help me get off codeine

[matty matt]

ive been on codeine for about 6 mths everyday. i take up to 36 tabs a day.
i have psycotic issues and codeine is the only thing that settles it. now the codeine is not working i just want to take more....quite over taking it i have lost so much weight even though i'am still eating the same.
i also take 10 valium a day (5 mg) in a withdrawl at home program with my doc. but i dont want him to know about the codeine.
so do you think the best thing would be just to slowly cut everyday the amount of codeine. say 30 to 25 to 20 to 15 to 10 to 5 to 2 than 1 than off??
i actually tried to get off it 1 week ago but lasted 2 days untill i couldnt take the pain anymore.C/T
my back legs etc...i was in agony.
thanks for helping.
matty matt.

[Beargizmo]

You really need to be honest with your doctor as to what is going on and what you are taking.  IBKleen may have the right answer but you might also want to sit down with your doctor and be honest with him/her.


Jim

[matty matt]

yea thanks guys...
all my family has said how better i have been the last 6mths... they know i was taking codeine but not to the extent i take it now...i started off taking it because i compressed 2 disc's in my back.
the prexige tabs the doc gave me didnt work so a neighbour gave me some codeine and its just spiraled from there.
off codeine i have never gotten nausea, constipation etc....no side effects only it keeps me awake due to a chemical imbalance i have.... the 10 vals a day im on dont do much because i 'am so immune to taking high dose's after 7 years. i was on about 25 to 30 vals a day before i started withdrawling from them 8 mths ago now down to 10. the doc, psyc and psycologist want to keep me on about that much per day because of a violent streak.
the codeine makes my happy, loving, lots of energy.
i cannot take any anti psychotics tried them all...i have real bad side effects.. that 4 times have put me in hostpital.
so i sorta take codeine for a reason. but its not going to be doing me any good in the long run.(or now).
thanks for ya  help and i will be telling my doctor about it to come off it safely.
and one point was rehab that IBKleen said. im not welcome back. the only place i can go is in sydney now and is $52.000 for 4 - 6 weeks.

[animalcopper]

I'm in the same boat so to speak , maybe we can get through this together....I've had it with the dependancy and need so badly to recover......I'm a newby too so one day at a time....I'm going to try cold turkey tomorrow and see how it goes....

[candyapplepink777]

I am not suffering an addiction, however my sister and my father are both addicts, both have been for about 10 years, both taking in excess of 50 nurofen plus tablets a day...
My dad has gotten off them before, he was treated with methadone, that started making him sick, so he went cold turkey instead. Thos 6 months were probably the worst of my life.. I couldn't do anything to help him. He recovered though and was a new person. So when I discovered a few weeks ago he was taking nurofen again, I kind of did the wrong thing and flew off the handle. I couldn't understand how someone could come so far, and put their family through that only to start it all over again. He promised me he would stop, saw a doctor, got medication and that familiar feeling came back over our house hold...
As for my sister, she has had numerous surgeries now.. The last one she had was due to a stomach ulcer (caused by the amount of codeine she had been taking) that rumptured and actually ripped open her stomach. Again, she promised me she would stop.. But she hasn't. Now she is in need of stomach surgery again, her weight has plummeted to 35kg, she is suffering, and again, there's nothing I can do to help. The doctors have given her 12 boxes of panadene forte to help her with her pain until her admission to hospital in 2 days. In 3 days, there are nearly 4 of those boxes gone (That's almost 80 tablets she's already had- 2400mg codeine) My dad has been helping her take these also..
I am confident her admission to hospital will help wean her off it, but how can I help her stay off it in future? And how can I help my dad? My dad gets really nasty now when I try to talk to him about it...

[SophieShine]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
You commented on a very old post. You should copy and paste what you wrote and post your own question so that ppl on here can see you have posted and give you a more accurate answer.
Best of luck to you!
sophie.

[Astray]

I was addicted to the same things for 10 years, I've been clean 38 days now so maybe can provide some insight even if its not very helpful.

Theres only so much a friend or relative can do if the addict is in denial or does not really mean it when they say they want to give up. You can be supportive if they do want to clean up ... if they don't then frankly addicts will lie to themselves and everyone around them, all that matter is the addiction.

As to why addicts relapse, physical WDs are ghastly but relatively brief, its the long drawn out neurological problems that cause most to fail. Typically long term opiate abusers attempting to clean up will experience violent moods swings, depression, memory and reasoning problems ... general inability to function in other words. Theres some good information about these post acute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS) in the health pages top right which might help you understand your relatives behaviour. This general feeling of uselessness can be itself be a relapse trigger to hide in a bottle of pills.

You could do worse than get them to visit this site, I certainly found it useful. A lot of people say joining a support group like Narcotics Anonymous helps.

[ZJILLIAN]

You have truly been suffering. And it sounds like this has been going on for a very long time.
I would work closely with my doctor and psychologist on this one. But it would be really important to tell them that it was the codeine that helped you the most. They should find that interesting and worth exploring.

I don't think I would advise going off the codeine on your own. You have too many things going on. You will need to trust in your doctors and go very very slowly and monitor your behavior. I guess the good news is that you now know that you can feel happier. You just need to find out how to do that in a way that keeps working.

[glasgowboy30]

Hi people, I am looking for some help, I have been addicted to codine now for just over 3 years and have very recently kicked the habbit (4days), I have had insomnia, violent body reactions amongst other things. Today the I am feeling at the tail end of detox and light is at the end of the tunnel, advice is get someone to go into boots pick up some kalms and some herbal insomnia tablets take time off work and ride it through, what I am terrified of though is relapsing or moving back onto harder drugs, does any body know a place where you can get help restarting a new life without addiction? Any help or advice would be much appreciated. I hope this post has helped a few people. P.s. pepto bismol and gaviscon are a godsend.