taper off of Vicodin/Percs

[mindtwister1976]

Hello Everyone, Second time posting. I have been taking a combination of Vicodin/Tramadol/Percs mostly for about 5 years. I attempted to go cold turkey last week.. i made it to the 3rd day, and i couldnt take it anylonger, i couldnt sleep in 3 days or deal with the mental moodiness, and leg kicks constantly.. so i gave up on the 3rd day and went back to my normal routine of taking 8-12 pills a day for 2 days. then i relized how guilty it made me feel and i didnt want the 3 days of hell to be for nothing, So i dropped down to taking 6 pills yesterday, which is aprox half of my normal dose, and i seemed to make it through it ok.. and today i figured i would drop down to 4 pills a day 1 every four hours, which is great for me, being that i was taking lots more than that.. i am having some withdrawals. such as no energy, and constantly thinking about taking more pills, but i really do want to get clean this time, i refuse to buy anymore pills, and i have around 20 pills left, and i am going to faithfully continue the 4 pills a day, until they are gone, then i am going to hopefully be down to a reasonable and barable withdrawal, basically. i just wanted to throw this out there for everyone to read and give me there thoughts on what i am doing, Am i on the right track? or am i fooling myself about the withdrawals, are they going to be just as severe? any advice or comments are greatly appreciated, thank you, Paul

[bmdad]

Congrats on wanting to get your life back! I have been through withdrawals via the cold turkey route and once by tapering. Tapering can really help but you have to stick to the plan.That's great you were able to cut your dose in half. You will feel some withdrawals while tapering but they won't be as severe as going cold turkey. If possible,you may want to try and taper down below 4 pills a day but since you only have around 20 left you may not be able to do so. The idea of a taper plan is get to a very low dose on the last few days. They say you should cut your intake by 10% every 3 to 5 days but I felt that was too slow of a method for me. What if you went to 3 a day for the next 3 days, 2 a day for another 3 days, 1 a day for 3 more days, and then the last 2 days took 1/2 in the am and 1/2 in the pm. That is what I would do personally. Not saying that is the right way but since I have tapered before that's what I would do. Even if you take your 4 a day for the next 5 days will make a difference compared to the amount you were taking before and going cold turkey. It takes so much willpower to taper so you really have to prepared mentally. If at all possible it may help to have someone hold on to the pills and dole them out to you according to your plan.
Also, I would check in to the amino acid protocol. You can find that in the health pages on the right hand side of the screen. They will help supply your body with the nutrients we have been lacking while being on the opiates. It will also help if you start exercising asap. It will help even if it's just a short walk around the block. Just be prepared for a mental battle but if you stick to your plan and stay strong, you will make it through this. Also, post on here and read as much as you can. It helps once you are clean to come back and read your previous posts to remind you of the fight you went through to get clean. The physical part is always the easiest. It's the mental battle afterwards that can be tough. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask! There are so many wonderful people on here that are willing to help all they can and will give the advice and added motivation that helps so much during all of this! Best of luck!
Brian