How long does Hydrocodone withdrawals last?

[TNMedHater]

I was prescribed Hydrocodone/APAP (10/500) in December 2011. Never took more than the prescribed amount (3x Daily). I am now in day 5 since I quit cold turkey. The first 2 days were rotten. My whole body felt achy. Mostly in my lower back. I couldn't fall asleep. I finally fell asleep on the evening of day 2 and slept a good solid 9 hours. (Something I haven't done in quite a while.) When I woke up on day 3 I felt as if I had energy to burn. (Actually got more accomplished on that day around the house than I have in a long time.) However, after working about 8 hours on rebuilding one of my decks I figured I had worn myself down enough to get a good nights sleep...again. But that wasn't to be the case. Day 3 turned into day 4 with no sleep in between. I was able to sleep a little during the day and last night got about 6 hours sleep. But for the last two days I've had this feeling that my body's just not right. I've not had any nausea or vomiting, just diarrhea and a general feeling of malaise. And really not much energy or any ambition. Not sure if I'm bordering on depression. (Though I did have some ambition to get a little done on the computer when I woke up at 2:00 am this morning, but that only lasted a couple of hours.) Also, I find I have to be really hungry to eat (nothing sounds appetizing), and cigarettes (maybe fortunately) taste like they do when I'm sick with a really bad cold or the flu...ich!

Anyway, I have searched all over the net trying to find a list of withdrawal symptoms from Hydrocodone, and it seems no two sites can agree. And all the information I've found about how long the symptoms last are usually dealing with someone who's been taking a lot more per day than I have, and for a lot longer. So here are my questions:

First, can someone point to a reliable web site where they list the symptoms?
Second, how long I can expect this general lousy feeling last?
And last, how long will it take to get back to a feeling where I want to do more than just lay around all day?

Thank you all in advance for answering my questions.

[PLCoast]

I was on 325/7.5s for 7 years, 5x a day. I was trying to hold off as long as possible on a knee replacement, as I only wanted to do it once.My doctor told me  
1) you WILL get addicted, period.
2) when the time comes, we will make a plan to get you off of it.
3) I signed a pain  contract, saying I would only get it from them and only take what I was given according to directions.
4) I only got 140 a month, so they had to last 28 days
5) NOT to go cold turkey as the shock to the system could affect heart and liver function, and make successfully getting off of them more difficult.

I had the surgery, and 3 months after, at the completion of physical therapy, I told the doc I was ready to get off of them. He prescribed 70 pills, and tapered me off by 10% a week- 4 for 7 days, then 3 for 7 days, then 2 for 7 days, a then one, and I was done. It was still rough- not mentally, but I experienced symptoms of diarrhea, restless leg, a squeezing feeling in the chest, anxiety, and so on- but after 5 days, it was mostly gone, though at 21 days now I still wake up at 4 AM and can't sleep, sometimes I can feel my clothes crawling on my skin and I feel twitchy- but this too shall pass. I already sleep better than I did (ironically, opioids make you drowsy but don't allow you to enter into deep sleep, making you tired all the time). My appetite is back I have a better outlook on life, and I'm not the short tempered "angry man" like I used to be.  Best of all, life doesn't revolve around my drugs anymore.I don't have to schedule vacations around when I can get my scrip,  or get halfway to somewhere and have to turn around because I forgot my drugs.  

[pti]

Hey Brother' that pounding your feeling is very common, coming off this ****..I bet sometimes while ur laying in bed, ur heart feels like its gonna beat out of ur chest. It's just part of the withdrawal.There's so many different things we feel ..coming off it';s crazy. The amazing thing is ur working' that is a good thing..takes ur mind off of it a bit.Your doing it the right way..tapering  urself off of it.Try and eat as much fresh veggies as possible..not sure if you had the ***** or not, since ur doing a taper.One of the most annoying things is the restless lrg or whole body shaking thing..that to passes.This whole thing is natures way of reminding us...don't use this **** again!..Good Luck Man!

[fyremike]

thanks scot, injured & 2 surgeries. took hydros for over a year. my dr.cold turkeyed me & and I had diareha,vomiting, & and went into kidney failure. dehydration was cause ,because of too much fluid loss. the emergency dr.put me on low dose taper hydros. & and I am glad to be alive. all you tough guys be careful. sometimes slow reduction may save your life. day 4, and I feel better than cold turkey.

[NeverAgain1975]

Why dont Dr,s tell you , warn you, put you on a schedule when prescribing opiates like Hydrocodone? I took them from Jan16- March 30. Had surgey on March 26 and shortly after my body started to reject the hydro.Now Im having the worst time of my life trying to recover from Cervical Spinal surgery and go through withdrawals and keep my **** together so my 3 yr old doesnt hink daddy is whack job! Im day 3 and feeling tired, nervous, blood pressure meds arent working well my sweating is less than desirable and stomach is cramping, im drpressed and trying to not cry and no matter what i do i cant get more that 4 hours of sleep!!!!!

Had i known prior to taking these drugs that this is what will happen i would have never taken them!!
Dr's need to take the drugs before prescribing what they do.
I was given 180 pills a month of Hydrocodone. Yes my pain was bad but was there an alternative? why is there no education before we undergo such trauma?

I hope this will be over soon, i feel like im missing out on my childrens lives cuz I feel like a junkie!
So much for medical Marijuana like i asked for " oh we dont belive in that" they said. ******** you dont get kickbacks for it !!

[excop]

I'm a retired cop from TX, and I used to bust folks who had unscripted hydros in possession. Then, I had surgeries and was given 10/500s. I've been using them for 10yrs with decreasing effectiveness; they just don't work anymore. So, I decided with my doc to taper and quit. Not bad, except the arm pain, deep shoulder pain that doesn't quit. I haven't had hydro for 10 days, but nothing touches the pain. I can't take aspirin or any NSAID because I'm on blood thinner, but I will not go back to any opiate. I have a new appreciation for addiction, and I sure didn't think I was addicted, but I now know that I was (am). But no more. I'm retired and married 49 yrs, and I don't want to mess up what quality time I have left. I didn't know this site existed, but found it at 4AM today because I couldn't sleep with the pain and RLS. I glad to hear so many refusing to return to the pill.  I'm with you.

[mickybob]

wow ! all of you, after reading more I have a great hope to completely get off of it all , but I will go lower before I get off completely I guess I am a wuss, one post said get down to 1/2  3 times a day and should be easier, I am self employed and cant afford to just take vacation, I do feel better reducing them already though , I feel like there is hope and freedom is at hand, once again thinks to all for posting, I will keep trying I promise