Norco for 2 years - Time to get off

[DJR321]

Hi all. I've been reading these forums all day and finally decided maybe I should post to get some help. Here is my situation.

I've had chronic back pain since I was about 19 years old. I am 33 now. I was diagnosed with Aknylosing Spondilitus (Bamboo Spine) and so originally my doctor put me on vicoprofin 7.5 4x a day. Then I was moved to Vicodin ES 7.5/325 4x a day and now I am on Norco 10/325 4x a day. So I get 120 pills a month. Consistently for the last few months, that 30 day supply lasts me about 14 days. It seems that I no longer get the "buzz" from taking these meds, I don't get any real pain relief and it seems that I am just taking them to avoid the withdrawals. I often find myself buying "on the street" to cover the 2 weeks that I am out of prescribed meds. That makes me feel really crappy. Stooping to that level.

Once before, several months ago, I decided it was time to stop and so I did, cold turkey for 2 weeks. But then I ended right back on the pills. The pills made me feel happy, excited about things, alive. But lately that hasn't been the case. I feel like the pills are controlling my life, controlling everything I do. Once that stupid orange bottle gets low, I find myself worrying about how long they will last? Or how soon I can make another appointment to get a refill? It drives me insane.

I'm a single father to a 9-year old boy. I find my biggest complaint with these pills is they just make me... well.. for lack of a better description.. "blah". I just don't feel that I am benefiting at all by taking them. Their ability to control my back pain is very low. I believe that is how I got to taking so many in the first place. In the beginning, 2 or 3 a day were more than enough. Now I'm at like 7-10 a day just to not be in pain, never mind the euphoric feeling.

So last night I said to myself, enough is enough. I have to get off of this stuff. I just have to. I know that I "can" but my biggest fear is withdrawals. I kind of find it silly that a 6' 230lb man is scared of the shakes and diarrhea :) But as I'm sure many of you know, its a real fear. No one likes not feeling good. Another fear of mine is the onset of depression. I am already borderline manic depressive and I fear that not taking these meds anymore will make my situation with that worse.

So now I'm at a point where I'm trying to decide if I should just quit cold turkey, tough it out and get over this. Or should I fully admit to myself that I must have a problem, and tell my doctor and see what she can do to help. After all, she is the one who put me on this stuff in the first place.

So what do all of you think? What route should I try and take?

Thanks,

Derek

[lisa900555]

I have ben on norco 10/325  for 2 years I want to get off them ,but i have severe lower back pain but I want off the pills.It is just out off control. I get 120 a month and they don't last.I want to check into a hospital but I am scared of detoxing. What should I do . I am afraid it is going to cost me my marriage if I don't stop. What should I do

[DJR321]

Thanks all.

What a night. I was exhausted.. but all night I was having.. I don't even know how to describe it. It was like this uncontrollable need to flex my muscles. Especially in my shoulders and arms. Just a constant uncontrollable feeling. If I resisted, I started to get very strange pains in my chest. It was horrible. Only happened when I tried to lay down and go to sleep. So needless to say I got absolutely no sleep, and that was WITH taking 6 tylenol PMs.

[jeffclowns]

well your in the right place everyone here is great so hang in there congrats on deciding to quit that was a huge first step .make sure to read the Thomas recipe it does help really and make sure to read and post that got me through it I'll tell you .it really did..god bless.

[ang_811]

hey.. i just got on this post and read it.. im glad to see ur fighting and have made it to the 17 hr mark..have u tried to look up the thomas recipe here? its full of vitamins that will help u out. something i took was a 3 n 1 vitamin, calcium/magnesium/zinc vitamin..i took 4 n the morning and 4 the evening and i think they helped out alot with my wds. plus take as many hot baths as u can it will help the aches ur having.. get some immodium, hylands restful legs for the rls. if u can get to a sauna and sweat out those bad toxins it will help speed the process along..eat lots of fish and chicken as it will help anxiety ur having. good luck to ya and keep posting for support..u can do this, from reading ur post it sounds like ur a fighter and that u really want toget ur life back more then anything and thats what its gonna take to actually get ur life back. just do it one day at a time. good luck again to ya...<3 angie

[DJR321]

I take it back. I'm at the 17 hour mark now and I'm getting hot / cold flashes, runny nose and starting to feel edgy, exhausted and in a lot of pain... ugh....

[DJR321]

Ok.. so this is interesting. It has been about 16 hours since I took my last Norco. I feel slightly shaky and some cold sweats, but other than that... I must say I feel pretty darn good. I feel like my brain is a million times clearer.

Is this normal after such a short period of not having the Norco in my system?? I'm expecting to be bombarded with all these pains, but so far nothing. Now maybe its just too early to tell... but im hopeful.

[DJR321]

Well.. I've been working on tapering off over the last few days. I am down from 8-9 a day to about 2-3 a day with no real side effects which is good.

The thing that is concerning me the most right now is that I am kind of facing a double whammy so to speak. I want to get off of the Norco, but I do legitimately suffer from severe back pain. On top of that, my doctor has had me on 60mg of Cymbalta for the last 2 years as well. I know this may sound silly to some here, but the gods honest truth is getting off Cymbalta is probably a million times worse than getting off these pain pills. Originally my doctor put me on them because they are "supposed" to help with nerve pain (diabetic neuropathy, even though I am not diabetic). Well I've been taking them for 2 years and for the longest time I have wanted to get off of them because I see ZERO benefit. They certainly don't help my pain and they aren't helping me at all with any form of depression that I have.

So my real concern is fighting BOTH withdraws at the same time. I venture over to a specific board about cymbalta withdraws and most equate the process to coming off of a massive heroin addiction. I know that with opiates, you can at least start to feel better in a few days. With Cymbala, the real withdrawals don't even hit till after the first week or so, and then the process takes 8 weeks plus.

I guess my concern is which medication I should get off of first. I would assume that the opiates would be the easier solution, with the only draw back being the actual pain that I feel. Im going on 12 hours of no pills right now and I can tell you, I don't have any symptoms of withdrawal except for the excruciating pain in my lower back. I just took some motrin to see if that will help, but im not hopeful. I've been on pretty much every NSAID and aspirin / ibuprofen regimen that a doctor can come up with and nothing really works. Spondylitus is a hell of a disease. :(

I'm quite angry at my doctor right now. I know she means well and all, but she has me on two of what seem to be the worst medications around. Norco and Cymbalta. And the worst part is, she really doesn't understand Cymbalta at all. In fact, most doctors don't.

At least tapering is working for me with the Norco. The only problem is that the tapering will end today because I have 3 pills left and no refills unless I go ask my doctor. No point in that.

[Jaybay]

Derek, if you seriously want to beat your addiction, you MUST talk to your doctor.  And yes, you are abusing your pain medication.  It IS controlling you instead of the other way around.  

Nobody wants to be sick, but that's just the breaks when it comes to detox.  A slow taper plan worked out between you and your doctor will help lessen the misery, but at some point you have to pay the piper.  Being a big, strong man doesn't mean squat when it comes to addiction and detox.  My husband has cried his eyes out for over two weeks detoxing from Suboxone, which seems to have particularly vicious mental withdrawal symptoms.  Addiction and withdrawal are equal opportunity destroyers.

So much of addiction is mental.  While the physical withdrawal gets the most attention because it's so spectacular, if you don't address the mental side of addiction you will probably relapse.  That's why some kind of aftercare support with NA/ AA or private therapy is so critically important to recovery.  Since you admittedly have trouble with depression, have you ever done anything to address that both medically and with therapy?  This is a great time to start!

Make sure you have tons of support from real people.  That means your doctor, a psychologist if necessary, NA or AA and your family.  Yes, it's going to be no fun admitting you have a problem, but you may be suprised at just how much people in your life are willing to help you.  Trust me, they already know something is up with you.  They've seen the behavioral changes.  They may not know why, but they know you aren't the person you used to be.

Work with your doctor, get a solid taper plan written down, get some mental support, and get yourself clean and sober.  Then look into non-narcotic methods of pain management.  You CAN do this!  :-)