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Please help me. Vicoden withdrawls.

Right to the point. I hurt my back at work about a year agao. Prior to that I was having pain in my lower back and legs and I was put on Vicoden ES 5/500, 1 every 6 hours. After the back injury I was sent to a different doc who said I had fibromialgia. I was having trouble sleeping and in pain so he put me on Norco 10/325 one every 6 hours. That was great for a while until I went up to 60 mg a day. I was afraid, went to doc and told him and he cut me off after I had been on them for about 6 months. Ouch! My mom had some 10/325 so she hooked me up again. After a while the doc put me back on 5/500 4-6 hours, but my mom was still giving me 45 10/325 every two weeks. I am now up to 120 mg per day and I just picked up my 100 5/500. My mom has cut me off. I am worried about the withdrawls. I have prescriptions for ativan 1 mg, flexrill, valium 5 mg and ibuprophen 600mg. How much of each should I take to ease the discomfort? How should I ween myself off of the vic's? HELP. I am under a lot of stress financially and with my husband. I wont be going back to work as a zookeeper (my dream for as long as I can remember). So now I have lost my life of a job, I'm stuck working in our in home office and my husband is very controlling and has taken advantage of my depression. Thank you all in advance.
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Avatar universal
Methadone is not that hard to get off.  If you taper right
it can be done.  Methadone is the only drug that continues
to give you a good feeling.  While on methadone it tends to calm
you down.  You can always feel it because it builds up in your system.  That is why it is so hard.  

Methadone is the only drug that makes you constantly feel good.  It is not a high but a good feeling.  You do not feel emotions as strong bad or good as you would normally. Therefore it is hard to give up.  I tapered off without very many problems in 21 days. It also depends how much you do.  

If you take it for pain as I did you do not have to take as much as some that took heroin.  I took only 40 mg.  That is equal to 400 mg of codine.  My wife worked in a detox center and saw many people detoxed off with methadone.  

It works if used right.
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Avatar universal
Hello to my new found family, i have been reaidng this forum for the past few hours and i feel so much stronger. i am ready to stop! I am in the same boat as Natasha1. I too have been taking at leat 10 - 12 Norco a day, I feel myself living for these monsters. i am on my tenth as of 7pm but tomorrow it's going to change! I sure hope someone can give me some advice on tapering off these things. I have read so much and I just want to say Thank You All, this has given me the courage!!!!   Wish me luck and I hope to hear from someone. My e-mail is ***@****. I know i need help!!!
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Avatar universal
Hey Nervousnate, i feel so bad for you and all of us who feel alone in this addiction.  Ive been thru withdrawals alone my entire adult life.. Have been clean for a few years now from a terrible heroin addiction. About 15yrs to be exact.. Since then i have been on and off presciption pain killers and recently picked up a habbit with tussinex which is a very strong cough surup..Ive known heroine addicts to use tussinex if they could get it.. Anyway getting back to the family and them not understanding the problem we have.. My husband has never done drugs in his life so when im going thru these w/ds its very hard for him to understand.. He has noticed however, when i take pills, my attitude can be kinda nasty , he calls them the mean pills, lol..I guess i get nasty cos i know i will soon be sick from not having them.. Its an endless cycle and god i pray that this time i will stop forever.. Good Luck to you Nervousnate
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Avatar universal
Hello all. I have been taking hydocodone for three years now. It started out at 12 a month. Now I am perscribed three daily. Only one problem. I had a toothache almost two years ago before going on a 1,500 mile road trip. I was taking them every 1 1\2 hrs to cope. I ended up at ten a day after that. (7.5mg / 200 ibuprophen) tabs. So I started buying them from a dealer (VicES) to keep my refills straight with the doc. I took a week about two months ago and went from ten down to four. I was proud of myself. I was crawling out of my skin, shaking, no sleep if you know what I mean. That was just cutting down! I lost all of my outgoing side, I got depressed and lazy. The pills were the only thing that got me out of my shell. So now I'm back up to 8 a day, sometimes 10! I suffer from fybromyagia (spelling??) I NEED HELP. My wife and I are not doing so good. My credit is destroyed etc... My friends think my condition is made up. They don't understand. However, they do want me to get help stopping the meds. I am alone. I hope some of  you can give me some insight. I will continue another time. I don't want to go on too long! I don't want this to run my life the way it has been.I want to go to a rehab, but it costs a fortune. I got one price of $14,700.00 for a 28 day program. $8,000.00 for the rapid detox. I would like that since it filters all of the drug from your system in one day. I would hope that will eliminate the horrifying withdrawl I keep reading about. I have no health insurance and don't know what to do. Alright already I'm done now. Sorry!! I hope to talk to everyone soon. Thanks for listening!!
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Avatar universal
I know. I understand. I'm new to this site and to W/D's. I have always had my mom to kick in between refills and she just gave me some agin, but not like she did before. It's still up to me to make sure I taper off at the right pace.

NO ON HERE will judge you. We are all at different levels of addiction to one thing or another or a bunch. This site has helped me so much. Hang in there and keep reading and writing to all of us. We will be OK.
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Avatar universal
GOD
Hey... I've been just where you are.... so here's something to think about:

Get a pencil & paper and a calculator. Figure out exactly how much $$ you have spent per month these last few months. then multiply the # you get by how many months you've been using the medication.

Title this paper, "Money I've spent." Set that number aside.

Call up 5 treatment centers, and get prices. calculate the average cost.

Grab another piece of paper and write down the average treatment center's cost.

Title this one "Money I could spent on treatment."

If "Money I've spent." is GREATER than "Money I could spend on treatment." -- You need the treatment... What I'm getting at is this: How much is your life worth to you?

If I had to get a loan to spend even $100,000.00 on treatment, I would do it in a minute. Yes, I would have to set aside the Idea of buying my own house for many years, but I would at least be relatively happy and ALIVE to enjoy what ever I COULD purchase with my remaining money.

I had to sell my sportscar to pay for treatment.. for a couple of weeks into treatment I was really pissed off that I "Lost" my car... Now I realize that it was the BEST investment I could have EVER made. It was an investment in ME and my own SANITY!!!

Good luck, and I hope you make the right choice....


Jess

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Avatar universal
i'm free for 10 days and it's incredible that i was counting pills like you and believe me this is better. when you get your refill you'll just have to control your numbers or you'll be on this site forever. we all know what your going thru if your going to try to do this by yourself you have to be strong or get pro help, or get the meds off the net and live like this forever,this way is better, you are back in control.all the best.
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Avatar universal
Yea, my mom kicked enough 10/325 to get me to 9/5/02 for the refill of the 5/500. She also gave me a bunch of 50mg Trazadon. What can anyone tell me about that? It feels like a great weight has been lifted because I will at least have 30mg per day up until the new script. I just feel relived and not as afraid. Sad isnt it? Just knowing that I have a backup makes getting my dosage down and the w/d much better. I was honest with her and told her what I was thinking and feeling. She said that she knew and felt bad about giving all the pills in the past. She said that she didnt want to see me in pain. I told her the plan and how so far it's a toss up between going cold or tapering off. I'm proud that I am down to 60mg today from the 120mg I started out with. I know it will take a bit longer but I dont want to have an asthma attack or worse yet not be alert enough to deal with the hubby. Things get used against me and I cant be weak or I will start to second guess myself.

Thank you all so much. Being able to be honest about how much I love/hate the vics has been a great help. I can f-up and tell you guys and I wont be judged. Thank you.
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Avatar universal
Perhaps you should be honest with your doctor and tell him/her that you fear you are dependent on painkillers and that you would like to detox from them.  Ask him to put you on a reasonable taper--then give the pills to a trusted friend or family member if you don't feel you can stick to the taper yourself.

In any case--good luck with it!  I haven't taken any vikes for about 25 days--and it feels good, even though my back is absolutely killing me today.  I even have some left, but I just don't want to start with it again.  I might decide to go back on something to kill the pain in my lower back, but for now I am hanging in there.
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Avatar universal
Thank you. You are right. All I do is think about running out and counting my pills hoping that I miss counted and there will be more or if I maybe droped one in a drawer. I have 24 left and that is not going to make through 9/5/02. Don't know what to do. I gues I could hit my mom up for some again and be TOTALLY honest with her. She needs them too for pain and has gone without so I wouldnt hurt and be able to get the office caught up or clean the house. What a mess I got myself in. I couldnt take it and took my ration for today. That just changes all figuring I had done yesterday. I have called my doctor to ask if he could switch me to something else for a couple of weeks and I have not gotten a response yet. You all know what I'm trying to do - maybe get some 10-325 for a couple of weeks or darvacet or codeine and then go back to the 5-500's - trying to avoid the w/d's this time. I have been lucky so far if you can call it luck.

Thank you all so much.
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Avatar universal
my dear if you taper like that,you'll be in the hospital for your asthma and wd's forget about your husband he'll be the last thing on your mind. i tapered off it was a long process,if you try to fast you'll never get this off your back,you know it's all you think about all your waking hours counting pills it's your life,maybe you can't do it on this 100 but surly by the next 100 you,lldo it. it takes time,you can,t be taking 10 other drugs and expect to be free of this hell your in,take it slow,pray,eat better, and if your old man don,t like it tell him to take a hike,but take his smoke you may need it. make a plan your comfortable with,don,t try to do it in a week,try a month or two at least by then the wd's won't be so bad good luck
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Avatar universal
Hi Natasha.  I think you're doing great, and don't think you're being a baby, these withdrawals can be the worst, can't they?  When I have been through the wringer with them, I will just lie on the couch unable to move, taking baths every couple of hours.  Those are the only things that really seem to help, that and the other, OTC meds for the symptoms.  Fortunately, the withdrawals from shorter acting opiates like hydro and codeine are shortlived.  Having fibro, I would imagine talking to your primary care physician about a good, long term pain management program would be an important thing to do.  

memikey, I LMAO'd at your raccoon story!  You know, raccoons are one of the smartest woodland creatures around?  They use their little hands just like a human and can show their emotions on their faces.  Those poor raccoons probably all went home that evening and told their family's about what you did to them, you mean man.  They probably still talk about it until this day - LOL.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your comments. I'm a baby too when it comes to all of these w/d feelings and the crawling skin one is the worst do far along with the sweats. My skin was real sesitive to the shower and bath tub. Sort of hurt. I dont know if it is the fibro kicking in because of the stress of w/d or what. All I was able to telll him yesterday was that I was attempting to cut down my usage. He said that was great. I took a valium yesterday after noon to calm me down and we sat and watched the Witchblade marathon for 8 hours. I didnt sleep and I really hurt today. I'm going to call my doc and tell him to switch me to something else. I'm thinking if we keep switching I wont become so accustomed to any one drug. I dont know. I will let you all know.

Thank you again. I will check in latter. :-)
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Avatar universal
Just read your taper--that sounds too quick if you ask me, but them you know yourself better than I do.  If I had gone on a taper that was that quick, I think I would have felt pretty bad w/d's.  I did it a lot more slowly (started 7/1) and I lowered VERY slowly.  But then I'm kind of a baby when it comes to w/d's--especially the skin-crawling feeling (we used to call it the heebie jeebies).
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Avatar universal
I'm so sorry for you--I wish you your husband was more supportive of you.   A relationship that is not based on trust seems rather doomed to me.  I hope that you and your husband can reach the point where you can be good friends to each other, as well as lovers and husband and wife.  A good relationship that is built on mutual trust, love and respect can get you through anything.  Besides--it just a lot more fun.  I stopped taking pain medication about 3 and a half weeks ago, and I just can't having to deal with w/d and abuse at the same time.  I'm really not judging, but you seem like such a nice person, who is really struggling and I just feel for your situation.  I was once in a pretty destructive relationship and I just can't imagine doing that again.  I wish you a lot of luck.
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Avatar universal
dont feel bad about talking to us ive been on this board less than a week and have never been so honest with anyone and i have a supportive spouse  im just ashamed to tell her everything   and i try to be as honest with her as i can this addiction thing  has been on a need to know basis so to speak because im ashamed and i want her to have faith in me she doesnt know the extent of it she knew about the pills and then about the methadone treatment but not the useing in between ,sice treatment ended and now  if you fell guilty because of not telling him as i do tell him  a little at a tikme and when its over fill him in   im not saying thats wrong or right you know whats besy for you   but keep venting to us   i know i will     peace   ralphie  i wish i used a fake name so i could show her   some of theese tthreads    oops!!!
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Avatar universal
OK. Here is my taper down. I am aleast going to taper down to my next refill on the 5th. Yesterday I took 16 5/500. Today will be 50mg. Mon 40mg, Tuesday 30mg, Wednesday, 30mg, Thursday 25mg, Friday 25mg, Saturday 20mg, Sunday10 mg and Labor Day 10mg and I will get my 100 5/500 on Monday or Tuesday because I can pretty much get them a day -3 days early. I am going to tell my husband and just deal with what he has to say. I'm hoping he wont talk to my doctors and if I tell him that Ma had been kicking down and just stoped and left me this way (other than putting all the blame on my mom)he will really hate her because he puts the business troubles on me and her because she was helping in the office. I don't know how open I will be about that this week. I will have his valium, my ativan and flexril to help. I will start with the multi vits today. I have some but never took them. Will also start drinking a lot of water all the time and not just when I have cotton mouth. I also have access to prozac (his that he wont take) and to some pot (his that he smokes every night)but I'm afraid of my asthma.

Does the withdrawls cause other symptoms such as asthma and hives? So far I have had the regulars not the runs. That is I have not been in about a week becuse of the dose's I was taking of the vics.

When my mom gave me the 10/325 They made me feel like cleaning and doing yardwork. As soon as I started to take my 5/500 I started feeling sluggish, have a pain in my stomach and a lil bit of a headache.

Sorry, I took off again with the book.
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Avatar universal
I really didnt sleep well last night. Yeaterday afternoon I had an allergy reaction to who knows what and I ened up with hives all my body. My throught swelled and since I have asthma we went to the urgent care right away. I got a shot of benadryl and some steroid.

I woke up about 130 in the am sweating and cold, but did not get up and take a pill like I have been. I waited until about 630 this am and took 20 mg. When I got up I told my hubby that I really was not feeling up to the ride and that I had a hard time sleeping because I was cutting back on my meds. He knows I take them just dosnt know how many. All he said is that if the work comp would have authorized a pain clinic 8 months ago when my doctor referred me I would not be strung out now. All OK I guess. He was fine and went for a bike ride alone. He still dosnt know that I have been talking to all of you. I can be honest with what is going on with strangers and not my husband. He judges me to strongly and it is really hard to admit I am week. People take advantage of me that way so I have to be a hard ass all the time.

How do you do it mismike? Going to a shrink without your hubby finding out? I was thinking of going to detox if this gets toooo hard, but I'm afraid that I will be cut off of everything else that I have to take for the back and fibro pain. The doc has givin me codien and soma before he put me on vics. In fact early on I had gone up to 60 mg a day and went in to tell him that I was feeling that that was wrong. He cut me off of everything. My hubby talked him into giving him the codein to give me. Boy did that give him power over me. my has felt bad about all of that so she started letting me buy her 1/2 of her meds every two weeks. Thanks ma, but it just made it worse when she decided to cut me off. I have to get through this. I can get another refill on September 5th. I'm afraid that I will go through all of this and start up on the new prescription. I just need to take what I have been told to take. 1 every 4 hours. I have thought about buying vics online too.

Sorry everyone. I just wrote a book. Talk to all soon and thank you.
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Avatar universal
Well I messed up. I counted what I had left and I have taken 50 5/500 over the past 4 days. Today I have had 80mg. Better than 120. I will have 40-60 on Sunday. OK? I went up too high and I really dont feel good at all. I'm a bit sick to my stomach and I am really cold. I guess that's part of it from what I have read. All I did today is lay around the house. Will write on Monday. Hubby and I together all day on Sunday. That's our bike ride day and I dont know if I am going to be up to it. I will hold off on any pills untill the afternoon to switch myself over to taking them at night. I need to sleep or the fibro gets worse.

Thank you all again for your support and I hope to be here for someone in the future.
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Avatar universal
That was so funny,lol I laughed my ass off on that one , thanks i needed a good laugh this morning,lol Well my husband whose name happens to be Mike also has no idea i still take my pills he would divorce me, he threatened it, he was so bad on me this past month, he gets social security , iget a check my 2 daughters get one a piece and he gets the biggest one., We do ok money wise, but when he found out i actually owed a dealer money, oh lord he lost it, i dont get my meds anylonger legal, my doc cut me off. but anywho, he got his gun and was actually gonna go to my dealers house,lmao, i told him you go to their house you wont be coming back , they will kill your ass,lol so he finally calmed down and was still pissed at me but he was also still here, we had a long talk, he was bound and determined to make my life hell and believe me he has, he took my check book, i never have any money now, he paid the bills so i would have no access to money. I cant blame him but the way my friend looks at it and my dealer, they say he should have shared his with me and i wouldnt have had to go and buy them. lol
But little does he know my dealer fronts them to me and i manage a way to get the money to pay her.
Hopefully i wont owe her anything ever again because i am trying my best to stop.
I want to thank you once again for the laugh. keep in touch.
Mis
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Avatar universal
Well, Ms. Mike, I certainly hope there is no confusion between myself and your somewhat "misinformed" hubby. :)

Seriously, though, I was in a VERY similar predicament as you ... except my wife finally found out I had lied to her about quitting and actually divorced me over it.  This was many eons ago, but get this (some actual addict humor): a fugging racoon, of all the available people on earth, is what gave me up!  We were camping in the mountains, and I had thought it perfectly safe to discard one of my empty pill bottles in the park garbage cans ... but later that night, we got raided by racoons, and the next morning amidst all the debris (my wife was a clean freak, even camping!), she found the pill bottle with my name on it laying right there in the dirt.

And now for a "typical addict" response: I remember being so mad at them (the racoons) that I actually staged an ambush the next evening ... by hiding the (powder) fire extinguisher from my car under my sleeping bag.  So later, when they hit us again (I think I even left them a few peanut butter and spit "bait" sandwiches), it was on!  I first hit the remote burglar alarm on my car, and with lights flashing, sirens a blaring, I laid into them with my trusty fire extinguisher.  I must say, though, that no matter how childish this prank was, I never thought racoons capable of "expressions" ... but you should have seen the look on their terrified little faces when that powder keg went off amidst all the chaos.  Scared the living sheit out of them, literally!  Not to mention my equally befuddled wife, who later commented with a calm yet quite dismayed: "You just lost it, didn't you, Michael?"

"Lost it," indeed!  The little buggers were just lucky I hadn't remembered the cocked and loaded Ruger .357 magnum I always kept under my car seat.  I'd probably still be in jail serving that one out.

But I think Napoleon summed up this one best with one of his not-so-famous quotes: "From the sublime to the ridiculous, there is only one step."  No wonder the program is TWELVE steps long!  Woohoo, viva, Napoleon!

Anyway, I almost forgot about that bit of fun trivia until I read your post, mismike.  Hope you found it as (ridiculously) amusing as I now do.

--memikey
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Avatar universal
Naughty Natasha!  Giving away your Ultram like that.  You should get hold of your friend and at least warn him/her of some of its horror stories on this site.  Just to be on the safe side.

Not judging, mind you, just suggesting. :)  Chat at you later ...

--memikey
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Avatar universal
OMG I so know what you are going through, my husband is the same way, he knows i have a problem with it and he thinks i have stopped I tried so hard to stop but if it is there in my face and i can get them i will. It is so hard to stop and it takes pure will power to do so and stay clean, I am seeing a doctor well a shrink for my drug problem and she wanted me to be admitted into the hospital last week and there was no way i could because my husband thinks i am clean. so what else could i do. I wish you the best of luck with this. If you need to vent or just talk email me at anytime.
Mis
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Avatar universal
Oh my God Memikey! Shot your leg. Yes I am looking around this site. Dude... I was also given Ultram. Never took it, had vics. I gave it to a friend of mine two days ago. gave her the whole script (50). Talk to you soon.
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