help for detox

[lakegirl11]

To: anyone please
I have been on vicodin 750's due to a broken hip, then ankle for a long time; 5+ years; never have taken more than what was directed by doc.  But a normal day consists of waking up 2 vic's and a .5 xanax (I was prescribed this for anxiety due to a domestic assault)  I have taken up to 6 vic's a day a few times, but normally 4 a day at most.  As far as the xanax,  2 a day at most.  I want to stop these drugs.....however in reading posts I am very scared to go off cold turkey.  I do drink alcohol as well.....probably too much.  After finding out my daughter had a heroin addiction the drinking got worse....up to 12 beers a day, almost every day.  I went back to school last fall for a 2nd degree, things were good, got all A's, this semester as well.  Now school is out and for a full week, drinking and pills, and sleeping; obvious depression plus my age with the hormonal changes.   A couple years ago I taught fitness classes, had natural energy, was very fit, on top of it certified massage therapist and looked forward to waking up everyday. Now I am inactive, handling my stress with drugs and alcohol, (which certainly cannot help my daughter) and want to know if anyone can suggest how to go about getting through this withdrawal or if I will even experience severe symptoms.  I am 51 years old, really mostly worried that I live alone now and my blood pressure going up while quitting.  Today I took the 2 vicodin's but only 1/2 of the xanax.  I don't know what to do. Please suggestions, help appreciated.

[LeaAnn807]

Hey!  I just now saw your posts.  I wasn't really on here yesterday.  

Taper the xanax slowly after you get some info from your doc.  You will want to have handy:  Immodium, Advil, a heating pad, Hylands Leg Cramps or Restful Legs for RLS, epsom salts for baths and plenty of comfy clothes.  These things are mainly helpful for cold turkey, but they will help symptoms while tapering also, if you have them.

Also, a good multi vitamin will help to start now.  Go to health pages and look at amino acid protocol.  There is good info there.  I am still on some of it!

Keep posting!

[lakegirl11]

thanks for the reply...what do you think about the xanax w/d if you have any insight it would be appreciated

[gnarly_1]

HI  im glad to here your down to just one pill a day your withdrawals should be mild
mabe some problems sleeping....I also feel for your situation with your daughter I know exactly how helpless it can be my youngest daughter took to living on the street at 13 as a crack/methamphetamine addict we delt with not know where she was for weeks at a time also had our share of run ins with the law because of it she spent more time locked up or on the street then she did at home growing up...I used the pills at the time to numb me out to the disaster that was going on inside my own home they also gave me the courage to go chasing from crack house to crack house looking for her..she is strait today but it took a near fatal auto accident to get her back on track and seeking help...you need to stop the drinking your only numbing your self out to whats going on around you...you can face these problems without the alcohol..get your self to a al/aon meeting it will teach you some skills in how to deal with living with an addict in the family I know when we started going it helped our family good luck to you Id skip splitting the pill and just jump off your withdrawals wont be that bad from just 1 ......God bless ......Gnarly  

[dominosarah]

We also have an alcohol forum here and it might be worth your time to make a thread about your drinking.  Many good people over there also who have been where you are at.  Check it out.......

[lakegirl11]

I have gotten down to taking 1 vicodin a day for the last 4 days.  I plan on cutting that to 1/2 a day starting Monday.  I hadn't taken any xanax for like 3 days but took 1 .5mg pill yesterday 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at bedtime.  I did drink about 6 beers with a friend of mine....they don't know about the pills.   Like I posted before I went to my doctor (this was actually in November and had a full fasting blood work up). and all my levels for kidney, liver, etc. came out in normal ranges.  My cholesterol is a bit high but doc thinks we can work on that with diet.  I eat pretty well at least try to.  I wasn't drinking like this last year.  I started going for the alcohol after my daughter relapsed back onto heroin~she had been in treatment for 75 days, and back at it within 10 days :(  I feel so alone with her problem and can't really use my family (except her sisters) for support.  She is supposedly off the heroin but now taking oxycontin from what her sister tells me.  At any rate I can't help her if I am drinking too much....I kind of feel that the pills are not as much of a problem for me as the alcohol.  So I don't know what to expect with that dose of xanax.  It seems like the threads I have read people were taking much higher doses for a longer periods.  How can I taper from one .5mg of xanax per day?  I mean I feel like I can get by without it but wondering if the diarrhea is being caused by cutting it back and the vicodin as well.  I feel better just getting down to one per day already....I rarely ever took more than 2-3 per day, very occasionally I would take 4.   With the xanax I don't think I ever took more than 2 per day which would be 1mg.   There were only a couple times I may have taken 3, so no more than 1.5 mg.  Ok so in the last 24 hours I had one vicodin, 1 .5mg xanax (1/2 at a time).   I was hoping I could get some idea of what kind of w/d to expect.  I do monitor my blood pressure every day, several times a day.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  I also understand about getting medical supervision, but again was hoping for some help in what to expect and I feel like with only .5mg xanax I should just quit it?   Thanks everyone for your replies.

[dominosarah]

You really need to be under a doctors supervision while coming off all of this and please get into some type of counseling.  That will help you a ton too as you have alot on your plate........sara

[LeaAnn807]

Yes, we need to know so that we can help you!  

[vicki595]

Hi~ Okay...we'll help but what are you withdrawing from now?   Tell us everything you've taken in the last 24 hours...

Vicki

[lakegirl11]

so what are the things I can do to  help with withdrawals plz

[LeaAnn807]

Good idea.  Talk with an addiction specialist.  They can help you.  Until then, please be careful!  You just explained one of the reasons this cocktail is dangerous.  When you get ready, there are some things you can do to help with the WD symptoms.  We will all be here to help and support you!

[lakegirl11]

PS....I feel like I have been so uninformed by my doc.  I was told xanax had a short "half life" so it leaves your system quickly...within hours.  so I don't understand why it is such a risk especially when I only used 1mg a day max. ever.  it was usually .5mg and I would  take it one half at a time...morning then night.  I am using melatonin to help with sleep from cutting back the vic's, I also have bought some primrose oil to help with mood changes.  I think I was trying to use alcohol to numb pain and help with sleep also.  This has been so stressful.  I think I will try to get with an addiction specialist.  About a year and a half ago I got really depressed, drank all day (was on my usual prescription drugs at the prescribed dosage) and started having suicidal ideology.  Went into a hospital for 3 days....they gave me librium (2 black and green capsules) before I went to bed my first full day alcohol free, 2nd day my bp went way up in the afternoon and they gave me another dose of the librium.  3rd day I was feeling so much better....no nicotine, no alcohol, no pills, bp back to normal.  No librium.  I never even told them about the pills. I just want to feel well again, get my normal energy back.  Even though I am older I have always been active....this thing with my daughter really has gotten me down, and scared.

[avisg]

yes I would do a very slow taper off the benzos and wait until you get off the alcohol .

[avisg]

The dangerous level does not mean a thing when you are mixing it with alcohol its serious and you very well may be damaging your liver .Yes blood pressure is a concern when coming off of alchol so is sezuires .I would work with a doctor to get you off these substances so you can get your life back ..

[LeaAnn807]

Yes, I think that would be better.  I am very concerned for you right now!  I would taper the xanax VERY slowly under medical supervision.

[lakegirl11]

thank you again.  I was mistaken on the vicodin...it is the HP which is why my doctor kept me on it I suppose.  660mg of acetaminophen.  so if I took 4 a day at most it is under the dangerous level...haha.  the benzo's are the hardest to kick, again I rarely took more than 1mg a day for the past 2 months.  when I stopped I began having symptoms of diarrhea, nervousness increased, etc.  I guess the booze is what really worries me the most with the blood pressure.  will the xanax if I take like .25mg a day help with that and then taper off that cause really bad withdrawals?

[Addict63]

Very worried about you. Too many different substance fronts going on. I think it's fantastic that you have so much willingness to get clean, but your plan of attack also needs to include professional medical supervision. I quit the Vicodin first and then, once my strength came back, me and my doctor started to tackle my Benzo addiction (in my case Ambien). I'm still on a taper and I started getting off of it in March. You can never go too slow on Benzo tapers. Tram is so right, I've needed strong BP meds to control my BP and avoid a stroke. Benzo withdrawal creeps up on you as it leaves your system and it will hit you suddenly, like a ton of bricks. Unlike opiates, immediately taking more Benzo won't quell the WDs right away, it will need to build back up in your system. Be very careful.

Please keep with us on this lakegirl and keep posting.

[LeaAnn807]

Please go and talk to a professional and get some help with this.  I want you to be ok, and this thing scares me.  You won't die from the vicodin withdrawal, but the rest is just plain scary.  If your BP gets high enough, you risk a stroke as well as seizure.

[medic09]

You really need to be careful mixing ANY amount of tylenol with alcohol, and even if you are not using alcohol, the max dose of safe tylenol is 4000 mg in 24 hrs. But even one 750 with alcohol can cause irreversible liver damage, even one time. You're playing with fire. I wouldn't try quitting the alcohol without a dr's supervision, not those chronic amounts. It would be safer to quit the Vicodin first. But first you need to tell your dr what's going on...NOW. Good luck!

[avisg]

The 750 is the amount of acetaminophen in each pill thats alot in each pill .... You bp will go up at first when you remove these substances.How Long  have you been on the xanax ? There are seizure risks coming off both xanax and alcohol that one of the reasons I am saying to do one substance at a time.

[lakegirl11]

thanks for your support!  what is weird is that I have not taken the benzo's for 3 days now, like I posted I took 1mg at most per day for a couple of months. It is the vicodin I am scared of most because I have been taking them for years...and the 750's have the least amount of acetominiphin (spelling?)  But now after 3 days of only taking one it seems not so bad, except being depressed about my daughters heroin addiction and trouble with the law.  As far as the alcohol I do experience mild shakes and blood pressure goes up.....I know the xanax can help with that but don't want to use it since it's been 3 days.  I don't know what to do.  I had a full blood work up within the last year and thank god everything came out normal excepting cholesterol a bit high (genetic) and blood pressure has been about 140/90 consistently....couple years ago it was always 120/80....I do have a blood pressure monitor at home and been taking it a few times a day.  when no alcohol it can go up to like 150/110....not good.

[LeaAnn807]

You definitely don't need to do it cold turkey.  You could have a seizure.  Please don't drive right now either.  Vicodin detox will not kill you cold turkey but alcohol can and so can benzos.  

Please be careful!  

[avisg]

Lake I would try getting off one at a time starting with the alcohol ending with the benzo.What happens if you go a day without drinking .Do you start getting wds? Then move on to the hydro save the benzos for last because they are going to need to be slowly tapered off .The other thing is you are going to need to go have a liver function test taking the vics that contain that much tylenol and drinking can damage your liver so you want to make sure all is well there .You can do this but it's going to take a little time ..

[lakegirl11]

well it's been a few days with no xanax.  trying to taper off the vicodin.  right now last 2 days only took one and thought I would do that for one more day then go to 1/2 for a few days and then try every other day. I have cut back on the alcohol as well.  like I said reading these posts makes it very scary to think about going cold turkey.

[LeaAnn807]

Hi!  Please don't drink at the same time you take those drugs!  You could go to sleep and not wake up next time!  

Can you go see a doctor or addiction specialist?  They could really help you with this!  You don't need to deal with this alone.  There are too many substances involved!

Post back, ok?