Please help. Chronic back pain and hydrocodone questions.

Hey everyone! I'll try to get right to the point :-) I have scoliosis from a car accident and experience a lot of pain. I'm in some amount of pain most days. I am perscribed hydrocodone (generic Lorcet 10/650, 3-4 a day... sometimes I take more, sometimes less...) and Soma's. I do fine w/ the Soma's... I rarely need to take one... But hydro's-that's the problem. They work well for the pain and I can still function when I take them (all other pain killers make me so loopy I can not function) but over the years I've become physically dependent. I hate it. I ran out of my last scrip and I am currently in withdrawal (Did a VERY short taper- only a few days...). I am sick of these darn pills. I know I will need them again in the (probably very short) future. My question is: Anyone know how long I have to stay off them until I'll be able to take them (just one here and there like I used to) without having to deal with going through withdrawal when they wear off?
I'm going to post this same question in the addiction forum (but I went through this last year, posted there, and no one was able to give me an answer...they said I may want to post here injstead).
I am not an addict. I am physically dependent right now...

[BRohrer]

Hey there, read your post and think I have an answer for you. For years I was dependent on my prescribed pain killers (Hydrocodone 10/650). Let me start by saying that The human body can become dependent to ANYTHING you use, eyedrops, chapstick, lotion, pills etc. When I began to notice that the pills werent quite "killing the pain" like they used to and I noticed that I began taking more of them just to reach the comfort level i was used to, I knew I had a problem. Day 1, I took my regimen EXACTLY like it said on the bottle, no more or less. Day 2, I broke one of my pills in half and my dosage for bedtime I only took the half for that particular dose. Day three, I didnt take that dose at all. Day four, by this day I was only taking three a day and my body was still getting the codeine just not as much and I noticed my withdrawl (withdrawal) had subsided some. On day 5 I skipped my after dinner dose, this left me only taking two a day, and my body did just fine but when I felt the need to take one (without the pain) I drank caffeine instead. It worked. If you stick to the same routine taking the pills you will become dependent, no doubt, but if you switch up the times you take the pill and how many each day you will find it easier to go without them. I am still taking Hydro's but I am now able to cope being without them and also have found several substitutes that help me just as well. Anyways, hope I helped. -B.Rohrer