Help quitting Lortabs

[nannylg]

I have had 5 herniated disk 3 cervical which I just had diskectemy and fusion surgery on 5 weeks ago and 2 more that are still in the lumbar/sacrum area. I have been on Lortabs for 3 years, was up to 4(7.5 mg) per day) and presently trying to quit them by tapering, presently at 3 (5mg per day). I am aggravated with my long time family doctor and my pain doctor, they don't think I need to quit the Lortabs completely but I am hoping that by quitting , I will feel better, recover some energy, and just in general feel better. I really need answers on how to quit and the way other people have felt while coming off Lortabs.

[aro88]

ireally need to quit lortab any suggestions i have ben taking them for a year and taking 8 7.5 a day please help

[nannylg]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice    

[nannylg]

Very good point, and very true    I want so badly to feel good again and I want to quit all meds but everytime I try   the pain causes so much stress on my body that I end up back on the meds    Kind of a dead end circle    but I am very glad to find this site and the support thatcomes from people who really do know what I am talking about

Thank you

[Decisions]

I would argue that you are dealing more with the guilt of taking , than actually addiction.
It seems to me, that there are some cases where pain medicine has its place.  This does NOT mean you should keep taking but you may need to consider whether you are one of those folks who needs some pain medicine, at least on the occasions your back issues demand it.
.
BUT, only you know that.  
I know I felt a lot of guilt taking my DOC.  It is what drove me to quit amongst other things., money, more than excessive use, etc..

Anyways, whatever you decide, we are here for ya!!

[worried878]

If u were able to stay at 4 pills for all those years...u r probably fairly disciplined and can taper by yourself...tapering is hard for some...like me...at that dose u could also just quit...either way would work if u r ready....there is alot of help in the health pages like the thomas recipe and a tapering article...good luck and keep posting

[avisg]

Nanny,
If you feel that you should get off them then that is great . You have already started to taper I think I would just continue to go down a 1/2 or a whole pill a week .This will give your body time to adjust to each drop .This helps minimize withdrawl . There will be some lack of energy but your can get threw it ....

[bladerunnerb]

Two choices, you can taper down over a month or several weeks, or you can quit cold turkey.  If you think that you can taper down and not cheat at all, then that is probably the way to go.  People that successfully taper have very little problems with withdrawals..but it's the tapering that is hard for some that are really addicted.

I quit C/T off of 4 5mg tabs each day and withdrawals were pretty bad.  I'm on Day 10, but doing really well at this point.  But the first week was...hell.  There are lots of people on here that can help you and give you advice.  If you decide to go cold turkey, see if your doctor will prescribe you .1mg of clonidine to help with the withdrawal symptoms...it works wonders.  But, if you taper down, you probably won't need it.  Ideally you should cut your dose by 18-20% every 3-5 days.  Your body needs those days to adjust to the new dosage.