detoxing on vicodin- scared!

[nldfw]

Hey everyone-  I've been taking about 6 1/2-7 1/2 vicodin 7.5/750 or 500 for about 9 months now.  
When I start to get wirhdrawls or notice it's time to take my pills- i get real jittery, sweaty, irritable.. you know what I'm talking about.  Sometimes I lay in bed at night feeling my heart beat racing, a couple of times I've actually been driving and felt a wave of anxiety, rapid heart beats, and this odd feeling comes over my whole body- freaks me out.  I know it's unhealthy- I REALLY REALLY REALLLY want to stop- and keep thinking it's going to kill me or something.  I have a 14 month old daughter that I adore and she adores me- but I can't kick this.  I tell myself I will- but once the withdrwawls kick in I freak.  My questions are this- can you die from the withdrawl side effects? CAn someone actually die from them, or are they just brutal on you?  Also- I am out of my vicodins but taking some tylenol 3 w/ codein that I had handy- but feel the w/d symptoms.  Is that normal?  I thought it would help me get through the weekend- but now I'm not sure.  I've got muscle relaxers and these- thought I could taper off or something. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated- I'm scared.  I've told nobody- not my husband- my family- just me and God.

[neversanever]

You go girl! you can do this and I know you can cause I made it through to day 6 and I have to say that the INTENSE fear that I was expieriencing went from about a 10 to a 2. I think that wanting to be free of this evilness that most of us call comfort outweighs the fear of whats to come. With each passing day, I feel more and more alive again and just knowing that I might be able to see my youngest Daughter graduate makes this a little easier. I've been abusing pain meds for well over 15 years off and on, due to a car crash I was involved in. I've been through 1000 5/500 norco and 100 10s over the past 3 mos. and here it is, day 6 and I'm fine so, you will be too ;) I can also say that the emotional part of this was really baqd for me, I cried alot over the first 3 days but its much better by now, maybe people should cry because it does feel good to cry and get it out sometimes. Be sure to read lots right here because these posts helped me alot. Something about knowing that you are NOT ALONE really is comforting in your time of need good luck and know that I'll be prayin 4 ya

[GoingToMakeIt]

Vic was my DOC. 9mos is a short time. You will be doing better by Wednesday. Look in my journals(click on my name-go to journals) for the Thomas recipe. Lots of stuff to help with the w/ds. Drink lots of water and or Gatorade. Eat bananas. You can do this. Don't let the bodies jitters etc scare you. The real battle is later. Its not physical it's mental. Wanting to use again. Be prepared. Make up your mind ahead of time to not use them. Good Luck.

[want2bmeagain]

Hon, I wish you the best of luck. You can kick this. I am going on day 7 and I feel pretty good. Everybody is different, but you should be okay when you go back to work. If anyone questions you, say it is te flu. You really need to tell your hubby because yes, the first 3 days are going to be the worst. I will keep you in my prayers. :)

[buttercups]

Yikes. Sorry. I just went and coverted the oxycodone-codeine dosage, and what I told you above was way off.It's been a long time since I had searched that info. I should have just investigated *before* I gave you the info, but here is the correct conversion.
I - 5 mg percocet is equal to 50 mg codeine. Both oral doses.

Seriously...a lot of folks find tapering hard. And since you want to feel ok by Wed., I'd go cold turkey.

If you do, let us all know how you're doing. You'll get loads of encouragement in here!
good luck

[buttercups]

I'm not familiar with norco/lortab, but are they basically like percocet?

Back when I was w/ding from 8 mg dilaudid, I was going out of my mind and just wanted a little relief. In Canada we can buy tylenol 1's OTC. They have 8 mg codeine, along with caffeine and 325 mg aceteminophen.I found a conversion chart online, and realized that it takes something like 130-160 mg codeine to equal just 5 mg of oxycodone. (Not positive on that stat, but I could look it up to be sure)I gave up on that idea pretty quickly.
So, hon..you will get hardly any relief from t-3's. Short of killing your liver, anyhow. I'd just hunker down and get through the next 3 days. Then you'll slwoly start to feel better.

[justquitsmart]

your going to need at least 4-5 days to kick the worst of it. im on day five and still feel pretty crapy. I accually slept about 4 hours this morning. that makes a total of 8 hours sleep in 5 days. awesome huh. one of the best things you could do is tell your husband. I couldn't have done it with out the help of my wife. we have two kids and she had to take care of them 98% of the time. I sat on a couch, rocked, paced, and cried for the first 2 days and half of the 3rd but even now I still have that feeling eating at me. yes i am kind of an emotional guy at heart any way and this really played on them. I figure I should be most of the way done in a few days. sleeping more normal and what not. be careful about xanax. if you think kicking this problem sux try kicking a xanax one. I would not take if for anything more than just the detox. make sure and use the thomas recipe as well. and blood presure medication really helped me out. see GaGuys profile for more tips and the thomas recipe. good luck and remember that if you are to kick this you WILL NEED YOUR HUSBANDS HELP. he will need to help you with your daughter and you might even want to get some one to help you watch her like your mom or any one you deeply trust. oh by the way I was taking 6 - 10mg vicodin a day. plan the jump off day well and you will make it through this little slice of hell.

[allaboutmary]

Day 3 is usually the worst day.  Then you start to feel a little better everyday. Go for it !  We will be here for you.

[nldfw]

Hey Cincee- would you say that if I am going to be getting sick- and not sleeping- it would subside by day #4?

[nldfw]

Thank you guys so so much!  It's so good just to tell someone- it feels good to admit this to myself and to someone else.  Where ever you guys are tonight- I hope you're both doing ok and feeling ok.  I know I will be pretty bad off in the next couple of days- but I will continue to pray my brains out- laugh with my daughter- walk my dog- and hopefully find some time to get even a little sleep.  I'm so ready to be done with this awful drug.  I smoke cigarettes too- and these make me smoke a pack a day- when I used to smoke only 1/2 a pack and was on my way to quitting.  It's time- and I desperately want to quit.  Any other helpful hints about the restlessness and anxiety- other than the bath?  I have wellbutrin- and muscle relaxers- but that's about it!  Thank you guys for your support- really- it means the world to me.

[allaboutmary]

You should be through the worst of it by Wed.and feeling good enough to go to work. Taking the Tylenol 3 only postpones the withdrawal .  Please try and get this done now before your addiction gets worse.  It will be a great gift to your daughter and yourself.  Hang in there.  Mary

[CinCee]

You could be functional by Wednesday, but you need to give up the T3's now.  You will not feel good AT ALL for at 3 days, then it will get better.

Officially: 1 T3 = 1 5mg vicodin
Not sure it's really true in effect, though.

[allaboutmary]

You can do this.  It will feel like a very bad flu. You have not been on them that long compared to most of us here. So I recommend you do this now as it will only get worse if you don't.  Can you tell your husband ? You are going to need some support and probably some help with your daughter for about a week to get through the withdrawals. Keep reading and posting on this forum. It will help alot.  We will be here for you.  Stay strong.   Mary

[nldfw]

Thank you for your reply- thank you so much!  It's good to know that I won't die.  I sometimes have AWFUL thoughts that my daughter will never know her mom because of this drug- so bad.  I will be off work until wedsnday- then I go back to work.  If I tried to detox now- do you think I could be through the worst of it by Wednsday morning?  LIsten to me- probably not- right?  Wishful thinking- should've thought of that one last week :(  Do you happen to know what the tylenol #3 is equal to for hydro's?  I talked to a pharmacy who said maybe 1 equals 1 5mg of the hydro's and then another one said 1 of the t3's equal's maybe 1 7.5 mg hydro.  I don't know- it's deffinently not doing much at all.  I feel like maybe I should just try and quit all together- but don't want to quit just to relapse because I am absolutely unable to miss anymore work for awhile- and can't be sick as a dog on the day I'm going back to work..... any advice?

[dogneedshelp]

No one I have ever heard of has died from withdrawals, it is just damned uncomfortable. The Tylenol 3 is helping you but it has a lower dose of codeine than you are getting from the vicodin that is why you are still uncomfortable. The sweats, the heart pounding, is anxiety caused by withdrawals. Do not take too many Tylenol 3 because of the Tylenol in them can poison your liver if you ingest too much Tylenol. If you have Soma, I have used that to help with withdrawals on a VERY short term basis, but, be careful adding one drug on top of another. A better bet would be to take 5mg of Valium if you have that or 1mg of Xanax. Either of those two drugs will alleviate your withdrawal symptoms.

[CinCee]

No, you will not die.
You might feel really bad, but you won't die.

If you are determined, you can taper.  Muscle relaxers will help with this.

The Tylenol with codiene is very lightweight compared to what you were taking, that's why it's not really working.