I have been taking Vicoprofen (7.5/200) for about 4 and a half years. I was taking anywhere from 8-12 or 13 a day and of course running out before my prescription was due. I finally decided it was time to stop. Went to the doctor and he gave me a clonidine patch to wear along with 5 mg valium. Let me tell you, It was a week froim HELL for me. The patch and valium did help. But my biggest problem was on the 2nd,3rd,and 4rth night were living hell. I could not lay down at all or I would get this tickleing feeling in my arms and legs I guess like RLS. I sat on the edge of my bed watching tv until the sun came up for three nights with NO sleep. I have chronis neuropathy, and have had 3 back surgeries. Let me tell you, I will do whatever I have to to not get back on any pain meds. For those of you thinking about stopping or are afraid, just DO IT! it is rough for a couple of days, but I am on my 8th day and feel great. Good Luck to all!
I am on day four of coming off vicodin and percocets. Mostly vicoden. I would take about 6 ES's a day and perc about 3 5mg a day. Day four is worse than any other day. I have been on them for over 10 years. But the past month or so I was trying to cut down a bit. Tell me when the cotton mouth and different smells will change.
I hate to say it but this thread is reassuring but for the wrong reason %-). I take Vicodin for chronic lower back pain. My prescribed dose is 2x5/500 tablets every 4-6 hours as needed, but I take an average of 2 tablets a day. I've always been concerned that I may be developing some kind of addiction as I use them over time (couple of years now). But it sounds as if that's unlikely to be the case, as long as my use stays that low. Does that sound credible?
Still, it all makes you wonder. I mean, presumably everyone starts "low". Does everyone end up escalating through tolerance, via dependence and on to full blown addiction? Or is it possible that the vast majority of patients never experience problems, and the only people who post to groups like this are the unfortunate ones who get into difficulty? If addiction is pretty much a foregone conclusion, I'd rather just stop now while I can. Some of the stories on here are scary and heart-breaking.
I have never taken more than prescribed and have never been "high" from it. I DO like not being in pain though.
All I would like to add is that I have kicked Hydrocodone before and Tramadol. One will alleviate the withdrawal symptoms of the other, this is true, but I have to tell you from personal experience the withdrawals from Tramadol are far more server and last much longer than the withdrawals from Hydrocodone. Stay away from Tramadol if you are trying to withdrawal.
Everyone is different, when it comes to opiate pain meds. There is no "rule of thumb" relating to addiction or dependency
(they are not the same thing) because everyone's body and brain chemistry makeup is different.
Also, each individual human being is different from all others, even though we all share similarities. Therefore, some people can take long-term prescribed opiates and stick to the prescribed regimen for years and years. Others are far less disciplined and chase the effects with steadily higher dosages. For those, the point reached where one realizes they have an addiction is different and so some people can be taking a mere 50mg. of hydrocodone a day and want to break their habit while others will not make it to this point until they are consuming hundreds of milligrams per day.
Withdrawal symptoms also vary widely from person to person. Most addicts have experienced them several times over the course of their addiction. As many have said, they often run out before they are able to get more pills and this means that withdrawal and detox begin within hours after the last dose. It does tend to get a bit easier each time however, because the body and brain are gradually more used to the process. More than anything, it is the pre-withdrawal anxiety that is the worst and it is usually worse than the withdrawal itself. The best advice is to recognize that everyone has dealt with the flu and other unexpected health issues, so surviving withdrawal is no worse than that. It is just that you don't see those problems coming and so do not have the anxiety ahead of time.
i have been on opids for approx 3 years from 40 mgs to 200 mgs per day for bursitis in my shoulders which i never should of got 120 perc 5 per month it did not stop the pain probably because i still bench press heavy when i ran out i would buy from the street or i would get suboxone which cost 30 bucks for three 8mg films it can last one week with out any withdrawls so any way may of 2012 i had another problem i had hip n leg pain pain scale of 7 so the doc found a ependymoma tumor on my spine which i had to get slice n dice after 3 months of meds i got tired of the opids so i would buy the suboxone i still had nerve pain scale of 5 the doctor ask if i were taking anything i said no i dont want anything so we set up a epidural shot for december 27 eight days before injection i had to come off all my street meds i really wanted this steriod shot to work and i new withdrawls would be hard that being said three days before my injection my bursitis in my shoulders started to flare up so my family doc gave me a six day steriod pack called methylprednisolone. So the withdrawls i only had was very little sleep depression and using the bath room often so i belive the six day steriod pack really stop the body ackes and most important the restless legs which i always get during withdrawls. God bless you all. And u just might need to add a six pack to your new remedy
I've been on hydrocodone for over 7 years. I started at 7.5/500 (Lortab) and sometimes took just half a pill (or 3.75 mgs of hydrocodone) evey 4-6 hours. I had a severe exacerbation in pain about 6 years ago so my doctor upped me to the 10/500, allowing me up to 8 pills day. Since then I switched to Norco (10/325), but other than that have stayed at the same does for 6 years. I don't usually take all 8 pills each day, but do take up to 3 at a time (or 30 mgs at once). However, I often go 16-22 hours between doses and never notice any adverse effect. I am in more pain, but its just my usual pain that I feel 5-6 hours after my dose. I must not get withdrawal symptoms because my overall daily dose is low - probably 50-70 mgs of hydrocodone but I would think I'd feel something after 7 years of daily use.
If doctors told me up front I will be viewed as suspect, treated like a criminal, and just overall humilated, plus at risk of suffering withdrawal when my body (naturally and almost inevitably) requires higher doses, I don't know if I would have gone down this path. Informed consent my ass! I stay on the hydrocodone simply out of fear. I fear I will not be able to work (I am the sole supporter of the household) or care for my disabled husband and autistic son. But I am not simply sitting on my butt taking pills. I do all kinds of PT, exercise daily, including strength and stretching, yoga, mindfulness-based practices, Feldenkrais, chiro, steroid injections, nerve ablations, etc. You name it, I've done it. I've done what the doctors suggest - every single thing - and then some. The only thing I haven't done is accupuncture, but I am looking into it and asking around for a good reference.
Moral of the story -take opiates EXACTLY as prescribed (both dose and manner) if you must for your pain. If you take opiates as prescribed for legitimate pain, the chances of becoming psychologically addicted are slim. But what good is a tool box with only one tool? Go out there and get as many tools as you can. Even if something only helps your pain a little, its better than nothing.
If you have the time and the heart this is by far the best way: take a thursday and friday off from work as well as monday. Im sure you can find a valid reason barring the truth as you have had plenty of time to supply your self with the addictive meds. If you dont work which i know is highly possible as i am an addict myself you have even more time to make this work. You need to "keep it real" with your family. If you have access to an over the counter sleep as or benedryl this will help you follow the directions you abusive behavior and pill popping habits will make you feel like you need more, which is why telling your loved ones what your doing will help so that they help you if not pamper you through this. YOU NEED TO WANT THIS OR IT WONT WORK!!!!! Hospitals, programs, other avenues do not work...unless you have the heart to make the change.
5 days is the ideal breaking point but that is just a start 10-12 days you start feeling great etc...
go into your room and stay there read, play games, watch tv and catch up on the needed sleep you have deprived yourself from. Come out if you feel the need to talk, or eat, and keep full on healthy fluids. Do not obsess going on the internet continuously discussing it because your cravings will elevate. What you have made the decision follow through, use friends for support but use the ones who are sober themselves. I have learned cold turkey is the only way...by all means stay away from suboxone it is just as addictive and more harmful on the liver than alcohol. Of course the drug dealing money making doctors will tell you different but they are liars. Cold turkey is the only real way. You notice after time that you will start remembering your old hobbies, and how fun life used to be.
One thing everyone should do when quitting hydrocodone, in my opinion, is give up gluten, which is in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. I was addicted to hydrocodone for eight years, taking 20-30 10/500 norcos at a time as often as I could get them, getting them through a complicated dance of doctors (I never bought on the street thought I did steal twice, once pills from a stranger's house that we were looking at as a possible rental and once a syrup from a related child whose family I was staying with for a week) that took all of my time every day to maintain. I visited multiple doctors and was always dodging bills and collection calls, I was a frequent flyer at the ER, I altered prescriptions, I guzzled syrups that tore up my insides if that was all I could get, and I had a ritual of different otc meds that i took each time I used, culled from web forums and designed to maximize my body's ingestion of the poisons I was tripping on. I neglected my two children, miscarried, and used through a third pregnancy. I spent part of that pregnancy in jail when I got arrested for the second time trying to fill altered prescriptions. I was arrested again shortly after my child was born and landed in drug court, and it was only the fear of jail and the threat of separation from my infant that got me through the shivering, pooping black hell of remorse and self-loathing and sickness that is withdrawal, the burning fire as the poison is purged violently from your body. All that opiate, all that tylenol, swimming through me every moment I could manage it, and as soon as my body had mercy for even twelve hours it would begin desperately trying to save me, all systems kicking in to purge the poison through sweat, pouring poo, foul urine, vomit, tears, even blood from the scabs of my picking and itching. My body's God-given defenses were coming to my aid and I had come so near to poisoning myself to death that the cure had to be worse than the disease. The lie of the pills is that you feel fine while you are dying. The truth of the cure is that the c**p must come out. For years after I managed to get sober I still felt a general unease and malaise and even little shooting bouts of withdrawal-like symptoms, even though I was using no medication of any sort at all. My digestion problems had persisted and I thought I had just torn up my gut through the poisoning I had self-administered. A friend told me she had suffered from similar problems, not from any addiction, and had given up wheat and found relief. I think most diet stuff is kooky but she said something about wheat breaks down into something that can attach to your opiate receptors and that got my attention in a hurry, and I gave it a try. After a week I felt like I had recovered from an illness I hadn't known I had, and after a couple of months I felt my depression ebbing away until finally after 4 months I feel a sense of health I thought I had forfeited forever by my self-abuse through hydrocodone. So just a thought, for anyone trying to get clean and come back to life, giving up the wheat might help your brain get back on track, since you wouldn't being exciting those receptors at a low, continual level just through your daily bread. Stay away from tramadol. It has a nasty, peculiar withdrawal that is it's own special hell.
i have been taking vicodin once a day at night for about 3 weeks. skipped a night and could not sleep. my arms and legs would not stop twitching. very annoying. i wonder what will lhappen when i run out in a few weeks. it is a non refillable script that i starting taking for pain but i liked the nice relaxed feeling from it.
These r withdraws u r experiencing. I have been there and am there again. I have severe neck pain took norco 10 for one year 3 to 4 Aa day. ran out went through flu like symptoms times 10 no sleep legs and back pain I never had before .went back to my prescription felt great finally I learned it exasperated my pain my back my neck was worse so I decided to go to detox to help with the withdraws I've done this 5 days of 3 hours of a needle in my arm with what is in the bag hanging above me it's working, not even close to what I went through without, which I first thought was the flu the pain in my neck is not as bad the pain in back is pretty much gone. The pills were making it worse my god I had no idea I will make it I am down to 1and a half from 4 a day this helps a great deal also my Xanax lowest does cut in half when I am un easy I am fifty I figured it out I am addicted but I am done no going back for me get the detox that is the key for withdraws p.s remember narco tricks u making your pain worse and in other places then u take another pill to make it better do it !!! Your life will be a mess
I am going through withdrawals right now. It is day 4 and the symptoms are finally starting to ease a bit. This is my 4th time going through withdrawals over the last two years due to 4 herniated discs and Bursitis in my left thigh. The symptoms include everything that has been mentioned; sleeplessness, moodiness, horrible body aches, yawning, tearing, nausea, and general misery 24 hours a day.
Symptoms typically begin within 5-12 hours following your last dose depending on how long you have taken the drug. In my case, I began reducing my dosage this time because I am expecting a drug test, and went from 6 pills a day for 8 months to 4 pills over 2 days to 3 pills 1 day and then cold turkey. Ideally I would have liked to have more time to reduce my intake. If possible PLEASE reduce your intake over a week or two to minimize the withdrawals. You will still feel them, but trust me when I say that they will not be nearly as horrible as going cold.
I've taken Clonidine and Valium to help and they usually put me to sleep which is a good thing, but I do get a very cloudy and groggy feeling like a bad hangover. The pros outweigh the cons though. Otherwise, eat a banana 1 or 2 times per day and try to move around as hard as it is. During 1 of my withdrawals I could not get off my couch for 2 weeks and my body broke down on me due to the lack of exercise. It is hard to do, but it will help with recovery.
To whoever is dealing with this right now, stay strong, stay positive and know that the misery will end!!!
great site ! alot of questions ,,,,,,, no answers !
It will come on hard and quick..fever.. sweating..anxiety..ectnn a very very ugly feeling..
Slow down only take it when needed. Talk to ur doctor .theres is help to get you threw this . There is alot of great comments on here ..that can help u understand withdraws..candy helped me alot..