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6-18mgs
How do I stop taking Norcos?
I have been taking anywhere from 6mgs-18mgs a day for about 2 years. I am sick of this and I am going crazy. It has taken over my life and money and I don't know what to do. How can I quit?
I have been taking anywhere from 6mgs-18mgs a day for about 2 years. I am sick of this and I am going crazy. It has taken over my life and money and I don't know what to do. How can I quit?
Best Answer
It doesn't matter what taper plan I find because anyone will sound bad to her if it isn't a cold turkey plan.
I was put on lyrica to help with my chronic facial pain and I am also taking Norco for pain and have been for some time. When the Lyrica was added I noticed that I did not need as much Norco nor did I crave it anymore. In fact there are times that I cut it out for days and with the lyrica I have no withdrawals at all. I then found out from other blogs about lyrica that it does take withdrawals away from people that have been on very high doses of heavy opiates of different kinds. You might want to check this out because you will be amazed at what people are saying about it. I did not have any side effects but some people do I guess that can be with any drug though. It is not a narcotic but a drug for neurological pain and siezures. Doctors do not seem to have much trouble with it because it is only a schedule 5 drug control. It is also given for anxiety disorders because it is a tremendous help with that and it helps immediately - after the first dose.
Any chance you can find a recommended taper plan online and refer your gf to it??
I was put on lyrica to help with my chronic facial pain and I am also taking Norco for pain and have been for some time. When the Lyrica was added I noticed that I did not need as much Norco nor did I crave it anymore. In fact there are times that I cut it out for days and with the lyrica I have no withdrawals at all. I then found out from other blogs about lyrica that it does take withdrawals away from people that have been on very high doses of heavy opiates of different kinds. You might want to check this out because you will be amazed at what people are saying about it. I did not have any side effects but some people do I guess that can be with any drug though. It is not a narcotic but a drug for neurological pain and siezures. Doctors do not seem to have much trouble with it because it is only a schedule 5 drug control. It is also given for anxiety disorders because it is a tremendous help with that and it helps immediately - after the first dose.
I was put on lyrica to help with my chronic facial pain and I am also taking Norco for pain and have been for some time. When the Lyrica was added I noticed that I did not need as much Norco nor did I crave it anymore. In fact there are times that I cut it out for days and with the lyrica I have no withdrawals at all. I then found out from other blogs about lyrica that it does take withdrawals away from people that have been on very high doses of heavy opiates of different kinds. You might want to check this out because you will be amazed at what people are saying about it. I did not have any side effects but some people do I guess that can be with any drug though. It is not a narcotic but a drug for neurological pain and siezures. Doctors do not seem to have much trouble with it because it is only a schedule 5 drug control. It is also given for anxiety disorders because it is a tremendous help with that and it helps immediately - after the first dose.
I understand now. I did feel frustrated and felt like I was tapering to fast and asked my gf if I could extend it. She does not like the idea an is getting upset with me because she thinks I just wanna get high but she has no idea. I a torn and screaming in the inside. I wish she could understand but I have to do what I gotta do. Heck, I am also doing this for her! Ugh! I'm sticking to the plan though. Thanks for the reply.
In his example, he cut 10%. In your example, your doing 25%, if going 4 pills to 3. Simply don't want you doing to fast and getting frustrated.. Let your body be the judge. It's wonderful your gf is helping you. Good luck, great decision you made to stop!
What do you mean to fast? My taper is 4 pills for 4 day then to 3 and so on and so forth. It that to fast? I thought it might have been considering I took up to 18 pills a day. Holla!
Thanks for the comments your words mean a lot. I am starting a tamper this week and I am scared but ready. I will last about 3 weeks and if I have been taking them for years 3 weeks is not that long. Anyways, thanks for the kind words and letting me hear your story. Holla!-ChrisComp.
Hi chris , You may be going to fast . I tried to cut 10% every 3-5 days in 30 days i went from 100mg a day to 20mg a day then quit ... Ron
I have started a taper with 4 pills a day for now. I personally think that isn't enough but it takes the edge away. All together it will last about a month. And even though I am taking the edge away I feel anxiety. Strange to me. And as far as thinking positive, if I do not do this my girl will leave me but I am doing it for myself to be honest. Holla for now-ChrisComp.
Do you work for the web site? Anyways, my girlfriend is helping me with a taper method. She has never touched a drug or knows anything about them. She is a RN and does know about pain pills but not addiction first hand. It is a 2 week taper and I hope it works even though I think it is to short. I feel like talking to a doctor about my addiction isn't smart because I do not like being looked down on and Dr.'s will make me feel that way. I hope this works. Holla-ChrisComp.
Good for you for wanting to rid yourself from the hold these can have on you. I have been (was) on 6 Norcos per day for 4 years. Last week (Monday) I decided enough was enough! I decided to do a quick taper. Here is my experience:
I took just one pill on a Monday, which I could tell was starting my withdrawls when I didnt take anymore. About 4am Tues morn I had to take 1/2 pill to finally go to sleep. Did not take anything till Tues nite, which was another 1/2 pill to go to sleep. Again Wed.... nothing till Wed nite - 1/2 pill to sleep. After Wed nite, that was the end of me having to take anymore. Yes, I was in withdraw but it was bearable. I had a lot of anxiety and was very achy. Last week was not fun, but I made it through it :) I took a mult vitamin every nite along with magnesium. I also took 3 ibuprofen combined with 1 tylenol at the same time to help with the pain. I also took AlkaSeltzer Plus on Wed, Thurs, and Fri nite to help me sleep, along with benadryl. I took hot showers daily and made myself get up and move around. Now this is how I made it through it, but everyone is different. However, it is one week later since I started my taper and I feel GREAT! It CAN be done - just realize and accept that it is not fun and you WILL feel bad, but it is only for a few days. Good luck and you can do it!
I took just one pill on a Monday, which I could tell was starting my withdrawls when I didnt take anymore. About 4am Tues morn I had to take 1/2 pill to finally go to sleep. Did not take anything till Tues nite, which was another 1/2 pill to go to sleep. Again Wed.... nothing till Wed nite - 1/2 pill to sleep. After Wed nite, that was the end of me having to take anymore. Yes, I was in withdraw but it was bearable. I had a lot of anxiety and was very achy. Last week was not fun, but I made it through it :) I took a mult vitamin every nite along with magnesium. I also took 3 ibuprofen combined with 1 tylenol at the same time to help with the pain. I also took AlkaSeltzer Plus on Wed, Thurs, and Fri nite to help me sleep, along with benadryl. I took hot showers daily and made myself get up and move around. Now this is how I made it through it, but everyone is different. However, it is one week later since I started my taper and I feel GREAT! It CAN be done - just realize and accept that it is not fun and you WILL feel bad, but it is only for a few days. Good luck and you can do it!
Hi Chris, I was useing 100mg Norco a day , tried to CT went 3 days in hell and gave up. Next day i started a taper , I went 3-5 days then cuting the dose for a month . The last week i stayed at the same dose but went 1-3 hours longer . At the end at 20mg a day i quit.
I Had a tuff but doable first 100 hours but by day 4 i know i could take this .
You can do this , just want it bad enough to fight hard for a few days then day by day it gets better and you start to feel good again .
Post question when it gets tuff , post to vent if need be , read other peoples posts (were all the same)
I have been Norco & all other pain pills free for 5 months now thanks to the support i received from the people here on this site .
Life is good again i feel pretty good go thru my day & nights happy , enjoying things again . Not needing pills is so nice ... You can do this think 100% positive , i want my life back ....Ron
I Had a tuff but doable first 100 hours but by day 4 i know i could take this .
You can do this , just want it bad enough to fight hard for a few days then day by day it gets better and you start to feel good again .
Post question when it gets tuff , post to vent if need be , read other peoples posts (were all the same)
I have been Norco & all other pain pills free for 5 months now thanks to the support i received from the people here on this site .
Life is good again i feel pretty good go thru my day & nights happy , enjoying things again . Not needing pills is so nice ... You can do this think 100% positive , i want my life back ....Ron
Hello and welcome. If you really want to stop, you can do it! Stop taking the meds and accept that you most likely will feel withdrawal symptoms for about a week....maybe if your dose is low enough it won't be too bad. I took 4-5 10/325 of Norco for very bad back pain for 8 months or so and before that I was taking 1 5/325 every night for about 3 or so years. Finally had 2 surgeries and went cold turkey off all my opiate pain meds (norco + soma + butrans patch). The first week was really tough but I made it through. Take a lot of baths, how showers, drink as much herb tea and water you can stomach and try to eat a little something if you can. Most likely after the first week you will start to feel better. It took me a good two weeks to feel better. Sleep is really difficult once you cut out the meds but I am sleeping better (finally) and take tylenol pm for pain/sleep at night. I am managing my pain with ibuprofen and acupuncture. I hope you are able to find some good ways & support if you decide to stop using. All the best and let us know how you are doing!
I agree with the above. I didn't taper when I stopped at an average of 10mg per day, though I had some wd symptoms. If you feel you have the self control and determination (and supply) you can taper down and maybe get away with very little physical WD. But even cold turkey from that point is not the worst idea I've heard.
As you probably know, the more challenging part may be getting the brain untangled from the habit of taking something, expecting something good to happen. It becomes such a knee-jerk reaction. It's doable of course, but it's good to be aware of that dynamic and gather some tools.
As you probably know, the more challenging part may be getting the brain untangled from the habit of taking something, expecting something good to happen. It becomes such a knee-jerk reaction. It's doable of course, but it's good to be aware of that dynamic and gather some tools.
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That's a high dose but it can be done. My personal observation of people's tapering descriptions make me think that at the beginning of the taper it's possible to go at a higher rate of tapering with fewer WD symptoms, if you're lucky. At the quitting end it can get tougher, perhaps, and might be wise to slow down the taper there rather than in the beginning.
Maybe someone will come along with experience of this sort of dosage. I was on a high dose of Tramadol, and came down rather quickly and found that the WDs really set in only after I quit altogether.
It can be done, you're already on the path!