tapering off vicodin

[Jesusluvme]

I have been taking 6-8 vicodin a day for about 3 years and recently tried to quit cold turkey. i even tried the thomas recipe.  I had really really bad withdrawal symptoms. I have ten pills left and was wondering if tapering down will help. And how do i do it? I have 6 kids at home and am as close as I am ever going to get to quitting. Please give me some advice.

[loveJwhite]

I'm on day four. Yes it still ***** but I'm on day four. The only thing that has kept me going is just to keep on going. It is scary isn't it? But it will get better tomorrow. Then it will be better the next day. And so on. That's all the advice I can give because that's how I'm living right now. Day to day. I'm doing this cold turkey and I am a total wuss......if that helps. :)

[lovely1986]

is there any advice that you guys can give me to help me get through this?????? i really dont have anyone that i can go to for help without them judging me. i know that they will judge me. and i am scared. i cant go to the doctor because i am afraid they will call cps on me and i love my kids too much to have them taken away from me.

[lovely1986]

hey, i read a lot of what u said and i can really feel where u r coming from. i tried so many times to stop taking vicodin and it was hard. im not going to lie, i did take some today and im so mad at myself. i had promised myself that this would bethe last day. but i am going to pray and i know that as of tomorrow i can no longer take this and do this to myself anymore. for me it wasnt the mental it was just the physical that i am afraid of. i know how it feels and i am scared to feel that way again, but i know i have to do it. please everyone pray for me. i have to do this for me and my kids

[Jesusluvme]

Its almost 5pm and I am having horrible with drawals, I feel short of breath, and I am so dizzy. I feel nausea and just over all sick. Oh my my my

[Jesusluvme]

Day three its about 8:40 am, i just dropped the kdis off at school. As of right now I feel okay. Its my husbands day off of work so If I need him today for a rest day I have that opportunity. I am not having horrible w/d symptoms today. I am very very tired. My house is a total disaster. I cant get myself motivated.  The part that ***** is that I really cant tell what normal is suppose to feel like. I forgot.

[laurel453]

Try valerian root, i took it and it helped me...it's a kind of a natural valium, it will help you with sleep and anxiety

by some magnessium+calcium and potasium supplements..... Hylands restful legs for RLS... all these stuff will alleviate your muscles aches and restless legs syndrome....
Immodium, ibuprofene...
don't forget to drink a lot to keep you hydrated, this is very important ( gatorade, green tea, tonic water, apple/orange juices.... )
take a lot of hot baths, and i mean a lot :) they will help you to calm down, your muscles  and even your soul ( if you have epsom salts add them to the water )..

about your last questions....well, i see wds like a mountain...you start climbing it and the first day you still have the pills on your body so it is not as bad as the next days when your body, your brain, yoour mind are being affected by the lack of their usual doses...

good luck and keep posting how you are doing :)

[Jesusluvme]

I will see a doctor once the pills are allout of my system. Its 9 pm so I have made it threw day two. Do you know why they say day 4 is the worse? Does anyone know how long pills stay in your system? Withdrawals dont last as long as the pills actually stay in your system right?  Thank you pattifan and the rest you that are supporting me it really is helping. God bless

[pattifan]

Hi,

There are two main kinds of aftercare- you can ask your doctor to refer you to a counsellor who can help you identify the reasons you started using, and identify strategies to avoid using in the future, or you can join Narcotics Anonymous-

NA's website will tell you where the nearest group is.

Thinking of you

[Jesusluvme]

what is aftercare?

[Jesusluvme]

Hi everyone, I am on day two, I bought a bottle of wine, but am not going to drink it. When I read your post I agreed that it would probley be a bad idea, I was just going throught the motions of withdrawing. I know that I am addicted to this horrible thing, but I also Know that if I coudl get past the physical part I could make it mentally. If I make it throough this, I will never ever put myself through this again. This is the Worse.
The bad thing is I never had a prescription really. I have been buying off the streets for 3 years and dont have a doctor that I can ask for valium. I have 6 kids and am very scared to tell a doctor that I dont really know that I am addicted to pills out of  being scared that they might call Cps or something. Thank you for all of your encouraging words, I know that with your support that I can do this. Please dont stop. I feel very sick right now , Like I want to vomit, my whole body is shakey, and I am scared to see a doctor. I am just going to stay in prayer. Please pray for me as I pray for you.

[pattifan]

Hi, and hope you're doing OK.

Alcohol is never a good substance to self medicate with.

People may feel that it's helping, but this effect is illusory and it may well just delay your symptoms.

It's far better to stick to natural stuff, or aids that your doctor prescribes.

Wishing you the very best of luck in your endeavour.

Thinking of you

[Storme]

Hi and welcome :-)

I hope that you will come back and read our posts to you and know that we are here to help and support you in any way that we can. Maybe you should talk to your doctor and ask for help in getting through withdrawals. I was taking a similar dose of Vicodin and my withdrawals were awful. I twitched something fierce, sweat, vomited, my anxiety was through the roof and I ended up in the ER. My doctor was called and she gave me Clonodine and Valium to take during the first 4 days and it helped tremendously. I still ached and twitched somewhat but I was able to get a few hours of sleep and that was a godsend. The first 4 days are the worst and then it gets a lot easier to deal with. I promise you. You can do this and without the wine. Please, please talk to your doctor and get help.

[laurel453]

what were your symptoms ? if you lasted one day they couldn't be that bad, i mean, maybe it was something like anxiety that make you feel worse ? there are some people that have really bad wds, that's true and maybe you are one of them but most of the time, it is our fear of them that make them worse in our minds. Also, what stuff from the thomas recipe did yo take ? maybe it was not the most indicated for you and we can make a list between all of us to you....

i don't think that the alcohol is a good idea.....for obvious reasons, we have to be careful but mainly because i doubt that some wine can really help with all the wds...i know that during the first days with all the nause and vomiting, wine would have made no good to my stomach, think so but again, it is your decision... :)

let's try a list to help you with some stuff that has helped a lot of us, ok ? :) what did you take from the thomas recipe that first time ?

[worried878]

if u literally only have 10 pills left and no means  to get anymore..then u may make it on a taper//otherwise it seems u have tried to stop before..and were unable to control urself..a taper takes self control over pills///which is sumpin an addict does not possess

I didnt see that u had mentioned trying aftercare?  Have u?
what has ur plan been before?  What have u tried that has not worked
tapering can work if u r ready to stop/cut off supply including the pharmacy and ur doctor//handing ur pills over to a friend to dole out to u//writing it out day by day with a firm QUIT day picked out.

I was terrible at tapering...when i would attempt a taper i would take more from the stress of taking less!  I did a quick 10 day taper and cheated the whole time even tho i handed my pills over.  I had a friend to buy em from...but i stuck to my quit day...and did it on a 4 day weekend off work.   wasnt bad..kinda flu like but i went to the gym each day.  I was definitely sick and tired of being sick and tired!  I was slap over being broke and the pills only made me feel bad by this time//bad about myself for continuing to put them in my mouth against my heart.//against my gutt.

I was a 100 mg plus a day user for 5 yrs......I took 70 mgs the day before I CT-ed...sposedly a taper but not really!  Day one was the toughest for me then by day 4 i was on the treadmill for an hour///back to work in the hospital day 5.
then the hard part came for me
but getting thru this part is most important right now...baby steps...and keep moving forward

[Jesusluvme]

Thank you, I will. I got some advice from a friend who had the same problem and she said that she drank a glass a wine 3x a day during her detox off of opiate and  it really helped her, its probley a good idea for me because I know i know i know I will neverg et addicted to alchole, really dont like it that much. Has anyone you known ever tried this? Or is this a over all bad idea?

[laurel453]

Sorry that nobody answered you here... i have just read your post in another thread and finally find your thread here, this is the social forum and at weekends is quite slow.

but welcome to the forum :)

You said that you tried cold turkey and didn't last more than a day ? is that right ? you used the thomas recipe and it didn't help you... you have now ten pills to taper down.. well, those 10 pills won't make a big difference on the wds you are going to have....in my opinion-.... the wors days are usually 3rd and 4 th... and those supplements can help a little but maybe you could ask your doctor for something to help you with wds ?