Vicodin Addiction

I am embarrassed to admit that I am 42 years old and addicted to Vicodin ES - sometimes up to 10 tablets a day. It started over 5 years ago after a pinched nerve in my back.  I have since developed chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia although I am not sure if the addiction has brought on the problem.  Before that I worked out 6 days a week and taught aerobics.  My injury and subsequent problems brought on depression and low self esteem as well as weight gain and I found the Vicodin gave me a "euphoric feeling" and I could get through the day.  What I found amazing is that my doctor kept okaying my prescriptions.  I have tried many times to quit - sometimes as long as two weeks but the utter exhaustion and depression made it hard to keep going.  Through this I have managed a full time job and taking care of a teenager.  I am now afraid of the long term damage I may have done to my body.  I have started working out again with an attitude of "I'm going to do it this time."  My question is - how long can I expect to feel pretty tired and edgy, etc. from the withdrawl (withdrawal) symptoms?  I have recently started Wellbrutrin for depression which seems to work fairly well and I have no side effects.  Your answers and encouragement will help...thanks.

[Chantelle]

Dear Sue,
    My name is Chantelle & I was so touched by what you wrote. I am 26 years old & I was addicted to Vicodin, Lorcet,& Fiorinal with Codiene. I would take anything that was Codiene based. I also have been doing this for 5 years. My son was born in 93 & I began to have headaches. I started with Vicodin & everything progressed. I was taking 10 to 12 a day just to get through the day. If I did not take theses pills everyday I would go through wothdrawels & they are awful. You become weak shake diarrea (diarrhea) can not focus much more. I had to go into a treatment center & get detoxed which takes 7 days. You CAN NOT just stop taking the pills you could have a seizure... You could die... Now I feel GREAT! I see a counselor every week I take Wellbutrin too! It is a wonderful drug & it helps with cravings! I also take Inderal it is a medicine for my heart it beats too fast & that is from the drug abuse also I take Neurontin for my moods & I take Trazadone for sleep. They are all Non Narcotics & believe me they work. I hope by sharing my experience I have helped you.. God Bless You!

[john horan]

I have severe RSD&have been on vicodin for three months,I take 4 pills a day.Lately it seems its not much effective for pain^&i want to take more Is this a danger sign of addiction or dependence on the drug

[Candi]

I work with a woman who I believe has a severe addiction to vicodin.  We work in a medical setting at a retirement community and she has access to narcotics.  Pills have been stolen but we do not know quite how to confront her-she is the Director of this community. Please give us your advice!

[John Russo]

Hi, In 1994 i had a terrible accident while working. A large crane fell on my legs and crushed my nees causing me to get total reconstructive surgury. I was perscribed Vicodin Es 7.5. I am now and now only recently realize i am addicted to the Vicodin. I find myself taking up to 15 a day at times.

I am scarted that i have physical and mental dependancy to them. what should i do? I dont know where to begin. Please help i am a 30 yr old male. When i take Vicodin i have no pain, my hands a warm again, i have an appitate, i feel like i can do anything in life. Without them i feel usless and always in pain.

please help

email me

***@****

[Jesse]

I have been taking 1, sometimes 2 vicodin es for about 2 years. Sometimes I have one drink. I am ready to stop both, but am afraid of withdrawal, although I have not honestly abused that terribly. No one knows about this in my life as I am in a 12 step program. I have 3 children and a wonderful husband.

Please advise

[Ms M]

Mr Vic:

I liked your post. It did it for me.

[kristin]

I have been on vicodin for about 3 months. this is my 2nd real day with none.My doctor has me on the Catapres patch. I feel very weak , no appitite. and very depressed. I  have 3 kids to deal with. Can anyone tell me when this will get easier? i feel like such a **** hole..........

[Andrew]

It is now 1:35am,and I feel as if I am gonna worsen overnight.I just have stoped taking lorcet 10/650,which I have been taking for 2 years now. I am very sick,and hoped to find info on how to make myself feel better.I have been preparing for this for a while,but i feel the worse I ever have in my life. I was taking about 10 lorcet 10/650 a day,and decided to try to detox myself at home.I have been asking God why this has to happen to me,and the only conclusion I can come to is its my own fault.I am only 20 yrs old,and feel as if my life is slipping away from me.I lost my girlfriend recently and that makes it worse.My legs feel so bad,I wanna just cut them off.I started taking the pills to relax me so I could go to sleep,because my dad was going through a tough battle with chirosis of the liver,and I had a ton of worries.I hope my story lets people know that it is hell getting off these things.If anyone wants to email me , my address is ***@****
THANKS

[Jo]

I am in my fifth day of hell going through self imposed withdrawl (withdrawal) and detox from Vicodin.  Those damn pills were ruining my life, and making me sicker and sicker.  I was up to sometimes 8 a day.  After a while, it was making me equally sick to take it, as to not take it.  I decided to finally stop already.  Consumed my life with watching the clock to see if it was enough time since my last one, juggling doctors and pharmacists to keep my "habit" going.  This is the hardest thing I have ever done and I'm doing it on my own, and trying to keep my job and raise my children.  I'm really hoping it'll only be a couple of more days.  Would appreciate any help, advice, or survival skills.  Email me at ***@****.  Thanks, and good luck to all of you!

[dmsbjake]

i am 17. i have been taking vicodin for 6 years. it started when i was in the 6th grade and got headaches and went to my doctor and he told me i had migraine headaches and gave me vicodin. i took them with no sign of addiction. but then i felt the pills not giving me the effect i wanted. then i started taking them when i had bad days. and i my rational was this will make my day better. then on good days i would start to take them saying to myself this will make the  day great. and on great days it would make them better. it then got to the point where i would take 7 at a time of 750mg pills. i got depressed and i had to lie to my parents saying i spilled them in the sink. or faking headaches. i started to fake them and say the vicoden did not help and would go in to the doctor and get a stadol shot for a huge high. i have quit many times but started up again. i was able to function and go to lacrosse practice and go to school. i am from an area where problems like this are not accepted because all the millionaires that our family friends and next door nabors would look down at my family. i have thought of taking my own life for what these pills have done to me. i take on a huge amount of pressure. all of my siblings got into ivy league schools and i have to look at schools that will take me. not only in academics but on the sport field. all of my siblings have been captains of there sport. and that so far is the only goal i have been able to complete for my family. i want to get help for this but it would crush my family and make others look down at them for something i did. i am trying to quit on my own but withdraw makes me sick and shake and get bad fevers. it makes my legs feel like a thousand needles our in. i want to know if there is an easy way to quit in secret.

[jaydeesil]

i am 17 i have been taking vicodin 7.5/500 for like three month im not sure if im addicted. I tell my self im in control but i take them even when i dont want to iv never been threw opiate withdrawls im kinda scared. does anyone have some advice for me anything would help.thanks

[NASTO]

whats up! Seems like you havent been taking too much too long. Get out now while you can. I was using up to 150mg's - 200mg's of oxycontin a day and decided to stop CT this tuedsay am. That tuesday morning I remeber laying on my couch thinking to myself,"theres now way in hell you can do this". The mind is powerful and will do anything it can to get its next fix. Im now nearing day 5 and am about 99% better!!!!!! I cant believe I didnt do this sooner. Im one of those lucky ones who goes through WD's fast and with minimal discomfort. We are all different. You just got to suck it up and bite the bullet. I might think of the pills once or twice a day, but know the high aint worth it! Good luck to you and let me know how your doing!!!

[The_Sandman]

NASTO, I MUST ASK. What about the anxiety......day 5 and do you still feel any?

I have just recently experienced my first withdraw.

What has been my biggest issue and after 5 days is the ANXIETY!

I had to take a another pill to ease it a bit so I could enjoy dinner out with my sister and wife ect.....  not a multi year/regular  user here (Norco on/off for a couple months but a recent binge and a cold turkey withdraw has made this last week real hard)......maybe I just binged and c/t = perfect storm, but you seemed to have gotten thru it eaiser than I did.

I hear OXY is some real HARD CORE stuff too....... so any more anxiety after 5 days?


Sandman

[tera32007]

Iam 25 and have been taking vicodin for 7 months and today i just told my mom and boyfriend that i have a problem i tryed to stop taking them before but i got really sick and i had to hide it from my boyfriend because he didnt know and i have a 5 year old son and 1 year old twin girls so i started taking them i didnt even get threw one day now i told them because it was ruining my life well are ruining my life i was wondering if i can detox at home and what can i exspect to go threw and how long will it last

[LadySundown]

I wish there was a way to reply to each of you. You're all in some stage of w/d and I know that's not a fun place to be. I have been here since Feb. and finally have 31 days clean. I was addicted to fentanyl pain patches. For me the answer was a long slow taper. Some people go c/t. Others use Sub. They all work if done correctly......Hugs to all.....LS

Bill,
We don't care how people spell on this forum. We understand that they are under a great deal of pressure. As long as they get their thoughts down, we can help them. Will correct spelling help your detox??

[wolfin]

Wow, I have been taking vicodin 2-3 per day for a couple of weeks for four slipped discs causing nerve pain. I'm also taking 900 mg of neurontin. I wish to God I could experience the feelings that many of you have expressed, but i feel that the meds I am on are barely touching the pain. Am I getting the wrong kind of vicodin? Is this the wrong drug for me??
Everywhere I hear how euphoric people are who take this, and I feel sort of gipped because I don't feel anything except electric bolts going down my leg, and pins needles and burning in my foot. It actually took me one month to get doctors to prescribe me something other than Naprosyn. WTF?? And I have never, ever requested pain meds. I didn't even used drugs while in labor, just not my style..
Should I see a pain clinic specialist?? I don't think I could even get addicted to Vicodin cos no effects here..
Mr. Vic... your routine sounds smashingly good, lol!!

[lauslv]

I know it sounds silly but try a chiropractor they can relieve a lot of the pressure from the nerve. It is a great alternative before trying surgery just be sure to find one that comes highly recommended and most insurance will pay for it for a long period besides after the first visit its fairly inexpensive.

[Carebear215]

Something to think about.
I didn't realize this until this weekend when I had to go without my pain pills.
But if you take these pills every day, several times a day it will be hard for you to know if you have something else wrong with your body.
As far as pain goes beause the pain pills hide the pain.
I found this out this weekend, I had pain in my breast that I had not had in a long time and it hit me that is because I am always on the pain meds so I don't feel the pain.
I did get my pain pills filled on monday, and I am taking them again but not near as many as I was I am going to cut back on how many I take a day.
And then see about going back to the norco then cutting back on them.
My doc will switch me back to the norco if I want too he told me he would already.
I take the 7.5 mg percocet he gives me 180 for the month that is 6 a day. When I had the norco's he gave me the same thing but the norco 10's.
The norco's have less tylenol in them so he prefers them over vicodin.
Have any of you taken are heard of combunox? That is the oxycondtin (spelling ) with ibuprofen in it .

But just think about it for those who take pain meds on a regular basis like me pain is a sign or body sends us telling us something is not right. And if we are on pain meds it will be hard to feel that sign.
Really makes you think

[FLaddict]

you may not get many responses since this thread was started in 1999... but its been 3 days so far.. The worst should be over Monday or so.. depending on how much you were taking and how long..5 days seems to be the norm with the 2-4 days being the worst.. some symptoms linger longer but its mostly the mental stuff like depression and no energy..

[tera32007]

well i stopped taking vicodin wed was the first day clean iam feeling a little better today can anybody tell me how long it will take to feel normal

[Brian4Life]

Vicodin was my first and favorite drug. It started after a series of surgeries and it got bad from there. I craved them bad (still do but I am fighting it) and would do almost anything to get them. In my home town pain killers are like the black plaque and it is very hard to be a recovering addict here but I want it bad and if you do you can also beat it.

[tera32007]

thank you i do feel alot better today but i dont feel all there yet like iam in lala land what do i do about the no energy part will that get better this seems really weird but it feels good to not wake up and worry about how many pills i have left and how would i get more or the worry of knowing i was going to be sick if i didnt have any now i just need to work on what comes after this i dont feel all the way better yet but i hope soon

[FLaddict]

Get some vitamin B complex either 50 or 100mgs I take mine 3x per day.. It helps alot with energy.

[tera32007]

how long have you been off vicidon and how long did you feel not normal

[tera32007]

the doc at the hospital told me about a drug called suboxone have you ever heard of that this is my 4th day off and its geting better i called the docs that give that drug and nobody could get me in till tue thats 2 days away do you think i should still go and try to get on that

[fishmeal]

Hi this is pre-written for new people… hope this helps:

It’s good to come clean with your doc concerning your desire to get off.  Ask him to prescribe clonidine, (not klonopin), and ativan.  These will help with sleep, RLS and anxiety.  These are best to try before formal detox and drugs like Suboxone.  I had to do formal detox because I tried everything else, including alcohol to get off and nothing worked for me.  Keep in mind that when you try… make it a good one!  Have some time off of work if you can… maybe a four day weekend or more.  Make the last day of work without any drugs, because the first day is usually the easiest.  Try your best to get clean and stay clean because the other methods require more potent drugs and you have to come off of those.  I am still on Suboxone and am a little worried about that… It does work well but the jury is out on, “At what Cost.”  I also learned while in detox, that the mind can psychosomatically create pain to “get’ the drug.  Another was that healing while using opiates greatly diminishes.  I would have sores on my hands that would take way too long to heal.
Best
Fish
I have to say this from the bottom of my heart,  Please do not keep playing around with these drugs they are very powerful ….. kinda like heroin in a pill and just as hard to get off once you attain the, "addicted" status.

[FLaddict]

I have been off for 46 days... I used Sub to get off actually.. I took it for 10 days..  By tuesday you will be feeling better.. Sub is started during the first day of withdrawl (withdrawal).. If you started taking it now you would just become addicted to that..since the pills you were taking will be out of your system... By tuesday you will be 6 days in so something like Sub would not be needed.. its for the accute nasty withdrawl (withdrawal) symptoms..
Keep in the fight you are almost there..

[CASURFER]

Hi,  I injured my shoulder several months ago surfing (42 yrs old).  Didn't go to the doc until I realized the pain was not subsiding.  Doc says probably torn Rotator, but not bad enough to do surgery.  I stretch and do everything I can to warm it up before any activity.  Have had xrays and also appears I have small bone spurs on the shoulder causing some arthritic activity.  Doctor prescribed 60 Norco 10/325 10mgs and Flexerin (Cyclobenzaprine) 10 mgs.  The Norco were prescribed on 6/22 and I finished them off 7/29.  I haven't used the Flexeril as the Norco seemed to work.  I was only taking them in the evening 1/2 at a time up to a total of 2-2.5 pills.  Never felt any type of w/d until last night when I didn't take any.  I kept clinching my fists and didn't really get any good sleep.  Took a half of flexerin and didn't really help any.  Thought about taking more, but don't want to aggravate a problem that might be addiction.

Today I am in pain again, which I can deal with, but feeling very edgy and angry.  I don't want to be in pain, but I don't want to have mush for a liver in a couple years.  Any thoughts?  Can you become addicted this quickly???  Tell me your experiences!!

[CASURFER]

It is now day three of my w/d  I tossed and turned most of the night clenching my fists and stomach muscles repeatedly.  I drank 3 beers before bed thinking it would help.  Pretty stupid to drink as alcohol works as a depressant.  I was miserable, but not as miserable as the previous day and night.  Most of the day yesterday I tried to avoid any face to face interactions with people, but was forced to later in the afternoon.  It wasn't so bad.  It was hard to put on a happy face with the family, but I did discuss it with my wife.  It is hard to believe one prescription over a month and a half could bring on this type of dependency.  WWWoOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!  I finally fell asleep for a solid 4 hours and actually feel pretty good this a.m.  I haven't ingested any Norco since Sunday night and didn't really start feeling crappy until early monday evening .  It is now Wednesday and I think I'm gonna make it.  I feel tremendously for those of you that have been hooked for so many years.  I could just as easily join you as my doctor is willing to prescribe pain meds readily.  I'm sure I could pick up the phone and tell her how much pain I am enduring (NOT) and get more.  Why does a drug that makes you feel so good have to be so destructive to your body and mind.  Don't know the answer!!   I do know I have two beautiful children and a great wife and a great life that I do not want to throw away.      

[FLaddict]

Great job on getting away from the evil while you still had a fighting chance... If you need any support please don' hesitate

[tay88]

hi my name is t i am 18 years old and i have been on lortabs 10 325's or 10 500's for about 3 years now, my mother had the same problem i have, but hers was about 3 years ago she was taking up to 25 pills a day and that landed her in the methadone clinc, she has been on it for 3 years with no relapses. as for me if they are avialable i can take in upwards from 15-20 pills a day, though i havent been able to take this many for that long. i say i take them for migranes (migraines) and toothe problems, all i can say is OP's (onnline physician) are corrupt and terrible people who are not looking out for you all they want is your money and they really dont care about the wellbeing of the person. seriously you talk to them on the phone fax some records and in a day or 2 you have 120 vicodin on your front porch...isnt it just great....=(

[liz416]

I have been reading the posts and i'm at the end of my rope I take up to 30 vicodins a day if I can get them, I am at the point now I spend all my money on them I have been looking for help but noone seens to want to help you if you dont have insurance, when I stop taking the vics I get mean and withdrawl (withdrawal) I cant do normal everyday things I cant even get out of bed and feel like ending it all any help or advice?

[txgirl8]

YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY DO IT!!!! Today is my 6th day and it is the first one that I feel like I might just survive this! IT IS HELL but I believe you can do it!! I had lost myself and my faith but I have found both through this experience-I will lift you up in prayer!! I am 31yoF who was up to 30-40 Hydrocodone 10/500 every day and I quit cold turkey! I know that this is a lifetime commitment and am not naive enough to think that I am cured but I feel like I CAN AND WILL make it!! As far as symptoms go I had severe muscle aches/cramps esp.in thighs, chills, total lack of energy, could barely move but very restless, diarrhea, nausea, crying spells,lack of sleep.....it will get better though....Day 5 pretty much everything was gone but the leg cramps-YOU CAN DO IT!!
This board has been a lifesaver to me so I hope that you come often-these people are great!!
God Bless You,
txgirl8
Day 6

[Jack_Dawson]

I have a different kind of vicodin addiction.   I've taken one (1) 5/500 / day since 2000.   Originally prescribed for a ruptured disc, I do still have a prescription.  I very much look forward to taking my one (1) pill a day.  OK sometimes I take two.  On the weekends when I go out, I cannot even fathom having drinks and socializing w/o thowing a vicodin in there someplace.  They make me very social and in a much better mood.  However what does that say when you have to take a pill to be social?  I started on Wellbutrin about 5 days ago and it's either in my head or not but I feel like I'm on a Vike buzz right now and I haven't had my one (1) pill yet.

[PrettyIs]

So are you sayin you don't like the Wellbutrin???   :)

[sailorguy54]

does anyone have experience at a reputable detox center? if so, what things, besides counselling, do these centers use to help with Vicodin/hydrocodone withdrawal? diet? supplements? meds for unpleasant symptoms?

[PrettyIs]

Hey, I was just yankin your chain!! Ya know....Gotta laugh, feels good :)  I hope your day is going well. So are you gonna kick the vikes or no?? Just wondering, I reread your post and ,I dunno, it doesn't sound like your a super addicted person, ya know??? I am by no means anyone who knows much about it, just that I have been clean for 10 days from my vike habit and I feel GREAT..... Keep in touch :)   Sarah         ps. How could you tell I'm a smarty pants????   haha :)

[Jack_Dawson]

So far I like the WB, smartie pantz.   It may be all in my head though, who knows?

[wife of user]

I have been reading all your comments and they are so helpful to me.  My husband lost his mom almost 2 years ago to a terrible illness.  He couldn't handle it and a co-worker offered him a vicodin to help him deal with the anguish.  The past two years have been very difficult in our house.  He took over the guest bedroom and totally withdrew from our family life.  Our money seemed to be disappearing and I could never figure out where it was going.  Like $2,000 - 4,000 per month.  He had no interest in being with me.  Even seemed to have no interest in talking to me.  Just hanging out in that stupid guest bedroom in our house and watching tv.  He would go to bed almost right after coming home from work and stay there all night.  In the morning I would check in with him thinking he had had a great nights sleep but he would be flat on his back, miserable, and exhausted.  One time he did let me know he couldn't have a happy thought.  I thought he was depressed.  It was so baffling to me.  Every weekend he seemed to be sick in bed, but on Monday he was fine to go to work.  But finally he told me 3 weeks ago when I begged him to tell me what was going on.  He was addicted to vicodin and had been taking 10 - 20 pills per day.  He was so ashamed that at his age, mid-40's, that this could happen to him.  He had tried cold turkey many times and suffered the horrible w/d symptoms, sweating, leg cramps, insomnyia, edgy feelings, skin crawling, restless legs, double sneezes, yawning.  He went online searching for help and even went into a rehab center where he wasn't treated nicely.  They all required around $6,000.00 for detox which we could not afford.  When he told me I was relieved to find out what was going on and began immediately to find a way to help him.  I found a detox center that was funded by the gov't and was actually free if you earned a low salary.  He was there for 5 days and they took great care of him.  He was given 3 huge meals a day, small dose of subutex once a day, and attended meetings all day long.  It was amazing to see his eyes wide open, bright and alive again when he came home.  He did have mild but annoying w/d symptoms for at least one week after the detox.  He is still double sneezing and some leg cramps come and go, and he had insomnia a couple of nights.  Last night he finally slept but my concern is that for almost a week he feels pressure in his head, like a head ache.  I am wondering if this is part of the w/d or if something else could be wrong.  I read in this forum somewhere that the brain could create pain so you think you need the drug.  Maybe that's what it is.  Anyways I wish the best for all of you.  Please seek help from your spouse or a friend.  They may surprise you with the caring and support that you need.  My husband thought I would yell at him.  I was just happy to know what was wrong and try to help him.  I felt terrible for the suffering he went through these past two years.  And terrible that he felt he couldn't come to me with this terrible problem.  By the way it only took a couple of weeks for him to become addicted.  Thanks for any comments you can offer.

[gregoryg]

ahhh....pain meds....drug of choice...i fell into them by accident....yrs ago...stopped..then had migraines and  "pain meds" were pescribed....which in no time i was taking more than i should ..but didn't do anything for the headaches....anyhow....was making good money and started buying perc/vics...was doing 10-15 a day...seemed like a good time...untill i realized i was screwed....so...i joined a meth clinic....( big mistake)...john lennon said it was easier gettin off herion then meth...i hated going afterawhile...saw nurses..lawyers...as well as junkies with their kids at 5 AM waiting to get in. ....after 6-7 months i was fed up....told my counsler i was getting off this ****...she of course wanted me to do it their way and do it slowly...i stopped in 3 days."completly"....and for the next 10-13 days i thought i was gonna die....i was clean for  over 6 years...had a heart cath done and didn't even want anything for pain or to knock me out...thought i was in controll....then i got hurt a year ago...hip..( besides knees lower back /gettin older stuff)...well....young doc gave me "vics"...and away i went....i knew what i was infor and today is day 4 without...i will not take anymore...i hope those of you that want off the pain meds will find you can ....good luck to all...

[Jack_Dawson]

Greg,

Mad props to you for quitting cold turkey.  Day 7 must've been a *****.  And good job controlling it this time around.  When you were buying the percs/vics...was that online?  I haven't gone that route (yet) but have thought about it.  Anyway...keep it up.

[chasesgirl]

I have been taking Norco's and Vicodin every day up to 15 a day for 5 years. I cannot tell you how ready I am to be done with them. My problem is not the physical withdrawls that occur afterwards, as generally mine go away in about 3 days. For me the problem is depression. I have great husband, family, job and absolutly no reason to be depressed, but when I come off of them I get so so down. Does this happen to anyone else and if so how long does it take before you feel happy again (in the non synthetic sense of the word?)!!!

[fishmeal]

Your story is so much like ours.  you're gonna have to do something about it because there will come a time when they will not work at any level.  Remember you are taking herion in a pill

Mr Vic... I think I remeber a post just like yours about 6 months ago???  there will come a time for you when the 2 little pills will not work either.  Just longer for you.

[wife of user]

My husband was taking 10-20 vicodin a day for the past 2 years, which I only found out 3 weeks ago.
When he went through w/d he had a feeling of deep depression and doom, like not wanting to live, which lasted for a week or more. He told me once that he couldn't have a happy thought.  Feelings of doom are very common during w/d.  He went through cold turkey at home without my knowledge many times and finally went to a detox center when I found out about his problem.  He is on an antidepressent called zoloft, which he was on for the past couple of years. Maybe you should ask your physician about an anti depressant.  A family member of mine who is a physician and worked in a detox center told me that the danger of opiate w/d is the feeling of doom, not any of the other horrible w/d symptoms..  Does your family know about your problem. The best hope of recovery is support from some one who loves you and wants to help you get better

[chasesgirl]

Thanks for your input. I know from my husband it is also difficult to be the spouse of an addict, so props to you for getting on here and talking to me! I am currently on a complete system detox, so hopefully this time next week I will be doing better. Good luck to you and your husband.

[SavannahGA]

I am a 41 year old wife and mother.  I am scared to death right now.  I have had 2 surgeries in the past 4 months.  Needless to say, the docs have provided endless prescriptions from oxycontin to Vicodin.  I am no longer taking the oxycontin just the vicodin.  I'm convinced that I am addicted.  If I go any longer than 6 hours without one I start getting extremely tired, irritable and dizzy.  So, even if I don't need the med for the pain I take it to make the other symptoms go away.  I only take 3 pills a day and the doc says I am fine, no need to worry.  
I have read all of your posts and I think he is wrong!  I'm not even sure if I need the pills for pain anymore because I never let myself go long enough between doses to find out.  So....it's been 4 months since I started the meds and I want to stop.  My husband is about to leave for a year long deployment next week and I don't want to ruin our last week together but I also don't want to do it all alone. (I have no local family & just moved to GA)  How would I take care of my kids while going through detox? (they are 13 & 15) I can't even imagine having to drive them to all their activities feeling that way.
Any advice?
My heart goes out to all of you!  God bless.

[GA Guy]

Is there no way you can get someone to take the kids for a week while you "catch the flu"? If you want to go cold turkey..which may or may not be manageable with your kids, then I'm posting some information below. If neither of these are an option..suboxone may be an option. Try suboxone.com and read up. Many on here have done it, and you can too!!
PS..Greetings from Charleston...Savannah must be just as horrible these last two weeks!!

This is a work in progress...something I've been working on off and on for the last couple of weeks. It's not considered complete, but has lots of info from lots of sources. If any of the "old timers" have anything to add, let me know and I'll add it to the document. I hope to use this to post a general "how to" every couple of days or so.

Listed below are suggestions for detoxing and quitting an opiate addiction. They are just suggestions compiled from the detox plans of people that have gone through cold turkey detox before. They are just that, suggestions, and any detox plan is best when done under a doctor's care. Consult your doctor before trying any of the suggestions below.
This is prewritten for anyone who is beginning, or planning on beginning, a cold turkey withdrawal to opiates. This includes drugs such as tramadol (Ultracet and Ultram) codeine (Tylenol #3, #4), Darvocet, Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco, Lortab and derivatives),  Oxycodone (Endocet, Percocet, Oxycontin), Morphine, Demerol. Fentanyl, and Dilaudud. There are many other opiates not listed, so if you don’t see it listed, you can still use these suggestions if it’s an opiate based addiction. None of these apply to benzodiazepine based addictions. These addictions should never be dealt with by going cold turkey. Always consult a doctor for a detox plan for benzos.

First of all, opiate withdrawals are uncomfortable, but rarely life threatening. You may think you’re going to die, but most of the withdrawal symptoms are just very uncomfortable. If possible, take some time off work or schedule a week or so in order to fully detox. You will honestly not feel like doing much anyway. Opiate withdrawal symptoms usually start 12-24 hours after your last dose. But, the timing of withdrawal symptoms depends upon the drug taken, length of time you’ve been taking it, and how you react to medications. The physical withdrawals usually last 3-7 days, with days 3 and 4 being the worst. Once again, this is all dependent on the person. You can expect these symptoms. Dilated pupils, diarrhea, runny nose, goose bumps, abdominal pain, stomach cramps, sweating, agitation, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, leg cramps, general aches and pains, and sleeplessness. This list is not absolute. You may experience all of these symptoms, only some of them, or other symptoms. Again, we are all different. Below is the famous Thomas Recipe. It gives some general information along with supplements that help with the withdrawal symptoms. The only thing I would add to this list is a blood pressure drug named clonidine. It effectively lowers the blood pressure and lessens many of the withdrawal symptoms. Most any doctor will prescribe it if you’re honest as to why you need it. Discuss dosages and frequency with your doctor.

Thomas Recipe:

1. Valium (or another benzodiazepine such as Klonopin, Librium, Ativan or Xanax). Of these, Valium and Klonopin are best suited for tapering since they come in tablet form. Librium is also an excellent detox benzo, but comes in capsules, making it hard to taper the dose. Ativan or Xanax should only be used if you can't get one of the others.
2. Imodium (immodium) (over the counter, any drug or grocery store).
3. L-Tyrosine (500 mg caps) from the health food store.
4. Strong wide-spectrum mineral supplement with at least 100% RDA of Zinc, Phosphorus, Copper and Magnesium.
5. Vitamin B6 caps.
6. Access to hot baths or a Jacuzzi (or hot showers if that's all that's available).

How to use the recipe:
Begin your detox with regular doses of Valium (or alternate benzo). Start with a dose high enough to produce sleep. Before you use any benzo, make sure you're aware of how often it can be safely taken. Different benzos have different dosing schedules. Taper your Valium dosage down after each day. The goal is to get through day 4, after which the worst WD symptoms will subside. You shouldn't need the Valium after day 4 or 5. During detox, hit the hot bath or Jacuzzi as often as you need to for muscle aches. Don't underestimate the effectiveness of hot soaks. Spend the entire time, if necessary, in a hot bath. This simple method will alleviate what is for many the worst opiate WD symptom.
Use the Imodium (immodium) aggressively to stop the runs. Take as much as you need, as often as you need it. Don't take it, however, if you don't need it. At the end of the fourth day, you should be waking up from the Valium and experiencing the beginnings of the opiate WD malaise. Upon rising (empty stomach), take the L-Tyrosine. Try 2000 mgs, and scale up or down, depending on how you feel. You can take up to 4,000 mgs. Take the L-Tyrosine with B6 to help absorption. Wait about one hour before eating breakfast. The L-Tyrosine will give you a surge of physical and mental energy that will help counteract the malaise. You may continue to take it each morning for as long as it helps. If you find it gives you the "coffee jitters," consider lowering the dosage or discontinuing it altogether. Occasionally, L-Tyrosine can cause the runs. Unlike the runs from opiate WD, however, this effect of L-Tyrosine is mild and normally does not return after the first hour. Lowering the dosage may help. With breakfast, take the mineral supplement. As soon as you can force yourself to, get some mild exercise such as walking, cycling, swimming, etc. This will be hard at first, but will make you feel considerably better.

[Stacy b]

Hi, I read every single post today and I got so emotional, because addiction is a hard thing! I have been taking vicdins off and on for the last 4 years. The first time my doctor gave it to me because of real serious back pain that I had at 20 years old then. I didnt think anything of it I would take them when I needed them and didn't when I didn't need them. Then my mom would sometimes take the rest of them and I didn't understand why until she told me that they take the edge of your day. That they make you feel good. Shoots I didnt care what she said, I said forget what she's doing. I had my own life to live and I was happy. I remember the day that I took a vicodin without pain it was when I had hard times and I was working two jobs and one job was more stressed than the other and I would take it at that job to feel less stressed. Then I would take it at the other job and then in my everyday life. Threw all of this I never thought that I was addictied to it. I just thought that I was kinda going through life with a edge. And that nobody could beat me because I didn't feel pain emoition pain nor physical pain. It was great hmm. Now I am experiencing real hard times and stress is my biggest problem because like weed, i will take when I am stressed and it will relive some stress. In the begining I would take like once or twice a day, now when I have access I will take like 5 or more a day just to get through. My body sometimes feels wear down and I don't like the same things I am use to like drawing or writing. I always worried about money, basically I feel like I can't get my life back to where I am content. Sometimes I try to blame society and how screwed up in this world like the war, discrimination against me cause I am black and being bought up poor. I would think of all my problems so I can justifed, that way I don't beat up my self so much. I know I cannot fix the world problems and trying to get better starts with my self. I know this! I am smart, attractive but a the same time it's still so hard! Today I took one and that's only because my friend gave me it and it was all she had I would have took more but supply is limited. She is the only person who really know that I taking them I don't share my information with no one not even my boyfriend. In which it really effecting our relationship because when I don't have it I am cranky, I don't have desires like I use to. I don't know what to do anyone with some encouragment or advice please please let me know. Thank u every one for sharing your stories. Peace and Love

[wife of user]

So sorry to hear about your troubles.  My husband is going on 3 weeks without taking a vicodin.  If you read all the posts I went over the whole story of his abuse for the past two years.  He started out slowly taking it to help deal with the his mothers illness and passing away. We also have financial difficulties and it helped relieve his stress and worries.  He has always had difficulty dealing with stress.  He started out taking 1 -2 a day and it turned into 10-20 a day  because he had a way to get it and the money to buy it.  He was a slave to it.  He was cranky when he tried to get off of it on his own.  He was ashamed and didn't want anyone to know he was taking it. For the past 2 years he withdrew from his life with me and our children.  He seemed to have very little interest in me or anything that was used to be enjoyable to himself.  He loved watching baseball and didn't care anymore about it.  He also always seemed jealous of other people who had easier lives than him, financially and job difficulty-wise.  When he finally told me his "problem" and I found him a local detox and rehab center that is free if you are below a certain income, he went throught the detox and did still suffer w/d symptoms at home but on a much lower and more maneagable level for the past 3 weeks but is almost completely over them.  He is back to enjoying things he used to and he smiles alot, something he never did while on vicodin.  He aways worried about where his next dose was coming from.  We have talked more in the past three weeks than we did in the past couple of years.  His eyes are bright again.  My husband was ashamed and afraid to tell me of his addiction.  Afraid of my reaction.  But I love him and felt for his suffering.  I never knew a drug like this could do this to a person.  It took his life away and our life together away.  Maybe you could tell your boyfriend.  He may be more understanding than you realize.  You could also contact Narcatics Anonymous.  Life has its ups and downs and when you use a drug to handle the downs it really just makes it harder.  I am trying to help my husband learn to deal with stress with my help and not the help of a drug. Having Faith in God has helped him as well.  I wish you the best.  

[Calzy]

I wonder how many marriages are suffering because a person gets hooked and can't share it with their spouse. My life is a mirror image to what your husband did and you could of left blanks in your story and i could have filled it in to the T. At least your has a little happier ending than mine and i know you have a ways to go but your on the right track now. The small aches and pains will subside for your husband real soon. I know how happy you & your hushand are to have this nigthmare over with. My hidden addiction lastest over 13 yrs with my starting with back & neck problems. I checked out from my family within the 1st yr of using hydro's and progressed into total melt down and in the end with my (ex) giving up on me 4 yrs ago and 4 pretty young kids still to be raised in a separated setting. Even with losing my wife I had to wait until most everything was gone before i woke up. Each wk i have less material things but my mind is getting stonger. Now I know what i have to do but the hole is so deep and muddy i'm hoping there's enough left in me to dig out. I gave up all the lies 6 mos ago after my long love affair with Miss Lortab and am now dating Miss Methadone but there will be no love loss there and taking the right steps to end that now. I did'nt know about these sites before and it could of saved alot of pain if i had known long ago. But it is sure nice being and working on being clean and sober.    

[kirwan49]

First this is not your fault. And God is NOT punishing you. I have spent 4 years taking everything from vicoden to oxycontin.. I spent many nights trying to stop and feeling just the way you are. I had worked my way, seeminly overnight, into a $2000/mo narcotic habit. It started with taking 2 vicoden every couple of nights to relax and get a good night sleep. I will spare you the details of the following 4 years of absolute hell. Only because I have a loving and forgiving God,  am I able to share a little bit of my story with you today. I have done two things. First, I got on my knees and thanked God for all he has given me. I asked for his forgivness. I needed more in my life and could not and would not go on living the life I had been living. The second thing I did was found a doctor who understood addiction. He put me on Suboxone 2mg/ twice a day. This completely took away ALL withdrawl (withdrawal) from the years of narcotic abuse. I know, enjoy getting up and going to work, spending time with my family. I am living the life I had completely given up on. It is possible. Do not give up. Press on. Everything I was doing to make my life better was not working. It wasn't until I gave up and let something bigger than me take over, that my life truley began.                     Kevin K

[bettie1976]

Im no doctor but I dont believe you can have a seizure from coming off of vikes and percs. My doctor told me it was totally safe to detox at home (unless alcohol related). Now BENZOS you could have seizures, etc. Anyone disagree with me? I got this info from my doc.

[butterfly923]

Hello all,
I am on day one of wd and I have been on vics for about 8 months on 10-12 aday. I am so scared because I had 3 days without and it was miserable and I don't want to be a mean mom and wife. I have been looking on line to buy vicodin and instead went to this forum because I don't want to live as a slave to this drug. help me anyone!!!!
Melissa

[wife of user]

Slave is the perfect definition for vicodin users.  You become a slave to it because without it you suffer terrible w/d symptoms. My husband just went through detox at a detox center for vicodin use of 10 - 20 per day for the past year, but used smaller amounts for one year prior.  He tried many times to go cold turkey at home without anyone knowing.  I had no idea he was using this drug.  He suffered through terrible w/d symptoms and could never completely do it on his own.  In the detox center he was put on Subutex 2 times on the first day and once a day for 3 days following.  This is an opiate blocker that can be prescribed by certified doctors. (It must be started when you are in w/d and must be under the care of a certified physician) He came home on the 5th day feeling wonderful.  Within a couple of days he did have w/d symtoms (symptoms) again, however these were do-able compared to what he went through trying to go cold turkey at home.  It has been 3 weeks and he is doing great now.  I'm not sure he could do it without help though, since he tried that so many times and it didn't work. Do you have some one, like a family member that can help you get through this.  My husband was ashamed and afraid to tell me, so he suffered alone for so long.  When he finally told me I only cared that he got better.  Vicodin is so addicting and it happens so fast.  I knew nothing about it until a month ago, but have learned so much since.  Check out all the posts here if you have to go it alone. There seems to be very helpful advice here.  Good luck to you.  My prayers are with you.

[butterfly923]

thank you for your prayers. I came forward with my husband just this morning. I took my last two and had to tell him because I knew I'd be acting like a foreigner. He was so supportive and is behind my getting sober of this. I guess I should call my doctor and try to get that subutex stuff because I am already feeling the effects of now having it. I am excited about the new life I am starting I just got to make it over this hump. thankyou

[meamon]

I am on day three of vicodin detox.  Today I feel worse then I did yesterday.  I was taking 10 -12 vicodin es a day.  I realize that everything I put my husband and now adult kids thru and it is killing me.  Not just watching me on those horrilbe pills, but all the money I spent getting them when my one months prescription ran out after only ten days.  How long will this feeling last.  I am suspose to start a new job on monday. Today is wednesday and I haven't had any since Monday.  All I want to do is sleep thru this but I can't sleep.  My body hurts so bad.  I am taking advil, tylenol, aleve, and I do have some some flexeril.  I think that I will try some of that for the spasms I am having.  I just want to know how long this will last and will I be feeling better by Monday to go to work after being off them for a week. Thank you for any help you can give me.  I feel like such an idiot!!!!!

[Calzy]

I dont know if your family knows what your doing but they need to know so you can get the support you will need. I choose to hide my heavy pill use until my wife gave up after 20 yrs of marriage. Long story same results with extended drug abuse, you always hurt someone you love . Your Mon at work may be hard so you have to make up your mind it's over and you will start to feel better. Start by not beating yourself up so much.

[tara0722]

I could use some advice.... I have been on Lortab for 8 mths and I dont know how to get off of them. I had surgery in July for Chiari malformation.... so my usage started when I was diagnosed with this.

[Calzy]

i hope that helped in your balance it thats was you had the surgery for. I'm pretty new to this site but not to lortab and if you know you are having control problems with your dose than maybe go to a good pain management dr who will work with you. Most i have gone to are very into them selves. May have to go to 2or 3. Ask at the drs office that did your surgery and see if they will help you if he is the dr that got you started. Most drs want to pretend they dont know you when you have a pain med problem. Read alot of the posts here and START a new post please, this is from 2000 & people tend not to look at these as much. You do need to address this as soon as you can because it's can be a very ugly road later if you cant control it. I will be looking for you new post.

[wife of user]

My husband just went through detox in a detox center after a 2 year abuse of Vicodin.  He is finally free from this terrible drug that took him away from our family and things that he always enjoyed.  And it is so wonderful to have him back to himself again.  He was taking 10 -20 per day. Before I knew of this problem he did try to detox at home in our guest bedroom many times without anyone being aware of it.  His symptoms started out not so bad on day one but got progressively worse from late day one to day three.  On day four the w/d symptoms were much more maneagable and on day 5 they were much less. He suffered the following symptoms, and I say suffered because that is what he did. He had terrible naseau, leg cramps, diarreah (diarrhea), inability to sleep for more than one hour at a time and severe fatigue. The worst were feelings of doom.  That is the worst part and it is better to have help while going through w/d because those feelings can be overwhelming.  I advice you to get help from a family member or friend to get you through this. Also if there is any way you can get something to help you sleep it will make it much easier for you. There are certified doctors to help with this type of addiction.  They prescribe a drug called suboxone or subutex.  It helps with the w/d symptoms and you have to taper off of it.  

Also, you are not an idiot at all.  This drug is so addicting and it can happen so easily.  Doctors overprescribe it and don't take any responsibility for making sure their patients are not becoming addicted to it.  The w/d symptoms are so horrible that you need to keep taking it to not have them.  It becomes a terrible cycle that you can't seem to find a way out of.  

Look over all the posts here.  They will all be helpful to you.  Good luck to you and I will keep you in my prayers.

[Calzy]

This post started in 1999. Look to the left under the column From, it says Sue 10/11/99

[CASURFER]

Hi everyone,

It has been 25 days since I've had any Norco.  I can honestly say I don't feel all that great.  I don't seem to be as active as I was due to minor irritating pains I have.  I've gained about 7 pounds and just don't seem to have the desire to get out and exercise.  I'm not craving vicodin or Norco, but they sure do make you feel great.  
I went on a trip at the end of the summer and an elderly gal I had the chance to talk to (early seventies back and hip problems) (also an old family friend) told me some very interesting things.  I was telling her of by short bout with the Norco and how good it made me feel and she sort of smiled at me funny.  In the last two years she has gone from barely able to move to back on her feet, hiking in the mountains, and doing other activities she had given up prior.  She doesn't drink any alcohol, has a very healthy diet and gets pretty regular exercise.   She has a mountain cabin that I haven't seen her at for the last two years.  Well there she was bright eyed and bushy tailed.  She had dropped 30 pounds or thereabouts and was really living.
She said she takes vicodin daily and could not "live" without it.  She wouldn't tell me how much or how often, and said she wouldn't tell me she was addicted or not.  Only that with the pain she deals with upon getting out of bed would keep her there if she didn't have one first thing in the a.m.  She said she has been very depressed these last couple of years thinking her life of being mom and grandma to several g-kids may be over with.  Physical therapy, diet changes, exercise and vicodin have let her live again.  She was so adamant about this and seemed to be doing so well I was sort of in the Twilight zone.  Is it possible to manage this drug to enhance your life or is it going to get you in the end?????    Please respond if there is an MD out there!!!

[BonnieAnn]

I am so happy to have stumbled on this forum. I feel like I am not alone.

I am 54 years old and addicted to Percocet and Vicodin. It started 9 years ago when I had an accident and herniated several disks. I started out taking what the doc ordered, and that was OK for about the first two years. Then, as a lot of you know, they weren't working quite as good. So, I found another Doc, then I found two others on the internet and finally, another one out of state. It was a full-time job. I was up to 14-15 pills a day of Perc's 10/650 and Vic's 15/80. Then came the Soma to relax the muscles and the Valium to help me sleep. I lived and breathed pills. It was all I thought about every day-where would I get them-how will I pay for them, and so on.

Yesterday I started a Suboxone program. I knew I could not go it alone, God knows I tried that and never suceeded, so now I am determined to make this work. I want my life back, and my health if I haven't ruined that by now.

I can't say too much about the program, as it is only day two for me. However, I will say that I do not any withdrawal symptoms, nor do I have much pain from the original injury, so that is encouraging. Also, I do not feel "high", which is also encouraging. I am have one side effect and that is dizziness. Dizziness I can live with for a while.

Again, just wanted to say thanks to you all for your posts and to let me know I am not alone.

You all be good to yourselves.

[Calzy]

Welcome Bonnie and hope you find some answers here to the age old problems of addiction. I would say to for sure repost your story again on a new post, this from 1999 and will get over looked and you will think no one cares but people just past by the old posts. I promise you will get some attention with a new post and someone to help you along. I did the same as you with Vic's and Lortab and take something to sleep for 13 yrs and i am your age as well. I too am thinking of a short Suboxone detox off Methadone so i am always interested when someone posts with the same concerns. You will learn more here than what the dr probable told you unless you had a good one.  
Take Care!

[BonnieAnn]

I cannot thank you enough for your post and your concern. Good luck lady!

In any case, as I said, I ran into this website by accident so I do not know my way around, but tomorrow I will sit and figure the darn thing out.

Again, thank you so much.

Bonnie

[CASURFER]

Godspeed,  BonnieAnn, you can do it!!!!  I keep trying to convince myself that taking the Norco would be justifiable if it helped the pain and was managed correctly.  It appears I would be tricking myself into further addiction.

[daisygrl77]

my step-son abuses Vicodin 30- 40 a day what is going to happen to him and how long before it kills him. He says he can't get out of bed without them

[Calzy]

If you want to get alot more responce, than start a NEW post for people to see, You asked this question off of another question from 1999 and it will get over looked. I would say soak up as much education on the meds that are out there for short term detox use to get off the Vic's or how to help him cold turkey. Unless he mixes his drug with other drugs or he has a medical condition, your son could drag this out for 10-15 yrs without killing him self, I did. So learn what you can and when he is out of his meds he will listen to you better if you offer him some options to relieve his withdrawal's.

[wife of user]

My husband was taking 10-20 per day and when going through w/d it was the same.  He has a physical job and would try to do cold turkey over the weekend, which he pretty much did not venture out of the bedroom all weekend and had to take it during the week to be able to work.  Once he went through detox at a detox center he was much better and now after a month is doing great.  He has to get detoxed and than he will feel better.  Little by little he will be his old self before vicodin again.
when on it he can not make clear decisions.  He needs your help.  Can you find a lcoal detox center.
I found one for my husband that was free and a life saver.  The detoxed him with an opiate blocker called subutex.  Read the posts here about it.  It was the only way my husband could get off of it.
He does not even crave it anymore.  Good luck to you.  I wish you the best

[LSpinkgirl]

   Hello all... I know what your going through is VERY TOUGH!!! because i was addicted to pain pills 2nd time getting off of them! first time, Cervical Cancer at the age of 18, Open Heart Surgery when I was 22, I am 26 now well, 2 months after having open heart surgery I got into a rollover car accident and got very badly hurt so of course having surgery I had to take Percocet  then car accident prolonged taking pain pills so OF COURSE I became addicted and thats when it all started...going to numerous docs, living life by the pill, the pills controlled my every move WELL ANYWAYS THE REASON I AM TELLING YOU THIS IS TO HELP YOU GET OFF OF THEM SO HERES MY STORY OF GETTING OFF OF THEM....Finally after 4 years OF TAKING THEM EVERYDAY I decided I wanted to take control of my life so.... I went cold turkey no methadone, no sub and DAY 1 was HELL.. RLS, sweats, anxiety, No SLEEP well I said to myself just one day at a time maybe even 1 min at a time, I will get through this, its not forever.  Well by day 3 I was in the gym working out but thats just me I wanted to just push myself to get back to normal so I took my multivitamins and fish oil and B complex for energy and worked out and felt GREAT but the days were easy for me the nights not so easy... I would be doing squats in the bedroom to try and get rid of my RLS eating tons of bananas and the best to get is the (VITAMIN WATER, REVIVE)! Well anyways finally I made it through with alot of determination and when you put your mind to something you can do anything just remember that everyone! Please dont start taking suboxone or methadone if you were just taking codine or vicodin, percocet just go cold turkey cuz everyone I know that didnt go cold turkey and started sub or methadone well lets just say THERE STILL ON IT...no more excuses people...YOU CAN DO THIS! just put it in your head that your doing this and (dont get angry) just say I am going to do this god please help me get through this and yes being off pills is hard at first but just take up a hobbie AND MAKE SURE YOU TAKE TIME OUT OF THE DAY OR WEEK TO DO SOMETHING YOU LOVE AND LOOK FORWARD TO THAT INSTEAD OF  GETTING "HIGH" FROM PILLS...



Thomas Recipe
1. Xanax for anxiety
2. Imodium (immodium) (over the counter, any drug or grocery store).
3. L-Tyrosine (500 mg caps) from the health food store.
4. Strong wide-spectrum mineral supplement with at least 100% RDA of Zinc, Phosphorus, Copper and Magnesium.
5. Vitamin B6 caps.
6. Access to hot baths or a Jacuzzi (or hot showers if that's all that's available).

Begin your detox with regular doses of xanax. Start with a dose high enough to produce sleep. Before you use any benzo, make sure you're aware of how often it can be safely taken. Different benzos have different dosing schedules. The goal is to get through day 4, after which the worst WD symptoms will subside. You shouldn't need the Xanax after day 4 or 5. During detox, hit the hot bath or Jacuzzi as often as you need to for muscle aches. Don't underestimate the effectiveness of hot soaks. Spend the entire time, if necessary, in a hot bath. This simple method will alleviate what is for many the worst opiate WD symptom.
Use the Imodium (immodium) aggressively to stop the runs. Take as much as you need, as often as you need it. Don't take it, however, if you don't need it. At the end of the fourth day, you should be waking up from the xanax and experiencing the beginnings of the opiate WD malaise. Upon rising (empty stomach), take the L-Tyrosine. Try 2000 mgs, and scale up or down, depending on how you feel. You can take up to 4,000 mgs. Take the L-Tyrosine with B6 to help absorption. Wait about one hour before eating breakfast. The L-Tyrosine will give you a surge of physical and mental energy that will help counteract the malaise. You may continue to take it each morning for as long as it helps. If you find it gives you the "coffee jitters," consider lowering the dosage or discontinuing it altogether. Occasionally, L-Tyrosine can cause the runs. Unlike the runs from opiate WD, however, this effect of L-Tyrosine is mild and normally does not return after the first hour. Lowering the dosage may help. With breakfast, take the mineral supplement. As soon as you can force yourself to, get some mild exercise such as walking, cycling, swimming, etc. This will be hard at first, but will make you feel considerably better.  




GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU

[meamon]

Thank you to everyone who helped me.  My detox from the vicodin was very successful.  I felt terrible for about 5 days total, then I started to feel better.  I started my new job on Monday without any problems.  When I got home from work on Monday one of the people I used to get the vicodins from called and ask me if I needed any pills and I told her "NO".  I think she was surprised by my answer.  I told her that I wouldn't be taking them anymore and to not call me for pills, but she could call me for other things if she needed to talk.  ON Wednesday a differnt person who I also got vicodin from called and asked if I wanted any and I told her the same thing,  Again on Thursday another person called and I told her "NO" as well.  I am so proud of myself and I feel GREAT!!!  I wouldn't have been able to do this without the love and support of my wonderful husband.  Having a support person is a MUST when going thru this.  Anyway, I just want to thank everyone for your help and your prayers.  And to let anyone going thru the detox right now, it does get better as each day goes by, I promise, if I can do it, SO CAN YOU!!!!!  I was on them for 8 years.  I have forgiven myself for everything I did while taken them, you have to forgive yourself, because if you don't you will not be able to move on and might go back to using.  The key is not to FORGET what happened while taken them. So although I have forgiven myself, I will NEVER forget, and I believe that is what will keep me strong.  So if you don't mind I am going to quote Mary Tyler Moore.." I'm going to make it after all".
GOD'S BLESSING TO ALL AND THE BEST OF LUCK!!!   YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LeMeridian]

Hello - I just joined this site after searching for information on withdrawls.  Sorry for the novel - but I am so excited now that I know that I am not the only one...

I have been taking vicodin/norco/loritabs (not at the same time - one or the other) for 1 year and a half now.  Give or take a few days here and there when i couldn't get any.

I initally started off taking them when I got my wisdom teeth pulled and realized that was the only thing that gave my stomach a break.  Then - I was not diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis.  I was going to the bathroom about 15-20.  The pills were the only thing that would stop that and allow me to eat.  It was a horrible time and the pills were my light.  I told my husband about how great they were to me and strangly enough - someone at his work was able to get them.  I've been hooked ever since then.  

I stopped last June for about 2 weeks.  That was the easiest thing EVER.  It was so weird because I had quit before for like 3 or 4 days and it was horrible everytime.  EXTREME depression, to the point where I couldn't go to work because i was crying so much, no sleep, mad crazy head aches, body aches, RLS.  The time in June was nothing like that.  I remember telling my husband "I don't think that this time is going to be so bad" and it wasn't. I knew something was strange about it.  I knew that it wasn't going to be so bad and i totally feel that it's the power of the mind over the body.  The only thing that was wrong with my is that I was very tired....back hurt and I had mild head aches.  I took Aleve liqi-gels and that was it.  The 2nd day after not taking any pills - I couldn't sleep...but not because of my legs - but my shoulders were getting all tense.  Weird right?  My shoulders felt just like my legs would when I would stop taking them.  I wasn't jonsing until the end of the 2nd week...hence that's why I am on this site.

So - since June - I've been taking more than i normally had been.....like 6-7 a day.  I tried to quit this weekend over Labor Day because i knew that i had Monday off and i though "humm....i think that i will quit".  Not so much....I couldn't do it.  I just sat on the couch crying and I am just not ready to quit yet.  I want to be sooooo bad.  I am over spending the money on it, the hustle of trying to find more, the guilt that I am giving myself because I did this to myself.  It's ruff....and i hate it but yet these pills have thier hands around my throat like nothing else that i have ever had in my life.  I know that i have an addictive personality.  I smoke, I drink, I take pills.  I used to do a bunch of coke - I was on a coke binge for about 6 months - but that was easy to quit because i didn't like it at all - i hated it but it was around....kinda similar to this situation huh?   The only difference is that i like the way that they made me feel.  I feel like i can get so much done ~ work is that much better...

I just....I don't know.  I am not much of a talker and for me this is totally new for me to join a site looking for help/support.  My husband is the only one that knows about me with these stupid pills.  I have thought about going to my doctor and telling them about what is going on - but i am soooo ashamed and embarassed.  I just don't know what to do.  I want to stop now - but I don't think that I can because I am not ready for it like I was a few months ago.  

Has anyone been to a doctor to get help?  Or been on any type of medication for this?  I don't want to become a pill-popper ~ but anything to help me stop would be great.  I know that I have to be mentally ready for this....I just need to prep myself for it.  Thank you in advance for your help and I love knowing that there are people out there like me :)

[Sbrown84]

Thank you all for you words. My boyfriend is addicted to vicodin he takes up to 10-15 pills a day, we spend around 200 - 300 dollars a month on pills either from the doctor or the street. i am at my wits end and dont know what to do anymore. If he doesnt have them he is Sick to his stomach and will do anything to get them. I swear thats all he thinks about most of the time. Where he is going to get his next round of pills. And i know his back hurts him but it seems like it has been getting worse when i know its just the drug. I'm not down on him I love him I just want him better. Can anyone Help me find the help that he needs. I know i have to give him an ultimatum But i want to have a plan that if he chooses me over the drug we can get him help right away. Like should i talk to his doctor without him? He can't do this cold turkey i know it he is in too deep. thanks any help will be apricated. Just email me thats_me_84***@****  

[Learningtolive]

I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one with this issue. I'm a mother of two small kids and 36. I never would have thought I would be addicted to anything. I have had bad back problems for over ten years but never took anything until the last two years my Dr. gave me vicodin and I don't know when I became addicted but I did. I now take 4 (10mg) pills a day and can't stop. I've tried to stop a few times in the last few months because my hubby is going to be working out of town the next year and I need my old self back so I can take care of myself and my kids.  When I try to stop all I do is cry and shake, I can only make it a few hours and then I'm popping a pill again. I think I need Detox but my hubby says he does not want anyone to know and wants to help me go cold turkey. I'm scared! Who will help with the kids? I'm not taking that many pills. do you think it will be easier for me?  I'm to afraid to go to a Doctor, I'm to afraid to do it on my own. I want my life back!

[wife of user]

Sorry for your situation.  My husband was just detoxed in early August at a local detox center and it was free. It was completely confidential.  I dropped him off on a Sunday night and picked him up 5 days later on Thursday afternoon.  We were both afraid for different reasons.  I was afraid something bad would happen to him while being detoxed and he was afraid of having those horrible w/d symptoms.  He tried cold turkey at home without my knowing many times.  He finally came clean with me and I found this detox center.  It saved his life and ours.  Our life is so awesome right now.  He went to the detox center at 10:00 PM  on a Sunday evening, not in w/d.  They gave him a sleeping aid that night.  At 6:00 AM Monday morning they gave him a drug that is an opiate blocker called subutex.  This drug takes away all w/d symptoms while you are on it but you don't feel high.  He attended meetings all day long with other residents and was given 3 great meals and vitamins.  He was given another dose of sub. at 10:00 PM that night and for each subsequent night for the rest of his stay in progressively smaller doses.  On Thursday when I picked him up he was so bright eyed.  I always thought his eyes looked so small while on vicodin.  He was relieved and happy and we talked for the next three days more than we had in the past 2 years of his abuse.  He was taking 10 - 20 per day.  He did still have some w/d symptoms that lasted a couple of weeks but they were tolerable.  He never thought he would be his old self again but he is.  And you will be too.  you don't have to go to a detox center to get subutex.  There are doctors that are certified to prescribe it.  You don't have to let you regular doctor know what you are doing.  I wish you the best and will keep you in my prayers.

[Learningtolive]

Thank you for your info and kind words. I went to a Dr. yesterday and got Soboxon. I have not had a vicodin since about 6ish last night. I know 4 pills a day is not as much as your husband but I still feel I need it to be normal. I'm on my way to a better life and glad I didn't go to detox I can do this on my own!

[nikkirenee7701]

I am a 27 old female with a great hhusband and 9 year old boy but I have finally decided that detoxing might be something that I can really do, but I am so scared to start the whole process.  I have had to take 6months off work and I had planned to quit then but so far haven't.  I still have a week and a half before I go to cfollege for a career change.  I wasw into the medical feild and knew exactly how to work the system and it wsa ruining my life.  I am up to 3 40mg of oxycontin with about 6 10mg norco for breakthrough and I still always run out early and buy about 200 dollars worth of methadone to last until my next script is filled.  I have read all of your letters and I am even more concerned now because I feel like I am way worse and now don't know if I can mentally handle the w/d symptoms.  Does anyone have any suggestions for me....I really need them.  Thank you

[wife of user]

Try to overcome your fear and get the help you need and clearly want. It seems the best solution for you would be to go to a detox center.  My husband went to detox and met all kinds of people with all different addictions.  The process of detox is longer for methadone addiction than the oxycotin and norco.  The methodone users detoxed for 11 days instead of 5.  The w/d symptoms are minimized by taking subutex or suboxone.  Contact a local center for information. With the support of your husband you can do this.  But don't wait.  It is much worse living a life of fear knowing that if you don't take something you are going to suffer terrible w/d.  Get detoxed and you won't be a slave to it anymore.  At detox  your w/d symtpoms will be at a level you can handle while under the care of people who are professionally trained to help you. Good luck to you.  I will keep you in my prayers.

[Learningtolive]

I know I'm not in the clear, but I"m doing great I went from 7-10mg pills a day, to about 4 pills then my hubby took my pills and I really had to cut back for a week. Then I ran out and went cold turkey. The first few days, It was like I had the flu and that is what I told everyone. Now I'm doing it on my own. Tomorrow will be a week without a damn pill. Even though I still don't have energy and my legs hurt. I can not believe I have went a week without pills. I have not done that in 2 years. You can do this, I was SCARED also! You don't know unless you try!

[Magic Man]

Test

[IBKleen]

To you all that are posting on this thread.

First off, Hello and welcome to the forum!

Since you are new, you do not realize that you posting on a very old thread an what happens is that it gets buried and you may not get the suport and advise that you are looking for.

Go to the bottom of this page. Hit "back to the forum". Go up top to the left. Hit "Post a question". Follow the instructions and start a new, and YOR OWN thread. You will find a lot of support here.

Hope to see your new posts!

Take care.

[Magic Man]

Sorry for the test just seeing if post works. I'm a 54 year old male who has been prescriped Vicodin for the last 5-6 years for my chronic back pain. I've had MRI's and disks are in bad shape which is causing the pain. Heavy lifting for the last 30 years caused this. I have a full time job and have a side business working as a softball official. My doctors prescripe 120 7.5-750 and 240 5-500 mg tablets. I obviously do not take all these but vacuum pack the one's I don't use in the event these pills are taken off the market. I've heard of people paying as much as $3.50 ea per tablet. I pay only $22 per month. It's the only medication that relieves the pain so I can go about and do my daily routines. I'll admit I've taken as many as 10 in a day on the bad days but it wasn't alway like this. I suppose it's because my body has built up a tolorance. I've heard of people using up to 30 a day. Now I feel that is an addiction. I don't ever want to go over the 4000 mg per day which is allowed, (said my doctor). I remember when I first started it only took 2-3 a day to relieve the pain. Once I'm finished with softball I'm going to try to hold back to a maximum of 4. I do see the doctor every 6 months and they say I'm in great shape for my age. I suffer from no side effects. If and when I can convience my wife to move to Nebraska for an early retirement I will not need as much. I will check this forum from time to time to get suggestions. I asked the doctor about the potenial addiction effects and he told me you have 2 choices. Live with the pain or relieve the pain. Like I said I will keep myself aware and try to use my best judgement.

[Medmunky]

I am somewhat afraid to admit that i'm addicted, but i do know that I crave that FEEL GOOD pill more often than not. I was never properly diagnosed to needing the pill. Infact it was given to me by a friend because my back was hurting. I do have a misplaced lower disc (L2). But after that day I started craving that feeling again. I went from taking 1 of the YELLOW PILLS with the V on it to taking about 6-7 of the purple 540MG pills per day. I ended up buying about 30 pills a week or so ago and now that they are gone i'm VERY hesitant to get more. I just really enjoy the mellow feeling you get when taking.
I feel as though i'm the personality that just has to feel different all the time. Whether its hyper with a redbull or Rockstar to mellow with some vicodin. I just need to feel different! I was doing alot of coke about a year ago but stopped that. Its a crappy after feel.
I just felt like venting for anyone feeling the same as I do.

[Dumb in Denver]

I guess I am also addicted to Vicodin.  I don't know why I keep taking them.  They do help with the pain but when you use them when you are not in pain, this is addiction. I also use all the scam tricks to get them,  family doctor, foot doctor, dentist, go to different out of the way pharmacies and say I do not have insurance so my health care provider will not find out.  When I do not have them I have no withdrawl (withdrawal) symptoms (although I do look forward to my next fill date), but I do not have tremors, night sweats insominia, or depression.  I have taken 3 pills a day and sometimes up to 9.  They make me feel like **** and I really don't like the feeling they give me but since I keep taking them I must be addicted.  I guess i'm just stupid and I should value my life a lot more.

Dumb in Denver

[wife of user]

I don't like using the word dumb when refferring to a person.  You are not dumb.  You have an addiction and are not alone.  Many people become addicted to this vicodin.  It is extremely addicting and happens very quickly.  Also, you start to need more and more of it to get the feelings you got when first taking it.  It is a good idea to stop now before it gets worse. If you don't suffer the w/d symptoms, which is amazing, than do your best to stop now on your own.  If you can tell a family member or friend to help support you and keep you on track it will be much easier to stop.  Do not feel ashamed or embarrassed. just stop taking it now before it gets control of your life
Good luck

[High Noon]

I found this site this morning while "googling" vicodin withdrawal. I am a 57 year old male. i have been taking vicodin 7.5/750 for ten years. My doctor prescibed the meds after a back injury exacerbated an injury I had sustained in Vietnam in 1970. I had increased my dosage significantly in May when that back problem got more severe. And although my pain has subsided somewhat ,I continued taking 3-4 pills daily. The past couple of weeks I was experiencing headaches between dosages and believe it may have been the result of a need for increased amounts of the pills. I got the one Dr. to write a perscription and another for refills, which is necessary for the drug plan I have, and another Dr. to do the same. Then I went out and filled the first at a pharmacy and sent the refill to the drug plan (fisrt Dr.). I went to two other pharmacies with the other prescription and paid cash to fill these now.  It was at this point that I looked in the mirror and said "there is something wrong here". I have been off the pills for three days. I am going to try and quit. This forum has given me some hope in seeing that I am certainly not alone, that others are going through the same situation and others have succeded. I am probably older than most of you and will tell you to enjoy your youth.

[michigangirl]

I have been using Vicodin and other various pain pills since 2000 ..I am 33. I take everyday usually half to one pill. I can't imagine taking 10-20 myself pills but I can understand people doing it...constantly chasing that high. I get them from my family and friends and use headaches as an excuse. Yes I am ashamed. I was out of pills yesterday and found myself rummaging through old purses and on the floor looking for scraps of pills that I might have left behind. The pills make me want to do things..get out and about, socialize, cut grass. Last year I wasen't able to get them and decided to go off. Yes I felt like **** and was depressed. I stayed off them for about two months and then met a girl who had some and she started "hooking me up". I have been back on them ever since. Anyways, had to share and let you guys know that you are not alone!

[wife of user]

You should try to stay off of them for good.  You never know, at some point you could have alot of stress in your life and begin to rely on them more for feeling good or getting over the stress.  That's what happened to my husband.  He went over 40 years without any addictions and lost his mother.  A friend offered him a vicodin to take away the pain.  It worked and what turned into a couple pills a day escalated to 10 - 20 within 2 years.  I realize you are taking alot less than that but just want to warn you that it can get a hold of you at some point in your life.  Try to find something else that makes you feel good.  Something that makes you happy.  Don't be ashamed of what you are doing.  Just try your hardest to find a natural replacement in your life. Something you really enjoy. Good luck to you.  

[tray_michigan]

Hello,
         I am going to be very short and sweet with this post.   I have been addicted to Vicodin for 4 years and i can say i have experieced almost the same as everyone else.  I am here today to share some imformation that i know will be the best thing you will read on this forum.  If you are addicted and you have the depression and you feel that you "cannot beat this disease" then i have some good news.  You can and you will.  First this is first you need to get off the drug, i know sounds easy but you scared the ****** feeling and uterring awfulness that comes with WD.  All is not lost my friends.  I am here to tell you that you need to seek out an Addiction Drug specialist.  That is a doctor that will understand what is going on with you and will lead you down the path to be sober once and for all.  The next thing you need to do is good search for a doctor that can prescribe you the drug SUBOXONE.  There are very few doctors in each state that can do this and if you do not hace insurance this will be expensive, but just remember how much money you spend on your addiction you do have the money you just dont relize it.  Once you find the doctor make you appointment and get you *** in there the very soonest you can dont delay.  Once you get in there the doctor will talk to you about your disease and explain to you what type of treatment he thinks will be best.  THAT day he will give suboxone and you will be able to start kicking your habit asap.  The medication works and there are very little side effects to it that i have noticed.  There is no reason to be scared to kick your habit i will tell you from first hand experience.  Once you get the medication and a doctor the next thing i want you to do is start going to either Narcotics annoymous or Rehab.  This is much more important then you think.  You need to understand your disease and why you started down the evil path to addiction.  Not only that you will be able to talk and work with other ppl just like you that are sufferign from an addiction.  You need to understand also that all addictions are the same.  THEY ARE A DISEASE and like any diesease you need to see a doctor its not something you should try to beat on your own.  Also to get back to the meetings you can be with other ppl that understand you and that will hold you accountble to staying sober.  I hope this is helpful to all of you.   so just to recap everything that i just said you need to do 2 things

1) seek out a doctor who deal with addictions
2) Go to a rehab facility or Go to weekly NA meetings or AAA like i said before all addictions are the same no matter what there all Brain Diesease.


Good Luck and God bless you all.  Dont waste another Day/Dollar to your diesease get help now!

[WDC]

I've been taking vicodin for about 4 years...Probably one or two a week..I never did any research about them until this year..Unfortunately I would drink a good amount of alchohol with them before I knew better..So I am wondering if there is anything you can do that will really help the liver regenerate? Obviosly you have to quit the V's..I mean how bad is it really to take one vicodin a week for your body?

[hillary5]

hey tray!  i'm also taking suboxone and see a great doctor on plymouth road in redford mich... he's pretty awesome.  i myelf have had a great experience w/the suboxone.  how long have you been on them?  did you do a rapid detox w/them?  i've been on them since april ... go on monday to be takin down another 1/2 dose - i think.  i started at 3 8mg tabs aday.  he originally had me at 2 but i still felt really bad w/drawals by the end of the day on the sub so he upped me to 3 a day ... so right now i'm at 2 1/2 a day ... i've had no cravings physically for pills ( vikes, oxy's were my choice ) but mentally i have ... they come and go which i'm sure that'll be like that for the rest of my life .. only thing that kinda confuses me is i'm supose to have a minor surgery coming up hopefully in oct and will have to be put under. i could do this right in my drs office but he thinks the suboxone won't help at all w/the pain, so i chose to be put under.  but he tells me that i am definately going to need some pain meds afterwards ... so hard ... anyways, my sub dr said maybe stop the suboxone for a day or two then start the vicodin again ... once i'm left w/no pain, start the sub again ... sounds kinda crazy ... not sure what to do there ...

a couple of friends of mine also go to the same office for suboxone and have great things to say about it too.  ONe of them wz on it for short term and did fine for 2 wks, but then ended wanting pills and i think he ended up taking some so the doc put him on a 1/4 sub every day for maint.  my other friend is at 1 1/2 a day since apr.  still gotta get down to 1 a day ... i know i'll be on one a day for maint for however long i wish .. he said if i want to do this for the rest of my life i could .... i just wish there has been more long term research on suboxone, but since its so new there really isn't much out there ... anyways, just wanted to say hey ... good for you on getting off the pills!!! it sux, but life is soo much better w/out them .... i haven't felt this good in over 10 yrs, basically back when i started taking pills for herniated discs .. Good luck to you and thanks for sharing the info ...

peace!

[tray_michigan]

          There are a few suppliments you can take that come to mind right off. Herbal supplements that contain milk thistle (Silybum marianum), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and garlic (Allium sativum) are highly recommended for liver detox. These herbs have been shown to unclog the liver and in some cases regenerate health cells inside the liver.


Hillary I did do a pretty fast detox i started in May and I relapsed once couple weeks ago and i still feel bad about it.  But after talking to doctor Fox im not gonna get to down on myself because this is a relapsing disease.  Once i started the medication i felt great after about 30 days, and yes i still think about getting high and like you we probably will for the rest of our lifes.   The one thing that helps me the most is just remembering how much money im saving by not buying pills.

FYI:   Hillary if you ever want someone to talk to that take Suboxone you can email me and ill give you my number.     =   Tracy_paynejr***@****


GL to all and have a nice day.

[tray_michigan]

its y a hoo . c o m with no space for some reason there is a filter on this site

[hillary5]

hey there!!  I sent you and e-mail ... thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WDC]

Thanks for the info.....I just want to make sure that my liver is not going to shut down anytime soon from taking the pills....I have read some pretty startling stuff about Liver disease.....Thanks Again

[mjnep]

I'm 35 and I  have been taking Vicodin for over a year, now I usually take 8-10 5MG a day.  I quit for 5 weeks this summer, but then I strained my back, was in pain, and had the script refilled.  For some reason the doc gave me 4 refills! So I was right back on the pills. Between getting new scripts I supplement with pills from father in law, oxycodone that I take 40 mg a day.  Which seems about the same as 8 Vics to me.  I'm thining of quiting again but detox is really not an option, I did it cold turkey before and it sucked for a while - but smoking lots of pot really helped me. I have three herniated discs in my back and the pills do help - but I can survive without them.  The real reason I keep taking them is i like the feeling and like everbody else does not want to go through withdrawl (withdrawal) again.  My situation is more complicated because I used to use heroin, but never got completely strung out or anything and quit cold turkey and then just did it occasionally.  Since taking the pills I haven't used any H and I like not being tempted to take the risks associated with getting and using it. I know I'll be tempted again if i stop the pills.  On the other hand the physical effects of using heroin a couple times of month are a lot less than using pills every day.  Vicodin is sort of my methadone, but I know i really can get by without it.  It sucks that I have real injuries that would probably require pain meds from time to time for most people, but for me it will always lead to a regular habit. I just love the feeling and always will.  My plan is to taper off soon and probably smoke more pot than i would otherwise as I backup.  I also plan to take neurontin.

[metalmistress]

When I was taking percocet (5/325) post surgery, every 4 hours.  I stretched it out to every 6-8 and I really wouldnt get any w/d until 10-12hrs.  The doctor switched me to vicodin (7.5/750) to take to get off of the percocets.  Now, the w/d starts at 6hr and will actually be bad enough to wake me after 8hours.  Percocet w/d never woke me, I would just get up in the morning feeling like ****, but I was usually woken for other reasons (like having to pee~!!LOL!!)  Anyone have an explaination for this??

BTW...I'm seeing my dr tomorrow and one of my big discussions with him will be getting off the pain meds and I'm considering asking to see a sub dr.

[hillary5]

hi!  if you're interested in suboxone log onto www.suboxone.com or www.naabt.org.  I don't know if you know anything about suboxone but not all dr's can prescribe it .. when you go onto one of those sites you'll need to plug in your zip code and it will help you find a dr in your area ... call around though for prices of the office visit and if you don't have insurance, the pills themselves can be very expensive ... insurance usually doesn't cover your visits for suboxone, thats why i said to call around .. but good luck to you tomorrow at your appt...have you considered tapering down instead?  there are alot of people on here that are awesome at helping w/taper plans .. fladdict is one of them ... you could always post a new question to her .. or wait and see what the doc says ... hope everthing works out for you, whatever your decision is ... life is so much better off the pills ... ;-)  peace!

[metalmistress]

I found several doctors in my area that are certified subs.  I'm not sure if my insurance will cover it, but it really doesnt matter if it does or not.  If this is a good way to go, I'm willing to pay for it.  I'm not sure what my dr will suggest tomorrow.   I'm still in a lot of pain, but the drugs are not doing their job of killing the pain so whats the point of taking them.  They are just giving me the drugs to keep the w/d monster away, weaning me veeeeerrrrrrrry slowly.  Maybe I'm just being impatient, but I just see no point in taking these drugs if they aren't working.  I can say that withdrawl (withdrawal)+pain=hell!!  I think I can deal with the pain if I didn't have w/d along with it.

[enoughalready1]

I have been taking Vicodin 5 mg since December of last year (2006) I had hurt myself at the gym and caused some muscle injury. Unfortunatly due to this they kept putting me on bottle after bottle of vicodin, now if i dont take them i feel sick i went cold turkey before but it lasted all of two weeks i cant go to rehab anf i know i can do this alone . does anyone have any words of advise...

[hillary5]

hi there ... thats great you want to stop taking these nasty pills ... you know, this is very hard to do alone .. do you have any friends, spouse, family that can be there for you to help you out?   Are you thinking of tapering?  If so, it's important to have someone there to hold onto your pills and dispense them to you as your plan suggests.  People start off saying they can do that themselves & i'm sure some have, but most fail ... What about suboxone? Have you thought about that?  Maybe going this route, you wouldn't have to let anyone know and could do it alone ... let me know what you think ... peace!

[carolinarn7]

This has been a huge blessing to me and very informative as well.  I have knee, neck, and back problems and am only 47 years old.  Heredity, environment, work related circumstances, athletics, and 9 broken bones later and here I am.  6'0" 203 lbs. and everyone think I look "great" but degenerative arthritis and moderate to increasingly severe pain gets your physician over time to try more and more things to help and wallah! You body has become your enemy and the pain pills that were prescribed that used to relieve the pain lasted shorter and shorter durations and increasing doses gets you "physically" dependant. My physician then wanted to start me on 50mcq fentanyl patches which I used 5 patches and just to myself "screw this".  I was sick off taking stuff.  Just sick sick sick and tired on taking this ****.  I believed I would just stop CT.  Man oh man whata surprise!  Sweat sweat sweat! Then the crazy RLS thing but in my arms instead.  Man it really sucked. Phoned my doctor and told him that I was tired of taking this **** even though I still had the pain and he attempted to console me and talk me into keep "relieving my pain" using the meds.
II was really kinda surprised he said that.  

My sharing, it got so wild I decided I had to taper after reading several sites. it's gone much better. I'm down to 12.5mg Vicodin for about 4 days now after working up to 35-40mg Vicodin a day for about 4 years.  Just got tired of posioning my liver and chewing that ****!  I gag thinking about it.  I'm back to Advil and a few Tylenol for headaches. I plan to start 10mg Monday. I also am praying for God's strenght.  It's how I quit smoking after 23 years. "Hardest thing" I ever stopped.  So I'm prepared for a beast if I have to be.  Taking the L-Lysine, Omega-3, Zinc, Centrums, and Milk Thistle have also helped I believe.

Thank you guys for pouring your guts out here.  You are a blessing.  Pray others have the power and strength with God's help. I thought I was the only one until I can here.  I will be preying for ya'll as well.  :)  

You see I am an RN and so is my wife together we have 50 years nursing between us. It can happen to anyone. I'm still sweating sometimes but not near as much.  You just have to go through 3-4 days of hell which makes you closer to the end than at the beginning.  Do I still hurt?  Yea but I don't feel as creepy and like sludge in in my veins like I did.  The liver thing worried me most.  A couple days of bile colored (greenish) diarrhea (days 2-3).  I'll let you know if I am challenged by anything new.  God bless you guys and ask for God's strength to help to get off in addition to everything else.  "WE" didn't ask Him to get started but He will sure help us stop "if we ask Him".

[carolinarn7]

all I said was "c r a p" above and they ***** 'ed it out.  amazing!  :)   Like that's the worst we have to worry about we're home free!

[scaredgirl902]

I don't know if my comment from before worked so here I am again. I am a 25 year old female with a great husband and perfect angel daughter. I have been taking Vicodin ES for almost 5 years now, since I broke my back. I also have numerous hereditary back problems. This is the first time I will come out and say I am addicted to Vicodin. I am up to taking anywhere from15-25 a day. My husband know I take them, but he believes I take them as directed. I WANT TO STOP! I am so scared to tell him my problem, because I feel as though I am going to be a dissapointment to him, but I have also put us in a pretty good amount of debt. He does not know this because I am the one who does the checkbook. My husband also takes Vicodin, but now even close to what I take. He maybe takes 1-2 a couple time a week. I am so scared of losing everything, but it is getting to the point I can't sleep at night because I lay awake trying to think of ways to tell him what I have done, and I cry. But I always get right up the next morning and start my day with 4.5 Vicodin and off to work I go. I have a full time job, but if it's a day where I think I may run low on pills or run out, I panic, and am not focused. One of the hardest parts is that, they are always around. I have people calling me regularly to see if I want some. I am perscribed 120 a month, but those are gone within a week. Some months I can smooth talk and get more, as I am sure some of you know and have been there. I am so scared that I am not going to have the energy to play with my baby girl...my life...my angel. She is the reason that makes me want to stop, but I know I need help in doing so. I have told myself I am not going to take any today, but then I find a reason to convince myself otherwise.

I want to tell my husband. I am so scared. He doesn't believe you can't just stop. He has a hard time believing you can be addicted. We have had friends that were addicted and he had comments about them and that is what scares me. I don't want my husband to not want to be with me, when this is a time I will need him more than ever.

PLEASE HELP....ALL ADVICE WELCOME!!!

[Calzy]

The best thing for you is to tell your husband the truth about how your feeling and what your doing. You have to be very sick from those pills if your taking up to 25 a day. The sooner you admit your abuse the sooner you can get some help. I waited until my wife left me for someone else after 17 yrs of marriage and 4 kids, because i was so messed up and would not tell her what was wrong. It will only get worse for you at the rate your going so dont wait and take a chance to lose the one you love. You are picking your drugs over your husband right now and the drugs could win out. There is a way out but it's best done with the closes loved ones you have around you for support. The longer you wait the worst it's going to get. Your husband deserves the truth, you married to be honest with each other so it's time to live up to it. I do know how hard it is right now for you, it seems there no way out but it's your chance for your life again and for your little angel. If you dont get other responces here, start a new post, your on a very old post and ppl pass by it.

[scaredgirl902]

thank you...it's really nice to have someone, even if you don't know them to finally let it out.

[scaredgirl902]

I am new to this so I really don't know how to start a new post

[ChronicCaroline]

Your posting just fine, no worries.

Listen, your husband exchanged vows with you for bettter or for worse, sickness and health. He stood before god and both your families and made a sacred promise to never turn his back on you no matter what. Including, addiction, fianacial slumps, and the dissapointment he may feel initially. If he were to turn his back he would be considered a liar and failure to you and your family no matter the mistkae you made.
However, you do need to tell him more soon than later, I learned that-THE HARD WAY! Fear must always be looked dead in the eyes and be faced. I know exactly the torment your going through, been there and living it. You love your baby as I loved mine, if you will do everything for them, the best gift you can give them is a sober mommy. Life may seem much easier with Vicodin but happiness is found within you not a pill. That is the toughest battle but you can do it and if your husband loves you as he swore he will help you and support your recovery.
My husband is as stubborn and can be super jerk when fueled by peoples poor choices but He loves me to death though! Yes, at first he was fuming angry beyond angry. I didn't think we would make it, it just takes time, and your husband has to be the pilar of strength but you must learn to carry your strength you had before vicodin, once again the hardest part. IT CAN BE DONE!!!

****Don't quit cold turkey though, shock and seizures will occur at your level of dependence. Get professional help with your sobriety.******

Best of Luck and God Bless!!!  

[carolinarn7]

"Don't quit cold turkey though, shock and seizures will occur at your level of dependence."  

I agree!!  Don't stop all at once. The opiates have you and it's not your fault. I also have a lot of pain but this can kill you especially the acetaminophen in the Vicodin.  Chemical sclerosis of the liver can and will occur on substained doses of  acetaminophen over 4 grams.  The Liver can repair itself BUT not if you keep on.  There are other medications.

Detoxing is a bear.  DO NOT attempt this on you own.  I would especially recommend. You have to realize it's not your fault.  It's the nature of our chemistry to become addicted to caffeine, nicotine, opiates, whatever! It's how we are made.  It will be a battle.  First 2 weeks so mental prepare yourself and suck it up and start talking to the people that love you.  They won't stop loving you and will admire your strength to overcome and you will be able to help others by having been there. GET MEDICAL DETOX HELP!  You deserve to live without this beast. God bless you!

[doglvr139]

have you tried your workout without the Vics? Thats a pretty intense workout, and you might find that you're just as relaxed and "high" without the pills

[drugsrbadk]

I highly doubt cold turkey will  kill you but it will be the worst hell of your life and it is no way to start your recovery, first you need to hanldle withdrawal so that you can concentrate on getting better. i think thats why i never could quit opiates. may i suggest you look into suoxone or subutex, (buprenorphine). You can get it on an outpatient basis. My program requires me to go To one docs apointment a week and as long as my urine is clean it tapers to two weeks then a month. The catch is you only get enough pills to last to your next appt.  I also have to attend AA meetings.  You will need to go into full 24 hr. withdrawal before you take your first dose. About 20 mins after the tablet disolves under your tounge you will start to feel better, shortly all symptoms will cease. You will appreciate sub if you have ever tried quitting opiates without it. If you want to know more there is info eveywhere, I just want you to know there is something out there that DOES work and you can do it privately if need be. I am on my 9th day on sub and so far i have no cravings and have been clean hopefully this will be a success story for both of us. Your husband has never had a drug addiction, it is hard for people to understand that it is all but impossible for us to "just quit". Do you think he knows more than you think he does but he just doesn't  Know how serious your problem is I'm quite sure the detox doc would be willing to help him understsand what you are going through. Good luck be sure to keep in touch here if you need support there are alot of good people here who know what you are going through.

[sisterrose]

I wish i have never heard of the pill vicodin. I have tried going cold turkey but only lasted like two days and i find myself making appointments to see the doctor for another priscription (prescription).. or i will go to my hook up for three dollars a pop. I am going to try it one more time. so wish me luck :)

[Dave1963]

I have been taking vicodin for 3 years now, about 30-40mg a day.  I just quit cold turkey and I feel horrible.  Body aches, nausea, restless leg syndrome, headaches, I feel cold all the time, when does it end??  This is my second time quitting cold turkey, I lasted a week the first time before I got my script refilled.  The trouble is, I feel so much better on them, I feel like I can function.  Right now I feel like a pile of ****, no ambition to do anything.  I am married and my wife knows what I'm trying to do, she's been patient.  I know that there people here who have it much worse, but it really helps to have a place like this to come to.  Thanks All !!!

[matdogg]

I have been wanting to post in one of these forums for years now and am finally doing it.  I have been taking vicodin for about 5 years.  With me being able to get a supply of them I can take up to 30 norcos (10mg) a day.  I have been married for 6 years and my life feels likes its in a downward spiral.  When I cannot get pills I loose all of my drive that I inced had long ago and also get very depressed.  I turn very angry and treat my wife horrible and say things I dont mean.  Now In feb we are adopting a new born child since my wife has endometrosis and i unable to bear children.  I have to get off these and now.  i am starting CT tommorrow and my new child and family are motivation.  I hope I dont let myself down.  any support would so much appreciated.  Thank You.  Matt 26.  

[SadbutTrue]

The hydrocodone component of Vicodin makes it highly addictive. Hydrocodone is an opioid so Vicodin addiction symptoms can be quite similar to heroin abuse. In the same way, deciding to stop the addiction can lead to difficult withdrawal symptoms such as physical bone and muscle pain, restlessness, insomnia, vomiting, involuntary leg movements, diarrhea, loss of appetite, irritability, nausea, sweating, chills and cold flashes. These withdrawal symptoms depend on the degree of addiction and may grow stronger for the first 24 to 48 hours. But it usually declines gradually in the next weeks, and these symptoms are bearable and not fatal.

Vicodin addiction can change your life in the worst way, but it doesn't mean that there is no hope left. But like all addictions, Vicodin drug addiction is difficult to get over alone. You would need treatment, counseling and a support group to help you. You can visit http://www.mypainkilleraddictions.com to know about available treatment options that is just right for you.

[joeyz]

You cant feel the effects of the vicodin because the neurotonin is blocking it.  

[joeyz]

You cant feel the effects of the vicodin because the neurotonin is blocking it.  That is why they give neurotonin to recovering alcholics and potheads, because it blocks out the high and make it pointless to use the drugs.

[thetenor]

I had been taking Vicodin, and Lortab for 7 years. At the time i went into rehab, i was taking 30-40 a day. I would take 10-12 at a time. I entered Brighton Rehab Hospital in Mi., on Nov. 13th, and stayed there until Dec. 1st. I have been clean for 34 days now, and feel wonderful. You don't know how wonderful it is to go to bed, and wake up not having to think about where i am going to get money, or what do i have to trade for pills. My addiction was severe. Although i saw many at Brighton who were worse than i, mine was still very bad. Thankfully, i had no liver, or kidney damage. Please.... do yourself a favor, as well as your family, and friends. STOP. It will tear you down to nothing. I know. It did me. Thankfully i have a loving wife, and family who support me 100%. Thanx for reading.  Randy.

[desperatehousewife21]

From: A desperate housewife and a mother of a newborn

Hi everyone I just spent 2 hours reading every single post on this site because this is how desprate I am. I am married to a vicodin addict. When I was first dating him I didnt know he was a vic addict. After a while he told me he takes vicodins for all his back surgeries which was true. We got married a year ago and thats when he told me he was addicted to them. Few months after we got married I got pregnant. He promised me he would quit before the baby comes, but he didnt keep his promise. We moved into a new apartment the month before the baby was due and our rent from the previous place doubled. I had to quit my job as soon as the baby was born. Our baby is 3 months old now. A week ago me and his mother told him he needs to stop. His mom told us she would cover our rent for one month and all of our bills for this month if he were to leave town with her to go over to her house to get sober. He agreed to go with her, but the night before he left we got into a huge fight. I guess all my frustration about him taking 30 vicodins a day came out that night becasue I wanted him to know how serious I was about him stopping. One thing let to another and he started physically abusing me. I couldnt believe it, becasue he has never hurt a fly bedore. He has always been so against men who abuse women because he has seen his mom go through that and has told me before I would never have to worry about that. Since my father has been an alcoholic all my life and has physically abused me and my mom, all of a sudden I felt like I was going through the same problems that my mom has faced all of my life. So I decided to go into the room and take about 40 different types of pills basically whatever that was near by including the suboxen (that he was going to take to get off of the vic) to end my life. I can not believe what I did becasue afterwards it felt as if my body was going through alcohol poisoning. But anyways the next day he did leave with his mom and today was his second day of recovery. I told him I dont want him back home until he is off of all the pills and he has agreed to that. I do love him and we have a 3 month old that i am raising by myself right now which is so hard, but all I could say is for anyone reading this out there that is an addict or recovering addict please give me any kind of advice. Just like some of u who have posted on this he also had several doctors he would see everymonth with no insurance so not only was he paying for the doctors visits but for his meds to, plus he would go to couple of different hooks 3 times a week. i dont know what dossage vicodins he would take all i know that they were yellow and he would tell me they are the ones with less tylonol and 30 a day plus 3 to 4 zanax bars. please give me advice im here alone for about a month tell me what u guys think and how i can be a supportive wife when he returns and how can i make sure he doesnt go back to it because all of his friends are also addicts and his hooks and docs are all around us.

[bmc1976]

Since you replied to a old post you might not get as many responses. Start a new post dedicated to you and copy and paste the post you just typed on your new thread. You'll be amazed of all the wonderful people on here that are willing to help. I just don't want you to get over looked so start a new thread.
I'll chime in once you do that.
Brian

[abUser27]

HE DOESN'T NEED HIS MOM HE NEEDS A RAPID DRUG DETOX CENTER!!!!
I'm sorry to say she can't help him. It will be too much of a strain on both of them. W/D can make one very violent. And so can the addiction. He has no excuse for abusing you however, when and addict is defending his/her addiction, they can take it too far. I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I'm a vic addict and alcoholic and I've searched for answers all over the net. I found this site and felt so horrible but also not alone after seeing all of these people going through so much pain. I also found the following site and felt there truly was help:
                  http://www.rapiddrugdetox.com/

I hope this helps some of you out there.

desperatehousewife21 please look into this for your husband, for you, and for your baby. It just might work. Bless you and your family. Prayers and good luck for us all here on this site

[veronica554]

I started dating someone about 9 months ago and when i first started dating him i didnt know about his vicodin addiction, but i soon found out.  He basically takes one-two pills a day, but says he wants to stop and thinks that he can do it on his own, but he still hasnt tried to stop and i tell him that i really hate those pills and i hate that he takes them and he just keeps telling me that hes not that bad on them.  I think that one day he will get better, but i dont want to be with someone with an addiction problem, but i really do think that i love him.  I am also fearful that if he does try and stop he will start again because all of his friends take them. I try not thinking about it, but i get really upset about it and i dont know what to do.

[Just2more]

Hello, first time posting on this forum.  Wow, I have been reading a lot of these.  I know where each and everyone of you are coming from.  This is going to be a long post because I have a lot to say so forgive me.  I have had a love for vicodin, norco, vicodin ES, methadone, tramadol... basically anything opiate based for about 7 years now..  It didn't start getting serious (and i mean serious as in getting withdrawals when stopping for more than a day) until a few years ago when my friend and I got some norco's (10/325) online.. we were getting close to 100 a month and splitting them.  People this is when it starts.. it starts when you have access to more than just a few at a  time.  I had never really taken that many before in one month.  after we eventually ran out of refills, i discovered my first withdrawal and it sucked!!  It was scary as hell.  I remember thinking I was going to die er something..  I quit for like a week and got past all my withdrawals (wasn't THAT hooked yet so WD's didn't last that long)  then about 3 days after that, vicodin started sounding good again so I started buggin all of my contacts who I thought might have some.. probably annoyed tons of people.. hahahaha (y'all know what i mean)  and I got some more.. just enough to get me wanting EVEN MORE!!!!... then it started again.. i was back to getting batches of 15 and 20 at a time.. anything I could get.. vicodin, norco.. anything.. so for the past 2 years i've been getting them very consistantly.. I will mention that I never take more than 4 or 5 vicodin in one day but it's not the quantity that will get you addicted... remember, it's the consistancy.. the longer you take even the smallest amount.. the more addicted you will gradually become.. trust me on that.  I know I know.. they are fun to take when you just wanna relax as in watching a movie or reading a book or going on a trip...basically, they make anything you are doing.. MORE FUN!!  I know this..   If you are have a legit reason that you need to take vicodin and you are worried about it harming your liver, it's best to go with something with a low acetamenaphin count such as Norco.. it's got 10mg hydrocodon and 325 of tylenol (which does the damage)  

People.. take it from me.. this is NO JOKE!!  Opiates are probably one of the WORST drugs to try n get off of..  It's in the same family as HEROIN..c'mon.. you've all seen Trainspotting right?    They might not be as strong as heroin but the withdrawals can be a lot like heroin withdrawals..   If any of you out there are taking over 15 pills a day, I can only imagine the pain and depression you feel when you stop taking them for even 1 day.. I know because I go thru hell when I stop and i'm not even taking that many..  In fact, i've decided to try and stop for good so I've been off them for over a week now and feel great.. for those of  you out there taking a lot, it might take a few weeks to a month before you feel 100% yourself again but let me tell you.. once you do, it feels like you have your life back.. it's awesome.. those things are NOT worth it.  If any of you out there are taking a lot... you need to taper down..  have someone you trust, give you a certain amount each day and have that amount keep decreasing slowly.. works the best with more pills.. so say you currently take 20 vicodin a day and you have a bottle of say 100 or so..  Get someone you trust (a good friend) tell them you want to quit for good and have them give you 18 the first day, 15 the next day, 12 the next day, 11 the next day, 10 next day... 8 the next day and so on... all the way down to 0..   Once your out, your withdrawals will be MINIMAL.. it works ..probably the best way to get off of them.  I have a friend who was taking 20 a day and he did that.. over like 2 week span and when he was out, he claims he didn't feel hardly any discomfort.. just a little bit.. nothing compared to what he'd feel if he just STOPPED cold..

I'll end with this..   My prayers go out to each and every one of you who are depressed and going through opiate addiction whether you are in your withdrawal stages or whether you are just currently taking them wondering how the hell you are going to get off of them..  If  anyone wants to know ANYTHING about vicodin or any other opiate, I'm no doctor BUT, I have studied it a LOT over the years and know quit a bit from experience and research..  thank you for reading this super long message and God bless

Just2More

[Just2more]

The little yellow pills are called Norco's.. They do have very little tylenol in them.. The tylenol is actually the stuff that ends up damaging your liver after while.  People usually take more because they feel it's not hurting them since it's such a low content but that's the dangerous part.. if yur taking 30 of those a day.. you are taking way too much tylenol.  They have 10mg of the stuff that makes him feel good (double strength of reg vicodin) and only 325mg of tylenol (regular strength tylenol is 500mg for one pill) so yes while they are not as bad for you as regular vicodin, they will get you hooked twice as hard.  I too was bigtime addicted to norco's and I can say this.. as long as he's still hanging out with the friends who still do them.. he's going to take them...trust me trust me trust me.. I can't stress that enough, i can't hang out w my friends who take them as much now because i know i'll ask for a few and they'll gladly give em to me.  They always have them!  And he might think he can just take a couple and be done but that's a sad sad false reality..  They are not only physically addictive but I will admit, they feeel good in EVERY WAY.. they make EVERYTHING better (for the time being) until you need more.  The best way he's going to stop is if he has NO access to any for a while .. long enough for his withdrawals to go away to where he's not plotting ways of getting some to ease the pain.  Take my advice from my previous post and try to get him on a "tapering" plan.  By far the best way to stop in my opinion and experience because he'll gradually go down on dosage until he's at maybhe 1 a day.. then he can stop..  withdrawals off of 1 a day is a LOT easier to manage than withdrawals from 10-30 a day.  There's also drug rehab but that can be spendy and they are just going to isolate him from getting any.. same thing basically.  Once he gets past everything.. prolly take about 2 weeks before he starts feeling himself.. it'll be so much worth it.. he'll see.. he just can't see that now but it's better.

[fastang]

i have been on vicodin 7.5/750 for about 3 years for back pain. i do drink up to a 6-pack a nite i take up to 6 a nite. doc knows of the drinking,
is this a problem?

[fastang]

i`ve been taking vicodin for about 3 years. (7.5/750) up to 6 times a day. also i drink up to a 6-pack a nite. i am taking it for lower back pain/ DDD. also taking blood pressure med, and chloesteral med.also zanax, (my son is in Iraq)
i kinda feel like a pile of junk at the end of a nite. (i work nites). also how was my spelling? that seems to be an issue on this forum i see...LOL!!!!

[jilllouise]

I am 58 and have taken vicodin for almost three months.  I had rotator cuff surgery.  I started out taking maybe 10 a day. For the past month I take maybe three a day.  I can go as long as 14 hours before I feel I need to take one because of the pain.  I don't take one 'just because', I take it because my shoulder hurts and the doctor said to take 2 before physical therapy. I have physical therapy three times a week at the hospital.  Do you think I will have a problem stopping it?  I am going to try and just do two a day and then one a day and hopefully stopping.  What do you all think?

[Just2more]

fastang ---   yes drinking alcohol and taking vicodin is a problem..  the acetamenaphin damages your liver over time but when you combine that w alcohol,  the acetamenaphin now has a sidekick and it's like double the damage..  i wouldn't take both if I were you.. i'd find a way to get off the vicodin at least..


jillouise ---  If you aren't feeling the euphoric effects of the vicodin, then you probably won't have a problem getting off of it.  I know that when I first was taking it years ago for my wisdom teeth, I didn't feel the euphoric effects and when I was half out, i just threw the rest away not knowing how it coulda made me feel.  Once you start feeling "goood" off of them... i'd cut back..   remember.. it's the consistancy of taking them that gets a person hooked.. not necessarily quantity.  I was taking 2 a day and got hooked off of just that..  it took awhile but it happened.  If you are in pain, fine.. keep taking them as long as you are in really bad pain.. but word of advice.. once yur out of pain, i'd get off of them.. it's totally not worth it and you'll see that over time if you keep takin them.

[cat9841]

not many of us, but I got hooked on the patch during the past summer, then in Dec had spinal fusion surgery. I didn't like the way the patch was makeing me feel, I had the sweats constantly so I pulled them off, 3 weeks ago tomorrow. the first 8 days were pure hell. my husband was so good though, he took time off work for me. this whole back thing has been a nightmare.  I am still feeling so much anixity. I don't know if its from the patch, surgery or what. I'm no stranger to surgery as both knees have been replaced. how long does this anixity, and fear last??

[GoingToMakeIt]

Just2more and cat, this is an old post. These people aren't here anymore.

[Just2more]

how come the dates are all recent then for the people i've been replying to?

[goosy707]

Hi Im a wife and mother of four that has been addicted to vicodin, morphine, fentanyl patches, hydromorphone. It started with just vicodin but now I'll take anything I can get a hold of but Its mostly vicodin.  I statred in 2004 and have been in a downward spiral pretty much since.  The longest I've gone without my drugs is about 7 days and that was only cuz my script ran out and none of my contacts could get any and I thought I was going to die. I could not do any of my daily activites, eat, Im so sick of feeling this way I want to get off them so bad but my husband has the same problem and neither one of us can quit.  I feel like Im failing my kids and should be able to get off of this **** for them but I cant do it on my own and cant afford rehab.  I can easily take 20- 40 pills daily.  I get 270 a month from my script and still run out before next refill.  Im so glad to hear im not alone in this but how can a little pill make you feel so good but yet sooooo bad when you run out.  I almost wish I had an alcohol problem instead.  I just dont know what to do anymore!!!!!!!!!

[flmagi]

To all the people who are posting this thread: This is a very old thread and you will not get all the responses and help that is available to you. Please post separate questions so that you can get the attention  you need. We're all here to help you.

[Scribe420]

when i was 17 (im now 23) i took vicodin for the first time.  at first it made me feel sick so i smoked a joint after and i was suprised by the overwhelming sense of euphoria that engulfed my entire body.  within a year vicodin was no longer cutting it so i moved on to oxycontin and when that became to expensive i moved on to heroin.  i finally managed to sucessfully detox about 3 months ago and have been clean ever since.  quiting was and still is the hardest thing ive ever been through in my life.  i just wanted to say for those of you contemplating quiting vicodin that you can do it and you need to do it because it will spiral out of control.  six years ago if someone told me id be a recovering heroin addict in a few years id have laughed in there face.  quit now while youre only addicted to vicodin because no matter how bad you feel it could be a whole lot worse.

[confused456]

Thank you for that, but do you you know how to copy and paste it and make a new post because this one is from 1999? I would really like ppl to be able to see this that you have written.

[buggles]

speling anyone??!!

I have a very high profile job...small town...i know everyone, so i am resonably sure that the folks at the pharmacy have been noticing a LOT of vic scripts under my name...3 years now...it is true...i went to two different docs (i knew both well and hung out outside of work) and now have starting hitting up my dentist..pathetic

I have probably thrown away 50-100 pills (down the toilet as I hold the wall shaking to try to hold myself back from reaching in to get a few before they drown) pathetic

You'd NEVER suspect me...no one does...hide it REAL well...except from God and myself

Wish i knew what frickin void i'm tryin to fill...i blame it for lots of negativity in my life - quick to anger at my kids- very emotional with everything- gained 50lbs (use to be a marathon runner) its f*#ked me up good...work suffers tremendously

my pattern is different than some but the results are the same...despair, sadness, embarrasment

I take em with alcohol...always...had back pain for a while that is how i initially got them and now i just lie...chronic pain is a beauty excuse for an addict...few glasses of wine and i hear them calling from their secret hiding place....i'll down 2 right away and then a 3rd an hour later...then after the high has worn off I'll eat like a horse and go to bed..pathetic...thanks for having this forum...it was helpful just to write my feelings

[worried878]

You may want to make a new post as this one is an old one.....this is a great place to vent and get support

[stopadditction]

I have been taking Vicodin for about 5 years now.  It started as a result of a injury and it was just one a day.  then circumstances arose and it wasn't just taking away physical pain but mental and emotional pain and now it has progressed to 10 to 12 a day.  i function everyday and work a 45 to 50 hour week and take two during the day at work for the pain and then when I get home from work is when I take the rest.  If I don't take them it feels like th epain is 10 times worse then it was originally.  I want to stop because it makes me sleep my days away when I am not working.  I have lost my boyfriend and most of my friends because I would rather be at home with my "drugs" then socially with friends.  I keep in touch with my family beacuse it would break their heart if they knew the extent in which I was taking the pills.  I need help and I would like some advice on what to do and how to stop.  Anyone with advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Yoda99]

The original post here is from 1999.  Let's put this one to bed and start a new one.  Stopadditction, if you would post your same comment in a new question, it would get more attention.  I've found that no one wants to look at something really old or really, really long.  There's lots of people here that can help you with your vic problem; but please post a new question.
Peace,
Yoda

[thetenor]

I am a 48 year old male, who was addicted to Vicodin, and Lortab for 5 years. Before going to a re-hab, I was taking 50-60 pills a day. I was spending 2-300.00 dollars a day, and had put my family through financial collapse. At the re-hab center here in Mi, I had a complete physical, and expected my body, and organs to be shot. Thank the good Lord, all my lab test were completely normal. I never tried to detox at home because I knew I was in to deep. Getting clean was the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is done!!!! I have been clean for almost 2 years. It can be a gloryus experience, or it can be the most difficult time of your life. Remember Jails, Institution's, or death, are all that await you if you don't do something. You can do it!!!!

[sherry5035]

I have been addicted to vicodinES,clonipan and antidreppresions for 6 years. I decided 3 months ago to get off of all of them. so slowly one by one I did.however after the 3 months I turned to alcohol (I dont drink) I got a dui the first and only time I got drunk. I was so drunk I dont even remember getting in my car, or where I was going. I was so far away from my house.what the heck happened. did my withdrawls contribute to me turning to alcohol?( I hate alcohol)Thank god, for being with me that night and nobody was hurt!

[kathrynheath0707]

I can't image what you guy's livers look like!! 10 - 15 vicodin a day!!!?? WOW That means at the 500 mg dose (some can be up to 750 mg) of acetaminophen in each of them then then the people who took this amount would be taking 6500 - 9750 mg of acetaminophen a DAY  The limit a day is typically 4000 mg and an overdose is 8000 mg so some people are overdosing DAILY. Please be careful please please be careful. Your liver can fail miserably and it can kill u if you overdose. I know I am no better but I used to take pain killers like oxycontin and methadone because they actually lasted all day and they didn't have any tylenol in them. PLEASE QUIT OR SLOW DOWN FOR YOUR HEALTH AND YOUR LIFE'S SAKE. I am scared for these people.

[Kat72]

Hello! To all of you that have had any addictions, I Completely understand. In November of '09 I was diagnosed with a bulged disc, Degenerative Disc Disease, & arthritis in my lower back. The bulging disc was pinching the sciatic nerve & the pain went right down my right leg. First they put me on the lower dose of lortab every 4 to 6 hrs. Then I went to a neurologist which put me on Vicodin 7.5-750;s twice daily. This may not seem like much & I am taking them for severe pain, however, honestly, I don't know how I am going to get off of these. I have tried chiropractic w/ the decompression & several adjustments, exercise, epidurals, & it seems nothing will help my pain, only very temporary. I have so much compassion for others with any kind of pain in their body. I would love to get my life back. I am getting so desperate I am seriously thinking about laser surgery. I know that I am not taking nearly as much as some of you, it still is a reason to be concerned. I hope all of you find the help that you need to live a pain free life & a drug free life. God Bless You!

[golflynx]

Ok I'll just put a question out there and see if I can change the path.

Has anyone had any minor or serious nerve issues possibly relating to the H1N1 shot. I personally know of 2 people who have had nerve issues relating to vacines within 1 month of getting it. I had a terrible bout with something never diagnosed resembling sciatica. This started about 1 month after the shot. I had never taken a flu shot before and was fine for about 2 weeks and then had random dizzy spells once every one or two days. They only lasted a second or two and 2 weeks later the serious pain in my hip and left thigh started. Most of the pain is gone but I still have sensitve skin on my entire thigh and its now going on 6 months. Side effects of the H1N1 have to be one of the best kept secrets out there. No one wants you to know. If you have had any similar symptoms please post it.

[cageseeker777]

My girlfriend has been taking vicodin since she was in 4th grade. Her mom got her started on them for headaches. She is on the 10 500's now and she takes a 5 a day. She has recently started acting crazy and having mood swings. Everytime someone is sick or hears about a new sickness she believe she has it and lays in bed with all these new symptoms. Shes almost borderline bi polar Im not real sure what to do. She then diagnosed her self with fibromyalgia and then convinced the doctor she has it. Then after he said she had it she then had all this pain everywhere that she never had before. She never leaves the house unless its something she wants to do. For example. Honey want to go to the movies? "IM SICK" three hours later her friend calls and shes ready to get out of bed forgetting all together she is even sick. I strongly believe vicodine has ruined her mind and made her this strange offset person who claims to have a fever or a sore throat or serious health problem at all times. She ran out for a week and her doctor wouldnt refill them..she detoxed and she came back to normal and she was as sweet as could be with no pain. THe second she got back on them she had went off the wall again. Does this sound like an addiction to anyone else? What should i do who should i contact?

[Navari]

Hi. I posted about 5 months ago with a vicodin/soma addiction. At that time i had made it 5 days in detox and failed. I have read so many stories that have touched and encouraged me. I feel like i am never going to be free. I don't know what to do. My desire to be clean is strong but the drugs seem stronger than my will. I told my husband about my addiction and he said he knew but didn't  know it was a 'problem '. It is 7:27am and i "had " to get out of bed to medicate (2 vics and 2somas) that's  just enough to get the crawls off me. I am babbling but desperate. The main 2 things that would make it easy is if #1 the restless leg thing, (that's  an insane feeling)  and the lack of sleep. If someone had a fast answer to stop that need to kick my legs i might make it (i get it bad) over 10 years of abuse and I'm still stuck in the same ole rut. Sorry so long
and i need to mention that i dont have insurance for doctor help anymore so home alone is where i try this again. God bless you all and i sincerely hope and pray you all make it in your own way. *hugs*

[donewitis]

Please cut and paste this message and start a new post..this is very old and not so easy to locate. Just go to top of page Yellow button.click on that. Anyway..Get some Hylands Restless Leg...eat bananas for the potassium...Get some Immodium AD...that will help with W/D symptoms and diarhea (diarrhea). Just start your own post..and then go to the bottom of that screen..see health pages..then Thomas's Recipe..Amino Acid Protocol..lots of info..vitamins, supplements to get you through. If I can do it..you can too. This is 2/3 mental and 1/3 physical. Attitude is important..making a decision that you can get through 5-7 days of bad flu-like symptoms. Go for it!
You have found a very supportive forum so keep posting. Again on a new thread...then you will get lots of feedback ...and I want to Welcome you!

[Ann2497]

Navari - I know you don't have insurance but with the money you spend on the pills can you go to the dr and get some Clonidine?  it will greatly help you with withdrawals.  it is a blood pressure medication and it helps with opiate withdrawal.  You know you need to get off the pills.  You don't want to be on them for another 10 years.

[Navari]

Thank you ann, i really understand what you are saying,and thank you. I am trueely fighting with the devil,it sux.I love the high but the feeling is gone, i just need to stay well. I cannot go a day without my meds. I'm looking for the pain free easy way out. I hate my life. want to be clean but i am to weak. you stories give me hope but I'm not as strong as others. I'm broke but always find a way to medicate. i feel awful and ashamed. i want to be free.

[frannny]

Hi. I am addicted to percocet and have been since my car accident in 207. I had a discectomy in 07 but then numbing and severe pain then continued in the left leg and lower back. By 2010 it was again un bearable and I was up to 7 percocets a day. I had a disc fusion done in May and the pain in the left leg lessened temporarily and the pain in my back is horrible, every moment of everyday. I am now out of the walker and back to work 1 shift a week, but the pain in my left leg and lower back is getting worse everyday. I am today up to 10 to 12 percocets  daily. I want to stop, i beat myself up constantly over my weakness. I feel so alone. On a ****** pension, and dont have a family doctor that can even prescribe narcotics. I see all of these other losers getting what i truly need and they take every extra penny i have to better their finances with no guilt. I am frustrated and would love help and suggestions. I am alone with 5 kids.

[frannny]

Is percocet the same as vicaden? I'm in Canada and percocet is what we are usually prescribed. 5/325 percocet/acetaminophen

[challenger10]

Percocet is a little stronger than hydrocodone, Vicodin...what you are taking is the percocet.

[Helpmelawd]

My husband has been taking hydrocodone for 3-5 years. He hides the pills and I've found them his car, golf bag and other strange places. He has fibromyalgia and says he's always in a lot of pain. He is very hateful and moody. He allows my 13 yr old son to be very disrespectful to me. We haven't slept in the same bed for 3 years. I find this very strange also. He shuts the door and sleeps in his bed every night. I do not want a divoroce. Please help me. He is driving me crazy. We have a 16 yr old daughter and 13 yr old son and we've been married 21 yrs. Please help me!!

[silverangel99]

Hi , i have been reading all the wonderful words of incouragement.But i dont think i will ever be able to stop:-((( !!! I go from be clean to 10-12 per day. Why do i do this to myself, no my family... Im 38 been in a god awufale marriage and divorce. Now i have a wonderful man that is great to me and im going to mess it all up with this problem !!!! He dose not know how much i take and i hide it from him and my family. the only one who konws is my mom. Im down to 2 a day but im still sick!!!!

[relayane]

i hear you silverangel99, i was really scared my wife would leave me when she found out, i hid it for about 6 years or so. she found out and within a few days i was at the Waismann method, and a day later was detoxed with their detox under anesthesia. like you i kept trying to taper but my body was so used to a high dosage that it was always hell..i tried for years, suboxone, tapering both opiates and suboxone, but when i had to quit no matter how low i had been dosing, the withdrawals were hell. If your husband is as great as he sounds im sure he'll support you getting rid of this dependency.There are options, look into Waismann if you're intending to stop. Some other rapid detox places are a bit shady, but Waismann are the best in this field in my opinion. I cannot tell you how they completely changed my life! i did it July 07 and have been gratefully clean ever since.And my wife didnt leave me (yet lol)
   dont lose hope, there are solutions out there..

[4csteph]

Hi!
I have never heard of seizures from opiates except Methadone or if you have another medical condition (like heart problems)?? I have read that the withdrawal can be AWFUL and very painful and make you FEEL like you are dying, but that it is NOT life threatening like alcohol or benzodiazapenes (Valium, Xanax....). Anyhow, I just wanted to clarify because I didn't want people to read this thread & think it was life threatening.
" Opiates - Many people are surprised to learn that in most cases, withdrawal from many opiates is not deadly. Still there are some very important exceptions. Methadone, a long-acting opiate often prescribed as a replacement for heroin can cause death during withdrawal if it's consumed in high enough doses for a long enough period" ( From psychology today)
I think the best thing is to educate ourselves and it is usually NEVER a good idea to quit cold turkey. Tapering off of any drug, including anti-depressants seems to be the most successful and more "comfortable" solution.
Good luck everyone!!!!

[4csteph]

YES!!! That is one of the 1st signs that you are headed down a dangerous path. You have reached tolerance to the drug & it will take more to have the same results & the more you take, the more dependent you will be and worst of all, the harder it will be to quit!!!!
Ask your Dr. to help you find and alternative to help you deal with your pain. If you are ever tempted to take more than perscribed it is a red flag!!
Good luck and know that addiction'dependence is a chemical thing, not a lack of will power!!
Be safe,
"Been there , done that"

[4csteph]

That's a tough one, without knowing for sure how these pills are disappearing.
If you are certain it is her, the best way to comfront someone with an addiction is with love, concern & support. She is probably feeling shame as it is, so you definitely don't want someone to feel "attacked" or "accused" in any way.
Is there someone above her that you can go to with your concerns?
In many situations, employers will help recommend rehabilitation and insurance may even cover it.
Addiction is such an awful thig to deal with-not only for the person but for those who care.
GOOD LUCK!!!!