New Here, need Help with Codeine addiction,

[Raj786]

Hi, am going to try the Infamous "Thomas Recipee" since tomorrow, now, I live in India and it's 12:30  in the night here, I slept a bit too much in the evening and I was thinking of trying the Diazepam or Ativan right now to be able to sleep, just needed to know is it okay to take it if I have already taken some 300 mg of Codeine today? is it okay? I posted the original question here :- http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/349538 please do take time and out and help, thanx ...

[beachtowel]

stopping using means to stop using!

You have a Cocaine problem but you want to quit Cocaine by taking Valium or Ativan so you can sleep and then some Codeine for ?????

Your thinking and talking like a drug addict.......
You don't take narcotics to get off narcotics...........

There is no heavy W/Ds from Cocaine.......it is 90% mental......
You will have some huge cravings to use, Cocaine addiction will try to seduce your mind to use.....

You need some counseling your brain has been damaged by your cocaine use your thinking and emotions are distorted time and drug counseling will help you a lot............

You don't need anything with the "Thomas Recipe"........you need the willingness to stop using....

[allaboutmary]

I think there might be some miscomunication.  You are coming off opiates ? correct?

[allaboutmary]

When did you take the codiene ? I don't mean to ask alot of questions, but the more we know the better we can help you.  Are you trying to go cold turkey off the codiene ? Please respond. I don't think Beachtowel meant to be rude he just misunderstood .....codiene ....cocaine.

[flmagi]

Your withdrawing from Codeine (opiate), right?  I did cold turkey too and did take Ativan at night for a short while, as needed. That is also addictive so you don't want to use it for a long time. The Thomas recipe works well, but you will still go thru the withdrawls. It will all be worth it when your done. I am clean 4 weeks today from opiates and I am not hooked on Ativan. Haven't taken any since the first week of withdrawls. Don't really care for them, not my drug of choice.  Do whatever you need to to get clean.  Keep talking to us. Stay strong.

[Raj786]

I am not doing Cocaine, I just have a problem with Codeine luckily for me I guess. Anyway, that was very blunt but I guess you are right! If I had not taken any more Codeine today, 1 day of withdrawal would have gone by and it would have hopefully ended by next Wednesday which is until when I have taken leave off from my job. Now, I have just prolonged it by a day, so, if I am not alright by Thursday, I will have to work feeling like ****!!
I had a bottle of Codeine and some Tramadol pills as well left and I just emptied them down the sink. Thank you for making me see the obvious .... hopefully I will make it :)

[flmagi]

Thats great you dumped the drugs down the sink.  You can do this. And we're here to help.

[Raj786]

just took it at 10 in the night here (4 hrs previously), so I guess, I won't be feeling anything until maybe for next 18 hrs. Then the fun begins, ... will keep posting as needed... thanx for the support all of you...

[allaboutmary]

That was a very very smart move , putting them down the sink.  It is very hard to get clean with them in the house.  We are here for you. Hang in there !

[mlconnell]

Way to go dude ! I jumped out of my chair hollering YES !!!!!! When you said you dumoed the stuff down the sink !! Awesome, your ready to quit... How many Codeins were you taking a day? How many MG's?

[flmagi]

LOL, you jumped out of chair. Isn't it exciting when someone takes the plunge to get clean? I get so hyped up over it too.
GO RAJ GO

[Raj786]

Hi, again, your encouraging messages have got me all excited n Perked up as well and I feel that cool silent kind of determination which helps ppl pull through difficult times, this forum and all of you people here are really great. There are many many AA groups in my city and they have meetings everyday but not many ppl have problems with drugs in my country except for brown sugar (heroin mixed with other junk) and ppl who that are too far gone before you know it and they are lost causes who can't be helped, ppl smoke cannabis a lot here and there is some problem with Opium, Ecstacy or Coke as well but not much, so the closest NA meeting to me is in a Church an hour away from where I stay and it's only once a week so this Forum is helpful and I am glad I found it.

Now, just once more, I have been taking more than 400 mg of codeine everyday since around 3 months, occasionally I have taken 3-4 50 mg tramadol pills with the Codeine as well and then taken some Soma pills as well. I read about the pain you are going through mlconnell just trying to quit a 50mg Tramadol-pill-a-day habit and I am scared really scared about what's coming now, can somebody just tell me if Tramadol WD is worse or is Codeine WD worse pls, just want to mentally prepared, that's all.

Today is actually the first day of my withdrawal since I ended up taking codeine yesterday as well, right now, I have just felt some anxiety since 2 hrs and I just took a 2 mg valium pill for it and it has helped. Since I have gotten rid of the codeine and the tramadol pills I had yesterday and I haven't bought any more today, there is no turning back now  because the only pharmacy store which sells me the codeine syrups closes at 8 in the evening and it's already past that time here ... for the last time - any tricks to get through this easier anyone or is it simply no pain no gain?

[ozboy7]

Fantastic mate. It really is a good feeling moment when someone dumps the junk. Congratulations.
My only concern for you is ( and I think its really important to understand what Im about to say) that you are trying to predict symptoms of withdrawl . Getting infromation, believe me , is a truly noble goal, but dont expect or try to predict the symptoms as you may OR maynot even get them.

I am coming from personal experience when I say that in our attempts to get help, we are also trying to get confirmation ( and recognition) from our fellow human beings of what we are doing and that is VERY important, but you must sit back and look at things objectivaly and not try to "live "the experience through others ( or even becuase of others) as a reward mechanism, which is just what we were doing with drugs, seeking out and rewarding ourselves with pleasurable experiences, in this case a drug ( codeine).
Sometimes we also take these drugs for pain and we must NOT presume guilt or blame for someone whose reason for pain no longer exists i.e.they have healed an injury. However, our brains may still tell us that we have pain and that its not healed and in this case is a very valid reason, as the pain IS real in our brain and we still produce endorphins to cover the pain eventho the injury is healed. This can be called Chonic Neurological or Neuropathic  Pain Syndrome and Im using it to show a point to this forum which I will get to eventually. In othere words the person may over time feel increasing levels of pain and increase their pain medication, often under Doctors orders. This is NOT to say the person is wrong or bad or even an addict , just someone who has , and its more common than you may think, fallen into a Brain Trap ( yes I made that term up  ) or a pain loop that never ends. Even when the person realises this and its explained to them does NOT mean the pain goes away, indeed it can get worse, but it does eventually lead the person down the track of rehabilitation and stopping their drug addiction or at least make them aware that yes, they are addicted, but it wasnt by choice at the time of addiction. quite a distinction between Addiction types but anvariably leads both  to seek asssistance. Its at the point of realisation that the person accepts that they have a problem and I dont mean the pain, I mean the painkillers,

At this point a person will try to learn everything there is to know about the pain, the drug and the addiction. Good stuff. Its great to get knowledge.. OK I am about to get to the point.... But because of the "nature"of the illness i.e. pain and endorphins and Brain loops, its a long winding road that leads to my point. ( yes I made that up too. the word could also be called "feedback". like the feedback on a microphone and an ampliphier)  .

Another example is when a person has made a decision like taking treatments for cancer or meds for H.I.V.. We have all heard of the horror stories of side effects from drugs and treatments for these conditions and how awful they are and we get to find out WHAT those side effects are in our education mode.

And of course within  day or so of taking these meds we start to suffer the side effects, and feel the worst and most ill of our entire lives before then. The nausea, the vomitting, the pain, the dreams, the days of sleep then the days of NO sleep etc, etc, etc
Dont get me wrong some people DO get those symptoms, but we have to be a little carefull, because some DONT. And we may be one of those people who DONT. Not always but the probability may be higher than you think, because you are expecting the worst. You may end up experiencing a mild form of the side effect, but because of who we are , we dont listen to the logical or veritcal part of our mind, instead we seek rewards and congratulations or sympathy by having the symptoms to get the reward. NOW Does anyone see my point.

Pain = Pain Killers = time/addiction = realisation/education/rewards= Health
Ilness = medications = addiction/ side effects = rewards/assistance = addiction  = illness etc etc.the loop goes on.

So in summary what I am saying is  Great, Fantastic, well done Raj786, for giving up your addiction, thanks everybody in the forum, good or bad, assistance to Raj786 . Its  really good to see humans helping each other instead of killing each other and the world would really be a better place, but lets sit back and calmly see were we are going, in this case Raj786 sit back, go out, do stuff, fun stuff ( within physicall boundarys), LIVE, dont wait for it to happen, IT may. But it MAYNOT.
And yes I am the person in the story, and my addiction was morphine (200mg at least twice day), liquid morphine for breakthru pain, Dexamphetamine, Clonazepam and eventually " öther"amphetamines".All of which I am OFF for good.

And Yes, when I started treatments for one particular disease, I went through the most appalling illness I have ever felt for over a month  before side effects calmed down, but, am still on same treatments, and the reverse for another illness. I.E No symptoms.
Thanks for listening and thanks for actually getting this far. GO RAJ786
ozboy7

[Raj786]

Well, I have just managed to go through one whole day without getting high in more than 3 months, and though I don't feel very well, it's not bad either and I sort of realize how true what you say is, thanx for taking the time and explain it this way to me, I can relate and find a lot of identification as they say in AA/NA with what you say,  infact anyone who has been addicted to pain medications or even street drugs while trying to 'treat' theselves either from mental or physical problems will as well, the side affect - addiction sooner or later comes in to the picture, but then not every one suffers the same amount as I really see now, except for a few chills, some body ache, only a bit of anxiety, haven't feelt very bad at all and the normal non-narcotic medication like paracetamol and even herbal tea I tried in the evening has worked wonderfully well for me, at least until now. I am thinking what the fuss wall about now.

The other thing you mentioned about seeking sympathy from others is also sadly quite true, I have told everyone I know about it's their pitty or sympathy I want beneath the surfact. I called a friend I know since childhood who lives very close in the evening to have a few beers and just hang out to keep my mind distracted, he was all pitty and caring explaining that this will also hurt my family, the usual things, we are both IT programers and in hopes of making sure that I understand the gravity of doing Codeine and how it might lead to worse things and the chain of events that follow he also drew a programing flow-chart and explained the logical decisions, progressions, explaining very seriously the consequences, though it was boring, (and I told him so) it brought out the one single simple obvious but subtle fact that the only way way out, the one logical thing is to 'simply stop', whatever the WD's may be, I have to go through them anyway. Honestly now, it's no secret but all the talk about being scared of withdrawals is an an excuse to keep on doing drugs while you are enjoying them. I am Not saying that the withdrawals aren't terrible for everyone or for ppl doing harder drugs like heroin, cocaine etc... but even then, the mental part is at least 51% of the whole thing.

I never felt anything too drastic physically while I was out, strangely the chills, anxiety and joint aches increased for the first 3-4  hours today and then they decreased a lot. I returned home an hour ago and that is when I took more paracetamol, asprin, some herbal medication for the stomach and I am quite normal since they took effect. All of today, I was dreading what was coming and scared a lot but after I read your reply, it makes sense to me, maybe I am one of the lucky ones who don't feel the worst of the withdrawals, I should be able to get sleep now after reading a some boring book or the other for a while ... maybe tomorrow, I will feel a bit more but I have the Valium ready just for that. Also, it's not that I have never gone through any illness or physical pain before and others go through so much pain as you ozboy in your addictions and fight against the diseases which inflicted you. I feel guilty about making such a hue and cry about my little Codeine addiction in just one day,   ..  I should make it through  as well, no excuses will suffice... coming here and talking about this addiction has really really helped not just in the info and assurances I have received but the realization that I am not the only one in the world who is suffering from this has made all the difference, I had begun to hate myself but now I am easier on myself and it makes the difference ...