Great to read the posts and comments...
I've been taking CoCodamol for a little over 18 years...I'm 38!!
I've never taken more than 10 per day and never got up in the night to take them, just first thing and then every 4 hours...
Mood swings, yes, need to make sure I have them with me, yes, lack of energy and a poor memory yes.
I decided last week I was going to reduce and finish taking them so I cut from 2 at a time to 1 every 4 hours then after a week of doing this I took my last one at 10pm Saturday Eve.
Sunday was a blur, I slept a few times had a bad head and also knee joint pains. This along with stomach cramps and needing the toilet lots. I should point out here I have stopped a few times before only to slip a disc and be back on them!
My first nights sleep without them wa awful...Restless leg syndrome and generally poor!
Today is slightly easier, still got knee joint pain and finding it hard to concentrate!!
Im hoping that a week MAX of this and I'll be through...
Anyway...i know I wont be having anymore!!
My reaction to coming off them, whilst hard doesn't appear as bad as others I have read although perception is reality I guess!!
I will post again after the weekend when hopefully (fingers crossed) I have no symptoms of withdrawal!!!
im day 15 and still stuggling:( still detemined tho but feeling awful x
Hey,
Well done I have been through the nightmare too. I know just how really difficult it is. After the physical withdrawals come the mental ones. This part is hell but you can do it if you stay strong and positive. Research P.A.W.S post acute withdrawal syndrome. Knowledge will prepare you for what is to come. If you have time look through my posts they will help you, haven't posted for a while though. Good luck with your fight! Kimx
Hi Janya, I've wrote quite a few posts on this thread over the last year. I hope you can be strong enough to ride the storm as it does get easier believe me, I know I've done it a few times with all your symptoms. Keep positive and everything you do is for the greater good it will all be right in the end. After that you've gotta stay away from these little soldiers of death no matter what DON'T take codeine based products again as all your hard suffering will be for nothing even if you take one dose. Stay strong...!!!
Castiel.
Hey no worries, I like a few others still come back and look on this thread to help others. The process of detoxing this stuff is really a terrible nightmare and it is such a relief once it clears but there is no real shut off time limit it's just each day at a time as your whole being repairs itself and you get stronger. It basically is all a matter of time but with each day your a big step ahead. Good look my friend..!!!
Hello. My name is Emma. I had been taking Co codamol 30/500 for about 4 years. only taking 2 - 4 a day, but still. I started taking them for back pain and then got dependant on them due to the nice feeling. But on the 30th of september i decided to stop cold turkey. It was the hardest thing i have ever done. But now its been about 332 hours and i feel so much better. I thought id say good luck to all the people trying to stop this monster. I thought id write down as much info as i could, because when i was going through my withdrawel the thing i wanted to know the most was when it would be over and to know if there is anything that would help. I got the same withdrawel symptoms from day 1 to when it got better. They were : Headaches, sweats, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue.I read somewhere online that the high points of the withdrawel were between 24 - 70 hours. the first two days were hard. The headaches were bad. But the one way that worked for me to get rid of the headaches was to get a wet flannel, lay in bed and lay it over my head. it helped a lot. The sweats were horrible. getting cold and then hot made me get a cold. i couldnt do anything about the sweats but they seemed to get better by the 4th / 5th day.The nausea feeling was pretty bad. i didnt actually eat properly for the whole week. i felt scared of eating incase i was sick. I wasnt sick at all throughout the whole withdrawel. But i made sure that for the whole week i took with me everywhere a bottle of water. It really helped me when i felt a hot moment, or felt sick i just had a little bit of water and it really helped. I did try to eat just normal digestive biscuits so i was atleast getting some food.But just a few days ago i managed to eat a whole meal. which is good.My sleep pattern for the whole week terrified me. It was so bad i nearly relapsed. I couldnt get hardly any sleep. I was so tired and kept yawning, but everytime i tried to sleep my mind couldnt turn off. This made me very depressed and very moody. I got so upset at the fact that nothing helped me sleep. I was thinking of taking a tablet just to help me.. But i didnt otherwise my body would have to go through a bit of the withdrawal again.By about the 4th / 5th day i decided to actually go and sit downstairs. the days before that i wasnt able to. i just wanted to lay down all the time. My body was so weak, that when i did get downstairs my legs nearly collapsed. But after being in bed a few days i needed different scenery.Anxiety is another symptom that i got. mixed with depression it isnt good at all. there were days when i just sat there and got so upset with everything. it was horrible. a few friends supporting me would say, oh just think of happy things. but you cant. you can try.. but your mind overwhelms you with bad thoughts that you cant do anything about it. And the anxiety is bad. you want to go out but you end up thinking about what people will think of you. I think on the 7th day i ended up standing outside and thinking oh my god its so nice to be outside. i even wanted to go for a drive but my mum was so scared of me being too weak that she wouldnt let me go alone. So when my boyfriend came round we went for a drive. and i hated it. It felt like i had never driven before and i couldnt concentrate at all. I cant really give much advice as im not good with advice. but the one thing i will say is dont give up. And dont take ANY form of tablet with codeine in whilst on withdrawal. it just messes up the pattern and it will set you back a few hours.If you count how many hours youve done it really helps. Im now at 332 hours and although i can stop counting now as ive done the withdrawal, i still like th fact that ive actually done itI still feel a bit weak. but my sleeping pattern is getting back to normal and im so glad of that. Im sorry if my story is a bit jumbled up. But i just wanted to tell people. I really wish all the luck in the world for the people trying to quit. If anyone would like to message me, il happily talk to them. Its so nice to be able to talk to someone whilst your going through this.X
I have just been reading up last few days on how to come off cocodomol and the side effects I can expect, then I eventually spoke to a family member who is training as a nurse I also spoke to my partner about it. I never actually realised how bad these were bit niave i suppose, but i was prescribed them years ago for migraines and the doctor still prescribes them. I am also on fluxatine due to having multiple miscarriages last one was pretty traumatic and i became very low and had to admit i was suffering from depression and needed help. when I fall pregnant i stop taking cocodomol right away and I am ill with pregnancy and withdrawal:'(. Anyway ive decided i want to stop taking cocodomol altogether I have got to stage would rather have the migraine. I came on and found reading a few peoples diarys and must admit i was shocked how many of us are out there and how addicitive these are. I am not looking forward to it but think coming on and keeping a diary would help me. I will apologise the now if anyone thinks i am being selfish as I am not saying that I am the only one going through it I just want to write how i feel at the time and if anyone wants to comment please feel free. I have thought of weaning myself off them but in reality and this sounds like I am making excuses but because off my job there is no way i could go cold turkey just now as i work to specific holidays so I have decided next week when on holiday I am going to try my best the last 2 days I have tried to cut down but find myself giving in and going back to the drawer. I do feel better after talking to my partner about it and he read up on it aswell so he knows what to expect. I will be stocking up on vitamin B and Immodium.....heard it helps a little. I will not be going to doctor as do not want it on my record as I feel as I am never away from there just now with the depresion but sick of taking tablets so I just keep thinking ok a week of hell then feel like me again... someone I know who is sort of in same postition says they feel like they have lost there happy bone....well I want me back so wish me luck any questions please just ask as I have just ranted on here but I will just be writting what I feel at that moment. good luck to everyone else in same boat.
I know it has been a long time since you posted but your diary made me decide that I want to quit so just thought I would say thanks and wish me luck for a week of hell hope I can be as strong as you have been
been on 30/500 co/codamol over tweenty years hooked for spinal stenosis and d,d,d, disease stopped 7 weeks ago and still feel real weird i had the runs for 7 days now thats getting back to normal but i have always been constipated on them so forget what normal is ,its now the mental issues i hate dont know how im doing this i forget things still cant sleep that is the worst after 7 weeks i hope its soon gone as xmas is so near and my golden wedding anniversary on the 21st of december advice please yours hopefull
How did your detox go? If you have a chance, myself along with many others, would like to know how you are doing. It's a rough ride for sure, and you deserve a lot of credit for trying to stop using.
As I read your posts it brings back my memories of withdrawal. You are spot on right about every symptom you are having. That feeling you have when you talk about tensing up when you get back in bed and just can't get comfortable, turning over and over again and sitting up on the edge of the bed as that anxiety keeps your body wound up and in knots, is the price we pay during withdrawal and it is a b***h!! One thing that causes a lot of tension is the release of adrenalin because its production in the body has been slowed by opiates and when opiates are removed it responds with the over production of that hormone that gives us energy normally but in withdrawal it just causes an anxiety overload . I've been on methadone for over 30 years now but the memories of withdrawal will always be there, just waiting to surface if I stop taking methadone. Hopefully you can do it without that. Good Luck and keep writing, ok.
I to am hooked on this co codamol I trek 20 to 30 a day I so want to cum of them but I can't trek the pain I feel so alone even though I've got my family's saport I'm goin to see a substance abuse worker hope he gives me something to help me so I don't av to go through the pain n that plus I av panick attacks so really don't want mek them any worse so wot else can I do