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

Day 16 seems so far away but defo no giving in now! Well done to everyone that has beat this an keep going to those who is still fighting hard...

Hi there, you are doing really well! 7 whole days so you should be really proud. I'm on Day 6 now, and I still don't feel right, but things are definitely improving. The nights are the worst - restless legs and just impossible to get comfy. Try having a bath, then getting as many hot water bottles as possible and wrapping yourself up. It def helped me to relax, and I even managed a good few hours in a row last night! I am a doctor, and considered taking other meds to try and help with the pains/ sleeplessness, but decided that that would just delay the codeine from getting out of my system. Each day I am feeling better and less cloudy headed. I guess everyone is different though, and depeneding on how much codeine you were taking, your metabolism, etc - some people may have symptoms for longer than others. The important thing is we are doing it!! Getting off that crappy drug forever. I would never have thought i would be someone who relied on a tablet to get me through the day, but it just shows, if I can happen to a doc, it can happen to anyone. I will certainly be counselling all of my patients re the reality of taking a codeine based medication from now on. Hope you are doing OK today and just be really proud of yourself!!

First thing - Well Done You!! You have done an amazing thing by lasting a week and should be so proud of yoyurself! I am on day 6 and still not feeling right, but better each day. The main problem is at night - restless legs and unable to get comfy. I tried a hot bath, followed by curling up in bed with as many hot water bottles as I can find! It helps to relax you and I even got a few hours last night!. I am a doctor, and so considered taking other meds to help with the sleeplessness and pain. I decided against this though, as I reckon it will just delay the codeine from leaving your body, so I'm just eating as healthily as possible -plenty of carbs - and drinking lots of water.
You will start to feel better really soon, but you just need to be positive. Look at how far you have come. We have managed to beat this horrible drug that has such control on our lives. We are stronger than codeine. I never thought I would be the sort of person to end up relying on a tablet to get me through the day, but there you go. It can happen to anyone - like the nurse in the post above. The important thing is we are doing something to get better. Imagine a life wiothout panicking about where your next tablet is coming from?? Keep going - I promise you will feel better soon! We just need to be strong xxx

Ooops think I posted twice cos didnt think it worked first time!!

Thankyou for kind words! They do mean alot an its so glad im not alone in this process! Ive been staying at my mums past few days an know for sure that I wont take another codeine based pill as my mum has a cupboard full of them an it doesnt bother me one bit! Very chuffed though! Nights are hard but not as hard as this anxiety im suffering from. Think its always been there, doctor gave me propanolol and another medication but im too scarde to take other one incase I feel ill for whatever reason. I was takeing solpodol for 3 years every single day only 6 tabs in a day! On the other hand today is defo better than yesterday! Thankyou to all of you once again, really does help to have someone to talk to especially to know that you are goin through exact same xx

Ok so now day 8!! Oh when is this goin to end?? Not getin any better....hardly ate in the last week, no appetite what so ever!! Today I feel very anxious, wad out today an came in soaking in sweat!! Just on edge all day plus last two days back of my neck is killing me!! Good thing is I still hav no desire to take the demon pills but just want to feel normal again :)

I DID ALCHOHOL detox 15 years ago and no booze since, had open heart surgery 18 months ago and have been taking 100 x (30g codeine) co-codomol p[er month, was on 120 till 2 months ago when asked for reduction on repeat prescription. My intention is to ask for another reduction to 80 etc. But its all rubbish because I have stashed 300 tablets over 18 months, when I really needed them I took less because I wanted to heal faster, and they do slow down healing. I know I should just stop and bin the lot, can't do it.

I understand this is hard! I was taking them for three years every day!! Im now on day 13 of cold turkey and my side effects were horrific!! These pills certainly help with pain but are so addictive...my advice to anyone is to bin these pills! I now have very bad anxiety due to comeing off these pills but feel more clearer im mind for doing so!! Good luck take care and god bless...

I just want to say thanks SO much for this forum. I stumbled across it today when I was looking for "codeine withdrawal" and it has been a godsend. Thanks to all the honest and brave people who have given testimony to their struggles with codeine withdrawal, especially "Perfect Angel" I have been on Co-codamol for 7 years (on prescription !) but decided to stop them the other week because I finished up in A&E with an impacted bowel, after my dosage had been increased to deal with back pain. Since then I have felt so ill......and it was only by a sheer fluke this morning that I wondered if I was suffering from withdrawal ?? The rest is history ! I now realise that I am not going mad, or dying, because I recognise my symptoms here, on this forum !! I usually took the tablets to help me sleep, so wasn't taking many per day, but it was still hell !!

 

I seem to be a few days, if not longer, into "cold turkey", so I now have the courage to carry on, thanks to all of you. Bless you, from a 68 year-old nanna.

Kirst I hope you have managed to stay string, I totally agree easier to give up smoking.... And child birth!!

Sorry strong even!!

Hi,

I had 2 last night as the pain in my knee was horrific and I felt so sick after about an hour, didn't get that warm fuzzy feeling which i'm glad about.......just like my first ciggie after a few years, I was violently sick after that! So now I've been put off these nasty pills :o).



I hope you're doing ok?

Hey all have done it!! 14 days without codeine and feel brilliant :) forgeting all about those awful pills so defo worth it!!
Keep strong everyone!!

Hi - my first post

I stumbled across this forum a few days ago after I decided that my two year constant use of co-codamol 30/500 was out of control. I have recently been buying Tramadol from the internet (which costs a small fortune) and my intake was increasing alarmingly (both co-codamol and Tramadol) so I just thought enough is enough and stopped. On day two, I typed 'how long does it take to go cold turkey on co-codamol' into Google and this forum came up. I was astonished at the fantastic detail of Perfect-angel and was immediately hooked by her brave story and thankful for the inspiration it gave me.

By the sounds of it, I have got off very lightly as I am now on day 4 and feeling alot better already. I haven't really experienced any of the extreme pain that many others seem to have gone through but the sweats, sleepless nights, terrifying mental downers and loss of appeitite are no walk-in-the-park.

I was prescribed co-codamol 30/500 for a neck injury and occationally took them but the problem really started when I began working nights and I found that they helped me stay awake. This is perhaps an unexpected effect as they are supposed to make you drowsy but I found that they gave me a lift. We now all know the power of codine on ones sense of well-being and I was no exception.

I was fortunate (or unfortunate) that both my wife and my mother also have prescription 30/500 so, combined with my precription, I was able to happily maintain the habit. I recently got to the point of taking six 30/500 in one go for the desired affect. I would do this perhaps twice a day. In the end, I though that it might be a good idea to go onto Tramadol to reduce the intake of pills. These seems ok but nowhere near as strong as I was expecting and so I ended up taking 30/500 and following them up four hours later with the Tramadol (50mg). Very soon, I uped the Tramadol to 100mg and would be taking four of these and then, a few hours later, six 30/500.

Not long into this regime I simply thought that this had to stop. Not only for health reasons but the conniving and lying required to feed such an addiction was not conducive to a healthy family life and mental state.

I have not told my wife about any of this and I am, at the moment, being kicked out of bed within 10 minutes of falling to sleep for the twitching and thrashing about that I am led to believe withdrawal induces. We have a spare room and I just move between there and the sofa. As someone who usually sleeps really well, insomnia is hellish. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing but I also have access to sleeping pills which have helped me get some, but not much, sleep. All I can hope is that, as the days pass, my system flushes out all the toxins and I can get back to sleeping like a log. As I said, day four now and, apart from feeling generally tired, I can already feel my energy and enthusiasm for everyday tasks flooding back. I think for two years I have been in a kind of stupor that has sapped all my creativity, sharpness and humour.

So, I will continue, convinced that I have got away with it compared with some of the poor souls on here. I wish everyone the best of luck and for anyone finding these posts - I hope it provides you with the strength and resolve to fight this all-too-common problem.

I'm actually amazed that for two years now, my doctor has been happily signing my repeat every month without any hesitation. Surely they should have spotted it by now? Anyway, that repeat prescription will never be repeated now.

It's pretty much a week to the hour that I last took either Tramadol or Co-codamol. I still can't sleep which is horrible. I tend to drop off then wake up half an hour later and that's it. I have the choise of Temazapam or Nitrazapam and I've been taking half a tablet when I can't sleep which tends to give me four hours sleep which I can just about function on. However, this is not a long term solution as it's only substituting one drug for another! I'll keep at it and see where I am in another week. I would hope that I'd be backto sleeping normally by then.

Yeasteday and today were the first days where I was really tempted to take Co-codamol to try and relax. I find that I'm quite jumpy and want to calm my brain down by just necking a few 30/500's. I actually just got them out my bag and looked at the three full blisters I have but the temptation I feel is overridden by the guilt I know I would feel if I were to give in.

My ability for work rate and enthusiasm has massively increased I'm happy to say. Before I just calmly plodded along and probably spent about half my time assessing my level of 'chilled outness' and thinking about when I should take the next lot. How horrible!

Does two weeks sound reasonable to free of the addiction? I gusee it could be like smoking (which thankfully I have never done) where you never really shake the urge entirely.