codeine withdrawal diary

it is day three still but night time and i have not put codeine in my system..i am not tired and havent slept for 48 hours.i generally feel like im going to get through this at the moment but waves of pain do come but they pass aswell..day four tommorow and i cant wait to be that little step closer to getting over this thing..i feel depressed empty and lonely a general feeling of codeine absence..but i know its ok..anyways going to lay down with the hot wheat bag and try and get some rest ..wish me luck !!

day four today and it was still there this morning ..i might have slept for an hour but really lightly..i feel achey still but it is managable..i have noticed that my system is trying to help its self ..mainly with the toilet visits..i feel angry and lost no question..i had a day at work today aswell and that was ok,,however i did need a hot bath when i came home and it seemed to put the aches at bay..i did have an anger outburst and threw a chair into the wall three times,,..but overall i am pleased with the fact that i feel closer to the finish line ,,this has been the hardest thing i have done..i have been through incredible mental torture with this and the pain was unbearable at times..but where i am now it feels like it is going to work for me and i might make it ..i hope i havent made it sound to easy as it has not been ..the trick i guess is dont take that first tablet and i cant go back to stage one !!!

day four night time and i feel awsome with where i am at,yes i still feel like im withdrawing but it is so much easier to take,,cant wait till tommorow as each day is getting better ..dont get me wrong im not out of the woods but its going well,,im even thinking about having a full meal..i havent been able to eat or sleep through this thing but its.atleast not a lot but the body is fixing itself hour by hour...

Well its day five and things are even better ..it is so much easier at this stage,,yes it still is annoying and not yet completely gone ,but the worst is over and i can see the light finally..If you are thinking about doing this then please do it ,,read what stages ive been through and at least you may know what to expect the next day..the first time i tried i failed..i think it was because i didnt know how long it was going to last and my brain was telling me it wasnt going to stop and to simply take some pills and taper off ..but i got worse not better..so know you have a good idea of whats coming and believe me the worst of it is not pleasent by any means but it just gets better ..i will post probably two more days as i think i might be back to at least 80% of a full recovery.then i would love to hear about your story if your doing it or do it ..cheers shane

Day six and due to lack of sleep and appetite my bodys immune system really has been pushed ,,i felt like i was getting sick today which really sucked as i have been sic all week damn it ..but i have to say that it is a good sick ..natural ,,not a self inflicted sick ,,so i dont mind ..yea cant really add much else as i guess my life is geting back to normal,at least as normal as it can be for now ,,i guess a few tips along the way to help have been to get a heat pack or three,,i also used a little hand held massager ,,definantly spend a lot of time in the bath or shower ,,heat seems to be the trick,,lots of water and tea,,walking around was great as hard as it was it seems to get the mind determined to get through,,also know that it will not be like this the next day as each day does differ in its own way and i guess good luck
it is totally doable and ive done it ,,it really is so great to be here writing this as i can so vividly remember each day that ive been through ..wow i did it !!!! yyyyyyyeeeeeeehhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this will be my last post and i guess i just want to say that i am back to feeling human,,i can honestly say that i had forgotton what it feels like to feel human ,,i have awoken from my codeine zombie like state,,i still feel aches and a few waves of pain come through but its fine ,,i feel pretty normal actually..am so glad to be here..amazingly though,,i didnt think i could do it but i did ...so you can to ,,as i can give you plenty of witnesses that could say that i was as week as piss when it comes to geting through hard things ,,so if i did it ,,then this thing is so doable ,.,,good luck you wacky codeine users,,,its 7 days till you will have your self back !!!!!!!!!!!!
and i hope i never have to do a diary like this again!!!!

Congratulations you should be very proud of yourself...you have done amazingly well.
I have just found this site and read your story.. so good luck for the fute and take care of yourself.

Hi, I do understand exactly what u are going through. I have recently admitted to my family that I have an addiction to the drug dihydrocodeine, and it was my mum who gave me the shock that I needed without her even knowing. My mum came up for a visit not so long ago, and the first words that came out of her mouth was not hello, nor how are nor even a cuddle for that matter, but was.. "Josie-Lu u look ill ! What is wrong with you are you poorly" ? That was a shock to me because I felt fine, and to me I looked ok ? .. It took a few days but finally I admitted to her about the tablets and that I had started with migraines, like she knew, an then the doctor had had prescibed me these dihydrocodeines, an they worked, but as I was terrifies of gettin the pain back I wud take them religiously every day and I did that for 5 months. She understood telling me that I need help, I didn't want help and I didn't want anyone else to know. She went home 2 weeks later with a promise from me that I would go to the doctors and get help. 2 weeks dragged on and I was still takeing these little white tablets. Then 2 days ago I went to the chemist to get some more and I camr out of there feeling very ashamed of myself. So this is what I did next.. I went home and took 2 more tablets, let them kick in so I felt ok again an then I sat my partner of 9 yrs down an told him everything, i gave him strict instructions to only give me 2 in the morning which is a big drop from 10 a day. So I was depriveing myself of 8 each day. My plan was to only take 2 a day untill the box has gone an then when its gone, I shudnt withdraw from only takeing 2 daily. He has been brilliant with me, soooo supportive, I'm very lucky to have such a loveing family like I do. I have 2 children aswell which give me the strength to beat this awful addiction. I'm currently only on day 2, but because I'm not going through this alone, it doesn't seem to be that bad yet. The symptoms I've had so far is mainly depression, a few avhes in my arms an legs and my bowels seem to be gettin bk to normal, whereas a week ago, I was only going once every week. For ppl going thru this there doesn't seem to b a light at the end of the tunnel, but there is ! I promise !. My advice to ppl is to.. Give urself something to look forward to, ie.. A day out in a few weeks, book a holiday, or something u enjoy, but make sure its for a few weeks time as it will take ur mind off of ur withdrawals. It can be done, so please be strong. Its hard at first, but with each withdrawal tell urself that these symptoms is only ur body healing from the damage u have caused. I wish each and every1 of u the best of luck.. And 1 more thing ! Don't do it alone ! Tell someone who will be by ur side and also, tell ur doctor as then if u ever get weak an feel u can't do it, ur main supplier is cut off ! I will give u all a follow up on my story... Much love :) josie-Lu xxxx

Hey im on day 5 i think and i cant get out of the bed i really hope tomorro is alot beter because everydayseems to be getting worse for me

Hi, Just read this and thanks for the diary. This gives me HOPE!
Im on day 3, codeine recovery after several months of mis- use. Like others it started when I had surgery on my leg and was given Endone, 4 weeks use and admittedly I liked the feeling AT THAT TIME. It gave me a break a moment of relaxation, an escape from Anxiety. With out prescriptions, I turned to the internet and discovered Panadein Extra and the mis use of it.
Several months of use and a visit to Doctor, gave me bad info that codeine is not addictive. This info gave me an excuse to keep on mis using until several days ago when I realised a shocking truth.

The shocking truth was that codeine was ruining my life, my moment of clarity came when I was at the gym lifting when I wasn't high and discovered I had no strength I was sore and something was seriously wrong!

Looking back I probably had several momemts of clarity that went ignore. Severe constipation that required physical help (Dont even go there) lack of appetite, lack of sex drive. Addicts and users know the rest.

With my moment I spoke the truth to my wife, then my parents and rest of my family. Support from most, disbelief from the wife, uncertainty on our future lingers, with kids in our family. This is tough, but also necessary for me to go cold turkey and do the hard yards.

Withdrawal was toughest the first night with cold sweats, no sleep, aches pains, cloudy/dizzy vision, disorientation and the rest.

This also has added to my tough headedness I WILL fIGHT THIS and this is not right and can not continue!

Similar to your story I am on day 3 and hurting inside with floods of pain and ill feelings. With your story I have hope and will continue.

Thankyou and I will check back in to give others hope!

Its me again. on Day 6 withdrawal. Stomach cramps, foggy head with some dizziness and flu like symptoms have almost subsided.

Great dairy , Shane .. and so very helpful . I'm at the end of day 4 withdrawal after taking Hydrocodone 650-10 for 5 years . End of first day was the worst one for me followed by the second one . My friend pharmacist recommended me to sleep thru the first two days . Even dough i had bad diarrea , hot/cold sweats non stop and muscle back pain , I just took sleeping pills and pretty much slept thru day 1&2 . It may not be the right way but it worked for me . On the thrid day i woke up with clear head , feeling like a new born . Symptoms are still coming back on and off but i'm able to move around a bit . I take regular pain killers like ibeprofen ( they don't really work but in my mind it gives me an idea that i'm treating my pain so it seems to work for a little period of time ) . Every new morning i wake up feeling better and better . Hot bath helps , also couple drags of m. helped me to reduce hot/cold sweats .. Wishing luck to everybody and also myself . Its a big step to take but totally worth it ..

Gday Shane I never write on these forums but I just wanted to thank you for documenting ur withdrawals from codeine. I'm on day 4 right now and finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel, I've read an re read ur story each day of my detox from this deceptively addictive an unbelievably hard to give up drug an mate you've genuinely helped me. I've been taking between 6 an 20 mercyndol tabs every single day for the last 3 years an now Im finally doin it an quitting. I was in denial about my addiction until recently (three years of denial is pretty weak i know) an have finally accepted the damage that oh so easy to get stress,pain, insomnia relieving pill was doing to my health and my life. My mood swings were shocking and I was losing control of my temper very badly.I been hurting myself and the people that love me for too long. Thanks again Shane you got me over the line when I was dealing with the most pain, mind games of why it would be ok to take some tabbys ,hot an cold sweats and the hallucinations that peaked at pretty much dead on the 48 to 72 hour time period an have now noticeably weakened today 3/4 thru day 4. To anyone else that reads this I just wanna say, if ur going thru the withdrawls now read what Shane has written. Go for walks, hot showers, view the codeine as the enemy for putting u in this situation not the only savior that can get u out of it. It will get better. I had shocking flu symptoms during my withdrawl so I ended up getting a codeine free cold an flu night time mix an that let me get some sleep at the end of day 3. I'm no where near 100% yet but I feel some quiet pride in beating this unassuming drug an it feels good.

Even though a long time has passed I tip my hat to you. I'm coming up 15 years of vat loads of codeine based pills/syrups/endone/oxycodone, basically anything I can get. Body and soul completely broken yet the power of them has won time and again.