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Help Getting Off Vics....
Hi, my name is Kevin, my nick Sithtiger. I've been taking Vicodin for 14 years now and I think my body is tired of it. I've had nausea for about the past 3 weeks now and it seems like it's the Vicodin. I take anywhere from 10 to 20 Vics a day. They are the 5/500's but they still add up ya know.
I tried to get off of them earlier this year in March and was off for 6 weeks. I felt pretty bad but I believe I was getting better and decided to celebrate and take a few Vics because I deserved it. Well that was a big mistake obviously. I know how about the withdrawals are going to be and I dread it so much!
That said, my doctor has given my something in the past that helps greatly with the physical side of the withdrawals. It's called Clonidine. It's actually a blood pressure medication but they've found it works for drug addiction as well. You can still take it even if you don't have high blood pressure...I don't have high blood pressure and it works great. I'd estimate that it takes as much as 50% of the symptoms away! This includes diarrhea and pains and sneezing. It doesn't completely wipe them out and it also depends on how much you are addicted too.
Clonidine is a sedative and it calms you down. It might not work as well for everyone and for others I've heard it can completely get rid of withdrawal symptoms. Apparently, I'm smack dab in the middle. What I need is something that will keep the cravings away in the future. Once I get off these, I don't ever want to see them again, but I know I'll be craving them from the first day I stop, which will be about a week.
I really need some encouragement to keep off them! Without going into allot of detail about why I started taking them (I will in another post), suffice to say that I've been diagnosed with an acute case of Bi-polar Type I and PTSD. They said I may have one or more things yet to be diagnosed, but it's hard to do so when I'm on the Vicodin.
I have this emotional/mental type of pain and it's excruciating. It's not physical mind you, but of course it does affect my body physically. It's very difficult to explain but when it's bad, I can't eat, sleep, read, watch TV....I can't do anything. The pain is paralyzing. There's much more to it, but that's the gist of it. A good way to describe it would be I guess if you compared it to a car crash....that is if you've ever been involved in one. Say you see you're going to hit the car and it's as if it's in slow motion and this horrible feeling drops down in the pit of your stomach and you know there's nothing you can do and you just know you're about to face the most horrific pain in your life. Now, that's scary and that's one way to sum it sum it and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that.
Vicodin seemed to help me with this pain, but I'm tired to being chained to it. I'm on permanent disability, but I don't want to be that anymore and I want to work, but I'm still very sick. I'm hoping that if I get off the Vicodin, I will heal. I know the Vicodin isn't the cause of my mental illnesses, but now I'm now sure where one starts and one ends. I'm so hoping that once I stop the Vicodin, maybe the other has healed and maybe just the Vicodin remains and once that's gone, I'll completely heal quickly!!
Sorry, for the small novel....just looking for some support here. Thanks in advance
-Kevin
I tried to get off of them earlier this year in March and was off for 6 weeks. I felt pretty bad but I believe I was getting better and decided to celebrate and take a few Vics because I deserved it. Well that was a big mistake obviously. I know how about the withdrawals are going to be and I dread it so much!
That said, my doctor has given my something in the past that helps greatly with the physical side of the withdrawals. It's called Clonidine. It's actually a blood pressure medication but they've found it works for drug addiction as well. You can still take it even if you don't have high blood pressure...I don't have high blood pressure and it works great. I'd estimate that it takes as much as 50% of the symptoms away! This includes diarrhea and pains and sneezing. It doesn't completely wipe them out and it also depends on how much you are addicted too.
Clonidine is a sedative and it calms you down. It might not work as well for everyone and for others I've heard it can completely get rid of withdrawal symptoms. Apparently, I'm smack dab in the middle. What I need is something that will keep the cravings away in the future. Once I get off these, I don't ever want to see them again, but I know I'll be craving them from the first day I stop, which will be about a week.
I really need some encouragement to keep off them! Without going into allot of detail about why I started taking them (I will in another post), suffice to say that I've been diagnosed with an acute case of Bi-polar Type I and PTSD. They said I may have one or more things yet to be diagnosed, but it's hard to do so when I'm on the Vicodin.
I have this emotional/mental type of pain and it's excruciating. It's not physical mind you, but of course it does affect my body physically. It's very difficult to explain but when it's bad, I can't eat, sleep, read, watch TV....I can't do anything. The pain is paralyzing. There's much more to it, but that's the gist of it. A good way to describe it would be I guess if you compared it to a car crash....that is if you've ever been involved in one. Say you see you're going to hit the car and it's as if it's in slow motion and this horrible feeling drops down in the pit of your stomach and you know there's nothing you can do and you just know you're about to face the most horrific pain in your life. Now, that's scary and that's one way to sum it sum it and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that.
Vicodin seemed to help me with this pain, but I'm tired to being chained to it. I'm on permanent disability, but I don't want to be that anymore and I want to work, but I'm still very sick. I'm hoping that if I get off the Vicodin, I will heal. I know the Vicodin isn't the cause of my mental illnesses, but now I'm now sure where one starts and one ends. I'm so hoping that once I stop the Vicodin, maybe the other has healed and maybe just the Vicodin remains and once that's gone, I'll completely heal quickly!!
Sorry, for the small novel....just looking for some support here. Thanks in advance
-Kevin
So, that would explain the increase that I feel from the Vicodin. Thanks, but I'm not going to switch over to Norco or anything else. I'm going to try...no I'm GOING TO get off this ****. It's going to very hard...I know that, but not impossible.
I think the worst part of this is when your in the first two weeks, it feels like you don't have a soul! I picked a great time to detox huh....Christmas. Well actually by Christmas, I should start feeling human again. I'm going to make sure my supply is cut off later today by going to the doctor I get them from. Thanks again!
I think the worst part of this is when your in the first two weeks, it feels like you don't have a soul! I picked a great time to detox huh....Christmas. Well actually by Christmas, I should start feeling human again. I'm going to make sure my supply is cut off later today by going to the doctor I get them from. Thanks again!
The Hydroxyzine is an Antihistamine and Yes, it does work to "boost" the effects of Narcotics.
The amount of Tylenol you are taking daily may be a cause for the nausea, I used to have a habilt of 25 - 30 Vic's per day and that much Tylenol will destroy your liver. You are much better off taking the 10mg of Hydro with the 325 mg of Tylenol. Norco, for example, is 10/325 so it gives your body a much needed break from the Tylenol.
The amount of Tylenol you are taking daily may be a cause for the nausea, I used to have a habilt of 25 - 30 Vic's per day and that much Tylenol will destroy your liver. You are much better off taking the 10mg of Hydro with the 325 mg of Tylenol. Norco, for example, is 10/325 so it gives your body a much needed break from the Tylenol.
Thanks broknbck. Do you happen to have a good link that has a detailed list of the kinds of foods I should eat. I'll Google it of course but maybe you have an excellent site. I can say with 100% certainty that eat horribly. Most of what I eat are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches....nice huh. I don't know how to cook and I hate fixing food. From what I've read, I bet it's the Vicodin that is sapping most of my motivation out of me.
I actually started working out last week again after years. I did work out for a few months last year, but that is and prior to that it had been years! I may have to stop for a couple weeks when I detox, but I'd really like to be able to push through it.
This is my 3rd time trying to quit but I'm very serious about it and I won't make the same mistake twice. Is it true that it's harder to detox after you've done it before? If that's true, this will really suck. But doesn't that depend on how much you're taking when you start detox? I'll be going off 10 a day. The last time I did this I was taking 30 a day and dude, I wanted to die, but the last time I did it, I had all intentions of going back on the Vicodin....I just ran out and had to wait for the doctor to OK it again.
In my case the problem lies with my parents. When I became very sick in 1994...this is when my Bi-Polar apparently showed itself and how. Anyway she gave me two Vicodin, which I had never had before. Well, needless to say it worked....really good, with the bonus of allot of euphoria, but at the time I just thought God had healed me. I just had this....mental/emotional pain that I couldn't shake.
I was engaged to this girl and I don't know how to explain it....I was at her house and all of a sudden it felt like I got hit by a truck or something....not physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I then felt like I was going to lose her. What's worse is this became an overwhelming feeling that I couldn't stop thinking about. I was obsessed. When I wasn't around her I wanted to see her so bad, yet when I did, I felt so much worse.....how weird is that. I'm adopted and I've got this abandonment issue, but it got so bad, I lost 20 lbs in the span of about a month. I couldn't eat, sleep, read...I swear, it felt like I was possessed or something. She finally broke up with me and I felt worse the first month after she broke up, but then I started feeling better. The whole thing lasted for 6 months straight. This constant torment that I experienced never once completely stopped and I honestly don't know how I didn't try to kill myself in the first 4 months at it's worst.
Like I said, I was told this year I have Bi-Polar Type 1 and they think I have PTSD as well. Do any other Bi-Polar people suffer like this?? The Vicodin seemed to work for 13 years quite well, but it suddenly started to lose it's effect around this time last year for some reason.
I'm on permanent disability but I plan on working again someday in the near future hopefully, but I've got to say that I'm scared to get off this stuff. I'm afraid this thing I experience once in a while....that is, this torment will come back. It's happened with every girl I dated since '94 and even with my wife now. The only difference is, is that it hasn't been quite as intense as it originally was, but that's not to say it's not bad. While starting a job in Vegas and my wife was pregnant....my little demon as I call it, started to torment me at the new job. It was horrible!
Then in 2000, I tried to kill myself with 29 Xanex, 30 Unisom, 20 Vicodin and I believe something else that I can't recall. I nearly died in the hospital and was in critical care and my pulsox even got down into the teens I was told by a friend later. Fortunately, I made a full recovery, but I can't seem to get away from this Vicodin.
I'm no doctor but it sounds like your friend might be Schizophrenic...at least that's what is common with people who either see or hear things (or both) that aren't there. If you've any ideas that might help, I'm all ears!!!
Like I said, if you can give me more info about that diet, that would be great. I want to go into this 100%....this is a life change and I want to make the best of it! Thanks again!
I actually started working out last week again after years. I did work out for a few months last year, but that is and prior to that it had been years! I may have to stop for a couple weeks when I detox, but I'd really like to be able to push through it.
This is my 3rd time trying to quit but I'm very serious about it and I won't make the same mistake twice. Is it true that it's harder to detox after you've done it before? If that's true, this will really suck. But doesn't that depend on how much you're taking when you start detox? I'll be going off 10 a day. The last time I did this I was taking 30 a day and dude, I wanted to die, but the last time I did it, I had all intentions of going back on the Vicodin....I just ran out and had to wait for the doctor to OK it again.
In my case the problem lies with my parents. When I became very sick in 1994...this is when my Bi-Polar apparently showed itself and how. Anyway she gave me two Vicodin, which I had never had before. Well, needless to say it worked....really good, with the bonus of allot of euphoria, but at the time I just thought God had healed me. I just had this....mental/emotional pain that I couldn't shake.
I was engaged to this girl and I don't know how to explain it....I was at her house and all of a sudden it felt like I got hit by a truck or something....not physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I then felt like I was going to lose her. What's worse is this became an overwhelming feeling that I couldn't stop thinking about. I was obsessed. When I wasn't around her I wanted to see her so bad, yet when I did, I felt so much worse.....how weird is that. I'm adopted and I've got this abandonment issue, but it got so bad, I lost 20 lbs in the span of about a month. I couldn't eat, sleep, read...I swear, it felt like I was possessed or something. She finally broke up with me and I felt worse the first month after she broke up, but then I started feeling better. The whole thing lasted for 6 months straight. This constant torment that I experienced never once completely stopped and I honestly don't know how I didn't try to kill myself in the first 4 months at it's worst.
Like I said, I was told this year I have Bi-Polar Type 1 and they think I have PTSD as well. Do any other Bi-Polar people suffer like this?? The Vicodin seemed to work for 13 years quite well, but it suddenly started to lose it's effect around this time last year for some reason.
I'm on permanent disability but I plan on working again someday in the near future hopefully, but I've got to say that I'm scared to get off this stuff. I'm afraid this thing I experience once in a while....that is, this torment will come back. It's happened with every girl I dated since '94 and even with my wife now. The only difference is, is that it hasn't been quite as intense as it originally was, but that's not to say it's not bad. While starting a job in Vegas and my wife was pregnant....my little demon as I call it, started to torment me at the new job. It was horrible!
Then in 2000, I tried to kill myself with 29 Xanex, 30 Unisom, 20 Vicodin and I believe something else that I can't recall. I nearly died in the hospital and was in critical care and my pulsox even got down into the teens I was told by a friend later. Fortunately, I made a full recovery, but I can't seem to get away from this Vicodin.
I'm no doctor but it sounds like your friend might be Schizophrenic...at least that's what is common with people who either see or hear things (or both) that aren't there. If you've any ideas that might help, I'm all ears!!!
Like I said, if you can give me more info about that diet, that would be great. I want to go into this 100%....this is a life change and I want to make the best of it! Thanks again!
yea, the vicodins will eventually just stop working no matter how much you take. it will only keep the withdrawl away.
so of course you are smart to quit. it is not doing anything for you.
your "illness or condition" needs to be addressed some other way now, so that you do not fall back into it.
have you ever tried an immaculent diet. only good organic foods, good supplements, including the amino acids, exersize and cutting out all the bad stuff? you will feel like a million bucks on a great diet. this is not to loose weight, but to feel and get healthy.
also, this will sound like i am a nut. but WTF , i know someone with kind of the same symptoms except he also hears a voice , like someone is with him all the time. he thinks that is what causes him to feel that doom and uneasiness. he is not crazy, it is really happening to him. he is not taking any drugs for it or any drugs period. but he yells at the person to go away and when he is gone, he feels like normal. hah- i must sound like a nut-case but i have known this person for years and this is only recently happened with him and i do believe him.
so of course you are smart to quit. it is not doing anything for you.
your "illness or condition" needs to be addressed some other way now, so that you do not fall back into it.
have you ever tried an immaculent diet. only good organic foods, good supplements, including the amino acids, exersize and cutting out all the bad stuff? you will feel like a million bucks on a great diet. this is not to loose weight, but to feel and get healthy.
also, this will sound like i am a nut. but WTF , i know someone with kind of the same symptoms except he also hears a voice , like someone is with him all the time. he thinks that is what causes him to feel that doom and uneasiness. he is not crazy, it is really happening to him. he is not taking any drugs for it or any drugs period. but he yells at the person to go away and when he is gone, he feels like normal. hah- i must sound like a nut-case but i have known this person for years and this is only recently happened with him and i do believe him.
Thanks, I'll get the Milk Thistle. I do think something is starting to happen because of the nausea that I mentioned before. My doctor gave me Hydroxizine I think it's called for the nausea and unfortunately, it not only helps with that (that's not unfortunate) but it seems to allow the Vicodin to work much better. This is bad because it makes it that much harder to quit!
I know I need to quit and I want to but I'm afraid I'll never feel good again. Then again, I can't say I'm really feeling good now, just high I guess. For me, high is feeling good. I thought the amount of Tylenol I was taking was too much and it looks like it is.
If you'd ask me a year ago if I'd rather be off the Vicodin and feel like **** the rest of my life or stay on it a few more years and die, I would have told you that I'd rather die than go through this pain.
My pain isn't physical but the Vicodin 'used' to help, or at least I thought it did. For some reason, it stopped working this year...no matter how much I take. Now, it's like I'm going through some level of withdrawal constantly. It's like the acid in my stomach is dissolving the Vicodin before it can be absorbed or something. I have GERD and taking Prilosec for it, but it's not stopping it completely....the acid that is.
I actually had my liver checked a couple months ago and it was fine, but I'm pretty sure the Vicodin is ripping up my stomach. I can't seem to taper off the Vicodin, like one should, but at least if I can stop at 10 a day, it shouldn't be that bad. I know because stopping at 15 a day wasn't too bad. Stopping at 60 something and 30 something was brutal though.
It ***** to do this around Christmas too, but then again, I can't really say that life is good with the Vicodin right now. Like I said before, I'm afraid I'll never feel good again. That's my probably the addicted part of my brain talking though huh.
I was told that it would take the better part of a year for my body to get back to 'normal'. I wonder how long it will take for me to feel....somewhat good again. I'm guessing about 4 weeks....huh. I'm just trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
I know I need to quit and I want to but I'm afraid I'll never feel good again. Then again, I can't say I'm really feeling good now, just high I guess. For me, high is feeling good. I thought the amount of Tylenol I was taking was too much and it looks like it is.
If you'd ask me a year ago if I'd rather be off the Vicodin and feel like **** the rest of my life or stay on it a few more years and die, I would have told you that I'd rather die than go through this pain.
My pain isn't physical but the Vicodin 'used' to help, or at least I thought it did. For some reason, it stopped working this year...no matter how much I take. Now, it's like I'm going through some level of withdrawal constantly. It's like the acid in my stomach is dissolving the Vicodin before it can be absorbed or something. I have GERD and taking Prilosec for it, but it's not stopping it completely....the acid that is.
I actually had my liver checked a couple months ago and it was fine, but I'm pretty sure the Vicodin is ripping up my stomach. I can't seem to taper off the Vicodin, like one should, but at least if I can stop at 10 a day, it shouldn't be that bad. I know because stopping at 15 a day wasn't too bad. Stopping at 60 something and 30 something was brutal though.
It ***** to do this around Christmas too, but then again, I can't really say that life is good with the Vicodin right now. Like I said before, I'm afraid I'll never feel good again. That's my probably the addicted part of my brain talking though huh.
I was told that it would take the better part of a year for my body to get back to 'normal'. I wonder how long it will take for me to feel....somewhat good again. I'm guessing about 4 weeks....huh. I'm just trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
hi Kevin,
14 years is a long time. do you think you could taper yourself down or do you have someone (preferably that doesn't live with you) that can hold your pills and give you your 'daily' amount?
what is hilarious and frightening is the rationalization that you deserve to 'celebrate'. if i had a nickel for every time i've had that thought - and every time i've acted on it... ; )
as i tell others, you need to let your body reach 'equilibrium' - just your body's natural state without outside influences (i.e. drugs). then you can determine what is 'real' and what is not. coming off of these things will tear your soul apart from the inside. it is a curse.
if you really need pain meds, maybe the Duragesic (fentanyl) patch would provide more consistent pain relief w/o the highs/lows of popping pills. but again, it's an opiate - and a super-strong one at that.
so i would taper if you can - and it is VERY hard unless you know that you have NO way of getting more pills.
you also have the option of Suboxone/Subutex, but again - an opiate - and with long w/d's. Tramadol (works similarly to opiates) are a lesser-evil and a step down from 'real' opiates and can be ordered over the Internet w/o a prescription.
also, the amount of Tylenol you've been taking is toxic. you're still alive, which is a good sign, but i would have liver functions tested just to make sure. in the meantime, get yourself a bottle of Milk Thistle (supermarket/health food store) which is a liver protectant and take the recommended dose.
be well,
e1
14 years is a long time. do you think you could taper yourself down or do you have someone (preferably that doesn't live with you) that can hold your pills and give you your 'daily' amount?
what is hilarious and frightening is the rationalization that you deserve to 'celebrate'. if i had a nickel for every time i've had that thought - and every time i've acted on it... ; )
as i tell others, you need to let your body reach 'equilibrium' - just your body's natural state without outside influences (i.e. drugs). then you can determine what is 'real' and what is not. coming off of these things will tear your soul apart from the inside. it is a curse.
if you really need pain meds, maybe the Duragesic (fentanyl) patch would provide more consistent pain relief w/o the highs/lows of popping pills. but again, it's an opiate - and a super-strong one at that.
so i would taper if you can - and it is VERY hard unless you know that you have NO way of getting more pills.
you also have the option of Suboxone/Subutex, but again - an opiate - and with long w/d's. Tramadol (works similarly to opiates) are a lesser-evil and a step down from 'real' opiates and can be ordered over the Internet w/o a prescription.
also, the amount of Tylenol you've been taking is toxic. you're still alive, which is a good sign, but i would have liver functions tested just to make sure. in the meantime, get yourself a bottle of Milk Thistle (supermarket/health food store) which is a liver protectant and take the recommended dose.
be well,
e1
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