Hi I have been taking 16 30/500 of co-codamol for the last 8 years now and still can not get off them. If i dont take them I end up depresssed and cant sleep for days on end until i give in. \if i do take them then I worry about the damage. does anyoneout there need a support/ giving up friend
regards
rebecca
regards
rebecca
Hey there everyone. I woz sifting through this blog as i too have a co-codamol problem though its the 8/500 over the counter tablets(approx. 20 per day for around 18 months), it is still destroying my body.
I am really scared of the effects it is having on my liver, i am so worried right now and i have no-one to turn to, hence why i am writing here.
I am 22, male, and after a string of unfortunate events around 2 years ago the doctor put me on tablets for depression. I hated taking these and couldnt stick to them. This is where the co-codamol came in. I had an accident, was prescribed Kapake(30/500) and got hooked on these. They made my day to day life so much easier to cope with, i felt fantastic. The doctors soon stopped my prescription and i then took to buying the over the counter, weaker version.
I want so much to come off these things, but as i live in a country where they are available to buy makes it somewhat hard.
I woz just hoping that through this site i could find a little advice and a few answers to some questions:
How long withdrawls will last?
Is my liver okay(without a function test...)?
Will my liver recover?
Wot should i expect during the withdrawls?
It has helped me finding people with a similar problem....
It would be so muchly appreciated if anyone could help......Cheers
I am really scared of the effects it is having on my liver, i am so worried right now and i have no-one to turn to, hence why i am writing here.
I am 22, male, and after a string of unfortunate events around 2 years ago the doctor put me on tablets for depression. I hated taking these and couldnt stick to them. This is where the co-codamol came in. I had an accident, was prescribed Kapake(30/500) and got hooked on these. They made my day to day life so much easier to cope with, i felt fantastic. The doctors soon stopped my prescription and i then took to buying the over the counter, weaker version.
I want so much to come off these things, but as i live in a country where they are available to buy makes it somewhat hard.
I woz just hoping that through this site i could find a little advice and a few answers to some questions:
How long withdrawls will last?
Is my liver okay(without a function test...)?
Will my liver recover?
Wot should i expect during the withdrawls?
It has helped me finding people with a similar problem....
It would be so muchly appreciated if anyone could help......Cheers
I am kind of relieved and yet scared that I've found this, in some ways it makes things more real and less easy to deny I have a serious problem. There, I've said it, I have a serious problem.
I have suffered throughout most of my adult life with very severe migraine attacks, nothing works to shift these, even prescribed, strong migraine meds. However, many years ago (about 10 I think) I worked for a very flash international design consultancy (very high pressure, image conscious). Completely illegally the company would buy Solpadeine for staff use, it just sat in a box in the kitchen. I had never tried it before and one day when I began to feel ropy I took some, around the same time I disovered Nurofen+ although at the time I didn't know it was the same drug that was making me feel better. The Solpadeine did seem to take the edge off the migraine if I took it soon enough, or that's what I told myself as I soon found I was taking them more and more frequently, because I was getting headaches more and more frequently. It was only once I was already fairly well hooked that I discovered that the codeine was actually CAUSING the headaches.
Although I rarely take Nurofen + I am still taking up to 4 doses (8 tabs) of 8/500 co-codamol eff. every day 10 years later. I VERY rarely exceed this amount and ironically if I have a really bad migraine attack I take very few as I can't keep them (or anything else) down.
Sometimes if I'm really busy or out and about a lot I might end up not taking any for over 10 hours and I feel so awful I can't even begin to imagine trying to stop. I did one attempt cold turkey and by about 14 hours in I was crawling the walls.
My husband is aware of the problem and is very supportive, my GP is also aware but at the time when I told him I was suffering a particularly bad bout of depression (another problem I have suffered with most of my life) and he obviously felt that doing anything to drastic at the time was not a good idea. I've not spoken to him about it since, and in fact rarely visit the doctors.
I have been scouring the net this morning looking for some kind of advice or help and come up with precious little in the UK so finding this has been encouraging. I know I need to face facts and do something about this but part of me panics at the thought of trying. I'm not sure how much of my dependency is genuinely physical and how much is emotional/mental.
I have suffered throughout most of my adult life with very severe migraine attacks, nothing works to shift these, even prescribed, strong migraine meds. However, many years ago (about 10 I think) I worked for a very flash international design consultancy (very high pressure, image conscious). Completely illegally the company would buy Solpadeine for staff use, it just sat in a box in the kitchen. I had never tried it before and one day when I began to feel ropy I took some, around the same time I disovered Nurofen+ although at the time I didn't know it was the same drug that was making me feel better. The Solpadeine did seem to take the edge off the migraine if I took it soon enough, or that's what I told myself as I soon found I was taking them more and more frequently, because I was getting headaches more and more frequently. It was only once I was already fairly well hooked that I discovered that the codeine was actually CAUSING the headaches.
Although I rarely take Nurofen + I am still taking up to 4 doses (8 tabs) of 8/500 co-codamol eff. every day 10 years later. I VERY rarely exceed this amount and ironically if I have a really bad migraine attack I take very few as I can't keep them (or anything else) down.
Sometimes if I'm really busy or out and about a lot I might end up not taking any for over 10 hours and I feel so awful I can't even begin to imagine trying to stop. I did one attempt cold turkey and by about 14 hours in I was crawling the walls.
My husband is aware of the problem and is very supportive, my GP is also aware but at the time when I told him I was suffering a particularly bad bout of depression (another problem I have suffered with most of my life) and he obviously felt that doing anything to drastic at the time was not a good idea. I've not spoken to him about it since, and in fact rarely visit the doctors.
I have been scouring the net this morning looking for some kind of advice or help and come up with precious little in the UK so finding this has been encouraging. I know I need to face facts and do something about this but part of me panics at the thought of trying. I'm not sure how much of my dependency is genuinely physical and how much is emotional/mental.
I've just found this site after looking for an explanation for my symptoms over the past 3 days, and it seems to confirm what I suspected.
I've had shingles for the past few weeks and my doctor gave me Solpadol (30/500) for the dreadful pain, as the 8/500 co-codamol I got over the counter didn't help enough.
I've been taking the full prescribed dose of 8 capsules per day for almost 5 weeks, but my doctor said I may need them for a couple of months so I wasn't particularly worried. Not long compared to some of you, but apparently long enough to experience withdrawal symptoms.
Last Saturday morning I got up and realised I didn't know whether or not my shingles pain had got any better, as I'd been on the painkillers for 5 weeks, so decided not to take my usual morning tablets just to check on the shingles pain. By Saturday midday, 12 hours after my last tablets, I had stomach cramps. Later in the day diahorrea started, followed by nausea and vomiting. I couldn't eat or drink and that's the way I've been ever since. I didn't take any more painkillers as I thought I must have a stomach bug and my stomach couldn't stand them.
It's now day 4 since my last tablets and it has gradually dawned on me that my symptoms may be withdrawal symptoms, as no one else around me has a stomach bug. My problems are obviously mild compared to you poor souls who've lived with codeine much longer than I have, but I'm convinced that's what I have. Today I have gone back to work and tried to have a milky drink and a digestive biscuit. So far so good, though I do still feel nauseous.
After such a short time on high-dose codeine I don't think I have an addiction but I'm certain I have physical withdrawal symptoms.
Anyone reading this, please take care.
I've had shingles for the past few weeks and my doctor gave me Solpadol (30/500) for the dreadful pain, as the 8/500 co-codamol I got over the counter didn't help enough.
I've been taking the full prescribed dose of 8 capsules per day for almost 5 weeks, but my doctor said I may need them for a couple of months so I wasn't particularly worried. Not long compared to some of you, but apparently long enough to experience withdrawal symptoms.
Last Saturday morning I got up and realised I didn't know whether or not my shingles pain had got any better, as I'd been on the painkillers for 5 weeks, so decided not to take my usual morning tablets just to check on the shingles pain. By Saturday midday, 12 hours after my last tablets, I had stomach cramps. Later in the day diahorrea started, followed by nausea and vomiting. I couldn't eat or drink and that's the way I've been ever since. I didn't take any more painkillers as I thought I must have a stomach bug and my stomach couldn't stand them.
It's now day 4 since my last tablets and it has gradually dawned on me that my symptoms may be withdrawal symptoms, as no one else around me has a stomach bug. My problems are obviously mild compared to you poor souls who've lived with codeine much longer than I have, but I'm convinced that's what I have. Today I have gone back to work and tried to have a milky drink and a digestive biscuit. So far so good, though I do still feel nauseous.
After such a short time on high-dose codeine I don't think I have an addiction but I'm certain I have physical withdrawal symptoms.
Anyone reading this, please take care.
yeah man, this drug is addictive, make no mistake
I posted 5 months ago about my kick
well I caved and went back using them on friday that week (about 8 days after i kicked)
been on 200mg daily for 2 months, then doubled that to 400mg for the past one 1/2 months.
well, my mate came round on Sunday so I had no time to get any co-codamol, and by sunday night it was too late, my withdrawal started again,
aching legs, couldn't sleep, nausea, finally vomited at 6am, again at noon today
will see what comes of it
enough is enough
I posted 5 months ago about my kick
well I caved and went back using them on friday that week (about 8 days after i kicked)
been on 200mg daily for 2 months, then doubled that to 400mg for the past one 1/2 months.
well, my mate came round on Sunday so I had no time to get any co-codamol, and by sunday night it was too late, my withdrawal started again,
aching legs, couldn't sleep, nausea, finally vomited at 6am, again at noon today
will see what comes of it
enough is enough
HI,
I'm so glad I found this topic as someone very dear to me is going through withdrawal right now and I am not sure even after reading this how long the emotional side effects take to go? Any advice would be greatly received I am not sure if this person would ever read this thread or not so I dare not give my email address out to correspond with anyone for more info on this but anyone who can help me on this please quote me and leave a contact email as I am desperate on help for this, it is a very bad long term addiction and unfortunately I cannot give too much away on an open forum as they would get very upset with me for discussing it with anyone but I am at my wits end, please please can anyone help? Thanks, MA
I'm so glad I found this topic as someone very dear to me is going through withdrawal right now and I am not sure even after reading this how long the emotional side effects take to go? Any advice would be greatly received I am not sure if this person would ever read this thread or not so I dare not give my email address out to correspond with anyone for more info on this but anyone who can help me on this please quote me and leave a contact email as I am desperate on help for this, it is a very bad long term addiction and unfortunately I cannot give too much away on an open forum as they would get very upset with me for discussing it with anyone but I am at my wits end, please please can anyone help? Thanks, MA
Hi all it's Perfect-Angel the original post-er.Unfortunately i have had a really bad time the last 4-6 months. My partner left me after cheating and i had to have a termination cus of problems. The depression got worse and worse and about 2 months ago i began taking Nurofen Plus in large doses to numb myself to the emotional pain i was feeling. I fell quickly back into my sneaky old ways of not letting friends see me takin the tablets and going to different chemists all over the city so that noone would figure out my secret.
I cant believe i got myself into this mess again! I was so sure that i would never go back here!
Well im now nearly 2 days into the withdrawal again. Ive been feeling sick, running to toilet every few minutes with dodgy stomach. Am restless and fed up and muscle cramps and aggitation have kicked in again a couple of hours ago. I'd forgot how bad that bit was. I keep walking round and hoping it will go away knowing that it wont! I dont think its quite as bad this time as it was before but i have stopped alot quicker this time so i suppose u wudnt expect it to be.
Thankfully sleep isnt as bad as last time as doctors have got me on antidepressants and sleeping tablets for severe depression. Still not brilliant tho!
I cant wait for it to all be over again and start trying to put my life back together! Unfortunatly i aint got mates to confide in this time as the friend i used to speak to hasnt got the time anymore what with the kids and new partner so im feeling really lonely this time. Desperate for a cuddle and a good chat!
I really hope it will all be over for me soon and to all those of u out there going thru the same please keep at it!
I cant believe i got myself into this mess again! I was so sure that i would never go back here!
Well im now nearly 2 days into the withdrawal again. Ive been feeling sick, running to toilet every few minutes with dodgy stomach. Am restless and fed up and muscle cramps and aggitation have kicked in again a couple of hours ago. I'd forgot how bad that bit was. I keep walking round and hoping it will go away knowing that it wont! I dont think its quite as bad this time as it was before but i have stopped alot quicker this time so i suppose u wudnt expect it to be.
Thankfully sleep isnt as bad as last time as doctors have got me on antidepressants and sleeping tablets for severe depression. Still not brilliant tho!
I cant wait for it to all be over again and start trying to put my life back together! Unfortunatly i aint got mates to confide in this time as the friend i used to speak to hasnt got the time anymore what with the kids and new partner so im feeling really lonely this time. Desperate for a cuddle and a good chat!
I really hope it will all be over for me soon and to all those of u out there going thru the same please keep at it!
You are indeed a Perfect Angel. I too was addicted to co-codamol 30/500. I was addicted and uping the dose daily to get the required affect. I decided - like you - to come off the stuff. Whilst going through the horrendous initial withdrawal symptoms and after much manic praying I went onto the net in desperation to find out more about the withdrawal symptoms and I found you! Thank God I did! You absolutely help me all the way through the terrible time and gave me the courage to carry it through to the end. I am now free of co-codamol thanks to you. You have probably helped more people than you will ever know because I am talking about last year for me. Yes, it was a year ago and I will not rest until I have thanked you.
Jeannie x
Jeannie x
hi there perfect angel and the rest of you!
i've been on codeine since first week of dec 08. i took an average of between 3-5 tabs daily before going to sleep. but i kinda ran outta my stock (i flicked the entire pack from my dad- he's a doctor) 2 days ago. it is now midnight 16th april 09 my time.
the last 2 tabs i had were on monday night (13th april 09). last night was crazy- my legs were so crampie, not a single position made me comfortable. it was so weird i was terribly tired n i couldnt keep my eyes open BUT i still couldnt fall asleep.
my arms and my legs drove me crazy. i'm female and i'll be 29 in june. also i've been on zoloft (sertraline) since march 2006. and yeah seeing as to how its notta problem for me to reach these substances***, i guess i should just come out and admit that i've have in the past suffered from substance abuse (benzodiazepine) but my shrink helped me kick that habit.
so yeah. i feel pretty okay right now tho i had slight diarrhea today and a feel a lil anxiety tho i'm tryin to stay as positive as possible. tonight will be my second night codeine-free. i havent got head aches or nausea. just TERRIBLE ACHES. my whole body as well at times last night ached. i felt like a zombie at work today.
guess i'm just wondering how long this is gon last!
P
i've been on codeine since first week of dec 08. i took an average of between 3-5 tabs daily before going to sleep. but i kinda ran outta my stock (i flicked the entire pack from my dad- he's a doctor) 2 days ago. it is now midnight 16th april 09 my time.
the last 2 tabs i had were on monday night (13th april 09). last night was crazy- my legs were so crampie, not a single position made me comfortable. it was so weird i was terribly tired n i couldnt keep my eyes open BUT i still couldnt fall asleep.
my arms and my legs drove me crazy. i'm female and i'll be 29 in june. also i've been on zoloft (sertraline) since march 2006. and yeah seeing as to how its notta problem for me to reach these substances***, i guess i should just come out and admit that i've have in the past suffered from substance abuse (benzodiazepine) but my shrink helped me kick that habit.
so yeah. i feel pretty okay right now tho i had slight diarrhea today and a feel a lil anxiety tho i'm tryin to stay as positive as possible. tonight will be my second night codeine-free. i havent got head aches or nausea. just TERRIBLE ACHES. my whole body as well at times last night ached. i felt like a zombie at work today.
guess i'm just wondering how long this is gon last!
P
Thanks for writing this thread, it has given me strength. I am recovering from a short 2 week fling with codeine and morphine right now. I'm on day 4 and its much better, but it was a rough 48ish hours. I had a pretty heavy opiate habit years ago, but now only go on occasional flings. I hope this one was my last because I am sick of it, it is not worth it really. I'm just glad I have been able to catch myself.
You can get through this, you have done it before so you know it can be done. It seems like an eternity but in reality it will be over soon.
You can get through this, you have done it before so you know it can be done. It seems like an eternity but in reality it will be over soon.
This is the same "Guest" that wrote at 6:31 yesterday. I just wanted to come by and remind everyone what a difference a day makes. Its day 4 for me and I can tell its almost over! I feel much better today, I was even able to listen to music, laugh and smile again. Sure I had my moments, got anxious, craved a bit but its much easier today! I am very very glad that I cut this short "run" (I should probably just start calling them controlled relapses) as quick as I did. 10 days of feeling content caused me 2 days of hell, 1 day of annoyance, and a day of discomfort. I didn't feel too great in my taper.
IT IS SIMPLY NOT WORTH IT. I need to get that into my head.
Something really important, make sure you eat plenty of food before you start your WD. I hadn't been eating much when I was tapering. Of course as soon as I started withdrawing I could barley eat. If you cannot eat solids, try to drink a smoothie or protein shake. On the night of the third day I realized that I had been REALLY HUNGRY for the past two days. Of course I couldn't eat much, but I was able to get down some mashed potatoes, beef jerky, tons of fruit smoothies and some carrots. I'm still forcing myself to eat today, but its much better.
Take suppliments, I'm currently taking a multi vitamin, flax seed oil pill, calcium pills, SAMe mood suppliment. Also taking Kava Kava for anxiety and some Valerian for sleep.
Don't be afraid to have a beer or a glass of wine if you think it would help and won't be a problem. Do not replace one addiction with another. Take some Dipenhydramine (Bendryl) for sleep if you need to. Plenty of ibuprofen helps too.
IT IS SIMPLY NOT WORTH IT. I need to get that into my head.
Something really important, make sure you eat plenty of food before you start your WD. I hadn't been eating much when I was tapering. Of course as soon as I started withdrawing I could barley eat. If you cannot eat solids, try to drink a smoothie or protein shake. On the night of the third day I realized that I had been REALLY HUNGRY for the past two days. Of course I couldn't eat much, but I was able to get down some mashed potatoes, beef jerky, tons of fruit smoothies and some carrots. I'm still forcing myself to eat today, but its much better.
Take suppliments, I'm currently taking a multi vitamin, flax seed oil pill, calcium pills, SAMe mood suppliment. Also taking Kava Kava for anxiety and some Valerian for sleep.
Don't be afraid to have a beer or a glass of wine if you think it would help and won't be a problem. Do not replace one addiction with another. Take some Dipenhydramine (Bendryl) for sleep if you need to. Plenty of ibuprofen helps too.
This is the Guest that wrote the previous two posts, my apologies but yesterday was day 5. The message still stands though. It gets easier if you can just hold on.
Posted 26th April 2009 (Copy & Paste from a less appropriate thread :$ )
Hello All,
I'd been using OTC codeine / ibuprofen for well over a year, in the early days mixing with paracetamol / codeine and then latterly just ibuprofen 200mg / codeine 12.8mg.
I'm a Finance Professional with a team of people working for me so I had to keep a lid on the whole thing during working hours, taking just 5 or six pills of a morning & then the same during an afternoon. Following this I'd take between 10 & 18 pills of an evening (so 28 day during the week) & up to 48 / day over the weekend.
The inevitable problems arose - I was neglecting the important parts of my life and really not getting the "hit" from the pills that had first attracted me to them. The only way to chase the effect was to keep increasing the doseage. Ultimately this means taking so many pills that they either kill me or permanently damage me.
Having kicked smoking 3 months ago (which I have to say was not as bad as I had anticipated) I decided to have a go at kicking the codeine habit - well to be honest the wife finding yet another packet of pills in my dry cleaning may have had something to do with it.
Anyway, I am now on day 3 of the cold turkey approach and it has not been much fun, particularly the restlessness & lack of energy, but I fully intend to go ahead with it - I have a tendency towards self pity which always makes this type of exercise SEEM much worse than it is & I really can't face the alternative of being a slave to this lifestyle. Good Luck all.
enq
Newbie
Posted: 30/04/09 - 08:57 Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello All (again)
I posted on the 26th as a guest & now I'm registered I thought I'd come back and post an update. The update is partly, selfishly, for me but also a chance to share the experience with anyone who reads this board and is either contemplating or actively kicking a pill habit.
It's now day 7, a full week since I last took a painkiller with codeine in it so the plan is still working. I can't, in all honesty, say it has been as easy as I would have liked but it is becoming easier every day.
During the first few days I found sudden onset depression probably the hardest part of the process, made much worse by sitting around watching sad films (esp "The Diving Bell & the Butterfly") and reading a less than upbeat short story compilation. On the plus side the experience has reminded me that life is about a range of emotions and that both good & bad need to be present in order to appreciate the variations - a marked contrast to the "steady" almost emotionless state that the pills left me in.
The down sides as at day 7 are pretty limited to insomnia (I can get about 3 hours max before I start thrashing around trying to get comfortable) and a bit of mild depression. Another symptom which may or may not be connected is unusually sudden sneezing. I appear to have contracted a bit of a stomach bug which has confused the issue and is adding to my discomfort so I am rather hoping that the next few days will find me feeling considerably better.
The only other cloud on the horizon is an imminent visit to the Doc's to discuss some kidney function blood test anomalies - naturally I hope to hell this is a) not serious, and b) not mixed up with the old habit - time will tell.
Finally, I should say that I would not have liked to go through with this purely by myself - in my case I have a wife who is caring, sensible and practical (and even mildly sympathetic although, as she keeps reminding me, I have done this to myself). I therefore suggest that anyone thinking about kicking this habit takes a bit of time to hunt down some support if possible just to make the process easier.
Anyway, good luck & a happy life to all, enq.
Hello All,
I'd been using OTC codeine / ibuprofen for well over a year, in the early days mixing with paracetamol / codeine and then latterly just ibuprofen 200mg / codeine 12.8mg.
I'm a Finance Professional with a team of people working for me so I had to keep a lid on the whole thing during working hours, taking just 5 or six pills of a morning & then the same during an afternoon. Following this I'd take between 10 & 18 pills of an evening (so 28 day during the week) & up to 48 / day over the weekend.
The inevitable problems arose - I was neglecting the important parts of my life and really not getting the "hit" from the pills that had first attracted me to them. The only way to chase the effect was to keep increasing the doseage. Ultimately this means taking so many pills that they either kill me or permanently damage me.
Having kicked smoking 3 months ago (which I have to say was not as bad as I had anticipated) I decided to have a go at kicking the codeine habit - well to be honest the wife finding yet another packet of pills in my dry cleaning may have had something to do with it.
Anyway, I am now on day 3 of the cold turkey approach and it has not been much fun, particularly the restlessness & lack of energy, but I fully intend to go ahead with it - I have a tendency towards self pity which always makes this type of exercise SEEM much worse than it is & I really can't face the alternative of being a slave to this lifestyle. Good Luck all.
enq
Newbie
Posted: 30/04/09 - 08:57 Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello All (again)
I posted on the 26th as a guest & now I'm registered I thought I'd come back and post an update. The update is partly, selfishly, for me but also a chance to share the experience with anyone who reads this board and is either contemplating or actively kicking a pill habit.
It's now day 7, a full week since I last took a painkiller with codeine in it so the plan is still working. I can't, in all honesty, say it has been as easy as I would have liked but it is becoming easier every day.
During the first few days I found sudden onset depression probably the hardest part of the process, made much worse by sitting around watching sad films (esp "The Diving Bell & the Butterfly") and reading a less than upbeat short story compilation. On the plus side the experience has reminded me that life is about a range of emotions and that both good & bad need to be present in order to appreciate the variations - a marked contrast to the "steady" almost emotionless state that the pills left me in.
The down sides as at day 7 are pretty limited to insomnia (I can get about 3 hours max before I start thrashing around trying to get comfortable) and a bit of mild depression. Another symptom which may or may not be connected is unusually sudden sneezing. I appear to have contracted a bit of a stomach bug which has confused the issue and is adding to my discomfort so I am rather hoping that the next few days will find me feeling considerably better.
The only other cloud on the horizon is an imminent visit to the Doc's to discuss some kidney function blood test anomalies - naturally I hope to hell this is a) not serious, and b) not mixed up with the old habit - time will tell.
Finally, I should say that I would not have liked to go through with this purely by myself - in my case I have a wife who is caring, sensible and practical (and even mildly sympathetic although, as she keeps reminding me, I have done this to myself). I therefore suggest that anyone thinking about kicking this habit takes a bit of time to hunt down some support if possible just to make the process easier.
Anyway, good luck & a happy life to all, enq.
Hello again all,
Well I'm still with the program - at night I occasionally think "maybe just one or two pills, just to help me sleep...." and then remember it was this sort of illogical drive to medicate any feelings of discomfort out of my life that got me here in the first place.
I am reasonably hopeful, for a number of reasons, that there is nothing seriously wrong with my kidneys although at my age I accept that all my major body parts are somewhat "out of warranty". I could worry about it but then I could worry about a lot of things if so inclined however I suspect the key to success with what I'm doing here (and with so much in life) is a bit of positivity.
Anyway, I thought I'd write a day 8 update. Still suffering from insomnia although strangely, even though I when thrashing about in bed last night trying to get comfortable I really felt that I had to cool down (kicking off the covers, moving to a cooler part of the bed etc) when I put a heavy towelling dressing gown on & got back in bed I went straight off to sleep. I suspect it may be some time before I sleep right through a full 7 hours although some physical exercise may well change this.
Appetite seems pretty well back although the internal plumbing still needs more time to recover from the year or so of abuse. It would be irrational of me to expect everything to go straight back to normal so I need to learn a bit of patience.
The mood swings are becoming less severe but I do now start finding that I am actually enjoying myself again, particularly when interacting with other people - I had reached a point where thinking, engaging and finding motivation to do anything was harder than parachuting (which for me, personally, did not seem possible until a few months ago). I am now starting to fight the feelings of guilt that arise as I think of how I've treated the people around me (family, staff, friends) but only because to dwell on it at this point may be counterproductive - I must not forget, in addition to the detrimental physical effects of a codeine habit, the damage it does psychologically both to me and the people I affect.
On the whole then I am very positive that the worst is now over and that I will start enjoying life again - its kind of like being released from captivity (which may be why "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" upset me so much last week) so it looks like being an enjoyably long, hot and promising Summer.
Once again I hope that this helps anyone out there either withdrawing or getting ready to withdraw - certainly reading past experiences (thank you perfect angel) has helped me immensely. I hope to update again as and when the time arises.
Bon chance! enq.
Well I'm still with the program - at night I occasionally think "maybe just one or two pills, just to help me sleep...." and then remember it was this sort of illogical drive to medicate any feelings of discomfort out of my life that got me here in the first place.
I am reasonably hopeful, for a number of reasons, that there is nothing seriously wrong with my kidneys although at my age I accept that all my major body parts are somewhat "out of warranty". I could worry about it but then I could worry about a lot of things if so inclined however I suspect the key to success with what I'm doing here (and with so much in life) is a bit of positivity.
Anyway, I thought I'd write a day 8 update. Still suffering from insomnia although strangely, even though I when thrashing about in bed last night trying to get comfortable I really felt that I had to cool down (kicking off the covers, moving to a cooler part of the bed etc) when I put a heavy towelling dressing gown on & got back in bed I went straight off to sleep. I suspect it may be some time before I sleep right through a full 7 hours although some physical exercise may well change this.
Appetite seems pretty well back although the internal plumbing still needs more time to recover from the year or so of abuse. It would be irrational of me to expect everything to go straight back to normal so I need to learn a bit of patience.
The mood swings are becoming less severe but I do now start finding that I am actually enjoying myself again, particularly when interacting with other people - I had reached a point where thinking, engaging and finding motivation to do anything was harder than parachuting (which for me, personally, did not seem possible until a few months ago). I am now starting to fight the feelings of guilt that arise as I think of how I've treated the people around me (family, staff, friends) but only because to dwell on it at this point may be counterproductive - I must not forget, in addition to the detrimental physical effects of a codeine habit, the damage it does psychologically both to me and the people I affect.
On the whole then I am very positive that the worst is now over and that I will start enjoying life again - its kind of like being released from captivity (which may be why "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" upset me so much last week) so it looks like being an enjoyably long, hot and promising Summer.
Once again I hope that this helps anyone out there either withdrawing or getting ready to withdraw - certainly reading past experiences (thank you perfect angel) has helped me immensely. I hope to update again as and when the time arises.
Bon chance! enq.
Afternoon All
Thought I'd write an update on my progress having just gone through a 3 day bank holiday weekend that would normally have found me knocking around the house either counting the time 'til the next handful of pills or drifting about on a marginal high just marking time.
The weekend (days 9 to 11 of withdrawal) was still fairly uncomfortable although as mentioned before its not always easy to recognise real symptoms as distinct from the self pity induced imaginary ones. Certainly sleep is becoming easier now and 6 hours sleep with only minor interruption is achievable. On reflection, 6 hours is probably sufficient sleep for me anyway, its just that with the way the codeine used to make me feel extremely tired, I've fooled myself into thinking I actually need to get 8 hours plus in to feel rested. %-)
Spent most of the weekend feeling lethargic and, when not outside or accompanying the wife on retail therapy (hers, not mine, can't abide trawling the shops for things I never knew I wanted) I could be found lolling around the house "resting" aching joints & muscles and bemoaning access to hundreds of channels of cr@p TV. Apparently, if you give in to it, codeine withdrawal even after a week can present as moaning git syndrome. 8-|
I'm pretty sure the lethargy I've been giving into is more a character trait than strict symptom - I felt as weak as a kitten when I could afford to just lie around the house but now I'm back at work some of the old vigour is returning.
Anyway, I'm not out of the woods yet - I still hear the little voice urging me to have a codeine or two >;) just to make the symptoms more manageable - the main thing is that I recognise this type of thought for what it is - the manifestation of a craving, and not a logical thought process.
Whatever else happens, I have absolutely no intention of putting myself through this again & I don't really want to lose the memory of the pain even though I am now beginning to "normalise" again.
I genuinely hope these posts give a little help to anyone suffering from the effects (either first or second hand) of codeine addiction and allow some recognition of the fact that it can be difficult (but by no means impossible with the right preparation & motivation) to kick this insidious, legalised, physically addictive habit.
Regards all, enq. :-)
Thought I'd write an update on my progress having just gone through a 3 day bank holiday weekend that would normally have found me knocking around the house either counting the time 'til the next handful of pills or drifting about on a marginal high just marking time.
The weekend (days 9 to 11 of withdrawal) was still fairly uncomfortable although as mentioned before its not always easy to recognise real symptoms as distinct from the self pity induced imaginary ones. Certainly sleep is becoming easier now and 6 hours sleep with only minor interruption is achievable. On reflection, 6 hours is probably sufficient sleep for me anyway, its just that with the way the codeine used to make me feel extremely tired, I've fooled myself into thinking I actually need to get 8 hours plus in to feel rested. %-)
Spent most of the weekend feeling lethargic and, when not outside or accompanying the wife on retail therapy (hers, not mine, can't abide trawling the shops for things I never knew I wanted) I could be found lolling around the house "resting" aching joints & muscles and bemoaning access to hundreds of channels of cr@p TV. Apparently, if you give in to it, codeine withdrawal even after a week can present as moaning git syndrome. 8-|
I'm pretty sure the lethargy I've been giving into is more a character trait than strict symptom - I felt as weak as a kitten when I could afford to just lie around the house but now I'm back at work some of the old vigour is returning.
Anyway, I'm not out of the woods yet - I still hear the little voice urging me to have a codeine or two >;) just to make the symptoms more manageable - the main thing is that I recognise this type of thought for what it is - the manifestation of a craving, and not a logical thought process.
Whatever else happens, I have absolutely no intention of putting myself through this again & I don't really want to lose the memory of the pain even though I am now beginning to "normalise" again.
I genuinely hope these posts give a little help to anyone suffering from the effects (either first or second hand) of codeine addiction and allow some recognition of the fact that it can be difficult (but by no means impossible with the right preparation & motivation) to kick this insidious, legalised, physically addictive habit.
Regards all, enq. :-)