Day 1 DETOX (cold turkey) Please help

[breezy11]

Hello.. I am 35 years old... a wife and mother of 2 boys. I was never the wild child growing up.. never tried anything.. I've never been drunk.. or even drank just 1 beer. But as I'm sure many of you know.. we don't need to have done any of that to start the evil pills called Lortabs. I've been thru a lot in my life.. I got divorced at age 25.. i had a 4 yr old son..after a 7 year marriage.. I had another baby 6 years later and the doctor gave me lortabs after the baby..I then found a doctor to keep getting them.. this was 2003..and same day I went he put me on lortab 7.5 mg x 4 a day. I started out right..then over time they wouldn't help..so I'd increase by halves.. my mom ended up getting lung cancer in 2008 .I took care of her and watched her suffer for 8 months of pure HELL.. She passed in April 2009. I was addicted by now.. up to 3..7.5's at a time..and I always chewed them up. I would take 3 of them.. every 4 hours. Then in November of 2009.. I woke up to get my boys ready for school and found my 27 year old husband had passed away that night in his sleep..thats when things for me got ugly.. I was taking the lortab just to stay sane. I was 32 years old and have went thru the worst things imaginable. How was I not insane by now? I really don't know.. I just kept pills in me all the time and stayed numb. A year later in 2010.. I met a wonderful man.. hard working.. well spoken.. has never done drugs and he was interested in ME? We ended up getting together and married..even tho he knew I took lortab.. he didn't know how bad I was because I hid it. By this time I'm up to 30mg every 3 1/2 hours... (150mg) per day. It was so easy to get my hands on lortab.. it was pretty much handed to me.. then family member recently started getting cut off.. and I've been buying them.. we've had our water shut off a few times.. just flat out have struggled due to my addiction. My husband is fed up with me.. as he gets furious and has even told my dad what I do. I have to quit friends.. I'm as low as low could go.. I'm rock bottom. I started detox of 150mg of lortab per day. I've cut myself down to 90mg per day just this past week... today I've had 1 lortab 10 and that's all I have.. so thats it. No more pills and no more money to get any. And I'm actually thanking God.. because I know I can't be tempted.. how long does withdrawal last.. I've been thru it before a few times.. I went cold Turkey one time and made it to day 4.. first 3 days.. were pure HELL!!! On day 4 i was actually feeling pretty good.. then out of the blue..I got a phone call.. and ended up getting some more.. it started all over again.. but I was feeling better on day 4.. but I went cold Turkey again.. this time for 8 days and still wasn't feeling better.. why did I feel better the first couple times in 4 days.. then I went 8 days another time and wasn't better. I really have to do this.. for myself..for my boys..for my husband.. please help and support me for the next several days as ill be back to update my progress and what I'm feelings.. I want my life back..I'm not living like this anymore.. thanks for taking the time to read my longgg post.. but would appreciate some help and advice.. God Bless you and God Bless me! Today is the day I change my life!!! DETOX DAY 1!!!

[mindzen]

Im on the second day myself.  I wend through this before, but now Ive had my aha moment and built up my mental strength, the resolve is there and I have taken on a taper method.  The key for me was to prepare, rather than just wake up and say that's it.  I needed to first create a mental toolkit for myself to overcome the psychological reasons for why I was continuing taking (even though it was initially for pain).  I meditate, read zen Buddhism and then I felt mentally strong enough to deal with the mental aspects of the withdrawals - often the worst part.  Its the feeling of having no 'ground' under your feet anymore that leaves you reeling and ready to pick it up at any moment given the chance.  Physical is unbearable but mental is the killer.  Stick with it though!  you will most certainly feel strong and ready to face life again.  Do the bare minimum, don't over schedule yourself.  Treat yourself like you have flu.  You absolutely will pull through - keep your mental strength. Youre not alone.

[norcomonster]

in a medical detox, this is what they give you:

clonidine (for crawling skin, restless legs, etc)
flexeril (muscle relaxer)
vistaril (like a strong sudafed - makes you sleepy)
prenatal vitamins
trazadone (non-narcotic sleeping med)
and i cant' remember the name - but something to relax the "smooth muscles" in your stomach... i think it's like immodium.

and in some cases a short cycle of suboxone... which if used for no more than 5 days on a quick cycle is a miracle drug.

my point in this is that if you can take that list to the dr that has been over prescribing you narcotic opiates... and get those prescribed to you, it'd basically be like a home version of a medical detox.  none of these are narcotics... so there shouldn't be an issue.  i would be careful with clonidine because when you come off opiates, your blood pressure skyrockets - because the opiates had been lowering it for so long.  the clonidine is a super strong bp med - and lowers the bp.. but when you come off the clonodine, the fear is that your bp will skyrocket after stopping that as well.  they make a clonidine patch, which in some treatment centers, is the only meds they'll give you for opiate w/d.

i've also done the home remedy version... several times.  the first real time was off a similar dose of hydrocodone.  it's do-able either way...(i disagree with including benzos in the regimine... it's just another addictive drug that you dont need... just my humble opinion) . you might want to have someone call all your doctors and tell them you are now in recovery. once those ties are cut - recovery becomes less of a mind game.

[breezy11]

Well its day 2.. feeling depressed.. achiness in my back and legs.. so doing it.. that's about it

[Ann2497]

I agree with what littlebit and gagalblah wrote.  I would add can you get a doctor to prescribe Clonidine?  It is a blood pressure medication that is well known for its effectiveness with opiate withdrawal.  It helped me with symptoms and with cravings.  Also, get rid of any pills that you have and any sources of pills.  What littlebit said about eating is very true.  If I started to feel badly or get cravings I would eat and feel alot better (this is when I stopped the Clonidine).  The Clonidine can make you sleepy so I would break the pill in half until you get used to the effect.  Good luck - KEEP POSTING it makes a big difference.  Do you have anyone to help you around the house/help with the children?

[GaGalblah]

Welcome! I'm on day 2....ur story sounds so much like many of us...on that slippery slope of pills...a vicious cycle...yesterday, I returned to the boards and got.great advice so I will pass on: grab some whey protein shake mix (it has amino acids & will help w the withdraws)...also, Immodium AD has been my best friend as u will probably have some tummy discomfort & the "opiate trots" (diarrhea)...finally, ALTERIL...its a NATURAL sleep aid with L-Tryptophan, Gaba, Glycine, Melatonin, chamomille and other herbs....you will NOT believe how well he Alteril works! I also stopped Ambien...this is WAY better! & supposedly the herbs help w the symptoms of withdrawl..
Keep posting. Even if no one or very few respond...ppl are reading it & ur words are helping some one..I know bc I read these boards off & on b4 for over a yr b4 I even signed up to post (just yesterday). Some comments will help, melt ur heart, encourage, educate, and uplift you...others u will b able to relate & uplift someone else...there are a few here & there I've thought were more judgmental & those I just ignored....but STAY! No matter what STAY & POST! You will have a lot of support here! & u will support many of us & probably not even know it :)
Good luck & hang in there...it will be over soon enough...just learn what u need to as u go through this phase of ur journey over the next week or so.

[littlebit667]

I kept telling myself...YOU HAVE the FLU!  It will be over and I will feel so much better.  My brain seemed to get that and settled down a little.  It is hard, but doable!  The Thomas Recipe (bottom of the page under Health Pages as Gnarly said will help.  I did not to the tranquilizers and had to cut back on the Ltryosine, but the rest really helped.  Imodium, Imodium, Imodium (liquid or pills if the liquid can't be found or you can't swallow it) will help.  I took double the dosage for a few days (personal choice) and it helped so much..even with the withdrawals in general and the opiate trots which sucked.  

Hydrate and eat!  Even if it is just a little every hour or so.  You have to eat something to keep your energy up as much as possible.  

If you have Restless legs..it is hit or miss what works.  Walking seemed to help me some.  Hot bath with epsom salts..a little.  I finally had to get my doctor to refill my restless legs meds (non addictive) to get some sleep.  If nothing works,your doctor might help.  

One hour at a time is all anyone can ask.  After 2 weeks it gets a little better and I started to say, One day at a time!  Your brain will do all sorts of things to get you to take a pill.  I found if I was hungry..the cravings got worse.  I would try to eat a banana, a few grapes or a few crackers to get that under control.

Good for you.  I hope all goes well.  You have made a good start coming here....this site has helped me so much!!!  Keep posting!!!!!

The longer you take them, the harder it is with the withdrawals.