How do you beat lortab addiction?

[Time4change07]

I have been reading this board for several months now, but just have gotten the nerve to post. I am a 24 year old mother of two and I am having a hard time getting off Lortab. My husband is also taking them for his back, so that makes it harder on me. I have been taking them for about a year now, but I have recently gotten to where I will take anywhere from 5 to 9 7.5mg pills a day and as bad as I want to, I can't seem to stop. I have a very addictive personality (obviously) as well as OCD. I can't put into words the guilt I feel everyday over this, but I'm sure many of you can relate. I feel like such a bad Mother and Wife. I'm letting down my family and myself. I've never had an addiction before and this was completely by accident. I've tried to quit several times and I always end up going right back to it. I'm going to try again from this point on and I hope I am sucessfull. I've read through this board and you all seem so knowledgable and helpfull and I was wondering if anyone could possibly give me some insight in what I might be going through over the next few days or weeks or even months, and some advice on how to quit. I never dreamed it would be this hard! Thanks in advance.

[Memory1998]

I can understand your feelings of guilt, especially because you are a mother   and feel that needing these pills make you a bad mother.  I truly believe that being an addict does not make you a bad person.  For the past five years I have been taking Lortab and started innocently enough taking them for back and knee pain as prescribed by my doctor.  Very quickly I grew tolerant to them and began taking two at a time, three at a time.....six at a time.....   At my peak I was taking 60 lortab a day.  I got these by doctor shopping and obtaining three different prescriptions that I filled at different pharmacies and by buying them off the street.  I did some incredible things to obtain them and spent thousands of dollars buying them illegally.  When i finally reached the point where my entire day was spent thinking about how many pills i had left and where I could get more I had a true feeling of hopelessness.  I tried to taper off but was not successful.  I was also a single mother working three jobs which were very demanding and stressful.  My jobs and my responsibilities as a mother required that i have enough  energy to do everything that was required or expected of me.  I found that the lortab gave me energy, motivation, and a general sense of well being that made me feel like i could more easily meet the demands at work and as a mother.  I knew that buying the pills was illegal but I always justified my actions by saying that I wasn't hurting anyone, except maybe myself.  In order to buy them, I met and interacted with people of all walks of life: older people who would sell them to supplement thier income, drug addicts who would obtain a script to sell them in order to supply their meth addiction, and even young people trying to make some quick cash.  I went to places and neighborhoods that I never thought that i would go all for the sake of getting my pills.  I was taking pills around the clock and eventually got myself into some legal problems, lost my job, and my husband divorced me.  While going through this, I would literally pray every night for God to please help me end this addiction which had taken over my life.  At the same time I would pray that God simply let me die rather than continue with this madness.  My prayers were answered when I got the courage to find a doctor who could prescribe suboxone, a legally prescribed drug aimed at helping opiate addicts. Taking this medication takes all the withdrawal symptoms away and it was the withdrawal symptoms which terrified me and controlled my mind, body, and soul to continue taking pain killers.  The day that I took my first suboxone pill I experienced no withdrawals from the lortab and I felt a sense of relief and liberation to experience my first day without lortab in five years.  Everything seemed different that day: the grass, sky, and the world in general had color again, I could smell things that I hadnt for years, my vision was clearer, I felt confident and strong, and the pain, well the pain was very manageable as I began taking motrin as a pain reliever.  My prayers were answered through a doctor that i found thirty miles away from my home and that was concerned enough about opiate addiction and his patients that he didn't even charge me for office visits because I didn't have insurance or job. I know that many people say that taking suboxone instead of lortab is just substituting one pill for another.  But for an opiate addict, taking a pill that helps you end your addiction is an answer.  You can fill in the detail with your imagination as to all the things that I did and went through because of my addiction to lortab.  I am replying to your post because you seem like you are in the beginning stages of your addiction to opiates and have not yet begun taking as many as so many of us do.  In saying that, I am not saying that your situation is going to make it any easier to quit. But I am saying that your situation can escalate to a point where your situation will be where it is going to be much harder to quit than it is right now.  Get on the internet and find a doctor who can prescribe suboxone as not all doctors can.  But you can easily find a doctor or doctors close to where you live that help you take your first steps toward living without opiates.  Do it now and not later.  And please don't feel guilty, feel proud of yourself that you took the first step to recognize that you have a problem with painkillers and that you do not live in denial for years taking them and thinking that you are still in control.  Good Luck

[momnwife]

I have been trying to stop Lortabs for some time now and I seem to fail everytime. I really want to and I have to to keep my family but it seems so hard and I always end up going back...Can anyone please give me some pointers on what to do and how to beat this?

[sabletree]

My prayers goes out to all of you..I fell into the addiction by taking one every now and then..Then I slowly moved up to everyday.It was the best feeling I ever had..I ended up taking at less 7pills a day but was not getting the same feeling as before if so it seem short and was just looking forward to the next dose. So I started adding somas to the lortab to get the high this went on for about a year..I found that my whole life revolved around the pills.My work day wasn't possible without the pills.Oh yea, I know u guys know where I'm coming from.The bottomline is the pills started taking a tow on my worklife, my home and my money. So I started lowering my dosage which I read on one of the site.Someone at work wanted to start a fast so the pills was one of the things I gave up(secretly). Not wanting to look bad in front of god. I haven't had a pill in 3weeks. The first week was hard as far as the physical part but I kept telling myself its just the withdrawals and I kept praying. The 2nd week was the mental part just knowing I hadn't had any. The 3rd week has been a success. I am so focus at work its scary. I get up for wrk without still being sleepy. Its amazing how I feel now vs how I felt while on the pills. So people keep praying n fighting the end reward is great. I feel like a brand new woman..

[enemy48]

Hi Time 4 change,

How do you kick this addiction?

Can I ask you something?  How are you getting that many lortabs a day?  

My decision came down to Truth or Dare.  Do I face the truth that I'm an addict w/a serious problem, or do I Dare risk any longer & go to jail?

I lurked over this forum for a while too before I made my plan.  Of course, my first plan didn't work, and neither did a lot others.  I really really wanted this dark secret to go away though.  My final plan (better be) 5 months ago worked.  I could have not made it this far without the support of the wonderful people.

Best Wishes.

[Tocan2008]

I NEED HELP... I have been taking Lortab now for about 4 years. I take 4-6 pills a day. I really want to stop taking them and have tried several times. I have finally had enough. I have been reading through some of the posts on this site and hope with everyones support I can. My problem is that I work 2 jobs and Lortab give me the energy to complete all of my daily duties. It is getting to the point that I spend all of my money on them. I noticed above some remedies that may assist and wanted to know if anyone could give me some ideas as to what I can do to make it easier to quit. No one knows I take them except my partner and it is ruining my 8 year relationship. Please help.

[A man of faith]

I appreciate each person on this forum.
I cut from 200  Duragesic Fentanyl patch every other day to 100 Duragesic Fentanyl patch about 4 weeks ago. At first it was every other day, then every three days. Then on Wednesday I went to a 75 every other day.
I'll tell you when a person thinks even about minor victories over something it can help.  I thought I was into my fifth or sixth week coming off it, but its only been 4 weeks.
Take heart.
I think one day you'll be able to walk away from it forever.

[Time4change07]

Thanks so much again. You wouldn't believe how much a little ecouragment helps. Well, actually, you probably do. I am glad you have a supportive family to help you through this. I am going to talk to my husband about it more when he gets home from work. I am sorry about your parents. I lost my Father to suicide when I was a child. That's another thing that scares me. Depression runs in my family and it was basically a combination of that and alchohaul that killed my Dad. I don't want to end up like that, ya know? I know that I would never let it get to that point though, and that's why I'm trying to get off of them now. Part of me doesn't "want" to because I do enjoy the feeling I get from them. I am so much more calm and collected and I feel like I can handle the everyday stress, but I know that it is just a mask and it is really making it all worse and I need to stop, so that's why I am here. Thanks for the advice also, I didn't think about having a few on-hand to help me out if I'm totally freaking. I hope everything works for you and please let me know if I can be of any help.

[Roofus44]

You've already been a great help to me! :) Just by talking/chatting, and understanding what I'm (we) are going through. That in itself is amazing. Know what I mean? I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. That has to be rough - even now. I was on meds for depression about a year ago, they made me feel nothing...didn't like that so went bag to my lortabs. I like the way they make me feel too. I used to be one of those people who didn't like to take medicine for anything. I'm now on high blood pressure medicine, and my kidneys aren't doing as good as they once were. I think it could be because of the "water" you retain from Opiates. I know that it don't do my kidneys any good. Another reason I'm quitting is because I want to have another baby. (I must be crazy...hahaha) with the direction my kidneys are going, if I don't have another baby soon, I probably wouldn't be able to have any more. I'm down to about 1/2 to 1 pill a day...and it's still hard. Every few days I don't have any at all and I feel like I'm going nuts. I haven't had one yet today and am trying to hold off as long as I can...I have you to thank for that...about the time I was gonna take 1/2 one, I replied to your thread...it's now about 2 hours later...woo hoo! I honestly can't say how much longer I can hold out though.

[Roofus44]

It's gonna be tough. If you still have a few, hang on to them. That helps me to get thru the day sometimes, knowing that if I really NEED and HAVE TO HAVE one, it's there. And sometimes I do break down and take it. I feel worse at night, so if I do have one I try to hold out as long as I can during the day. It's a little bit easier each day, but not much. HA. I understand too about being a dissappointment. I'm the youngest of 10 and I've only told one sister, and she's the only one that will probably ever know. Both of my parents are gone, but I know they would both have been there to support me.

I have really bad migraines that nothing else would help with the pain. Up until about a year ago, they helped somewhat. About from then on I was taking them because they "mellowed" me out. I felt like I could take on the world. But the side effects from them, mainly having a hard time remembering things, and always being tired finally got me to face the facts. I had talked to a friend of mine about them, and my hubby came across some e-mails. To make a long story short, I finally broke down and told my hubby. And it was just the day before yesterday that I told my sister. There's a couple in our Sunday School class that knows too (they happen to be our teachers...haaha) but they will not tell anyone else. They are a very God fearing couple. I belive that one of the best ways to beat this is prayer. I'm praying for myself, you and all the others out there.

Sorry it took me a while to post back, I had gone to lunch... ((hugs))

[Roofus44]

Thank you...I think all the encouragement that we can all get is so very worth it and appreciated. You are doing a great job! It's hard.

[Time4change07]

I'm sorry your having trouble with your kidneys Roofus44, but getting down to one pill a day and sometimes not even every day is GREAT!!! I'm not sure where you started at, but that's really good. I don't think your crazy at all for wanting another baby. Well, not if the ones you already have don't act like mine, lol. I wish you the best of luck with it! I'm glad I could be of some help, I just wish I had more time on here to talk with people. You have been a tremendous help to me as well! Manofaith, I'm very proud of and happy for you as well! I know that my addiction is nothing compared to what some people have overcome, but I know it's hard to do and I admire everyone on here for making that effort. Thanks again for all the support, I hope to talk to you all again soon!

[tweeterbird]

google search: www.drugs.com/pill_identification...it's a hydrocodone/lortab 7.5 mg.  Does that work?

[Time4change07]

Awww, thank you! People like you are why I came to this forum. If I told my family about this, the only thing they would do is pass judgment and call me a bad mother. I have a couple family members who would try to help I think, but I don't want them to be dissapointed in me so I'd rather not tell them. I agree with you that we must first admit we have a problem, then half the battle has been fought. I am not looking foward to the next few days, but I'm hoping I can grin and bear it and make it through without slipping up. I have gotten to the point of buying them off the street sometimes when I run out and I am terrified that I will get caught! Not only that, but it is hella expensive! Thanks again for the support and I wish you the same with your recovery. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.

[Roofus44]

Hi Time4change.

Reading your question and comments has prompted me to post :) I have read other posts on here for Lortab (hydrocodone) and my heart goes out to all of you. I am trying to beat an addiction too. There are some that were on here, stating how much they took and I about fell out of my chair! But each one of us is different, it will affect us all differently no matter how much we have or have been taking. I have support from my wonderful loving husband, and my sister! I am one of the lucky ones. There are some who don't have any one to turn to, or rather can't turn to anyone. But I think with these forums it's gonna help a whole lot! My biggest w/d symtoms are the feelings of anxiety. I feel like if I could just bench press some weights for the next 2 hours strait, I would feel better. I'm also irritable. I have three precious angles at home that I'm doing this for, and for my husband - but mostly it's for me!!! I think my biggest strength is God. He knows how hard it is for me, and He's understanding and loving. I have prayed a lot in the last few days. Especialy on the days I don't have any, those are the hardest.

Time4change, I for one am proud of you and what you're trying to do...along with all the others trying to. I believe that half the battle is won when we finally admit that we have a problem.  

[Time4change07]

Well, I have read alot, but everyone's situation is a little different. I know that withdraws can be worse for people who have been taking longer, or higher doses. I was kinda wondering what to expect with the amount I've been taking for that length of time. More than anything, I need encouragement and advice.  Nobody but my husband knows about this, so I don't have many people I can talk to. I am just really nervous about what lies ahead and if I can even do it. I think it's more mental than physicall. They made me feel so happy and carefree and so I got in a ritual, and when I try to stop, my day is horrible. Thank you for the warm welcome to. (everyone)

[beachtowel]

Welcome....

You mentioned that you have been reading posts here for months but this is the first time that you have posted yourself.
Many of these posts talk about the exact question that your asking..
Was there some specific questions that you had?

[FLaddict]

everyone is different withdrawl symptoms range from runny nose, chills,sweats, diarreah, cramps, anxiety, sleeplessness, restless legs. everyone suffers to a different degree and amount of time they feel the physical part of withdrawl. generally its up to a week. sleeplessness can last for several weeks. the cravings seem to be the worst for many and they last the longest. staying close to the forum and talking about them helps alot. there are also herbal rememdies that help some.
welcome.. you found the right place. i am tapering down from a 60-100mg a day vicodin habit. i am down to 12mgs a day. have been visting here everyday for a month and have gotten a huge amount of guidance and support.

stephanie