes them again.

Does this sound like an addiction? If so and the amount she is taking is accurate, should the withdrawel symptoms be less severe?

The only danger is that she will abuse them further. The withdrawal from this sort of minor addiction is pretty much a weak 3 day flu. However, if used on a regular basis for over a year (even only 10mg of hydrocodone 3 times a day) the initial 7 day withdrawal (about 3 days of which are the hardest and then the other 4 are gradually getting better) is not the biggest concern. Repair of opiate receptors takes time. Even after the initial withdrawal, blood pressure, pupil dilation and neuronal activity will not return to normal for up to 8 months. The only way she will quit is if she decides to herself though. The best you can do is educate her. A hydrocodone addiction is not much different than a heroin addiction if you ignore the dangers of administering the drug via injection. At least heroin doesn't have acetaminophen in it

PS: If you are going through a tough withdrawal, you can temporarily ease the pain with imodium. The active ingredient is loperamide HCL which is an opiate (the same class of drug) but it doesn't pass the blood brain barrier so causes no high. It is over-the-counter and satisfies your body's cravings for opiates somewhat. However, it will make the withdrawal last a bit longer so try not to. I do not recommend taking any benzos like xanax, klonipin, valium to help because these are even worse addictions to have as the withdrawal can be fatal if you get in too deep. The other thing you can do is to take diphenhydramine (benadryl) to help with the sneezing and runny nose/eyes as well as to help you sleep at night. Also, remember that if you have a hydrocodone addiction you are likely also addicted to tylenol slightly so take tylenol while going through withdrawal to nullify this as well as to prevent fevers. The only other suggestion I have is to not return to drug use for many months (because it takes that long for your body to reset) and there is potential for a withdrawal syndrome to develop easier the more you've used them in the past without taking many months off.

After a surgery a few years ago I have struggled off and on with hydrocodone use. Initially I only took what was prescribed, but later I started getting them from my mom (who is terminally ill) because I remembered the feeling they once gave me. Now I feel as if I can't quit taking them; I feel like I need them just to get out of bed. I have went as long as four days without them, which was pure hell, but I always start again because the craving is so strong. After a couple of days without them I become a very mean person to the ones I love. I don't want my husband or kids to know about my problem; I just want to quit. When I'm taking the hydrocodone I feel in a better mood and am able to get more done. Is there something to help with the cravings? I have a very demanding job and can't afford to miss more than a day or two of work. I also have three kids to take care of. In the past after surgeries I was always able to quit without a problem and consider myself a very strong willed person. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Just tough it out until it gets better and internalize that hydros aren't that fun anyway when you need them just to feel normal. You have to just be sick without them and goto work that way and maybe on day 2 or 3 take a day off work because that's usually the worst. There is a stage where you still feel sick but everything seems funny. Once this happens, you know that within 24 hours you will be getting better and from there on out it's recovery rather than withdrawal. 1 bad week is worth not needing them to function. Just make sure that even after a few weeks if you still don't feel totally okay (maybe slight fatigue) it will get better but it takes time to completely recover. Eventually you won't even think about taking pills as a solution. Good luck; remember if a man can summit everest without legs, you can quit pills (there are a lot more extraordinary things that humans are capable of).