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want to stop vicodin
My last post was so long, I thought I would do a short version and maybe someone would read it sooner. I am very anxious, depressed and want to stop taking Vicodin 10/500 that I have been taking for over three years for pain. I started having to take two or two and a half at a time for it to help my pain and using a normal dose does nothing. I can't stand living with my memory issues and feeling depressed any longer. I know my biggest problem is the narcotic. I also have to take Provigil for sleep apnea and anti-depressants, which weren't helping and they started me on Zoloft which has made it worse. I need to stop the pain medicine because I think it is causing most of my problems. I realize I will have to deal with the pain - I am doing exercises and fitness in my pool that helps a lot. I want to know how to quit, what to expect, how long, etc. If I don't take a pill first think in the morning, my arms and legs begin to cramp and ache, so I know this is going to hurt. My doctor said to go from 6 pills a day to 5 for a month. Then, we will continue to taper down. I think it would take a long time and I am afraid I will not be successful dragging it out that long. I am hoping to get some advice and hear from others that have gone through this. Thank you.
If I understood what you wrote, you are on 6 10/500's daily? That's 30 mgs of opiate. I was on 80 to 100mg of opiate daily, and I JUST did the CT thing. I am now on day 10 of no vics. IF you can do the taper, that would be great because it is painless. I could not taper, everytime, they were in my possession, I took em the way I wanted to. BUT, you may as well TRY it. Why not? Good for you for WANTING to stop, that's the way to go. Cold turkey *****, I won't lie, I'm still not 100% (still weak, no energy, but better). But, dammit I did it. If I can do it, you can do it. It will only happen when you are REALLY ready. BEST OF LUCK!!!!
I'm assuming that you've been receiving these pain pills from your doctor, so in my opinion your best bet would be to talk to them about what's going on right now. There are so many doctors out there that ARE willing to help, especially if they're familiar with the patient. Everyone's different when it comes to what works for them. I did the CT route in getting off the pills, because I didn't really trust myself in having more pills in my posession.
So I am confused about taking Provigil for sleep apnea....its a stimulant. Perhaps for narcolepsy - but taking it before bed is a mistake in my opinion. As for the hydrocodone.....you arent on a high dose at all, even though you have a good history. Lot of people on the forum taking 100mg of hydro - - most of these people report that the withdrawal from that amount takes about 4 days cold turkey. I know a Nurse taking that dose and she was able to return to work on day 5........ Everyone is different in this ballgame. I was lousy at tapering so I just quit cold turkey. Best advice if you taper is to give the pills to a significant other and let them dole them out to you on a daily dose.
I will tell you this. I was on Fentanyl for years. I had many things crop up over those years, memory problems, depression included. I had alot of pain. What I didn't know until I was off of it, was that they were caused or at least worsened by the medication. The increase in the pain was so insidious, as were all the other symptoms, including s/s of withdrawal, even though I was taking the medication. I think this is everyone's experience. It would seem to most of us here anyway, that pain meds increase your pain over time, I think to kind of get you to take more. Yeah, dependence, tolerance...they're real...I think it's deeper than that though if-you-will. It's the same with w/d. You'll have some symptoms of it, without even knowing that's the cause.
Here's the bottom-line of what I'm trying so hard to say. I just had an experience of coming off of Tramadol. You'd have thought I'd have learned the first time....but I was stubborn and thought that the Tramadol wouldn't affect me that way. My husband saw it. He knew the life was sapped outta me, despite my denials to the contrary. After a while though, I saw it too. I'm now 7 days off of THAT and I can say emphatically that pain medication causes (if taken for a long time), depression, increased perception of pain, memory problems, loss of initiative, and more, including w/d s/s.
I found myself taking the Tramadol to avoid w/d s/s that I felt. Keeping up with that plan is a no-win situation. The longer you're on something, and the higher you go with dosage, makes w/d tougher. You are at that important self-realization and lucky to be there. Don't kick yourself later and say you shoulda gotten off when I first thought about it. Don't lose any more time.
Look, I have chronic pain too. It's tough to be sure, but again, speaking from experience, I can say that although it is a struggle, in general and over-all, I feel better OFF of the meds, than I did ON. You don't know what you lost until you get it back. Just a week out, I already feel more alive, more initiative, more drive, more desires, better. It is a tough fight to be sure, and there are weaker days just as there are stronger....but with support and will, you can do it.....and I couldn't recommend doing it enough.
I'm not sure what to say about the taper plan. I mean, your doctor certainly knows you better than any of us here. He is aware of everything from your normal vital signs to all of your diagnosis, not to mention he has a degree to practice medicine. Why not tell HIM you're concerned about the length of his taper plan. Ask him what he expects will happen if you do it quicker and why he thinks this is the best plan for you. I really don't feel like I can tell you how to do it. I tapered Fentanyl for round about a year give or take. That was right for me and for that med. With the Tramadol, I tapered for about a week and a half. I don't know if I did that right or not. It worked, so I guess it's all good. I don't know whether or not it's really possible to avoid w/d. I suspect that it's not. It's more like a degree of how bad it is.
Those are my personal feelings about it and my experience. I hope some of that was helpful to you. I wish you luck and give you my support.
Jacqui
Here's the bottom-line of what I'm trying so hard to say. I just had an experience of coming off of Tramadol. You'd have thought I'd have learned the first time....but I was stubborn and thought that the Tramadol wouldn't affect me that way. My husband saw it. He knew the life was sapped outta me, despite my denials to the contrary. After a while though, I saw it too. I'm now 7 days off of THAT and I can say emphatically that pain medication causes (if taken for a long time), depression, increased perception of pain, memory problems, loss of initiative, and more, including w/d s/s.
I found myself taking the Tramadol to avoid w/d s/s that I felt. Keeping up with that plan is a no-win situation. The longer you're on something, and the higher you go with dosage, makes w/d tougher. You are at that important self-realization and lucky to be there. Don't kick yourself later and say you shoulda gotten off when I first thought about it. Don't lose any more time.
Look, I have chronic pain too. It's tough to be sure, but again, speaking from experience, I can say that although it is a struggle, in general and over-all, I feel better OFF of the meds, than I did ON. You don't know what you lost until you get it back. Just a week out, I already feel more alive, more initiative, more drive, more desires, better. It is a tough fight to be sure, and there are weaker days just as there are stronger....but with support and will, you can do it.....and I couldn't recommend doing it enough.
I'm not sure what to say about the taper plan. I mean, your doctor certainly knows you better than any of us here. He is aware of everything from your normal vital signs to all of your diagnosis, not to mention he has a degree to practice medicine. Why not tell HIM you're concerned about the length of his taper plan. Ask him what he expects will happen if you do it quicker and why he thinks this is the best plan for you. I really don't feel like I can tell you how to do it. I tapered Fentanyl for round about a year give or take. That was right for me and for that med. With the Tramadol, I tapered for about a week and a half. I don't know if I did that right or not. It worked, so I guess it's all good. I don't know whether or not it's really possible to avoid w/d. I suspect that it's not. It's more like a degree of how bad it is.
Those are my personal feelings about it and my experience. I hope some of that was helpful to you. I wish you luck and give you my support.
Jacqui
Hey knee everyone here is in the same boat or at some stage of the stopping, every one agrees with your doctor reducing the dosage slowly until you are ready to stop all together will reduce your WD pains because your dosage is less, you gotta be stong and keep coming to the website for support it has helped me to take my first steps and I am reducing but I plan on a little faster reduction plan just simply cause I dont want to wait, I want to be done, flush, and face the demons, and start the healing process everyone here is awsome and will be of great help and support to you Hang in there and stay focused and you will be successful!!! Best wishes
A taper does take time but it works. I tapered about every 5-7 days with the vicadin. You can taper to 6 pills and when you feel that your body has adjusted then you can taper again. Everyone is different with the taper time but a month to taper 1 pill is a long time. It is also important to put more time in between your doses. Instead of every 4 hours do every 6 hours and then every 8 hours. I quit by doing the taper and it was so much easier than CT.
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