Withdrawal from codeine - cocodamol 30/500's - Day 2 of cold turkey!

Dear Perfect-Angel,

I'll be honest. I haven't read all the posts, simply because it's a familiar story. I am a addict, not to codine (yet) but I have been in a very simular situation to yourself and others on here!

I found my solution in the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous and I am 7 years clean of drugs..... :-D

Although my drug was cocaine, the shame, guilt and remorse was the same as yourself.
I have managed in those 7 years to completely stop the cravings. Also I have learnt how to cope with the shame guilt and remorse. And live a full life. It doesn't matter the type of drug. All that matters is you want to be free from addiction.

A statement from NA :

NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean.

http://www.ukna.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=10&Itemid=120

I wish you all the best and hope this reply isn't to late

Doc x

Hi,

I don't know if perfect angel or any others are still reading this thread. But i would like to say perfect angel's blog has answered alot of questions for me and was very encouraging.

I have been codeine free for 60 hours now after 30 years of taking solphadine!! (my mother got me them way back when you could only get them on prescription) She took them too, so I guess I have been addicted my whole adult life!! I have had all the withdrawal symptoms to varying degrees but i am thinking after 30 years how bad is it going to get??? I was craving so bad earlier in a stressful moment , Never needed a cigarette so bad! ( their next on the list of things to give up). My legs feel like lead and keep going into cramp, My stomach feels like its on fire and i cant eat, the headaches stopped after first 24 hours. worst time is in the morning ( used to wake up to double dose to get me going) now I wake up feeling like im in hell, everything hurts and I just cant function for at least an hour.

Im determined to not give in but im dreading the next few days and nights, i can feel my whole body and mind changing by the hour and as others have said on here just want to get through to the other side of this.

hi i have been takein co dydramol for 3 yrs 20 to 30 tabs a day now i really wnt to come off but my kids r 2 and 3 and i have no family support, do u think i can do it? or should i wait till my kids can look after them selfs a bit more

Perfect-angel wrote:


thanks for all this info

Hi All,

this thread was written a while ago, so i dont know if anyone updates or reads it, i have attempted going cold turkey in the past and have been addicted for 5 years, it started out from toothace pain.

My experience of Cold turkey agonising to say the least, if you can do - try to avoid it! the nights are the worst you will ever experience, crunched up aching fingers and legs, sitting up in bed in the dark trying not to focus on the pain then walking around the house like some semi naked wierdo craving tablets being blinded as you put the kitchen light on then feeling like a complete penis and wanting to cry out of frustration while the rest of the worls sleeps peacefully.

I did go to see the doctor, again a similar situation with one of the other post, i expained the situation about my problem, she looked at me like id told her i had an hunhinged passion for farm animals, they dont seem to know anything about it or how to treat it, they reffered me to Ad Action an addiction treatment centre, but they advised me all they could do was offer counselling!

I appreciate counselling may be helpful to others but in my case it would not offer any support, im not craving a conversation or wanting the find the root cause of my issue, the cause is the least of my concerns- im worried about the damage im doing to my body.

At present im taking 28  iburpofen and codiene 12.8/200 per day however, the one good doctor i spoke to before he retired advised that the iburporfen and codiene tablets were the lesser of 2 evils the other being Paracetamol and Codiene, the reason being the paracetamol is a killer, iburprofen you can take in higher doses and it will be less damage.

I, like most of you started becoming severly converned about my liver, the main home test is having a look in the loo to see if there is blood pale stools etc, im red green brown colourblind and wasnt able to do this, the prospect of asking my long suffering but extremely supportive girlfriend to have a butchers for me seemed a step too far, i asked the doctor if they would object to providing liver function tests for me periodically due top the volume of tablets i was ingesting.

He agreed, so far they have all come back as okay..

My method for coming off them so far is reducing them 1 tablet per week, my g/f is helping me with this, she is buying them for me (all the pharmacists are very suspicious of me know and pretty much know me by sight and if they suspect you of abusing medication they can stop selling them to you, plus i live in a small town and there are only 3 shops that sell them, you can also buy them on Amazon now as well..) 

i digress, my girlfriend buys them and then gives me my daily allowance, this way i dont have access to them and the only willpower i need is not to buy anymore, also by reducing them by 1 tablet per week it gives your body the chance to adjust while still getting the Codeine it craves.

If you are having issues please try this method, its working for me so far, for anyone else trying to give up, your not alone, be open with your nearest and dearest, they will be shocked at first but then have loads of questions and be able to support you, and not think your cheating when you get up and go for a walk in the middle of the night.

I wish all of you all the best..

Day 30 first post

Hi

Wow what a blog ! i too am trying ot come off these pain killers the pain is so bad at times i feel like topping myself .

It hurts so bad in my stomach area

Hope i can finaly kick this habbit once and for all im going to wright to my mp over doctors who perscribe this stuff to willy nilly and dont care about what happens to a person in the long run these pain killers should no longer be on doctor 's list for pain and left well alone

I hope this cold turkey works

 

perfect-angel....thankyou for posting this its really helping me ...im on my own too with kids ...and on day 2. I know you might not get this reply cos it was so long ago. One of my older sons read it as well and we both wanted to say thanks and hope you and your son are well :D 

Past 60 days now. No codeine and no cigarettes 

Been 100 days plus

I have just read all of this thread and it has really inspired me. I have been taking codeine, either as Solpadiene or Co-Codomol for about ten years. I was never a heavy user in that my maximum was the daily limit of 8 tablets a day. But it still takes it's toll! I can easily relate to the stories of switching chemists to get round suspicious pharmacists!

Anyway, earlier this year things got a bit worse. I have a problem that meant I had to have surgery and got prescribed 30/500's (on a no questions asked repeat). At first I thought I was in heaven! They killed all the pain and made me feel relaxed and happy. But it didn't last and soon the only feeling was a dull, flat emotional distance from everything and an angry feeling when I took them. So, I started to taper and am now taking 1 1/5 tablets a day (45mg) spread over the day. It helps but I want to quit completely so am going to try a cold turkey soon. I'll update this, just for myself really, when I start. To all fellow addicts or dependants out there - people here have done it and so can we!

Hi everyone,

I had a nasty Nurofen Plus habit that had been going on for a number of years. I'm a professional 30 year old woman in Lonson. Last Sunday after waking up with terrible stomach pains I finally took the plunge and stopped taking them. I was struggling on Sunday night so took one paramol that a friend  had left at my house then on Monday at lunch time I took 2 co-codomols as I was struggling to cope at work. But from last Monday lunch time I've had nothing.

I'm not going to lie, it was awful. I was ill. Aches, pains, nausea, headache, insomnia, flu symtoms. I felt like hell at times. It was a horrible week. My boyfriend thought I had a virus. I did go to work but it was a slow week which made it do-able. But as soon as I got home I would flop out and not move. I didnt sleep much either.

Last week when I was reading this thread for inspiration I felt too c**p to even type/ write. But I wanted to now to tell you guys that are struggling it was worth it. It's 4 or so days of feeling horrible, but on Saturday I woke up and felt pretty normal again. The cloud has lifted and even thinking back to how many pills I was eating a day 8 days ago seems weird.

You can do it. You have to know that the pain is not unbearable and it does not last forever. Take the plunge. I am so determined to beat these pills. I know I have a long way to go but I truly feel that after a week I have come through the other side. Trust me, if I can do it so can you.

I'm still not sleeping well, but it's getting better every night.

I just wanted to share my story because reading about other people succeeding really helped me last week.

 

Goodluck to us all

Anna xxxx

Hi All, I was put onto Co-codamol 30/500 for a shoulder injury that was after taking various other things such as Naproxen, tramadol etc etc - the 30/500s seemed to do the trick.........now I get constant headaches, I feel sh*t, I seem to cry at the slightest, I have no energy - could all this be because Ive tried coming off the 30/500s?

you are an inspiration

just reading this made me cry. i know your posts were about a year ago i just wanted to know how its going. I have been having cocodamol for few days because of my wisdom teeth pains and now that I am trying to stop its killing its just my day one. I am wondering how long it will be? i whole body shakes and it kills me. i just told my friends and not trying to let my family know.