Pain Pills

[VSad]

I've been taking Lortabs(10mg) aprox 15 x a day. I've been hooked for about 3 years now. After i had my son, they seemed to help with the post partom depression. My doctor prescribed lexapro for the depression, but it didn't help much. As crazy as this sounds, the lortabs helped a lot more. I have a beautiful child and I'm married. Also have a great job. Before I loose all of this, I need to stop taking these pills. I want to quit on my own. My question is: How can I taper off these pills? I can't do it cold turkey. I want to quit and not have to go through the withdrawal phase. Been there. Can anyone help and maybe explain how i could cut down and eventually quit day to day?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[troubleinohio]

cleanedup said it the best, hon. and you cant avoid WD's no matter what. Thats what makes it so hard for so many of us to get off the damn things. No one wants to go through WD but theres really no way around that.   You gave birth to a child....think back..werent you apprehensive about labor when you were still pregnant? Scared of the pain, scared of something going wrong? Yet you knew it was inevitable, there was no way around it, one way or another that baby had to come out of you.  Well WD is sorta the same way. Its gonna happen no matter what, but in the end you will have a good result (being clean)!  Good luck to you. I know its hard. Im a mom to 2 small children as well. I also didnt want to tell my husband, but i eventually did and he has helped me so much.  

[Cleanedup]

Be completely honest here - Ask yourself if this is true - You don't want to tell your doctor because you are afraid of burning the bridge in case you need to get more pills.

Do yourself a favor and tell your doctor the truth. That will put an end to the new scripts. Take your remaining pills and start tapering them. It's a lot easier to taper if you know you can't get any more pills. Look up the Thomas recipe and use it when you are out of pills. Just accept the fact that you will experience some W/D. It won't kill you. It will end. Tell your husband that you have the flu.

There is nothing better than being free from these drugs. You can do it. If you start today, the worst will be over in a week. The choice is yours and yours alone. Your children deserve a clean mother.  

[frommoon]

suboxone really helped me at one point, but because of CP, I still have to use pain meds.  You must do the research though and go to a doctor to have it prescribed.  The two most imporant things are 1.  proper suboxone taper, doctors usually start you at too high a dose, even severe herion users can often get by with starting at 8mg a day or less, you maybe able to start at 4mg.  2.  Stay on it for no longer than a month if possbible.   The best forum for this is heroin-detox.com.  Look under the suboxone forum (bupe forum).  Those people are good and will help you.  you will not have any withdrawal while you are on it and my have slight withdrawl after you last dose, but it beats 150mg/day CT or taper.

Note:  The website that I mentioned seems to have a problem at the moment.  They should be back up by tommorrow.

[Aims81]

Well, I understand how you feel.  I never wanted anyone to know of my addiction.  However, you married your husband for better or worse.  And if he knows you well enough then he can probably feel your pain and already knows you are going through something.  It is hard to see the forest for the trees.  People standing outside of the forest see more than you realize. As far as your doctor goes.  He is the one who prescribed you the pills knowing they were addicting.  This was 3 years ago.  I am sure he knows you potentially have a problem.  Just talk to him if you can.  One thing I can guarantee is that your doctor has seen and heard ALOT worse. He will not hold it against you.  And what are doctors for if you can't talk to them and let them help you???

Good luck.  Keep your strength up!!!!  Do what you have to do to break this habit!  Get your life back!!!!!

[VSad]

Thank you. My problem is that I don't feel comfortable telling my dr that I'm hooked on lortabs.  And my husband won't understand. I dont want him to think I'm a junkie and maybe hold it against me one day in the future.
Thanks again for your concern and help.

[tammyk_40]

I dont think youll be able to bypass the withdrawals without some unpleasantness. It took 3 yrs to get to this point, it will take a little bit to be free. My advice for you would be, because you have your job and your family and you dont want your world to stop abruptly, suboxone. You can google it and find a dr. who will prescribe it. Otherwise, you can bite the bullet and take some time off of work. Whatever you choose, I wish all the best to you.

[Aims81]

My advice is to try not to go through this alone.  Talk with your doctor and talk with your husband.  Give your husband the pills.  Your doctor will either give you something else to help you get off of them or give you a tapering regimen.  I am going through Vicodin wds right now and I wish that I had gone to a doctor.  Your chances of success are much higher if you get help.  The people in this forum are very nice and have some great ideas.   But, I suggest hanging with people who love you and changing your daily routine to break the habit.  Good Luck.