Vicodin Addiction

[sue]

I am embarrassed to admit that I am 42 years old and addicted to Vicodin ES - sometimes up to 10 tablets a day. It started over 5 years ago after a pinched nerve in my back.  I have since developed chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia although I am not sure if the addiction has brought on the problem.  Before that I worked out 6 days a week and taught aerobics.  My injury and subsequent problems brought on depression and low self esteem as well as weight gain and I found the Vicodin gave me a "euphoric feeling" and I could get through the day.  What I found amazing is that my doctor kept okaying my prescriptions.  I have tried many times to quit - sometimes as long as two weeks but the utter exhaustion and depression made it hard to keep going.  Through this I have managed a full time job and taking care of a teenager.  I am now afraid of the long term damage I may have done to my body.  I have started working out again with an attitude of "I'm going to do it this time."  My question is - how long can I expect to feel pretty tired and edgy, etc. from the withdrawl symptoms?  I have recently started Wellbrutrin for depression which seems to work fairly well and I have no side effects.  Your answers and encouragement will help...thanks.

[Chantelle]

Dear Sue,
    My name is Chantelle & I was so touched by what you wrote. I am 26 years old & I was addicted to Vicodin, Lorcet,& Fiorinal with Codiene. I would take anything that was Codiene based. I also have been doing this for 5 years. My son was born in 93 & I began to have headaches. I started with Vicodin & everything progressed. I was taking 10 to 12 a day just to get through the day. If I did not take theses pills everyday I would go through wothdrawels & they are awful. You become weak shake diarrea can not focus much more. I had to go into a treatment center & get detoxed which takes 7 days. You CAN NOT just stop taking the pills you could have a seizure... You could die... Now I feel GREAT! I see a counselor every week I take Wellbutrin too! It is a wonderful drug & it helps with cravings! I also take Inderal it is a medicine for my heart it beats too fast & that is from the drug abuse also I take Neurontin for my moods & I take Trazadone for sleep. They are all Non Narcotics & believe me they work. I hope by sharing my experience I have helped you.. God Bless You!

[john horan]

I have severe RSD&have been on vicodin for three months,I take 4 pills a day.Lately it seems its not much effective for pain^&i want to take more Is this a danger sign of addiction or dependence on the drug

[Candi]

I work with a woman who I believe has a severe addiction to vicodin.  We work in a medical setting at a retirement community and she has access to narcotics.  Pills have been stolen but we do not know quite how to confront her-she is the Director of this community. Please give us your advice!

[bunnyboop]

Even though she maybe the Director she has a boss. If she is consuming the Vicodin one of the Elderly in that community is not getting there much needed pain pills. This is a common unfortunate problem. I for one would speak to her and tell her to get help. If she does not go for help report her. If you dont you are worse than her because she is addicted and you have no excuse not to do  the right thing.

[John Russo]

Hi, In 1994 i had a terrible accident while working. A large crane fell on my legs and crushed my nees causing me to get total reconstructive surgury. I was perscribed Vicodin Es 7.5. I am now and now only recently realize i am addicted to the Vicodin. I find myself taking up to 15 a day at times.

I am scarted that i have physical and mental dependancy to them. what should i do? I dont know where to begin. Please help i am a 30 yr old male. When i take Vicodin i have no pain, my hands a warm again, i have an appitate, i feel like i can do anything in life. Without them i feel usless and always in pain.

please help

email me

***@****

[Jesse]

I have been taking 1, sometimes 2 vicodin es for about 2 years. Sometimes I have one drink. I am ready to stop both, but am afraid of withdrawal, although I have not honestly abused that terribly. No one knows about this in my life as I am in a 12 step program. I have 3 children and a wonderful husband.

Please advise

[Ms M]

Mr Vic:

I liked your post. It did it for me.

[kristin]

I have been on vicodin for about 3 months. this is my 2nd real day with none.My doctor has me on the Catapres patch. I feel very weak , no appitite. and very depressed. I  have 3 kids to deal with. Can anyone tell me when this will get easier? i feel like such a **** hole..........

[Andrew]

It is now 1:35am,and I feel as if I am gonna worsen overnight.I just have stoped taking lorcet 10/650,which I have been taking for 2 years now. I am very sick,and hoped to find info on how to make myself feel better.I have been preparing for this for a while,but i feel the worse I ever have in my life. I was taking about 10 lorcet 10/650 a day,and decided to try to detox myself at home.I have been asking God why this has to happen to me,and the only conclusion I can come to is its my own fault.I am only 20 yrs old,and feel as if my life is slipping away from me.I lost my girlfriend recently and that makes it worse.My legs feel so bad,I wanna just cut them off.I started taking the pills to relax me so I could go to sleep,because my dad was going through a tough battle with chirosis of the liver,and I had a ton of worries.I hope my story lets people know that it is hell getting off these things.If anyone wants to email me , my address is ***@****
THANKS

[Jo]

I am in my fifth day of hell going through self imposed withdrawl and detox from Vicodin.  Those damn pills were ruining my life, and making me sicker and sicker.  I was up to sometimes 8 a day.  After a while, it was making me equally sick to take it, as to not take it.  I decided to finally stop already.  Consumed my life with watching the clock to see if it was enough time since my last one, juggling doctors and pharmacists to keep my "habit" going.  This is the hardest thing I have ever done and I'm doing it on my own, and trying to keep my job and raise my children.  I'm really hoping it'll only be a couple of more days.  Would appreciate any help, advice, or survival skills.  Email me at ***@****.  Thanks, and good luck to all of you!

[dmsbjake]

i am 17. i have been taking vicodin for 6 years. it started when i was in the 6th grade and got headaches and went to my doctor and he told me i had migraine headaches and gave me vicodin. i took them with no sign of addiction. but then i felt the pills not giving me the effect i wanted. then i started taking them when i had bad days. and i my rational was this will make my day better. then on good days i would start to take them saying to myself this will make the  day great. and on great days it would make them better. it then got to the point where i would take 7 at a time of 750mg pills. i got depressed and i had to lie to my parents saying i spilled them in the sink. or faking headaches. i started to fake them and say the vicoden did not help and would go in to the doctor and get a stadol shot for a huge high. i have quit many times but started up again. i was able to function and go to lacrosse practice and go to school. i am from an area where problems like this are not accepted because all the millionaires that our family friends and next door nabors would look down at my family. i have thought of taking my own life for what these pills have done to me. i take on a huge amount of pressure. all of my siblings got into ivy league schools and i have to look at schools that will take me. not only in academics but on the sport field. all of my siblings have been captains of there sport. and that so far is the only goal i have been able to complete for my family. i want to get help for this but it would crush my family and make others look down at them for something i did. i am trying to quit on my own but withdraw makes me sick and shake and get bad fevers. it makes my legs feel like a thousand needles our in. i want to know if there is an easy way to quit in secret.

[jaydeesil]

i am 17 i have been taking vicodin 7.5/500 for like three month im not sure if im addicted. I tell my self im in control but i take them even when i dont want to iv never been threw opiate withdrawls im kinda scared. does anyone have some advice for me anything would help.thanks

[NASTO]

whats up! Seems like you havent been taking too much too long. Get out now while you can. I was using up to 150mg's - 200mg's of oxycontin a day and decided to stop CT this tuedsay am. That tuesday morning I remeber laying on my couch thinking to myself,"theres now way in hell you can do this". The mind is powerful and will do anything it can to get its next fix. Im now nearing day 5 and am about 99% better!!!!!! I cant believe I didnt do this sooner. Im one of those lucky ones who goes through WD's fast and with minimal discomfort. We are all different. You just got to suck it up and bite the bullet. I might think of the pills once or twice a day, but know the high aint worth it! Good luck to you and let me know how your doing!!!

[The_Sandman]

NASTO, I MUST ASK. What about the anxiety......day 5 and do you still feel any?

I have just recently experienced my first withdraw.

What has been my biggest issue and after 5 days is the ANXIETY!

I had to take a another pill to ease it a bit so I could enjoy dinner out with my sister and wife ect.....  not a multi year/regular  user here (Norco on/off for a couple months but a recent binge and a cold turkey withdraw has made this last week real hard)......maybe I just binged and c/t = perfect storm, but you seemed to have gotten thru it eaiser than I did.

I hear OXY is some real HARD CORE stuff too....... so any more anxiety after 5 days?


Sandman

[tera32007]

Iam 25 and have been taking vicodin for 7 months and today i just told my mom and boyfriend that i have a problem i tryed to stop taking them before but i got really sick and i had to hide it from my boyfriend because he didnt know and i have a 5 year old son and 1 year old twin girls so i started taking them i didnt even get threw one day now i told them because it was ruining my life well are ruining my life i was wondering if i can detox at home and what can i exspect to go threw and how long will it last

[LadySundown]

I wish there was a way to reply to each of you. You're all in some stage of w/d and I know that's not a fun place to be. I have been here since Feb. and finally have 31 days clean. I was addicted to fentanyl pain patches. For me the answer was a long slow taper. Some people go c/t. Others use Sub. They all work if done correctly......Hugs to all.....LS

Bill,
We don't care how people spell on this forum. We understand that they are under a great deal of pressure. As long as they get their thoughts down, we can help them. Will correct spelling help your detox??

[wolfin]

Wow, I have been taking vicodin 2-3 per day for a couple of weeks for four slipped discs causing nerve pain. I'm also taking 900 mg of neurontin. I wish to God I could experience the feelings that many of you have expressed, but i feel that the meds I am on are barely touching the pain. Am I getting the wrong kind of vicodin? Is this the wrong drug for me??
Everywhere I hear how euphoric people are who take this, and I feel sort of gipped because I don't feel anything except electric bolts going down my leg, and pins needles and burning in my foot. It actually took me one month to get doctors to prescribe me something other than Naprosyn. WTF?? And I have never, ever requested pain meds. I didn't even used drugs while in labor, just not my style..
Should I see a pain clinic specialist?? I don't think I could even get addicted to Vicodin cos no effects here..
Mr. Vic... your routine sounds smashingly good, lol!!

[lauslv]

I know it sounds silly but try a chiropractor they can relieve a lot of the pressure from the nerve. It is a great alternative before trying surgery just be sure to find one that comes highly recommended and most insurance will pay for it for a long period besides after the first visit its fairly inexpensive.

[Carebear215]

Something to think about.
I didn't realize this until this weekend when I had to go without my pain pills.
But if you take these pills every day, several times a day it will be hard for you to know if you have something else wrong with your body.
As far as pain goes beause the pain pills hide the pain.
I found this out this weekend, I had pain in my breast that I had not had in a long time and it hit me that is because I am always on the pain meds so I don't feel the pain.
I did get my pain pills filled on monday, and I am taking them again but not near as many as I was I am going to cut back on how many I take a day.
And then see about going back to the norco then cutting back on them.
My doc will switch me back to the norco if I want too he told me he would already.
I take the 7.5 mg percocet he gives me 180 for the month that is 6 a day. When I had the norco's he gave me the same thing but the norco 10's.
The norco's have less tylenol in them so he prefers them over vicodin.
Have any of you taken are heard of combunox? That is the oxycondtin (spelling ) with ibuprofen in it .

But just think about it for those who take pain meds on a regular basis like me pain is a sign or body sends us telling us something is not right. And if we are on pain meds it will be hard to feel that sign.
Really makes you think

[FLaddict]

you may not get many responses since this thread was started in 1999... but its been 3 days so far.. The worst should be over Monday or so.. depending on how much you were taking and how long..5 days seems to be the norm with the 2-4 days being the worst.. some symptoms linger longer but its mostly the mental stuff like depression and no energy..

[tera32007]

well i stopped taking vicodin wed was the first day clean iam feeling a little better today can anybody tell me how long it will take to feel normal

[Brian4Life]

Vicodin was my first and favorite drug. It started after a series of surgeries and it got bad from there. I craved them bad (still do but I am fighting it) and would do almost anything to get them. In my home town pain killers are like the black plaque and it is very hard to be a recovering addict here but I want it bad and if you do you can also beat it.

[tera32007]

thank you i do feel alot better today but i dont feel all there yet like iam in lala land what do i do about the no energy part will that get better this seems really weird but it feels good to not wake up and worry about how many pills i have left and how would i get more or the worry of knowing i was going to be sick if i didnt have any now i just need to work on what comes after this i dont feel all the way better yet but i hope soon

[FLaddict]

Get some vitamin B complex either 50 or 100mgs I take mine 3x per day.. It helps alot with energy.

[tera32007]

how long have you been off vicidon and how long did you feel not normal