What is the best way to taper down on vicodin / hydrocodone?

[SickNtiredofVicodin]

I have been on vicodin / hydrocodone for 5 years,  Now that Ive gone under the knife for much needed surgeries that were so painful it made life unbearable.  I thought after my last surgery, I was prescribed norco which is another name for a higher level of vicodin / hydrocodone ( 10/325 4 tabs per day )  When I ran out  I though i wouldnt go through any withdrawals,.  I got sick just after my last dose 12 hours later.  I thought oh this will just last a day or two.  After five days of living torture, no sleep, diarrhea, shakes, inability to concentrate, bad bad headaches and a multitude of other stuff, nausea, where i couldnt stand the smell of food cooking.,  I could only drink milk.  Then the heartburn was sooo bad, I had heart palpitations, pain in my chest.  I begged for my husband to take me to the ER, he refused.  I made an appointment with my doctor,  he gave me another script, but never gave me instructions on how to taper down.  I think he assumed that i could do it.  Well now im at the end of that script and I have made an appointment to see him,  what should I tell him?  During the middle of this, he had perfomed a cortisone injection on my upper neck and spine  the after effects or side effects were not what i expected,  I was HOT, Flushed, had spasms in my neck and back, which his assistant said that it was common for those effects and not to worry.  But I felt that I was taking epinephrine,   I felt so messed up!!  so I ended getting the refil for my script.  with the  intention of tapering my dose, which have been successful so far,  Im down to two 10 mg tabs per day, and I just deal with the withdrawals, kinda pushing myself not to exceed that dose no matter how bad I feel,  the problem is when i started trying to go below the two tabs, I felt like S**T,  i layed on the couch all day no energy,  my gut makes so much noise,  i have diarrhea,  I dont sleep at night,  I just lay awake watching my spouse sleep like a baby, then I get mad at myself, HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN.  At one point I wanted to take a gun and shoot my head off, just to keep from feeling those intense withdrawal issues.  So someone please help me, or tell me what I should tell my MD,  he may not re-fill my script and continue to help me wean off.  And If by some miracle he does refill it,  How should I approach this,  when should I take it, how much should I take, how long should I expect to wean?   He also gave me script for xanax, two tabs per day, which I take at night so I can get decent sleep,  but now im starting to rely on that to get me through my day, as it has a very calming effect on me.  But then the question burns in my head, now I have to wean off the Xanax,  but my mom and grandma say they have been on Xanax all thier life ( since thier 30's)  they both say that we have a family history of panic disorder, which I think is part of my withdrawal efforts.  I try so hard not to watch the clock.,  Now I think im getting somewhere, because last night, I slept good, and if I can get a good night sleep, I can cope during the day.  Someone out there must know what I an going through.,  I take 1 10mg tab at 6 am with my coffee and the other at 2 pm which now I am trying so hard to not take it until closer to bedtime. so that I can remain calm enough to sleep.  My other question is,  since ive started withdrawing I feel like im having heart trouble,  pounding, skipping beats, horrible heartburn.  Help me someone please,.

[trying2quit]

I know this discussion is from several months back but I am curious to see how everyone is doing! I am tapering off nordco's 10/325 of eight years. It really *****....I look at the clock all the time, had crying spells, just want to sit on the couch, am snappy at my husband and daughter and just feel like sh**. I hate these pills....I am down from 40mgs a day to 12mgs per day....I have a question to anyone that knows....I have heard from my doctor that it is best not to take the pills the same time each day because your body then expects it and its more addictive. I have read on here when tapering to take the pills the same time each day but just keep lowering the dosage. Does anyone know which one is more effective in tapering down to nothing? I have also been addicted to xanax in the past-was taking about 6mgs a day. I finally went to a psychiatrist and he put me on klonipin tapering down to .5mgs twice a day which I am still taking. Once I beat the nordco's I will work on getting off the Klonipin. I am trying to exercise every day as I usually do but have no motivation whatsoever. Sleeping has been bad but not like with the xanax. Oh, and as for my anxiety with the xanax it actually got worse when I was on them...when I stopped the xanax and switched to a low dose of Klonipin my anxiety got way better (I have had anxiety all my adult life!) Well, I hope that you all are doing ok and would like to hear other's perspectives of all this!  Thanks

[SickNtiredofVicodin]

Im sure more people than we even expect get hooked on this S**T, because of doctors just throwing pills at a problem and never taking time to find the "ROOT" cause of seeing if after 3 months if weve developed a tolerance,  HELLO i think if your getting prescriptions regularly for three months, there should be a little sit down with your DOCTOR and they should initiate a plan to fix the problem before it gets out of hand.   So its ok to be damned mad, I am at my Doctor, and since then have seen another primary and was TOTALLY honest with him about my ordeal.  He has done a great job working with me to stop.  XOXO

[SickNtiredofVicodin]

I read your post/reply to my comment,  I must say I agree and also disagree with you.  There is a long standing depression and anxiety in my family, My mom was afraid to tell me, hoping that Id be able to "deal" with it or hoping that it would skip me entirely.  I have tried all the usual methods,  prayer, meditation, natural healing, counselling, better diet, exercise.  Believe me ive tried it all,  I tried ever single depression medication out there, for a long while zoloft was helping me, until it helped me gain 25 pounds and i started having pre-diabetic symptoms which can be a side effect of SSRI's.  I recently tried prozac,  it helped me lose weight, but made me alot more anxious, and I almost took my life a few months back.  When I came off of it, I was better, but the panic or anxiety attacks were horrible,  I felt like I was having a heart attack every day or about every other day.   Because I am such a risk for suicide, both my counsellor or psychologist and MD agree, its best If I stay on a low dose of Xanax, and never exceed two tablets of 0.5 mg.   So far its helped, and eased my withdrawals of vicodin.  I think it really depends on the person,  And I can tell you that I do have much more PEACE in my life instead of constant turmoil and I can also tell you that I am a better mom, wife and finally feel as though Im living now that I am nearing the end of my addiction to Vicodin,  sadly, however I will always be known for being an addict, because once you go there, its easy to go back,. Just like someone who drinks alcohol or has risky sexual behavior.  Ive finally come to terms that I know who I am and what triggers me and that alone has given me peace of mind.  Lots of love,  XOXO

[SickNtiredofVicodin]

I can tell you that if your committed, you will be sucessful, try to avoid looking at the clock,  instead, dont quit cold turkey, taper your doses amd get as much rest and fluids as you can.  If you start feeling depressed, as hard as it is,  eat good and take a long walk, DONT lay on the couch and watch TV, it will drive you crazy.  Instead if your indoors, go to this site read, play crossword puzzles, put together a jigsaw puzzle, and just when you think you cant take it anymore, go take a hot as you can stand bath and allow yourself to grieve or cry, because its going to be an emotional ride.  I get in the shower several times a day, and just stand there letting my tears out, while i get ride of my muscle aches,  I ask god to help me,  take vitamins, there is a detox recipie somewhere in this site, the vitamins and amino acids like L-Tyrosine will help,   take 500 mg of magnesium about every six hours, with alot of water,  keep some diarrhea medication nearby, your stomach will make so much noise that it will bother you when you try to sleep.  If you cant sleep,  take 1/2 tab of norco / vicodin and a melatonin,  if you still cant sleep get up go out to the livngroom  get a glass of milk, sit down and read, pray and make sure you take a comforting blanket and pillow with you.  If you still feel you need more motivation, I put pictures of my kids in front of me,  and I said out loud  I WILL BE A BETTER MOM after all this ****.  Its ok to be mad as hell, just dont take it out on anyone in the house.  Thats why I said walk, when you do, you can talk to yourself, let out your anger when you return you will be calm.  If your kids ask why your upset, let them know that you want nothing but the best for them and you are changing yourself to make life better, hug them and dont tell them what your going through, kids have a way of innocently sharing your news with others who could cast judgement on you.  "Most of all keep in touch with me or someone else your comfortable with. on this site.  We are all here for each other.  XOXOXOXO  

[jessiduke]

I wonder how many people fell victum to these damn pills I have been taking hydros 10s for 3 years started with a wrerck and now just taking them cause I have a real problem I have set a quit date for next friday I have tried to quit before and it was awful now I know what to expect I know I have to get my life back any help you can offer will be dear thank to all

[NoMoreExcuses]

I can tell you that I have suffered from Anxiety for the past 12 years but have not taken Meds for it.  When I was finally able to come to grips that it Is all in my head it seemed to help, did it stop it? Not even close but I was able to curve the attack before it happenes.  I still get the tightness in my chest, extra palps of my heart and that heavy beat you seem to feel when your laying down.  For me it was stronger during my time getting clean, actually the Anxiety was the worst before I went to bed and when I woke up, it usually lasts an hour for me then subsides. The more clean days I get behind me the less I feel the Anxiety. I wouldnt worry about it to much it's just our brains trying to trick us into using again I feel.  If for some reason you are scared go see your Doctor, peace of mind is a beauitful thing....

Peace...Love...

[mtgoat911]

it sounds like addiction runs in your family, having a few relatives on xanax for anxiety, most addicts have this condition and cannot stop taking nerve pills without help
so if you want to be drug free, listen to people who are clean, not family memebers who suggest a life long dependency on xanax
i have several people close to me that choose to take these pills, i made a descion to deal with anxiety without benzos
how many xanax's do you take a day?
as far as meeting with your doctor, it makes sense that he asumed you could calculate your own taper, many docs do not take the time to do this for their patients, and other times when a patient ask for help their doctor responds by cutting them completly off, so it will depend on how willing your doctor is to help you
the good news is that you are only taking 2 pills a day,
how long have you been off the norcos? has it been 3 weeks?
please talk to your doctor about tenex or clonidine, they will help with anxiety, blood pressure, which could be the reason you are having unusual heart beats,
have you been diagnosed with high bp or heart palps?

[Idiotlol]

Wow, Im right there with you .I went through all of that.I was at about 8 pills a day when I decided to stop. I got a stomach virus and used the virus to my advantage by mentaly blaming the virus for my withdrawl. It lasted about a week but I am now down to a half of vic a night just too sleep. Sleeping is very tough. I take benadryl or tylonol pm and I get about 5 hours. A lot of people say that bananas help for the stomach problems. If I was you I would spread  two pills through out the day for a week. take 4 halfs though out the day. Then the second week take 1 and a half spead out per a day.The idea is not to get the high from the pill but use it to even yourself out. Do not take the pills when you feel you need them.Take them at the exact same time every day. It will be a little tough at first. but every day will be easier. As crazy as this sounds I think the best thing I ever did was exercise. I know that might be tough for you but even a walk after dinner can help.Vics release endorphans in the brain to make you feel good.Execise does the same. And believe it or not as much as you probably have no disire to,Sex realeases a huge amount of endorphans. And it feels soooo much better when you are not numb from taking the pills. I hope this helps. Just remember. You have been practicly in a coma the entire time you where using the drugs.When you are off you willl never feel more alive.Think about how proud of yourself you will be when you beat this.How good it will feel when you look at yourself in the mirror every morning.The drug did this to you! NOW FIGHT BACK .You can do it.