How to taper off Vicoden

I have been taking Vicoden 10/325 for nearly 2 years. I have gone off of it cold Turkey for 4 days then relapsed. How can I safely taper off this medicine.......Please Advise.

[Julia M Aharonov, DO]

I am glad that you have reach a point of your life when you understand that you need to be clean and clear of all drugs. Fortunately for you Vicodin is still a relatively easy one to get clean from compare to some others, because the narcotic in it is pretty short acting, staying in your system for only a few hours instead of days.  So you should only have to deal with severe symptoms with no more then a week or ten days. To ease your way you can taper them instead of cold turkey.
The basic technique is to space out the pills you take in a consistent manner until you take only one at night, then half at night and then none.You can try asking a physician to prescribe you some Requip for restless legs, Neurontin for overall distress, Clonidine for blood pressure and general anxiety control and maybe get some over the counter Valerian for sleep and sedation and chelated magnesium for muscle relaxation.
But, seriously, you must be completely committed to the goal of quitting.  I have written a blog that has rather detailed information about options for detox. If you click on my name and then click on blogs you will see one under that heading.  Take a minute to read it. I hope you will find it helpful.  
The main thing of course is the decision that you make and making it a priority in your life, because that will determine what your life will actually be and mean in the end.  I don't want to sound preachy but it is not a decision you make one day, it is a decision you will make every day for the rest of your life.  Good luck to you and take a look at my clinic website for even more info www.mdsdrugdetox.com

[Griffry]

I got hooked on vicodin for about 2 years,I was up to taking 15 to 25 vicodin es or loritabs.I had to quit cold turkey and it was awful.I took flexerall and that did help.I was clean for over a year then got back on,about 2 to 6 a day.I dont feel I have a prblem but am a little nervous.I do take for pain,i have arthritis thru out my body,5 bulged discs,sciatica and carpal tunnel.any thoughts?

[Dani030197]

I'm ready to stop, but the fact is I have legatimate medical problems, to me, that is better to live with than the addiciton. Any advice how to taper off vicodin, 2,000-3,000 per day, and tramadol 300 mg per day?