Have an important question about quiting Vicodin/Darvon

[Dale]

I have been addicted to opiates such as Darvon and Vicodin for five years. I stopped taking them two weeks ago. I went through some very painful withdrawals. I feel much better now but I still have no energy and am restless at the same time. I am not able to work. I know that my body will eventually start producing the necessary endorphoins to give me energy again. Until then, I started taking Ritalin. It gives me energy while calming me. (It's the only way I can work) My question is: will taking the Ritalin retard my body from starting to produce its own endorphins to give me energy again. I am not planning to continue taking it. Only until I get my energy level back. I am sure I won't get addicted to them becasue I really don't like the way the way they make me feel. I just need some energy to go about my normal tasks. If they are going to affect my body starting to produce its own endorphins then I will stop taking them. I appreciate any info on this as I haven't found an answer any where else.


Thanks,

[Frankinscense]

Opiate adiction is a vicious disease that attcks the endorphins or natural pain killers in your body. If you continue to take these substances on a regular basis they will deplete these natural chemicals. Without a normal supply of these chemicals in your body you will experience depression,cravings,nervousness, insomnia and all the symptoms of withdrawals. And you will have a lower tolerance to pain.  Treat opiate addiction as a disease and you will get better results. The substances that keep this disease alive and well in your body is vicodin.percodan/percoset.lortab,hydrocodone cough medicines(tussionex,hycotuss,hycodan) and many more. The only way to replinish these chemicals in your body is through abstinence.I know you already know this.
Joedice,I think you already know that abstinence is a very difficult procedure. You must get all the help that you can find. Without this help this disease will stay active and you will have a constant battle. HAVE you tried all the medicines that are specifically for migraines. Cafecort(sp)? inderal,imitrex,midrin and others.Opiates sometimes can CAUSE migraines. Narcotics do nothing for the causess for migraine headaches. You need to have a physical if you haven't already done this to determine that you do not have a medical problem that is causing these headaches. Doctors as you know do not like to keep treating migraine headaches with narcotics. This does nothing in determining what is causing the headaches. I know that you are probably having severe pains to warrant pain killers. You must find out what is causing these migraines. Men or woman who go to the energency room for pain killers are treated the same. Usually. Be honest with yourself. If you are addicted to pain killers do not be embarrased. It can happen to anyone. This disease does not discriminate.                                Buprenorphine is a opiate pain killer used to help people through withdrawals and pain issues. It also does wonders for depression that goes along with withdrawals. Not all doctors know about this drug yet. You would have to enquire to find out which doctors in your area use this medication. It is much safer for pain than vicodin like drugs. Good Luck, be Spiritual, God bless. Dan..

[joedice]

i think the depression that goes with the withdrawel is worse than anything in the world..if it wasen,t for that i think i could make it...does anyone think like me...thank and best of better days to come....joedice..

[Mike]

Prayer is all that helps me to get off vicodine. This is not my first time to quit. I have Chrones Disease (inflamation in the colon) and have been taking vicodine for three years every day. It starts out with half in the morning and half in the evening and in a few months four or five a day and wanting more. This cycle is crazy. So now I am down to two a day and struggling to to stop. But given the real pain of my colon I fear that I will be back on the merry-go-round again. The phisical addiction is worse than the disease, if I can really belive this maybe I can stay off for good. It is difficult when you require pain pills for real pain and also suffer with addiction.

[Beanie]

okay I think i know how this posting thing works, if i want to address it to somone in particular i have to put it in the line that says my name..i think

[Beanie]

this message is for darryl,
this is my first post so not sure if I am doing it right, but will try anyways..
I have been lurking for a couple months now and have found some invaluable information. I know this is an old post and am not sure if Darryl is even reading it anymore, but I wanted to comment on his post about "being afraid to tell his doctor about his migraines because he gets so many of them so often". Have you researched the possibility that you are not having migraines at all,but instead cluster headaches?? I know men do get migraines but from what I have heard the majority that get them are women. but men do get something called cluster headaches. I do not know alot about them and you probably could do some internet searches to find out about them. But i guess they are similar in pain levels to migraines, happen usually on one side of your head and they get their name because they come in clusters, several in a period of days or whatever. I'm not sure on the types of meds they use on them but they tend to happen to men in their 30's and 40's alot. so Darryl don't be afraid to tell your doctor about the frequency of your headaches and ask him if they could be cluster headaches., your doc shouldn't be surprised at all with you telling you get them so often because that is the exact nature of the problem. if have these and lie to him that you don't get headaches very often he can't diagnose you with them properly and you won't be able to get the right treatment/medications to prevent them or make them go away when you have them. I'm also curious to know if men are treated better in the ER when they come in with a bad headache? Do they treat them more seriously than a woman, ie. not like a junkie or it's the typical woman, it's all in your "head" so to speak. I have made several trips to the ER over the years and for most of them have been treated horribly when i come in with a migraine. i've been told they don't treat migraines with narcotics in their ER and i can have a shot of Compazine, which does NOTHING for the headache, or told that Compazine will take away the headache on its own. Last year the doctor went to the trouble of putting an IV in my hand to give me "quick relief" and then proceeded to give me benadryl and compazine in it, which left me with a horrible reaction ( I can no longer take compazine) I thought I would go right through the roof, my legs couldn't stay still, i was panicked, felt like my skin was crawling. I imagine it's what one would feel like on speed. the headache was still there but at that point it didn't matter, I couldn't get out of the hospital fast enough. I told the doctor yes the headache was better and I needed to go home. I did tell him how i felt and he said I had some kind of reaction, can't remember what he called it, but he gave me some ativan in the IV site to counteract it and make me feel better. I guess my point is, if I am in enough pain to go through the hassle of waiting a couple hours at the ER I've already tried my meds at home and benadryl and compazine is NOT going to take away a headache that severe. especially because I would never go to the ER for a minor migraine. It is severe by that time and I am at the end of my rope, but I usually end up leaving without receiving the proper treatment and feeling no better. I was just wondering if this is a woman thing as woman are often treated less seriously about their pain. they think we are whiny wimps who can't handle a little hurt. Beanie

[Beanie]

testing to see if i have to register first...