Vicodin withdrawal timeline

[nursejackie2]

Ive been on Vicodin (Norco 10/325)  for about a year. Take 5-7/ day.  Dying to get off.  Have Quit cold turkey before & once went through rapid detox under anesthesia. Bottom line I:  I'm done!  Took 10mg on Sunday night & codeine 72mg Monday afternoon. Started feeling rough today, I think the irritability is the worst for me. Can't sleep. How many intense days can I expect before things settle down.?
I'm having the yawning, tearing & sneezing already. thanks :)

[dorey85]

Did you take them while you were pregnant?

[Paulre]

So sorry your suffering. I'm coming off Vicodin day 4. Was taking 2-3 10-350 a day for a year. It's getting a little better each day and I know its like walking slowly out of a bad place. Can't go back. Really! Hang in there.

Paul

[Jinx_777]

this thread is so old.  copy your comment and paste it as a 'New Question'.  just click on 'Back to Community' and click on 'Ask a Question'.  that way people will see it and be able to give you advice.  sounds like you really need to talk to someone.  I have no experience with diabetes so I don't know how to help.  If it was just detoxing off of the vicodin, then I could offer some advice

[lifeishellen]

I'm scared.  I've been taking Vicodin for about 8 years.  I was drinking too much alcohol and I took one on a "hangover" day.  It helped me SO much.  I started by taking one every once in awhile..not every day yet, but then I started taking one every morning before work because I hated my job and it helped me get through the day.  I asked my dr. to prescribe them for back pain.  Which I do have.  Anyway, I got to where I still drank occasionally and would take 2 Vico. the next day for the hangovers.  Cool, huh?  I thought so.  I could drink without having hangovers.  Bad Bad habit of course.  I also have type 2 Diabetes.    5 and 1/2 years ago I had to move 5 hours away from my hometown where I've been all my life, and I've been very depressed ever since.  The Vicodin has helped me through it, even though I've had trouble getting it from doctors, of course.  I was also drinking about 3 times a week.  Now I don't drink at all because it makes me sick and does not help me feel better, even temporarily.  I am relying on the Vicodin.  I know I need to detox from it, but I'm afraid too, because I mainly take it for the better mental feeling it gives me.  Nothing else does that.  It actually makes me feel "normal".  I take one and a half twice a day.  5/325.  My blood sugar has been super high for weeks now, and I wake up every morning with 300-400 blood sugar and I feel absolutely horrible every morning, until I take the Vicodin.  Could this be caused by the Vico. or the high blood sugar or both?  I am taking about 55 units of insulin every day.  I was taking Victoza but had to go back to insulin because the Victoza was making me nauseous even though it helped me loose over 40 pounds.  I know I need to get off of the Vicodin.  I'm 53, and I don't want to feel this way.  I guess I'm mainly venting right now to people who may understand, but I am so afraid of detoxing from the Vico.  I just got a job and don't want to lose it, so I can't take time off of work to go to a hospital.  Is there anything I can do at home for now?  Thanks for "listening".  

[Elseware]

Thank you for posting here.  This is finally where I've gotten some good info. and some idea of what others have experienced..I am tapering down from a 6 year habit of Vicodin which is slowly killing my life.  I went from alcohol straight to Vicodin.  Stopping this stuff has been very painful (to say the very least) and the anxiety is awful.  I am embarrassed and ashamed with no one to talk to.  So please take me in.  I feel for all of you.  I did not know antihistamines could help.  I'm going straight for those.  I am almost frantic and scared, too.  My sister died from an Oxy overdose a couple years ago

[stuck_in_my_own_head]

I don't know what I'm doing. I'm trying to quit narcotics but it is so hard. I take antidepressants too, stuff to help me sleep, klonopin, and gabapentin for my fibromyalgia. I'm crawling out of my skin every time I lower a dose. How the f%@# am I ever gonna be done? Sometimes I feel like ending my life. I obv know I can't, my kids need me. What do I do? I'm alone. I can't tell my family. I'm embarrassed. What do I do? I'm so alone.

[Punky426]

I am prescribed and taking norco 10/325 6 a day for severe back pain from bulging and herniated disks and nerve damage fibermialgia arthritis etc…and have got to point where I take more then should a day I have been on pain killers for 6-7yrs
I am getting tired of this vicious cycle I have 4 kids also from ages 10 to 11months old who I am the sole caregiver of on my own also am I going to be able to push through cold turkey withdrawals while caring for my children and am I going to b able tolerate and control my pain enough off and how bad are withdrawals going to get so I know what to expect I have a low dose of 0.5mg Xanax will that help withdrawals that med I have always been able to pick up take and stop no problem same with my 350 mg soma which are also controlled substances but I don't suffer withdrawals with them that I know but its the hydro's I am really concerned with
Need someone to talk to and to help me through this anyone please I need a support person and someone who has been through and knows  

[mlb555]

I'm on day five of being free from vicodin. I wasn't on it real long, about two months for a bad back, then for a little bit after surgery. I wanted to come off of it to see where my pain level was without it, so I went from about 6 10/325 pills a day, down to 1 just at night. I felt the worst of the withdrawals with that decrease on days 3-5, and on day 3 of that I stopped it altogether. I started with the cold sweats and insomnia real bad, now I'm just constantly freezing. I'm still having trouble sleeping as well. I've tried melatonin and Benadryl, neither seem to help. I've also started drinking cranberry juice to help with detox. I am so desperate to sleep and not be so cold. Any further suggestions would be helpful!

[pinky492]

This really WORKS! I am on day five of not taking vicodin. Here are some OTC meds that I have been taking to help with the symptoms.  I take a half of a dose of Nyquil to sleep.  It almost automatically stops the legs from twitching. I still wake up 4-5 hours later to take another dose to get me through the rest of the night.  ZYRTEC take it during the day. I take the 24 hour pill.  Within in a hour the my legs feel better and I am not as irritable through out the day.  It is an antihistamine and counters the receptors that make your legs twinge.  It's also non- addictive and stops the sniffels and watery eyes.  Funny I take maybe 3 vic's a day and I have these horrible withdrawls and my husband takes ten and only has a runny nose. So not fair.  After day 4 and 5 it starts to get better.  Please try the Zyrtec tho, it really helps.

[denablue42]

Im on day 2 of ULTRAM detox...does anyone know how long w/d symptoms last for ultram/tramadol?  This is awful!  But I'm hanging in there! So far

[Drewvandal]

Sleep appears to be overrated, 3 am wake up now 4 am and insomnia is driving me crazy!

[Drewvandal]

Well I am in my second night of no pills. 2am and no sleep to be had I took 2 ambien but no luck, I guess that's just my body adjusting to not having 10 10/325 Norco a day on average. I hate those pills they have ruled my life for the past 2 years and now I want a new life. I have the body sweats real bad my skin is crawling and im ready for this to be over...

[nursejackie2]

In my line of work benzos  are huge. As a recreational drug I've never been a fan. Tried the Ativan to see if I could stop with the restless legs. No good so that's ruled out.  Guess I'm gonna be awake a lot the next few days.  BUT not on meds! Yay!  Thanks!

[nursejackie2]

Thanks!  The rapid detox sounded too good to be true & it was. The anxiety was unbearable. I'm old enough to appreciate good & bad days just don't  want drugs to be a part of either!  Thanks!

[kyle505]

Same pill, about 10 a day for over a year. Went cold turkey 121 days ago. My first four days were bad, although I did start eating again the evening of day four and that was a big help - felt a little better. On day five I started seeing rays of hope, and began to understand what I'd accomplished and felt proud of me - the first time in many years. Although you'll have good days and bad days (such is life), things should start getting better beginning about day five. Take some time and read the posts on this forum; I practically lived here my first three weeks of detox. Keep posting; we are here to help. You can do this. And life is soooo much better without pills, that's a promise.  

[Rodbird]

Im certainly no DR however, I can tell you Im 17 days clean from oxy 5 year habit now Im fight like a dog to get off benzos which is what Atavin is!! Benzos are far more difficult to get off than is Oxy or what not! Just thougt I would throw my 2 cents in on the sleeping aid. I used and still do Melatoin and 5-HTP to help calm nerves. As a word to the wise before you take the 5-HTP consult with your DR. becasue it helps raise serotonin you your body which are plesures sensors and if you are taking certain anit depresents it could casue to much seratoin however it has been very effective for me. Stay stong and your will WIN!!!

[nursejackie2]

My biggest issue is sleeping. I have ambien & Ativan (husbands Ativan) but neither helped. My Dr recommended klonopin for the restless legs at bedtime....if there is one.  Ever tried it?  

[minn66]

Just wanted to offer some encouragement and support. I came off of roughly the same amount of hydrocodone. Did cold turkey the weekend before Thanksgiving. Littlebit pretty much covered everything. I didn't find this site until day 4 when I was trying to make it though work, which I did thanks to the kind people here. Just ride it out and you probably already know this, but it helped me by just telling myself I had a bad bug that I had to suffer through.

Keep going and keep posting!

Minn

[nursejackie2]

Thanks for your support!!!

[littlebit667]

I jumped from about the same amount maybe a bit more and survived.  Days 3-5 were probably the hardest.  After that it got better.  Treat the symptoms...immodium, alteril (OTC) for sleep or benedryl for sleep and the cold like symptoms.  The emotional stuff does s u c k, but for me they slowly got better...took about 10 days to really see a big diff.  My doctor helped me with some supportive meds, but I have done it without those as well.  You have to be willing to feel bad for awhile to feel good.  It is so worth it.  I hope it takes for you this time.  Keep hydrated..gatorade, water, boost, ensure.  Try to eat..I figured out when I was hungry (the pills kept me from being hungry) I had to eat..helped keep my strength up and also helped me with the cravings.  Really strange but for me true.  I never ate much just a few bites of something helped.  Stay strong!!