My personal attempt to overcome codeine addiction

You're doing so well! As each day passes as you only take 14 your body is adjusting and you are weaning down! Keep up the great work! I believe the headaches are very much a result of weaning off... just keep working through it. Endure more than you think you can... just like you are! Remember how I talked about the power that just a little spec, of an opiate, can take hold on you? It's crazy and maybe for you it will just be reducing one pill at a time... either way, getting off, coming down, reducing the amount is the right direction. :-)

Friday - Well, I took one step back yesterday. I had my morning dose of 7. By around 2:30 the pain was unbearable and I took 8. Then at dinnertime I took another 8 and another 11 before bed. I could've not taken the last 2 doses, but I faltered. So 34 in total. I am kicking myself for that now. I will try to get back on track for today. I have been suffering with rather bad headaches and leg cramps at night. I am disappointed as I can't seem to get below that 14 mark.

Don't beat yourself up.... it's okay. One day is NOT a set back... look to the future and keep FOCUSED on it. One bad day is not the end. I'm praying for you and know you're not alone going through this. :)

I have found these posts and they too echo my own experiences....headaches.codeine..addiction etc etc.
To those that posted here whats happening now?
I want to stop and I am not sure to stop everything or try and taper off.
Please let me know what you think.

Reading all things related on the web,some say week long withdrawal at most others say PAW's,it's very daunting.

Hi there,

I just wanted to say that I've had a nasty codeine habit for a few years now. I went cold turkey on Sunday so I'm on my 4th day of detox. Well actually I took only one pill on monday at lunchtime bc I was at work and could barely function, but besides that it's been nothing. Today a cloud has lifted although I did not sleep at all last night. We'll see what happens tonight.

The first 3 days were horrible, but they made me realise what I had been doing to myself. I'm determined to carry on now. Yo can do it too XXX

Hello to all who are struggling like me. I've been addicted to codeine for about 20 yrs now. It's horrible! At first it was for my headaches and then I just got addicted to the buzz.. Started with 4 then kept on till now I have to take 20 in the morning and 20 at night! I have to go to different stores to buy them cause I've already had one that said " NO you were just here!" Very embarrasing. I've become a hermit because I just want to stay home and get high, going to work each day is getting harder & harder. I am divorced & live alone and very depressed. I think I've giving up. I know it's all because of these pills...need to get myself together!! Helps to read this tho....maybe I can stop?

Hello Changingtime, I too have a horrible time with Codeine! I just turned 50 and my health is being affected, not just phyically but mentaly also. I too started because of headaches but then found out that I liked the buzz! Started slow with just a few but now I'm up to 40-50 a day! It's all I think about. It's been going on now since my 20's! So, a long time! My depression is horrible! I can barely go to work each morning and I feel like giving up. I am a divorced woman, live alone. All I care about now is these pills, I hate myself for being so weak. I need to stop too. Your story is inspiring but how are you feeling mentally? I have nobody to talk to as I have slowly over the years distanced myself from everyone and I guess they just think I actually have a life. I don't....for the last 10 yrs I've been a hermit. People actually piss me off and I'm starting to be antisocial. Everything bothers me now! I blame it on these stupid pills and that there making me like this. Do you feel that way at all? Good luck to you....I hope to stop also.

Hello, I have just read your story and it reminded me of myself many years ago, while raising my three children on my own.  My suggestion is to tell your husband, so that you can take the appropriate time off and go to detox.  You will never get a chance to completely rid yourself of the drug, because of your busy life.  While I was raising my three children I got rear-ended a couple of times, of course no time for physio, so I took the T#3 the doctor prescribed and when I could no longer get a prescription, I would purchase the T#1, which is easily available over the counter.  Needless to say, I became addicted.  Because of my high functioning lifestyle, working wth three children, I had no choice but to do what I had to do to get through the day.  I found the T#1 would give me a boost of energy, which I hate to admit, I didn't mind the high either and I could make it through the day.  Of course, after awhile it would make me tired and get a headache, which I had never been prone to before and then I would take some more.  A vicious circle.  For me, the maximum number of T#1 I would take in a day would be 10, on average 6.  A when I would realize that I was relying on them too much I was able to quit cold turkey, with reocurrences.  I believe if I were able to have the opportunity to go and take the appropriate time to rid myself of the drug, I wouldn't have this reocurring problem.  So for the first 3 days of cold turkey, I am nonfunctioning with terrible non-stop head and body aches, which I relieve by taking ibuprofen, like crazy, eating healthy, exercising and sleeping and nothing more.   No work, no social committments nothing and as I say, I am at 10 maximum a day.  However sooner or later some thing triggers my behaviour into taking a T#1 down the road and before you know it I'm addicted again.  I wished I had the opportunity to deal with it properly the first time.  Let your family know that you're having a problem and use their support to get you healthy again.  I can tell by reading your diary that you are an amazing women with a tremendous amount of strength and courage, just imagine what you will be capable of once you get that darn monkey off your back. 

i have been addicted to codeine for 12 years also, however i take panadeiene extra (has 15 mg of codeiene) and i take about 15 to 20 on a bad day and like 12 on a good day....i have problems with my stomach like bloating and i can feel that the digestion track stops working here and there. I have tried to stop recently but its too hard cause i have a child now and my dosage is too high...i had been able to quite when i was younger here and there but i long for that relaxing effect where my insides become warm and i feel high

codein in my opinion is way to easy to get

Hi, I have been reading this all day, I'm now down from 6 30/500 co codamol twice a day to 1 30mg codeine phosphate a day. And I have to say it really wasn't as bad as I first thought yes I had the normal withdrawal and I'm still very tired but I have alot less pain now than when I was stuffing that sh*t down my throat! I just have to jump off that 1 little monster, but then its only been 5 days :) wish me luck, god speed everyone! X

My earlier post sounds like I did it in 5 days total, that's not the case I tapered in about 3 weeks slowly cutting my dose, at first it was fear of the unknown but honestly a good taper plan can really help along with 7 zopiclone for a good sleep, half tab a night when needed:/ and the most important thing that really helped was reading everyone's posts, so thanks everyone, you can do this! X

Okay, so it is me again. Changing time. Fast forward 3 years. So I was obviously not successful the last time. I have started a new topic, however will update here as well. I am on my third day now without pills. Realy didn't ever think I would see this day. Feel much better than anticipated. First time in 14 years I have had a day off of them

Today is day 4. Feeling fine. Wondering why I didn't do this sooner? What do I think is helping me? I am not a coffee / pop drinker. I have started drinking coffee in the morning to replace the caffeine from the pills. Seems to help. I work out at night. Helps with any leg cramps. Yesterday my day consisted of two coffees, 2 Advil migraines, and one Aleve. Had some rough patches last night with hot/cold sweats and restlessness. Back is very sore, but may be attributed to a fall I took on the weekend. Overall, much better than anticipated. My biggest frustration right now is not being able to find the resources I would hope to in regards to outpatient rehab in my area.

Okay, today is day 5. I started my period today, which is generally a harder time in terms of headaches. I felt really crappy this morning. I was thinking of taking tylenol 1. I don't want that set-back. I had a large coffee, and took two Aleve. So far, so good. Hopefully these next couple of days will go okay. First hurdle to overcome. Also, I did reach out to my local Narcotics Anonymous (NA). They have some material on their website about dealing with legitimate pain while a recovering addict. Apparently you can also purchase a book at their meetings with more information. I plan to attend a meeting next week.