addicted to vicodin, any expereinces?

Hi, I am 51 years old, and I’m addicted to vicodin. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I need someone to tell me how to deal with this problem. Please share your experiences with me, it would help me a lot.

Hi, I realized that I was addicted to vicodin few months ago, when I tried to stop using it. I told my family about my problem, and fortunately they were willing to help me. They were very kind and always ready to talk with me, which helped me a lot. My husband heard from a friend about some drug rehab program, so I decided to try it. It wasn’t easy to talk in front of the strangers about my vicodin addiction, but it just made me more determent to fight this disease. The first step of a treatment is detoxification, and believe me it isn’t simple as it sounds. I was feeling symptoms of vicodin withdrawal such as restlessness, bone pain and insomnia, but I managed to deal with it. You must find enough strength to do the same thing for you and for your family.

My mother takes vicodin on a daily basis. Seems she goes to different doctors and they keep giving it to her. What do we do?? She is very stubborn and hard headed. She is probably in denial. She treats everybody like garbage including my 77 year old father (she is 57). We are not sure what to do about it. Avoiding her sometimes does not help much. I live on the east coast and my family lives on the west coast. My sister informs me of what is going on. Im saddened and im scared for my mother. What do we do?? Should we contact her doctor?? Angie

When I read your post, I felt compelled to write. I TOO was addicted to pain medication, and was taking upwards to 40-50 5/500 vicodin a day. It drove my life into a dark hole. I was losing all my finances because I was willing to pay whatever I had to get these pills. The task of getting them was always an adventure, the reward of getting them was always exhilerating... but the down was always devastating.

The only way to get out of this is to take it one step at a time. You HAVE to make short term goals for yourself to DISTRACT you from your daily goal of taking pills. Find something you've always wanted to do (i.e. walk a mile a day, lose 10 pounds, play tennis) and just make yourself DO IT first thing in the morning. Trust me... the whole trick is to distract yourself with something else you love. It will work. It's been 3 years since I've taken a pill, and everything in my life has changed for the absolute better. Everything. I wish you luck =)