Norco Withdrawls

[FourChickens]

I had been taking up to 6 or 7 Norcos for about 3-4 yrs now due to arthritis in hips. I am a 41 yr old female and a little less than a yr ago I had a full hip replacement and was determined to to be rid of the pain medicine. A month or so after surgery I was taking about 1 Norco a day and feeling pretty good, but wanted to go hiking again, and wanted to start yoga so I would slowly increase my Norco intake so that I could tolerate any pain that would come with these activities. Now I am back up to 6 Norco a day and feeling so much guilt and constantly feeling sick and tired. I literally dont have the time in my life to be "down" the 7-8 days it would take to go cold turkey and emotionally I am a mess. i have a 16 yr old son who knows I take these meds and I need to set a better example for him. I am lost and need help. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to wean myself off Norco safely with no major side effects without my close friends and family knowing that I have fallen into the depths of despair again? I feel like a failure again, Please help.

[halstead124]

  hi,i have to say that all these people are right, i started last weekend and thought i had my whole tapering plan coverd i was off a little ,worried is wright i should have gave mine to my wife and had her hold them and looked into tapering plan that i didnt make it would have been little easier on  myself ,im sure if u find a real plan youll have no problem..good luck

[Jimmy1975]

Hi and welcome ! I have to say I agree with Worried at that amount you're going to need some down time in my opinion . I was taking three 10/500s a day and was pretty much threw physical withdrawals in 3 or 4 days . The anxiety and all the other effects that could be longer as it was for me .  You can do this and you will be so happy that you did trust me ! good luck .. Jimmy

[worried878]

tapering is tough...if u r an addict, which u didnt state?
tapering takes lots of self control and depending on you, sometimes better to hand over ur pills to a person u trust to dole out to u..if u can control how many u take then that is good

there is a taper article in the health pages...good to start on the thomas recipe as well....tapering is best done with small doses several times a day and slowly go down...ie..taking 1.5 pill 4 x a day is better than taking 3 pills twice a day
ie....a 6 pill taper could start at 1.5 4 x a day then go down each week by 1/2 a pill or a whole pill depending on how fast u wanna go...u can even cut back 1/2 pill every 3 days or so...we r all different.  A long taper is even more difficult to stick to tho for many

Writing out ur taper is also a good idea...getting rid of what u dont need/cept for a few emergency pills perhaps/is also a good idea...telling ur dr u no longer want the pills also is crucial

Ur dose is not horrific...i was at 100 mgs for 5 yrs...felt flu like for 3-4 days and went back to work day 5..I am also a pain patient

hang tight and keep posting

Pick a quit day,..a day u will be done no matter what!

[sudie58]

your not a failure, your human , you could do a very slow taper, it takes a lot of resolve, and disciplin, your feeling pretty rough now so its best to get this sorted, are you sure you cant tell your family? the guilt is obviously  getting to you, could you see you dr. ask for a taper plan,? i had a few relapses before getting clean, but you can do it, god bless