can withdrawals from hydrocodone cause excessive hunger?

ok so i suffer from very painful endometriosis, poly cystic ovarian syndrome, and adenomyosis. i have had a couple surgeries for this and never abused the pain medicine they gave me afterwards. my most recent surgery which was 5 months ago, i took the lortabs AS NEEDED. nothing more. once all the pain from the surgery went away, i still had some pain medicine left. at first i was taking the remainder of the pills at night to help me sleep. and then i got to where they kept me up at night, and while they kept me up, i realized that i was in the best mood i have ever been in, in my life. i then continued to take them every couple days during the day to make me feel happy. then my friend told me she knew someone where i could buy some. so i continued to buy them. i would take up to 10-12 of the 5mg pills a day. i have abused hydrocodone pills almost every single day for the past 5 months. a week ago, my friend and i got into a fight over the pills and she said that she would no longer let my buy from her supplier. it was then that i realized the pills weren't worth it so i stopped taking them. since i have stopped taking them i have experienced the typical withdrawal side effects such as headaches, diarrhea, sweats, fever-like chills, but one thing i can't figure out is i have been having excessive hunger issues ever since i quit taking the pills. is it possible that this has anything to do with the detox???

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

It is much more common to lose your appetite almost entirely. So thats a lucky one for you. Much more pleasant not be low in nutrition. For what its worth ....your connection will most likely keep selling the pills if absolutely necessary - - that business is not known for the high standards and ethics involved. But you dont need them. Only trouble from that direction. The pills were never intended for insomnia and as a stimulant - - lots of trouble coming from that attitude and use. Its a very good thing that you realized that the pills were not worth the trouble. You would be fighting with more than your friend and over more than the pills if you didnt quit.

[doogie86]

well the reason why i think the excessive hunger is from the withdrawals is because...... MOST of the time, i would just use on days that i worked which is tuesday-saturday. so sundays and mondays i would lay off of the pills because i was at home and didn't care if i was happy or not. it seems like the pills were the only thing that could get me thru the work day. so anyways .... on my days off, i started noticing that i was having extremely bad cases of excessive hunger. like i was a bottomless pit!!!!! and then on the days that i would use, i didn't have those problems. i never could figure out what it was causing me to be so hungry all the time just on those certain days. well now that i have been clean for 2 days, the same thing is happening. so that's the only thing i can relate it to

[worried878]

u were at 50-60 mgs in reality of lortab  or hydro..a do-able ct dose for sure...it is in ur luck that she cut u off..u can move forward while she moves backward..you will come out ahead everytime if u stay clean....the control pills puts on us is unbeleivable..i was dealing with people/freinds???  dont think so)   but u know they were not REALLY my friends..they sold me drugs to make money off of me...that is not a friend,..tha is noty even a person of God...making profit off anothers addiction/pain...not a christian thing to do,,,but i should not have been hanging with that crowd either..we are all moving forward..some more slowly than others..but all moving toward recovery in our own fashion to meet our own goals

[doogie86]

wow. you are so right. i have never ever once thought about it as someone making a profit off of my addiction/pain. that little statement right there has truly just opened my eyes even more. i feel as if i were taken advantage of!!

[firstime88]

ok.  now that we are all moving forward and realize we can't trust anyone who sells pills to be a friend....the question still remains "i have been having excessive hunger issues ever since i quit taking the pills. is it possible that this has anything to do with the detox??? "

i had 2 major abdominal surgeries 5 weeks apart. i used lortabs but they were almost as effective as candy, but without the sweet taste.  Doctor prescribed percocets 7.5's @ 4 hours.  i did those for about a week.  then stretched it out to 6 hours for a few days, then 8 hours for a few more days.

I was uncomfortable but i felt better by not taking the pills, so i stopped completely after being on them for about 4 weeks and within 3 days i was in withdrawal. (This was as of the last 4 days.) Come to find out i had gone off them more or less cold turkey. I have NEVER abused any drug, never so much as even drank a beer or smoked a cigarette my entire life, but here i was at age 50+ dependant upon prescription pain killers. My fear and shame were very difficult to deal with.

I consulted with my doctor today and told him i was cutting pills into thirds now and taking 1 of those every 12 hours and he commended me on my efforts and told me to gradually increase the length of time between doses until i can do without them.  He DID tell me i was NOT addicted, but had developed a physical dependancy on them that would take a while to get over.

I forgot to ask what do I do about the constant gnawing hunger...... so I will ask here.   Maybe someone will offer a helpful answer. Please don't tell me to eat all the time.  I am so sick of sandwhiches I could scream and i have lost all desire for sweets.....

Thank you in advance

[ImGettingClean]

Hey there, can your abdominal surgeries have anything to do with it?

Also, i like you, get excessively hungry when I come off the pills...dont know why...it could be psychological...

Did your doctor give you any insight?

[firstime88]

First one (actually the third one if you count all the way back to march or 2007) was for a surgical mesh replacement.  Second one was for a fistula that developed in the first few feet of the small intestine.  had to remove both the new mesh and nearly 20 inches of small intestine.

I forgot to ask what do I do about the constant gnawing hunger..i can't eat enough to stop it....

[firstime88]

and no it is not psychological.  it has been getting more pronounced the last 2 days but today is by far the worst.  today i have eaten breakfast, several fruit bars, some sandwhiches, snack cakes, 10 fried chicken legs, drank nearly half a gollon of gatoraide, and assorted other stuff and even now, not 1 hour after the chicken, i am so starving i am in pain.  i am not able to eat enough to stop the hunger...

this is getting real ugly real fast.

[ImGettingClean]

I really think this is something a GI doc may want to look @...I dont think this sounds like anything Withdrawal related...sounds like an absorption issue or some other gastro-intestinal issue...sounds like something's not firing to your brain to let you know you're full...or could be food is not being absorbed within your body and being passed down too fast....since you've had 3 surgeries in your abdominal area, i would have it checked out....

[firstime88]

I forgot to mention this.  both surgeons reported to me that i have major adhesion and scar tissue growth.  not a "frozen abdomen" but still serious enough.  i wonder if that has something to do with this???

The last surgery was on the 30th of June, exactly 1 month ago today.

(and actually there are 4 surgeries invovled here, not 3...  numbers 3 and 4 were about 5 weeks apart.)

excuse me now please.  i am going to go raid the fridge again...

[firstime88]

oh..and dummy me forgot to mention this tiny little bit of info:  they removed about 20 inches of my small intstine near the stomach because of a fistula during this last proceedure. a bowel resection it was called.  surgeon said i had plenty of intestine left in that area to function correctly...or so she said.....

sorry..hunger has clouded my brain..literaly i think...

now back to that fridge.........