Need help detoxing from Hydrocodone...on my own....HELP PLEASE

[TB74]

Help.....
I am addicted to hydrocodone. I have taken some time off work to get off of this runaway train. It has affected my life totally. I have to do this myself at home.I have heard to get plenty of Malox for my stomach and some aleve or advil, some people even say take meds to calm you through the process such as xanax or valium (just to get over the initial withdrawals).
I need some advise, please tell me how to start in the morning, I also have to maintain my sanity to take care of hubby and children. Please someone tell me where to begin, my life is crumbeling and I have got to stop.

Thank you......

[ksc1205]

My best advice would be to totally end the availability of them for yourself.  If I would have known that I could go to the store and buy them like a pack of cigarettes it would have been ten times harder for me.  I am not giving medical advice or anything because everyone is different, but there are options for methadone and other such opiate treatments.  Quitting cold turkey was extremely tough for me, but I am glad I am still not trying to ween myself off of the stuff.  Like you said, even when you cut back you are craving more until you reach the point where your body thinks it needs to be. I have since thought of it as similar to alcohol. Do not worry though because you will be confident again.  It seemed like it took me a little longer than some people, but now I feel an even feeling of confidence that I wake up with in the morning and go to bed with.  Before it was only if I could get my hands on pills. I thought I was more confident, but was at the equivelant of normal for me now. I earned my associate degree when I was on pain pills following a severe accident.  You can actually track my withdrawal syndromes because I went from making A's and B's to very low grades when withdrawls set it.  I am now back to where I was without the pills and able to function much better because of the new freedom quitting gave me. Some people here give great advice for easing the symptoms, but remember it is time that will heal you. If you quit now you will look back with a sigh of relief that you got it over with and have that much more time of your life to look forward to.

[AZKathy]

I'm in my 10th day of cold turkey and it hasn't been easy.   Withdrawals from years of 210mg oxys and 40 mgs percs.  Like said before hot showers, nice long warm baths will help.  I think someone meant Imodium which will help GREATLY with the runs you'll be having.  You can buy it otc and it's pretty cheap, even generic works great.
Get rest if you can.... and if possible, talk to your dr and get rxs for prometazine (helps with runny nose, nausea, all kinds of things) and possibly a mild tranquilizer like lorezapam or diazepam.  Either of those will keep you from feeling like you're crawling out of your skin.

Let us know how you're doing, ok?  It's not easy, but it's sure worth it, trust me!

[kittycat1433]

Everyone will be praying for you!You may need to call your doc and tell them what is going on he may make you a little more confy while you go thru this or at least you could maybe get soesleep if your notgetting any now i know i couldn't for day's.Imeant some sleep not  soe.:)

[TB74]

Hey, I totally am where you were. I cannot get up without the Lortabs, and then I am superwoman. I obtained my degree in my first stages of the addiction, moved up the ladder in the system to Director in my area of work, but not ohhh now, I am totally lost with them and worse without them. I recently divorced, my temperment is crazy, my mood swings are awful,My job is going down hill, I have trouble concentrating and staying focused, and I have began to be another person,and thats with the tabs....all day, every day. but if I dont take them, I cannot begin to function. I have tried so many times but when that awful feeling starts its like I have to take one, but one leads to 5 or 10. I have got to stop this and I truely want to. I want my life back. I want to be normal again, and I feel like noone could ever understand how I feel or why I keep doing this.
Any advise or words of wisdom is welcome and I appreciate this so much. I have got to begin this journey, I tried this morning but by 2:30 it was awful.

[ksc1205]

My name is Kevin.  I was in your shoes almost two years ago.  I really wish that I would have stayed around and posted more after I recovered enough to get on with my life.  I took hydrocodone all day everyday.  I could not get out of bed without it. I felt like I had a edge over everyone else when I took it.  I could do anything that I wanted.  Stay up all night and research, write the best papers for college, and was obsessive over the energy they gave me in doing the best in everything that I wanted to do.  Withdrawals made me feel the complete opposite, like I would never be at that level again without the pills and that the withdrawals would never be over. The withdrawals almost cost me my degree, marriage, and other important parts of my life.  I spoke regularly with people on these forums who had good advice and complained when some of the remedies did not work like I thought they should have.  Everyone would talk me through each day, which is what it takes--one day at a time. Even though I did not always believe it, the thing that kept me going is the thought that I would be normal again and it would all pass.  I even got soo bad I did say in this forum that I was different and there is no way that this will pass for me and that I must be different from everyone else.  I am happy to say that I got the chance to prove myself wrong. It is going to be impossible to start the morning for a while and keeping on top of your responsibilities.  I faked a real bad flu for about a week and a half just to get through the worst part. This helped with work.  I then began forcing myself to get up and just deal with what needs to be done.  It is difficult for a while, but then you feel more normal as time passes by and then you find yourself thinking about them less and less. Keep posting and remember do not try to think about a month or even a week from now.  Think about getting through this day, this hour, this minute, and even this second without one.  

[Rhirhi87]

Welcome, you have came to the right place. I recently went through the whole process of detox. Its not fun and you have a long road ahead of you. Plenty of hot showers will help, have ammodium ready for when your body stats to rid itself of the toxins. I t will not happen over night but by day seven you should start to feel better..The thomas recipe on the bottom of this page hlps alot of people. Try and keep busy, keep your mind woking, I know you wont feel like eating, but you must keep hydrated. Chicken soup is good for divorce, guilt and Withdrawls, I made a huge pot and kept forcing it down. I prayed alot seem to work for me, music also helped me.. There will be alot of sleepless nights, nap the best you can. Remember your body is trying to rid itself of the poisons we have been putting in it. Its great that you want to rid your self of this addiction. We are praying for you and we will be here to cheer you on when you need us. Prayers with you, keep posting you will get alot of good advice from people who are in your shoes.
Darrin