Im getting off Vicodin and need advice

[gottastop304]

I took xanax from 2006 til 2009 then was forced off bcuz I was taking too many and my dr pulled my script. I used nothing from June 09 to Oct 09 when my dentist gave me Vicodin for after root canal and Ive been taking them ever since. I have my first grandchild due in 3 weeks (Im only 36 I had my daughter at 16) but anyhow I have been up as high as 60mg a day (doesnt sound like much compared to alot Ive seen) I have been decreasing my dose every few days and today I took 15mg (3X 5mg vicodin). Ive been experiencing sweats today and just a shakey feeling but no other side effects......YET. At what point is it going to get bad or what do people think about the tapering Im doing...is it going to be good enough to get me by with nothing worse than Im experiencing now???

[mary1070]

I tapered down from 50 to 60 mg of vicoden I did it slow I'm on day 3 ct now mood cry at times trying to stay busy. keep my mind off it its hard . Imodium my bf... theres a list somewhere on here 1 of the members that are here longer can tell you where it is. A couple of them where nice enough to give me the list. when I was tapering I had someone else hold the for me the give me the daily dose. like I said only on day 3 but although I have felt like dying I haven't . good luck to you . this place is wonderful & the people are great keep posting. IT DOES HELP !!!!!!

[PomoLady]

I would not recomend using the Tramadol to get off Vic's ....I did the same thing and cannot get of the tramadol, the WD are the same for me and for alot of people the WD are worse because it's a sinthetic and a anti-depressent. I only say this if you are an addict as I am. If you are trying to kick the Vic'ss then it would seem you wouldn't want to take the chance to go from one to another and still have to kick. I know everyone is different and you can try whatever you want but in my opinion I wouldn't take the Tram. I know Storme has gone cold turkey and she lived through it if I was braver I would do the same. Keep us posted .....I wish you much strength and I agree you are doing the right thing however you have to do it, then do it . The important thing is your doing it. ;) Bless

[bkossak]

i can understand what you mean bmdad, but it does seem to vary from person to person...i moved through all the opiates...starting with hydrocodone->Oxycodone->Methadone (and i know people say you cannot get high off of methadone but i did and i know several other people that did and still do, it has to be snorted and in decent sizes amount) and i know methadone is on a different level from vicodin and because i progressed through the opiate strengths i dont know if the WD's compared from vicodin to methadone is the same but i figure it is somewhat similar since they both are in the opiate family but tramadol helped me tremendously with my WD's, and i know it is addictive and i know people that are addicted to it...and gottastop304 im not telling you to go and swap and addiction for another but if your WD's are to an extreme and you are in a position to where you can not get medication to help then tramadol MAY help, i dont want to portray tramadol as a addictive free drug or that it will solve your WD's but i figured i should spread the news if it helped me through mine...

if you dont want to do that then i would suggest picking a NEW hobby that you have never done before or dont know to much about and i say that because with a new hobby is normally something that you are not use to and is attention and time consuming which will keep your mind of how you are feeling or depressed thoughts, etc. if you pick up an old hobby or something that you do ritually or know really well, you might be able to do it and still think about the WD's. This isnt a direct quote but if you have ever read any of Dale Carnegi's books he makes certain that something that is attention and time consuming will keep your mind off of worry, sadness, emotional problem, or anything negative, because you are concentrating on that project, hobby, etc.

You can never think of 2 things at once....you can think of things in turn of each other but not 2 things at once...try to image a picture of the statue of liberty while you are reading this.

[bmdad]

Tramadol is nothing to be messed with. They say it is non narcotic but it can be just as addicting if not worse than vicodin due to it's chemical makeup. It is a synthetic opioid with an antidepressant. Just do a search on tramadol here on medhelp and you will read many horror stories about this drug. Your liver will not dispose of anything over 350mg. Many here were taking much higher doses due to tolerance and they continued to feel the effects. Many say tramadol withdrawals are much more severe than vicodin.

[bkossak]

Tapering would be better but i had to fight an opiate addiction and what i did was take tramadol 50mg tablets 4-8 a day...if you can get them...tramadol is a non-narcotic pain reliever and you can only take up to 350mg a day otherwise if you take more it is just disposed of in your liver and is wasted....tramadol covered mostly all the WD symptoms for me and i took it for about  a week and a half straight and i didnt have any trouble leaving them cold turkey. now it does different from person to person on how much it takes them to get addicted but its worth a shot...and getting of tramadol will be alot easier than getting off of vicodin.

[gottastop304]

will I still have the bad withdrawals if I just taper to one a day then 1/2 then none as someone gets that quits cold turkey? Is it better to go cold turkey? I have a full bottle of pills so I can do the tapering if its easier or I can do cold turkey

[LeaAnn807]

After you completely stop taking them, you will feel similar withdrawal to what you are having now with some diarrhea and weakness and insomnia added to it.  It is very doable though.  As long as you continue to put the pills in, you are putting off the worst of the WDs.  Once you stop, they will last 3 to 4 days for the worst physical part.  Then it gets better everyday!!!  : )

[Storme]

Hi, I am 43 days off of Vicodin(I quit cold turkey after missing one day and immediately hitting withdrawals on a 10mg 5 times a day routine) and I can tell you that if you are experiencing sweats now, your withdrawals are beginning. You could feel twitchiness in your legs, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, irritability among other symptoms. Those are fairly standard. The good news is that these symptoms last around a week to three weeks tops and there are many ways to ease them. A good multivitamin helps as does drinking plenty of water. Valerian can help you sleep and it is all natural. Also, go to any health food store or Vitamin shop and ask for RLS for restless legs and a good B12 vitamin for the tremors and sweats. Your doctor can prescribe medications to you if you want to talk to him/her about this as well. Goos luck hon, you are doing the right thing!!!!