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Addiction: Substance Abuse Community
This community is a place to share information and support with others who are trying to stop using drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco or other addictive substances. Discuss with others, the symptoms of addiction, addiction recovery, ways to quit like tapering and cold turkey, and withdrawal symptoms. If you are interested in general "chat", please visit our Addiction Social Community.
hydrocodone/help
by Mrs.robinson, Oct 30, 2001 12:00AM
I've been doing hydrocodone/apap 10/650 for 3 years now. I started out only doing 10 a month and have worked up to 10 a day! I recently lost my job (due in part to Sept.11) so I no longer have health insurance and, of course, not enough money coming in to support this habit. I was no longer getting "high" on this amount and just do not want to continue this whole addiction anyway. I tried to find Thomas's detox recipe but could not. I am only 6 hours into giving then up and my body is already screaming...can I go cold turkey????? My boyfriend layed out my usual dose for today on my dresser last night before leaving and they are just begging me to eat them. (I had asked him not to leave them since I had shared with him my intentions, but he told me I could not do it cold turkey) Is he right???? I tried several times to cut back and to wean myself off but that did not work for me either. There's no way I could afford help right now...NO WAY. I'm too old to be doing these things...48 and have had hepitis c since I was 18. I feel as if these things have hurt my liver and my kidneys. Could I be right? Any help would be appreciated. Mrs. Robinson
LOL and good luck, RG
I was wondering whether you've had any treatment for it and whether it worked. I had to quit my job over 20 months ago and go on SSDI.
Another forum member and I were discussing my lack of withdrawals when I periodically go off my pain meds. Maybe, people with hepatitis normally feel so bad most of the time that they don't know they are in WD's? At any rate, if you are able to stay clean of the Lorcet, I'm sure you liver will be much happier.
Best of luck to you!
J.B.
I would try weining off the meds, it is very hard to go cold turkey. Maybe your boyfriend could help with that.
Thomas' recipe is listed in one or two threads down.
It couldn't be helping your liver, so if you really want to stop, you should for many reasons.
Stay around here, this board is full of support!
Best of luck!
Lv Jenny
welcome to this forum! there is always room for one more here!
many people have gotten off hydro and oxy by using Thomas's
detox. i know it works for me. I take 120 mg of oxy-c a day and
use Thomas's detox aproximately every 21 days. the withdrawals
are very slight for me, but this could be due to the fact i push
a pain level between 7.5 - 9+! try looking in the older postings
and he may haveit posted or perhaps some on the forum has a copy
they can post for you. your boy friends right don't do this a-
lone! if you have enough pills to do a mpderately fast taper,
that may be the way to go!
best of luck and the gods speed!
keep an angel on your shoulder
kip
JB, I have had hep c for 30 years...no treatment...liver ensyems good up til a few months ago...don't know if I'm allowed to post my email address so that I could write you more about the hep????
God, bless each and everyone of you, as I hope He does for Mrs.Robinson!
Cold turkey is hell, to be honest and blunt. I tried for a long time to taper, but found that I just did not have the self control to taper down. I kept blowing it, over and over.
So for me, cold turkey was the option I choose. Thomas's recipe helped a lot, as did adding 5 HTP (an amino acid supplement). The 5 HTP helps tons with the depression that comes during and post detox.
I actually did a modified cold turkey back in august, in that on the first night of the withdrawal week, I took one pill, then on subsequent nights kept cutting it down till I was taking 1/4 of a pill. This at least helped me deal with the "wanting to crawl out of my skin" feeling, and let me get a teeny bit of sleep. The other thing that helped was the emotional support I got, prayer, writing in my journal, and the commitment to take the detox one hour at a time, so I always felt that I had a choice if it got too bad.
I will say though, I'm glad (now that it is over) that I went cold turkey, because for me, the memory of how awful the withdrawals were is a major help in preventing me from relapse.
I'm with the others here though...if you can manage to taper, then definately taper. It is much easier that way. If you find that you are like me and can't stick with a taper, you can always try cold turkey later.
Just be sure to have lots of hot baths available to you, and acupuncture if you can afford it (it helps enormously to get the body producing its own endorphins again, and diminishes the creepy crawly feeling you get in withdrawals)
I'm so glad you found us! Welcome to the most supportive, loving group on the net. Please post and tell us how it is going. I particularly find that when someone posts about how they are getting clean and what they are going through, it helps me TONS...it helps me stay clean and helps me keep my heart open.
by the way, it is fine to post your email address.
lots of love, and good luck..
WW
How long did it take you before you started to feel somewhat 'normal' again. In body and in mind?
Oh how i miss i could just feel 'normal' again. I take very minimal doses during the day, while at work (just enough to get me by so i'm not creepy crawling around)... but by the time i get home in the evening, and have to deal with my three children, MAN, i can't get to the 'stuff' fast enough. I practically mow the kids down to get into the house just so i can feel 'normal' again. So picture this, me and three kids running to the door as quick as possible, screaming open it open it!!!!! You have to find some humor in all the sadness of addiction.
Sigh, I just wish i were me again!
Lv Jenny
This forum is the best i've ever seen, none out there even compare. I've seen boards that talk about practically nothing other than scoring.
But you do have to have a little humor in such a dark world at times, and I think that we are always very conscience on just how far to push things.
Love you all!!!
Jenny
It took at least a full month before I felt completely normal again. A full month from the end of the withdrawal week, so really it took 5 weeks. After the worst of the wds were over (5 days), I still had stomache cramps for a while, and I had the most intense fatigue and lethargy. Getting up to walk a few steps to the kitchen was a major ordeal. It was very nasty. The lethargy was over after about 2 weeks, or at least was much better by then.
I started the 5 HTP after about 3 weeks, and within days I started feeling relief from the depression.
The insomnia also lasted a while. I had to go a couple of nights with no sleep aids whatsoever before my body finally got the message that it had to start sleeping on its own again.
Once it is behind you though, suddenly you remember what it is like to feel normal. You remember what real energy feels like.
I love feeling my own energy again, and honoring my body's need for rest when I am tired (rather than just take more pills to give me the boost to keep going).
I'm also lucky that at least for now, my back pain is way better. I've joined a gym, and am doing cardio excercise on elypitical machines, and it is helping my back tons. I'm starting to believe that I will be able to dance again someday soon!
It just takes a lot of determination to get clean. Determination,support, higher power connections, and a willingness to love yourself through the pain. But it is doable. I'm living proof. I still deal with cravings, but the support I get here and the memory of the WDs help me handle them.
lots of love,
WW