Quitting Hydro Cold Turkey

[missy812]

I've been addicted to Norco for about 2 years now; gotten progressively worse and I have decided to quit CT.  Right now I'm up to 10, 10/325 norcos per day.
I quit CT about 5 months ago, but ended up going back after just three weeks. I just felt like such ****, not even after the three WD days, but for weeks later.  I hated it.
I have tried tapering, and it worked well for me for about a month, but then I don't know what happened. I got worse.
Now I am just tired of it, I am ready to be done with it.  I don't want to depend on pills to get through the day any longer!
The first time I quit, I had anxiety attacks, on top of being very depressed, so the Doctor has prescribed Xanax to help with the WD and the anxiety attacks.  I am now afraid of getting addicted to that, but I really do feel like I need a crutch to get through this so that I don't go back.  My doc also gave me Lexepro to help with the depression for a while, but that made me way too anxious so she told me to stop taking it and I'll just see how I am I guess.
I'd love to hear some suggestions, people in similar situations, success stories... anything you want to share. :)
I just can't wait to get my life back.  

[PfizerFighter]

I was taking 8 percocets a day, but I ran out (I had 100). I had no way to get my hands on that kind of amount of percocets, so I had no choice but to quit cold turkey. It was hell, let me tell you. I couldn't get out of bed, I had no energy, no motivation, nothing. I was just irritable as heck, and my house went to **** because I had no energy to clean it. I had to force myself to take showers, and also to eat. At least a bowl of soup or toast so I can have some form of nutrition. But it went away, I would say, after about a week and a half. I wasn't on them for very long, so maybe that's why my WD's weren't as long as the ones you endured when you first tried to quit.

Keep up the contact with your doctor, and be sure to follow any treatment to the "T" so you don't form an addiction to any of the new drugs to help you as you detox.

I found that I was able to do my job waaaaay better when I was on them, like I was much more pesonable and able to speak up more. I was more productive on them. Once I was off them, wow, I couldn't do anything!! I couldn't sleep too, but I stayed away from benzo's (thankfully). I got over it, and that was just over a year ago.

[BIKERDAD1963]

Sounds like normal wd. Dont take the xanax unless your anxiety gets bad enough that you just absolutely cant deal with it. Anxiety is part of the wd process and it will pass. Taking any other addicting meds during wd is a bad idea. You may just change one drug for another. Also anxiety is just a part of life. Everyone goes thru it. Doctors thro these meds around like candy now a days instead working with you to find a way to deal with it. A few years ago my daughter was going thru some marriage problems. She had some anxiety during that period which is absolutely normal. She had a doctors appointment for something totally different but had mentioned she was feeling some anxiety. Instead of the doctor telling her it is normal he gave her xanax. Now everytime something doesnt go her way she thinks its ok to take some xanax to deal with it. Anyways just be careful. You are going to be very valnurable during wd but dont give in.

[TiredOfThis3307]

My husband and I are both addicted to hydrocodone... we were taking anywhere between 10 to 20 10/650mg a day. He has been completely clean for 9 days. I took my last one last Sunday at 11:30am (how sad that I remember the time!) ...

It is hell. I tried tapering, but I just don't have the discipline for it. If I have the pills available, by god I'm going to take them... I tried not to, but for me, tapering was my way of kidding myself into taking pills for longer.

Yes you're gonna feel weird and sick and completely unlike yourself... but it won't stay like that. Do be careful with the xanex, maybe just take it when you really really need to (like the first 3 or 4 days maybe?) ... I don't know much about lexapro, but I can't imagine it would make anything worse...

Good luck with anything! I'm so glad you decided to do this. Keep us posted :)

[TiredOfThis3307]

Um... I meant to say "good luck with everything". Not anything. My brain is still not functioning yet, obviously. :)

[peaceinknowing]

Congrats on finding the forums here and posting to everyone what your story is. Keep in mind that nothing negative comes from getting off of these pills.

When I stopped taking Percocet over 60 days ago, I did so CT and without the assistance of any other medications. It wasn't because I was fearful that I'd become addicted to something else, but it was because I just wanted to do it on my terms, period. That, and because my PCP shut the door on me as soon as I told him I needed assistance getting off the pills for good. Our motivation works in mysterious ways when your doctor shuts you off completely...

Anyway....

One of the biggest things that helped me through everything was this site. Not only that, but on the second or third day... I literally had to pull myself up out of the bed and cleaned my entire house. Your WD symptoms are THAT MUCH easier to deal with if you're doing so in a clean environment. I know this sounds crazy, but there have been several other members here on the forums that agreed with me that this helped them as well.

[missy812]

Thanks to all!

I will not take the Xanax unless I really need it. I just know I do need a "crutch" for about a month or so because the anxiety is one thing that drove me back to taking the pills.  
The anti-depressents did not work for me, and by the time I find one that works well for me, I won't need them anymore, so I probably will just deal with that.  As much as I really don't want to.
Thanks again everyone, I will probably be in touch over the next week or so!