How long does Hydrocodone withdrawals last?

[TNMedHater]

I was prescribed Hydrocodone/APAP (10/500) in December 2011. Never took more than the prescribed amount (3x Daily). I am now in day 5 since I quit cold turkey. The first 2 days were rotten. My whole body felt achy. Mostly in my lower back. I couldn't fall asleep. I finally fell asleep on the evening of day 2 and slept a good solid 9 hours. (Something I haven't done in quite a while.) When I woke up on day 3 I felt as if I had energy to burn. (Actually got more accomplished on that day around the house than I have in a long time.) However, after working about 8 hours on rebuilding one of my decks I figured I had worn myself down enough to get a good nights sleep...again. But that wasn't to be the case. Day 3 turned into day 4 with no sleep in between. I was able to sleep a little during the day and last night got about 6 hours sleep. But for the last two days I've had this feeling that my body's just not right. I've not had any nausea or vomiting, just diarrhea and a general feeling of malaise. And really not much energy or any ambition. Not sure if I'm bordering on depression. (Though I did have some ambition to get a little done on the computer when I woke up at 2:00 am this morning, but that only lasted a couple of hours.) Also, I find I have to be really hungry to eat (nothing sounds appetizing), and cigarettes (maybe fortunately) taste like they do when I'm sick with a really bad cold or the flu...ich!

Anyway, I have searched all over the net trying to find a list of withdrawal symptoms from Hydrocodone, and it seems no two sites can agree. And all the information I've found about how long the symptoms last are usually dealing with someone who's been taking a lot more per day than I have, and for a lot longer. So here are my questions:

First, can someone point to a reliable web site where they list the symptoms?
Second, how long I can expect this general lousy feeling last?
And last, how long will it take to get back to a feeling where I want to do more than just lay around all day?

Thank you all in advance for answering my questions.

[LVRich]

I have done it 3 times now.  2 neck surgeries and 2 back surgeries from a hit and run drunk.  My first W/D was from Methadone that a pain doctor got me started on.  I lost my mind and finally quit after 5 months.  By far the worst and at 30 I thought I was going to die.  went 8 days without sleep (maybe 10-15 min rem sleep) and then another 6 days with about 2 hours sleep.  Got zaps in my arms and legs for a month.

My second time was getting off 30mg oxycodone and 10mg Norco.  I was also given 2 months of dilaudid after my 3rd surgery.  It lasted 10 days with fever symptoms, constant throwing up and limited sleep. No sleep first 3 days then it got a little better each night.

The third time was off Ambien, believe it or not.  I was taking up to 15 a night.  The more I took the less I slept.  My wife finally made me stop.  I lived in Hong Kong and could get 200-300 every other week from a pharmacy.  Over there money talks and you can get anything.

I hope you all stick with it.  I understand why you go through it multiple times when your in pain and then more for the high.  Your not bad people, your just a person like the rest of us.  We are flawed as all people are flawed.  ONCE YOU START, DO NOT STOP.  No matter what.  You will really feel like you accomplished something once your done.

[mammaw2x]

From experience I use xanax on occasion for anxiety..However decades ago I was prescribed xanax for back pain (go figure) Short term is not a problem..maybe 3-4 weeks max..preferably less..however beware of long term use..I was on purple pill (1mg that is the strongest)  3x aday..They also come in .25 mg white pill...50 mg  peach colored pill..When I decided to quit I thought I could just stopping taking them..I kept getting sick and vomiting e/d with severe headache and did not know why..I finally realized what was happening to me..I had to take off work for 4 days..my skin felt as if I wanted to crawl out of it..along with jerky legs..The dr never told me how addicting they were..I was on them for several years..they are very effective for short term ailments..and give relief from withdrawal of other meds..At least they were for me..hope this beneficial..to someone...

[mammaw2x]

From experience I use xanax on occasion for anxiety..However decades ago I was prescribed xanax for back pain (go figure) Short term is not a problem..maybe 3-4 weeks max..preferably less..however beware of long term use..I was on purple pill (1mg that is the strongest)  3x aday..They also come in .25 mg white pill...50 mg  peach colored pill..When I decided to quit I thought I could just stopping taking them..I kept getting sick and vomiting e/d with severe headache and did not know why..I finally realized what was happening to me..I had to take off work for 4 days..my skin felt as if I wanted to crawl out of it..along with jerky legs..The dr never told me how addicting they were..I was on them for several years..they are very effective for short term ailments..and give relief from withdrawal of other meds..At least they were for me..hope this beneficial..to someone...

[tomnang]

I'm interested to know if this really worked for you. I've been on hydros for over 2 years and finally had surgery and of course the dose went up for the last month. Now it's time to quit and I'm wondering if tapering wouldn't be better than going cold turkey?

[MixedUP13]

I live in a home with my BF and he was prescribed 10/325 Hydrocodones because he is prescribed other medications that can't be taken with ibuprophen or other anti-inflammatory medicines.  I have taken them before for sports injuries and surgeries I had in the past.  With having access to these pills for basically free, it wasn't hard to take one here and there for residual back pain and other ailments.  This began about 2 years ago.  At first I was only taking them every few weeks or so, but over time I found that they woke me up, gave me motivation to do things, and masked my pains (Most of which I could easily remidy with exercize, but laziness gets the best of me).  Over the last year I went from taking one every few weeks to taking 3-4 a day.  I realized that when we got a 60 pill prescription filled, I would have the bottle reduced by 1/2 within about 2 weeks.  I'm aware now that I have issues with these pills, and have started to not take them anymore.  I have taken them consistently (at least 2 a day) for about 6 months now.  It is now 48 hours since I took the last pills and let me tell you the worst thing for me is the depression.  I feel completely worthless, like every decision I have ever made is leading me down a road to nothing but sorrow.  I'm sure part of this is due to my mother's health, which has recently taken a turn for the worse, as well as a bunch of other life situations that have sprung up which have been hard to deal with.  The desire to continue to medicate and numb the depression is greater today than I was expecting.  I knew the side effects of these drugs were strong, as I have had MANY friends who have dealt with the addiction, but wasn't prepared for how strong the depression has been for me.  I feel like I am in a constant state of hearing bad news... where your heart constantly feels empty and is skipping a beat, and doesn't let up.  I know this will go away, but it is making things very difficult to deal with.  I found myself avoiding anyone and everyone I knew yesterday (even my 3 dogs and 2 cats) because my anger was so temperamental and I wasn't able to control my reactions.  I started to think I was just hitting rock bottom emotionally, but then realized that I was also quitting these damn pills and was likely having a reaction to not being on them.  Thank god for these comments, or I would have likely gone home and taken a couple just to east the symptoms.  I am going to be strong and continue on and push through this BS and hopefully regain my control over my own life.  I really hope that everyone here is making progress with kicking this ****.  You always say you won't be the one to get addicted until it is too late.  Well, it is too late now to avoid the addiction.  The only thing I can do now is to push on and try to stay positive.   Here is to the fighters!  Keep going and keep connecting to others who can help.    

[toots1984]

I am and it is horrible. I feel like im going crazy. it hurts so bad.