2 Vicodin 5/500 per day..OK???

[michael776]

i have been taking 1-2 vicodin 5/500 per day for about a year and a half....I have tremendous anxiety and this is the only thing that really helps me, and it REALLY helps me. I've tried MANY anti-anxiety drugs...lexapro, xanax, ativan, and none of them help me the way vicodin does. I do realize that vicodin isn't traditionally prescribed to relieve anxiety, but it really works wonders for me....anyway, i had bloodwork done recently and my ALT test came back at 3X above normal. I am kinda scared and wonder if i can do any real liver damage even with such a small dosage every day?? The thing is that i don't really seem to build a tolerance to the vicodin either...i only take 1/2 to 3/4 of a pill at a time, and it still works like magic for me, so i don't feel like i'm in danger of increasing the dosage...if i take a whole pill at any given time, i get horribly nauseous...so lucky for me i don't feel like i can even handle any more than that....i'd really appreciate some perspective on this. Thankyou :) -mike

[ladybiker64]

Micheal have you heard of a herb called SAM-E? you can get it at most walgreens or CVS by the vitamins and I know walgreens has a buy one get one free deal on it every other week. To me it is a life saver. I had severe mental depression and anxiety and was taking anti-depression pills and something for anxiety. My brother who knows alot about herbs told me to ween myself off the prescription drugs and try SAM-E and it is AMAZING!! it REALLY works and you don't have to ween yourself off it once you feel better. I was on it for 3 months and decided to stop and I am AWESOME! feeling alive and well! good luck and god bless! Veronica

[GoingToMakeIt]

Michael, Look in my journals for the amino acid post. Get the book End Your Addiction Now. There are formulas in there to address almost any problem with mood. Anxiety, energy, depression etc..Try these instead of Vicodins. There are also supplements that help to detox the liver. See a good supplement store or even better. Go to a ND.(Naturo path)

[lostsoul2]

Buddy, I used to take them in low dosage for the same reasons you stated.  Then a lot of stressful situations hit all at the same time, culminating with my father dying.  The anxiety went way up, and so did the need for more pills to fix it.  So my intake rose quickly as everyone else has stated.  Then I had to stop for numerous reasons, mainly because my supply stopped.  But the w/d's hit and after a week or so the physical w/d's were over.  Then I saw what long term use had done.  I still have no energy, incredible cravings, and my body feels like it has been through a war.  I realize now the seriousness of this addiction.  Don't let it get out of control.  It will happen and you won't even realize it.  You need to find what it is that gives you such bad anxiety.  Masking it with drugs may help for now, but that road will end someday and you will have to face the demons through w/d.  It just adds more problems in the long run.  Don't let them control you as they eventually will.

[michael776]

Thankyou for all of your wisdom. I sincerely appreciate it. There is no response on here that i do not want to read....if i didn't want to hear what all of u were saying, i wouldn't be posting here. The truth, I know, is that i need to stop taking the vics...I've gotten off them before, but i DO experience intense WD's when i stop....tapering has worked for me in the past, but the hardest part is staying off of them once clean....Yes, I definitely have alot of work to do with my personal anxiety, and i know vics are not the answer...THANKYOU to everyone here.

[VicUser]

I have to agree with oxyaddict. I dealt with anxiety before I started taking vicodin and listened to tapes from Midwest Stress and Anxiexy, you can find them online cheep at Ebay, I am sure that there are others authors that would be as good too. They really helped, but it was near that point that I started taking vicodin for back and leg pain. What I have come to realize since I stpped taking vicodin is that a lot of my pain was from stress and anxiety and the vicodin was a means for me to cope without facing reality. I hope this helps.

[oxyaddict420]

I am sure that this is not the responses you might have hoped for, but everyone here is honest and first and foremost cares about fellow addcits and/or painkiller users.. We do not want to see this turn into a worse habit than it already is..

Can you be in alot worse shape?  SURE.. but why push it to that point!

Is what you are taking very small compared to tohers?  SURE, but that is how it started for alot of us as well.. Then things change...

Do you really want to be dependant on a scheduled narcotic chemical Substance to have control over you for the rest of your life due to anxiety??? HELL NO!!!


We post because we care... You might to re-think this idea...

[jenn3672]

Unfortunatley Michael, your liver enzymes can very much be affected by daily Vicodin usage.  It is the tylenol portion that is hurting you, and yet I can cause permanant liver damamge.  Norco- is an alternative with less acetaminophen (tylenol) in it, but it still have some, and can hurt your liver as well.  I feel your pain, as Vicodin, helps many with anxiety, but what i really does is lower your inhibitions, and give you a false sense of peace.  Even though you are on a low dose, I would suggest a taper to reduce withdrawal symptoms, and speak to your doctor about an antidepressant that works for anxiety.  No benzo's as withdrawing from them is even worse than narcotics!
Good luck!

[mshell62]

I took HALF a Vicodin 500 a day for over 6 months.  Then I slowly increased up to 3 per day.  I couldn't take more than that because of the nausea, also.  

I was originally prescribed the Vic by dentist, then by doctor for severe abdominal pain, which was eventually diagnosed as IBS.  

The Vic also did for me what it does for you.  For some reason, helped with depression/anxiety, etc.  The strangest thing.  I had tried other medicines for depression, but none worked like Vic.  

Eventually, I realized that I was going to have trouble continuing to get a script for the Vic.  Then, my sister died of a drug related accidental overdose, I would say.  I immediately began to taper off the Vic.  

Even though my dose was never more than what was prescribed, the withdrawals, even after tapering off, were bad.

This CAN'T be good.  

To be honest with you, I was clean for one whole month.  Then in a pain/anxiety ridden moment, I took a quarter of a pill a few days ago.  I felt very guilty for this AND, it didn't even make me feel better.  My headache was worse than before.  I realized that no matter what, I was going to feel "not so great", with or without it.  There are other components to feeling good.  I need to continue exercising, eating right, etc.  I know, I know, it's easier to take a pill.  

The point here is that I went from taking half a pill a day for a long time.  Saying I never needed more.  Eventually, half turned into ONE pill.  Then 1.5.  Then TWO.  Stress and other things in life will eventually get you to want to take a tiny bit more.

I also would feel nauseous if I took three in a day, at times.    However, there would be days that I would only take two.  This is a very insidious drug.  

Think about what would happen IF you were in a situation where you were unable to obtain more Vicodin.  Try to NOT take if for a few days.  You will see how dependent on it you are.

Just be careful.  In the long run, we need to try to function on nothing else but "good for you" food, air, water, etc.  

I know it isn't easy.  But I proved to myself on the fifth of this month that it wasn't worth taking even a fraction of a pill.  I think I lost a good "get clean" buddy over it and I felt worse over the whole deal.

Take care,
Michele

[todd247]

I know what you're concerned about.I also take a low dose mainly in the evening 1 7.5 norco. Ive been doing this for 3.5 years.I have never had the desire to take more. I do it for sleep primarily, but not naive enough to know this is not addicting. I would have many of the same issues heavier users have if I stopped today as would you. Im not a physician but a very active 43 year old professional. The dose you posted should not cause liver problems but your doctor and you need to find the real cause of the ALT, ifs its the Vics I would never do another one.You like myself will find this board very helpful. It's definitely a God Send. Ive found the posters to be hard on any use but they have good reason. No drug is the BEST choice but 1/2 vic a day...it could be worse but there is a real danger it will be. FWIW

Todd

[Chi_Chi_Lover]

You know taking vicodin everyday is not good. Even the smallest dose is addictive. If you decide to stop taking it you will have WD no matter how small the dose. Why don't you try to find out what is causing your aniexty? There are other drugs for aniexty that are not addictive like vics, xanax etc. You may not be abusing them now but this is how most of us started out.

[oxyaddict420]

Be very careful. You might honestly feel you have it under sontrol and when you least expect it it can bite you in the boo boo!!!

If you are honestly basically asking if it is ok to take a low dose of vicodin every day for the rest of your life for your anxiety than right there is a problem!  Your immune to the hydrocodone will increase(for sure) and when it does it can get out of control very fast..  What right now might get your anxiety under control, 2 year from now you could have extremem anxiety from a death in the family, horrible tradgedy or anything that triggers it to get horrible and it is just too easy to abuse them when they are available and you are using a narcotic pain killer to kill metal anxiety!  NOT A SMART MOVE IN MY OPINION!