Codeine Addiction and withdrawl(withdrawal)

I have a friend that is addicted to codeine and is dragging me down with her.  She is 50 and has Lupus and Migraines.  Her doctor prescribes 120 codeine based pills to her a month (actually every 3 weeks).  She consumes about 10 pills a day.  I know that math doesn't add up.  She has extorted me (some friend huh?) into getting the extras for her or face certain consequences.  She believes that if she quits, or even drops down to her prescribed amount, she will go into shock and die.  I am now willing to face the consequences that could happen to me, but I do not want her to die.  She is in poor health and underweight and really have nobody to ask about this.

She has gone from about 16 pills a day down to 10, so is showing some effort to reduce her usage.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[angel virtue]

I hope she will find it in herself to stop.  When you are taking meds for pain, it is so hard.  

Always remove yourself from the perople around you that use.  they end up with no freinds but that's what I did.  My husband and I are both recovering cocaine addicts for 2 years.

i wish you the best and i will pray for your freind.  DONT BLAME YOURSELF
Angel

[staffy sheba]

Hi, I live in Australia. For migraine, I started taking codeine plus paracetamol with a calmative, about 2 months ago. They are called Dolased, aka mersyndol (spelling?). Each tablet contains 10mg of codeine and 500mg of paracetamol and 5.1mg of the calmative.

I went to a new GP, she suggested that I wean off them for the next 4 days from 10 to 8 to 6 to 4 ect. I have an addictive personality and could not do this.

A month ago i went to the emergency dept. of the hosp, hoping i could stay in safe hands until i got into detox but they sent me home telling me if i dont get off them i will die (scare tactics did not help !). Also, my LFT (liver function test) was a little high.

Detox would not take me in because i haven't been taking them for long and she suggested my symptoms were more mental/emotional anxiety than physical. I have diarroeah and headaches and sleeplessness when i cut down too quick.

I told my chemist and he suggested i take 4 a day. But I cannot stick to this plan and am taking about 6-8 per day. He also said that the liver can take up to 8 per day and is quite resiliant and that i havent been taking them for too long and should be ok if i stick to the plan.

I cannot stop taking them, so i am going back to that GP tomorow and tell her what's been happening.

I am also taking anti-depressants for anxiety and i started to isolate in October last year and that's when the problems started. Obviously, I started to isolate for a reason and I need to look at this. When I saw the GP for the first time, she made an appointment with a physciatrist, to look at my meds and history. I didn't go, because I tried to not isolate first, thinking that was the problem. I can now see that I do need extra help and will re-appoint with the physciatrist through my GP.

I have had addictions in the past which i have managed successfully through 12 step programs, but I obviously need extra help to deal with anxiety and possibly ongoing counselling again.

It seems to be a life long process and journey, one that I am not ashamed of, but accepting it as a disease of the mind and spirit. I am a reasonably intelligent person but that doesnt help with this type of addiction, neither does will power.

I have the support network that I need, but I need more medical professional help and will seek it out until I am satisfied.

Thank you for listening, and it has helped me to share this with others and perhaps my story might help someone else.

God Bless and All the Best from Downunder xxxxxxxxxxxx