I happen to work in a drug rehab center so I see an awful lot of Hydrocodone addiction. To be quite honest I believe the number of opiate users we treat is now exceeding the number of alcoholics that come in, if you can believe that. Prescription painkillers seem to be the new drug of choice these days.
Hydrocodone is a synthetic opiate that is slightly more powerful than Codeine (as measured by the opiate molecules strength in binding to opiate receptors in the human brain). Some of the common brand names for Hydrocodone are Vicodin, Lorcet, Lortab, and Norco. Doctors prescribe it for all sorts of different issues and it tends to work really well for most types of pain. Too well in fact, because many people can and do get addicted to it. This makes for a complicated situation because now you have a drug addiction that is actually there for a specific reason: to medicate a person’s physical pain.
So one of the major questions becomes: if you are trying to overcome Hydrocodone addiction, how are you going to manage your pain? What are you going to do when your body is suffering and in pain?
Managing pain without opiates
It is important to understand the difference between opiate based painkillers and other medications. When you take a medicine such as Ibuprofen, the medicine actually works to help reduce the pain right at the source of the pain. It does this by reducing inflammation and swelling in the body. So it literally goes to the source of your physical pain and makes it smaller.
With an opiate drug (such as Hydrocodone), there is no such reduction in pain. In fact, the medicine does not really reduce pain at all. What it does is it simply dopes the human brain so that it does not care about the pain as much. The pain is still there. But if you are taking Hydrocodone, the effect that the drug has is that it makes it so that you don’t pay as much attention to the pain.
If your pain is a ringing alarm clock with bells, then taking an opiate is like sticking a rag in between the bells. It simply dulls the ringing. It does not reduce the pain itself though.
So if you understand this then you can see how any condition that results in chronic pain should really be treated with something other than an opiate drug. If the physical pain you are experiencing is temporary (or very short term), then taking an opiate might work out pretty well. But if your pain is chronic (or longer lasting), then taking an opiate is not going to help you in the long run.
So if you are trying to get off of an opiate drug, then you need to have a plan for how you are going to manage your pain without using addictive painkillers. You might start experimenting with alternative ways of treating your pain before you even try to get off the opiates, so that you are more prepared in how you will deal with the pain. For example, you might look into some of these ideas for managing pain without addictive drugs:
1) TENS units.
2) Using non-narcotic painkillers (ask your doctor for details).
3) Meditation and relaxation techniques
4) Massage.
5) Acupuncture.
And so on. If you start experimenting right now with these sorts of ideas, your chances at staying clean and sober will increase because you will be better able to handle the pain when you are no longer using opiates. If you are struggling to make progress in this area, you might consider going to a pain clinic or finding a different doctor who is more accommodating.
Photo by Veeliam
Options for dealing with Vicodin addiction
There are a few different ways that you might treat Vicodin addiction. One thing that you might do is to simply check into a drug rehab center that has a medical detox. This is usually expensive but it might be the best option for most people.
Another form of treatment is to use drug therapy. So an addict might switch to a medication such as Suboxone in order to treat their addiction to Vicodin. Some would argue that this is not much better, as you are still ingesting an opiate based drug. However, the abuse potential of Suboxone is much lower than that of hydrocodone, so this is still a decent option for some people. Most people who have a short term addiction to hydrocodone will not need drug therapy like this, however. But it can be useful for some people who suffer from severe chronic pain issues, as the Suboxone will help treat their chronic pain as well.
Obviously, Vicodin addicts who are dealing with these types of questions will want to speak with a doctor at great length and carefully weigh their options before making any decisions.
Hydrocodone dosage
Typical hydrocodone doses range from taking one per day as needed, all the way up to taking 1 to 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hours, usually not to exceed 8 tablets in a 24 hour period. Most hydrocodone addicts eventually start consuming more of the drug than these recommended dosages, however. This can become dangerous, too, for people with liver problems, because of the potential for taking too much Acetaminophen as well.
Of course you will want to check with your doctor as to what dose you should be taking in the first place, and you would not want to exceed their recommendation. Anyone who deliberately does so runs the risk of developing dependence from abusing the drug by taking a higher dosage.
Hydrocodone detox
Detoxing from hydrocodone will produce typical opiate withdrawal symptoms, that normally resemble a case of the flu. Sweats and chills, upset stomach (including possible cramps, nausea, or diarrhea), anxiety, tremors, and dilated pupils may all be present during detox. These symptoms can best be treated in a drug rehab center with a synthetic opiate drug called Suboxone. The person can then be tapered off of the Suboxone in a matter of days and experience very little discomfort throughout the entire process.
Some people seeking detox from opiates may look to a newer method called ultra rapid detox. This is where they put you under and then flush your body from all opiates, detoxing you in a matter of hours rather than days. It sounds nice but there are a lot of problems with it at this early stage, and it is prohibitively expensive in many cases. Plus there is no guarantee that the person will stay clean.
Typical hydrocodone addiction symptoms
The symptoms of hydrocodone addiction may include:
1) Abusing the drug, taking more quantity than what is prescribed.
2) Hiding, stealing, or hoarding supply. Keeping amounts taken a secret. Stashing pills.
3) Buying pills off the street or manipulating doctors to get more.
4) Inventing injuries or illnesses to get more supply, deliberately hurting oneself to get more pills.
There are other symptoms as well but basically if you cannot stop taking the drug on your own (and you want to) then that is a strong sign of dependence.
Some signs of hydrocodone addiction
If you suspect someone in your life of being addicted to hydrocodone, then watch for the above symptoms, and also:
1) Lying about how much they have taken or how many pills they have left.
2) Hiding pills or sneaking them around, protecting supply.
3) Nodding off from taking way to much of the drug.
4) Withdrawal symptoms when they don’t have pills left.
5) Obsession on getting more pills, especially when running low on supply.
Hydrocodone withdrawal
As mentioned above, the withdrawal symptoms of hydrocodone will typically resemble the flu. This will generally last from about 3 to 5 days, and sometimes it will stretch out a bit longer than this, depending on the person and also on how much they have been taking and how long they have been abusing opiates. Detox in a drug rehab center can really help the addict to get through the discomfort, because they can treat the withdrawal using medication without allowing the addict to become addicted to the medicine. People who fear becoming addicted to another medication are just using an excuse to avoid getting clean and sober. Drug rehabs do not resort to drug therapy and get addicts hooked on new medicines. This is a bunch of crap. Instead, they taper you down and when you walk out of the door, you do it completely clean and sober, not addicted to anything.
Hydrocodone overdose
It is possible to overdose on Hydrocodone, especially since it is usually (but not always) packaged with Acetaminophen. Of course the opiate itself is a going to depress the nervous system and at some point just the opiate alone would become lethal if enough of it were taken. All opiates carry some risk of overdose and hydrocodone is no different in this regard. Those who are abusing the drug and dependent on it obviously run a greater risk of having this happen.
Hydrocodone side effects
Anyone can experience any number of different side effects when taking just about any medication, but most people who use hydrocodone at normal dosages do not experience any major problems. If you do, obviously, you should talk with your doctor. If you happen to be taking more than the prescribed dosage and are abusing hydrocdone, then the obvious answer is to get some help and stop abusing the drug so that undesired side effects will no longer occur.
Some of these side effects might include:
1) Being nervous or anxious.
2) Getting dizzy.
3) Dry mouth.
4) Heart burn.
5) Sweats.
6) Trouble sleeping.
7) Not eating as much.
8) Feeling weak.
Obviously if you have any adverse effects that are really bothersome, consult your doctor.
Getting through withdrawal
Depending on how much your body is addicted to the Hydrocodone, you may want to go to a treatment center in order to get fully detoxed from the drug. Most drug rehabs that have a medical detox unit will be able to treat your withdrawal symptoms from the Hydrocodone with their own medications. In other words, they will help to make the withdrawal process a lot more comfortable than if you simply went off of the medication cold turkey.
The best way to get through any withdrawal is to sleep through it. Depending on how severe your symptoms are, this may or may not be possible. Also, if you suffer from a great deal of physical pain, this will make it more difficult to sleep when you are going through withdrawal from Hydrocodone. These are the types of factors you will need to consider when deciding if you need to actually go to a drug rehab in order to get off the drug.
Basically, if you have easy access to opiates, and you are going through very heavy withdrawals, then it is going to be almost impossible for you to get off the drug without getting some sort of help. If you try to do so and fail several times, you might want to look into the possibility of going to treatment for it. There is no shame in going to drug rehab. They can help you get through the withdrawals and possibly even help you learn how to start managing your pain.
If you’ve been using narcotics to manage your pain for a long time, or if you just use opiate based drugs for fund and recreation in your life, then it’s going to take quite a large effort in order to become clean and sober and to really make it stick. Like with any addiction, there are at least 2 distinct stages to overcoming Hydrocodone addiction: early recovery and long term recovery.
In early recovery, you are basically focusing on the immediate problem of getting off the pills and learning how to live a life without narcotics again. This stage of recovery can last anywhere from a few months to several months, depending on the person. If you ask for help, get professional treatment of some sort, and start interacting with a strong support system on a regular basis, then you might very well be entering the second phase of your recovery in less than a year. Of course, this is all about action. You have to initiate these positive changes in your life and actually follow through with them in order to establish a successful recovery.
Long term recovery from Hydrocodone addiction
Moving into long term recovery happens naturally as your life gets “back on track.” By now you will have found alternative ways to handle any physical pain, and you will no longer struggle to make it through each day without using drugs. But this does not mean that there is no threat of relapse. There will always be the possibility there to tempt you. The key, therefore, becomes constant vigilance in your life when it comes to putting drugs into your body. You have to adopt a zero tolerance policy when it comes to narcotics and addictive drugs.
Anyone who has successfully kicked an opiate addiction but ends up relapsing over and over again needs to find a new way to live. This is the cycle of addiction and the only way to defeat it is to get clean and sober (physically detox from the drugs) and then find a way to live drug free so that you are satisfied with your life. If you are restless, irritable, discontent, bored, or uninspired then chances are you will end up relapsing eventually. In this case the opiate addict can either follow a program of recovery (such as the 12 step program) or design their own program of recovery and create a new life for themselves. Either way, they need to take action and start living a drug free live of passion and purpose if they want to remain clean in the long run.
If you or someone you know is suffering from Hydrocodone addiction then I would recommend professional help. If you cannot quit on your own and make it last then you need to ask for help. Inpatient treatment or professional counseling are both good starting points. Go into either with an open mind and you can find a new way to live.
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Thanks Patrick, I took your advice today. I only took half my usual dose. my brain is kind of craving more but I know I can’t give in. Do you think I should buy some imodium AD ahead of time? I have ambien. Is that safe to take? Also, in an earlier post you recomended using Motrin and Tylenol alternating every 4 hours for aches and pains. What doseages? Since I want to do this at home, what else can you tell me about food and water intake, and anything else you think will help? Like a daily schedule…
I am not sure on the Ambien, but if you do use it make sure to follow your prescription and NOT exceed the dosage.
Motrin is 800mg every 8 hours. But, after 4 hours, you can take a 1,000mg of Tylenol. So you can alternate the 2 every 4 hours. Again, check with your doctor first, and do not exceed the dosages on the bottles.
As for diet, eat normal, stay hydrated. Sip ice water frequently. Sleep as much as possible.
Hi everyone, it is exactly 48 hrs. now and the backs of my legs are aching. The dierrea hasn’t really started yet. Right now I’m sweating. Five min. ago I was freezing. I slept fine last night with ambien. Hope I sleep as well tonight. I’m bored and tired of watching tv. I’v been eating chips and candy. I might regret that. I’ll write more later.
I have enjoyed so much reading everyone’s post. I am a nurse and have never had an addiction problem. However, my fiance’ does. From my experience in nursing and from what my fiance’ went through–everything ya’ll mentioned in the posts describing the withdrawal process is dead on. It does differ from person to person, but in general, you will experience many of the same symptoms. Thankfully, my fiance’ has been clean for over 6 weeks now. He even quit smoking during the same time he came off the lortabs! He looks great, feels great & is a different person altogether. He’s back to the sweet, wonderful man I feel in love with. He’s in good shape physically–built, works out, but the other night he said something so profound. He told me he finally realized that oblong pill was much, much bigger and stronger than he ever was. How sad and true that statement is! God bless each and every one of you! Good luck!!
@ Chris – Don’t count on having all of these symptoms you read about here….different people will experience different symptoms. Don’t over do the Ambien. Keep us posted. I think you can make it.
@ Allie – Thanks for your comments and sharing your experience here. Sounds like your fiance is doing well now.
@Allie- Thanks for that sharing your fiance’s story. The relationship between my wife and I has been almost non-exsistant for a long time now. I hope as I learn to live without drugs I can become the sweat, wonderful man that my wife also fell in love with.
Your post brought a few tears to my eyes, but is encouaging. I think I’m just extra emotional right now.
@ Patrick- Thanks for that last post. You are right. I may not experience all the same symtoms I read about. I’m actually feeling much better than I thought I would. I must be honest though. Last night about 5:0clock My leg pain was pretty bad and I was cold and sweaty so I searched all my old hiding spots, found 2 500’s and chewed them up. My symptoms diminshed somewhat. But now I feel like I’m starting all over. And as you know, it’s back to work Tues. I should have just flushed them.
@ Chris – yes, you are starting all over now. You probably knew that intuitively but now you are going to really learn it on a deep level. Might be part of what had to happen for you to “get” this in the future. Good luck.
Hello,
Well it’s about 4:15 p.m. Sun. Seems like the worst is over. Slept O.K. last night. Woke up around 7:00 this morning. Went out for breakfast and then to church with family. We go to a great church but I’ve been high on something every time for a long time so it really didn’t mater if I went or not. But today was differnt. It felt good to not be high.
Went for a walk with my dog. And now I going to read a bit. I got one more day off work. That’s a great feeling.
Sounds good…hang in there Chris. Hopefully you are through the worst of it.
I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this but I’m seeking advice on how to approach my husband’s usage. He’s currently out of town and just told me he took some Xanax that was prescribed to me. I didn’t think too much of it until I went to get something out of the bathroom and noticed an empty bottle of hydrocodone that was prescribed to me after my shoulder surgery 6 months ago (which was fairly full since I didn’t take it for too long). He had taken some from this bottle right after my surgery when he had a sore throat and I told him I wasn’t comfortable him doing this. He obviously didn’t concern himself with this too much since the bottle is now empty. I’m not sure if this is an addiction since I don’t know for sure if he is getting some elsewhere and how long ago he finished my prescription. (I know he was prescribed some from his doctor at that same time because of his sore throat and I can’t find that bottle now.) I’m sure he would deny there being a problem anyhow. He has occasional recreational drug use in his past that I know of. I guess I’m just seeking advice on what to say to him, if I should be concerned, and what I should be looking for if anything else. I definitely don’t like knowing he was hiding some things from me and now not feeling I can trust him.
Thank you so much for any help you may have!!
I would tread lightly in a situation like this, Ellen. The wrong approach is to jump into a big argument about it where he gets all defensive, don’t you think?
On the other hand, I would keep an eye on things, and be prepared to confront him and ask him about it if you keep seeing more signs. I think if you do eventually confront him, you should do it in a very caring and non-threatening way. Express genuine concern instead of hurling accusations.
It is a tough situation if it continues to escalate, and there may not be much you can do to confront him without him getting defensive. But it might come to that eventually anyway. Good luck and if you need help or support, go to an Al-Anon meeting.
Thanks Patrick. I’ll keep my eyes open for more signs. I was also rembering just after my last comment that he does use benadryl daily. He says it’s to help him sleep. I don’t know if this information means anything and if I’m just being suspicious or actually seeing something.
I really appreciate your help.
(and congrats to you on your wonderful blog!)
Hello Everyone,
I have been on hydrocodone 7.5 and 10/500 ( 3 pills a day)for several years. When I run out I have many days where I can’t sleep. My body is anxious to the point I Can’t stay still enough to go to sleep. Sleeping pills just make me sleepy and I’m up miserable. I pace the floors, I go to Walmart at odd hours. It feels hopeless some days and I’m not sure what to do. I am trying other methods to stop taking this medicine but nothing else has worked.
What can I say except reading everyone’s story is riveting because it is my story. I am hooked on hydro again. I have gone back and forth many times, and each time I go back, it makes getting off that much harder… but I cannot surrender to this disease. I am scared and feel trapped right now. Every time I refill my script, I tell myself it is the last time. It is primarily 7.5/500 I get 60 at a time… and have no need for them. So I have a day off… to myself, and planned on working on some projects. Instead I woke up and decided to address this nagging voice that is telling me nothing is going to get better until I quit this habit. I have lost so much. I began taking recreational drugs in HS. Most pot, but I tried and did anything. LSD, Coke, Meth, Alcohol, Robitussin. I would have these moments of clarity and tell myself I had to quit. I would sometimes be able to stop for a while on sheer will power. I also tried 12 step, but I always came back to it. Then in college, I began having panic attacks. That slowed me down considerably. By this time I was primarily just a pot smoker, but I could no longer enjoy getting high. I began associating the panic attacks to getting high. After College I landed my first real job in the field I wanted to be in, doing what I wanted to do. One day, I had such a serious panic attack at work, I almost went to the ER. Still it wasn’t enough. I very stupidly took LSD on the 4th of July with a friend. It had been years since I took it. I had a panic attack that lasted for hours. I managed to hold on… wait it out. The last straw came one day a few eeks later. I had stopped…. But still had paraphenalia. I for some ridiculous reason thought I would scrape my pipes and smoke the resin. I got another big time panic attack from that high. FINALLY, I threw all of it away and got sober. For the next 5 years I would not touch anything that remotely altered my state in anyway. Including caffiene, cold medicine etc. I still struggled with panic attacks. I rediscovered my faith during this time. I got married. My wife got pregnant, and I had my worst bout of panic attakcs ever. It was like a continuous panic attack that lasted days and days at a time with only brief reprieves. I knew what they were because my doctor had diagnosed me years earlier and put me on an SSRI. At this point I was deathly afraid of taking an SSRI, let alone anything that would change my state. It was a living hell. On top of that I began having toothaches, the result of a car accident I was in as a kid. I needed serious work done on my mouth… but again, was too afraid to go through with it. I went to see cognitive behavioral counselors for my anxiety disorder, and that didn’t work for me. Finally, I very reluctanly began taking SSRI’s again. I also had a prescription for Xanax, which I never touched. After a few weeks, the panic attacks miraculously went away! AND after five years, I took something to alter my state. I took a quater of a xanax. I had re-enrolled in school, contemplating a career change. I didn’t think I would make it, because the panic attacks would hit me at anytime. That day, I felt wonderful. The Xanax allowed me to enjoy the class. I took them all eventually. My Doc, very wisely, would not refill it. Now taking just the SSRI, I was living a pretty “normal” life. I finally enjoyed coffee and Pepsi and all the things I had deprived myself of for so long. I had began eating ibuprofen to deal with my mouth pain. After being free from the anxiety for a while, I finally went in to get surgery on my mouth. There were a series of procedures that needed to get done. Thats when I began taking Vicoden, percocet, Darvocet etc. I didn’t get hooked after the first couple of procedures… I had half full bottles of narcotic pain pills in my medicine cabinet for months and months. It was the last couple that I started taking them and for more than pain. On top of the many other problems I have had all my life, I had been struggling with ADHD. I was disorganized, always losing and forgetting things. Overcommitting myself, and then getting overwhelmed. Everytihing around me was a mess. My office, my house, my car… I could never keep things clean. The pain pills, helped me get my stuff together! I cleaned, Organized and enjoyed doing it! It was such a rewarding feeling… to be high ion these pills, and see how productive and organized I was also. I finished my second round of school with straight A’s. I switched careers. I switched careers, and we had a second child. Over the next few years, I wouod go on and off the pills. I knew I had a problem and was able to kick them a few times. My bouts of sobriety would last months at a time. I bounced in and out of 12 step programs. I help others get sober. I had success at my new job, I was promoted a couple of times. The last time I got sober, I went to my doc to tell on myself about my pain pill addiction. I told him about how they helped me to stay in top of things, and be organized. He was not at all happy with me, and had little tolerance for my addiction. He wrote me a script with instructions to taper, and referred me to a specialist with ADHD. I did taper according to his plan. After trying a ton of medications and different approaches, the doc I was refered to for my ADHD, prescribed adderall. My doc retired, and the specialist quit accepting my insurance, and sent me off with information to find another doctor to work with. Adderall requires one refill at a time, to be written out by a doctor. Somewhere along the way I got hooked up with Tramadol/Ultram. A couple of injuries later, I ended up back on Hydro. My marriage fell apart; I had an affair. There were a lot of circumstances that I don’t want to make excuses for. The fact was and still remains, that everything that has been going wrong the past few years is related to my drug use either directly or indirectly. Even those things that I had no control over… I used Hydro to numb myself from it. Now I am a part time dad of two young boys. My job is intact for now, but it is steadily getting more difficult to deal with. There is a lot to me and my personality, and my flaws… which are too numerous to account for. Nothing has worked for me in the past. My “rock bottom” was panic attacks, which got me sober for 5 years, but ruined my life in ways that I would rather be addicted than to go back to. I am weak in many ways, I am ashamed, I have this secret very few people know about. My divorce is not complete, and I can’t check into a rehab because I can’t afford it.. and I would risk losing my kids. I am still there for them now, and they need me. I am not the best dad in the world, but I take good care of them, cook and clean, do homework with them, do other things with them, take them to school and pick them up. I have half custody for now… I fear if I go into rehab, they will be with their mother all the time, and I don’t think that is the best thing for them. It all goes back to feeling stuck. I get up every day and take 45 mg of adderall (Should only take 30), 20 mg of hydro, and half an SSRI before getting out of bed. I lay in bed for an hour until the drugs kick in and I feel good. Then every 4 hours I take 15 more mgs of hydro up to 4 times a day. I average about 65 mg of hydro per day… and more APAP than I want to think about. I hate myself for being in this position. I can’t figure out a way out. I am thinking one more hard push to quit CT or an extremely aggressive tapering process… and cutting the adderall way down or completely out. I have no idea if it helps with my ADHD or not, because Hydro is in the mix. There is actually a lot more to my story, but I have written pages and pages here, and I doubt it is interesting enough for anyone to read. but if anyone has any adivce, I would love to listen. I am going to post my process here if I attempt to quit. Reading so many other people’s “Logs” has been very inspirational. I am considering the medical option (suboxone?), or Rapid Detox? But think I will most likely try to quit cold turkey again, or self taper. This sucks.
I searched,”..how to beat hyrocodone addiction and came across this page. I’m sick and tired of being a slave to this pill. It controlls my life. I work lots of hours for a large delivery company, so this is a very buisy month for us. I want to try and do it myself. I have a week vacation in January. I have been taking hydrocodone for abouth 10 years off and on but for the last 2yrs ever day anywhere form 5 to 10 pills a day 10mg. I am every afraid of the withdrawls. I’m going to taper off to 3 pills then to 2 pills then one.Then I’m going to take that week of vaca I got in January and go for it. If I can’t do it then i will look for professional help. I heard of this rapid detox in Florida, gonna look into that and see if I can afford it. I feel it will be my last hope. Wish me luck!!
@ Joe – thank you for sharing your story, very helpful for many people I am sure. My best advice is to seek help at a traditional drug rehab….I really think that will serve you better than rapid detox or trying to do it yourself.
If you try to self taper and fail, consider treatment. Just my 2 cents.
@ Chris – good luck with the rapid detox. It is very expensive. Look into traditional rehabs first….they are cheaper in most cases and more likely to be covered by insurance. Plus they will help get you off the meds and help you feel fairly comfortable.
No one is totally miserable in detox. It is not that bad, really. Ultra rapid detox is overkill, in my opinion…..
hi! The testamonials on this site are great. Real normal people feeling and struggling what they are going through with hydrocodone. We are really wanting more! HUNGRY FOR IT!! The encouragement and the tales of continuing even without complete succsess is help full. Do you have any more? Even old ones? We have T. Grissom June 23, 2009 and forward. I havent found a site that compares to yours and would realy like everything you can give us. Maybe support help to the friends and family of ours who care too. ? Thank you.
great website here, makes me feel like I am not alone…I have been on 10/325 mg norco since May of this year. I was prescribed it for back pain, which turned out to be a degenerative disc and a torn/herniated disc in my lower back. At first, the medicine worked great, felt really good and it made the constant pain go away. I kept refilling it and refilling it and refilling it, and never really noticed a problem til about july, thats when I knew this was a problem, I ran out of the medicine and decided to just stop taking it, HUGE MISTAKE! the w/d were so bad, i was taking about 8-10 a day at that time, so bad that I couldn’t eat or sleep, was in constant pain, worse than even before, one minute I was sweating, the next min I was cold as ice, vomiting, cramps everywhere, and the time went by so slow, worst day in my life without a doubt, thats when I opened my eyes and knew I had todo something about it, it was casuing all kinds of problems with my fiancee and myself, i finally had to tell her I needed help and that made me feel a whole lot better, i had been hiding how much i was taking..so i decided to call my doctor and tell him what was going on, here are the signs you know you are addicted, you constantly count how many you have left in the bottle, you cant wake up without taking a pill or two immediately, you start getting moody, you get defensive when asked about them, you start going online for other ways to get it, and you have withdrawals when you are out of them and then start panicking about it, anyways, i called my doctor and started the weaning off process, took 8 a day for 3 days, 6 a day for 5 days, 5 for 3 days, 4 for 3 days, 3 for 3 days, 2 for 3 days and then 1 for 3 days, this worked, i was completely off them in 3 weeks, its slow, but its the best way to do it fairly w/d free, i gave the bottle to my former fiancee, now wife and had her ration them out to me, its best to just admit it when you have a problem, her help and understanding is how i got off them…ofcourse the pain in my back doesnt go away, I relapsed…started taking 2 a day just in the morning at first, cuz thats when the pain is the worst, that became 2 in the am and them 2 in the pm, and you know the rest, i was backk at full force, worst than last time, i was taking about 12 a day again and hating myself for it, wondering how the hell this happened….again…i am weaning off again as we speak and I will never go back, its not worth it, the negatives far outweight the postiives, i was getting back side-effets too the second time, the worst being impotent, i was about to get married and I couldnt even think about sex, it was the last thing on my mind, thats when I had my moment of clarity, and now I know I will never touch them again…i guess the point of my story is that you can stop, weaning off is the best way to do it..and do it slowly, trust me, your body will adapt to the lower dosages, the first week was rough, i would get w/d symptoms every 2 hours, and was trying to space them out at least 4 hours, i expected it though, going from 12 a day to 8 a day was really hard, but I got thourgh it and am down to 5.5 aday, taking a half off every 3 days…if you are alone or hiding your addiction, it will be very difficult to quit, you need a support group and luckily my wife was there for me and she understands how awful these things are, i wonder why i was prescribed the 10mg right away though, why not 5mg, why the strongest? this is prescribed way too loosely, i have a very addictive personality and it think if i was asked anythihg, they may have not prescribed these to me, they hand these out like candy and its wrong…good luck to everybody getting off these, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel and cant wait to be free of their demonic hold!
I have been on 10mg Norco for 8 years. In Dec 2006 I finally had back surgery. L5/S1 fusion and L4/L5 artificial disc replacement. Big time surgery I know. Anyway I have let the pills get way out of hand. Taking probably 7-10 per day. That may or may not be a lot but it is ruining my life. They are all I think about. I wish every day away just wanting the time for my next pill to come. They are the only thing that makes me feel fantastic and that everything is going to be fine. I know that is the euphoric feeling that traps us all but it is nice. With my wife’s help I have reduced to 4 per day. I have also promised not to doc shop anymore and I won’t. It is tough at 4 per day because all I think about is the next one. It’s like a frog trying to get across an acidic pond with only 4 lilly pads.
So I am at 4 and I don’t know when I can get to 3 or 2. The problem is that my back and feet pain is significant and I can’t find anything else that will address it. I had a caudal epidural injection last month and nothing.
I am glad I found this site. The good is that I can see that I am not alone. The bad is that the levels I am seeing here, I had convinced myself that they were nominal and that I was not taking that many. But reading here I am taking more that most.
Hi Patrick
I was on this website a few months ago ,I was taking 10,500 hydrocodien about three a day i got off for six weeks then i had some pain problems and my doctor gave me the pills , i am now off on my 4th day but the depression is pretty bad how long dose it take to get out of my body I did not think that taking three a day was that bad Patrick
Hi Patrick
Well if you are on 3 a day that is not bad necessarily, but if you are an addict who used to be hooked on them then even 1 per day will mess you up good. Once you put a little bit of the drug back into your body, then your addiction sort of turns back on. Even a small amount will send you “off to the races.”
This is the nature of addiction. “One is too many, and a thousand is never enough,” etc.
3 to 5 days for all the opiates to clear your body, generally (at which point withdrawal will peak).
Hi Patrick
I am on my 8th day I just do not feel well I thought after six days i would feel better, when you said withdrawell will pick after five days what do you mean thanks Patrick
Hi there Patrick
Yes, generally withdrawal will peak at about the 3 to 5 day mark, but that is only counting from after you took your last opiate. If you have had any opiates at all since then, even just one pill, then you have to start all over.
So it generally takes about 3 to 5 days for most opiates to completely leave your body. At the point when they are all gone, your symptoms will peak (be at their worst, or most intense). Following that, things will slowly get better.
Some opiates take longer to metabolize (like Methadone). Others are faster (like Mexican Brown heroin). There is a range of different half-lives for different opiates.
Plus, individual metabolisms can vary this process too.
Good luck. Hang in there. Sounds like you are through the worst of it.
Back for an update, the last time I was on Dec.8 I believe. Well………… I did it, cold turkey, I’m om day 5 with no serious withdrawals. I did go through the first night of arm and leg pain along with diarrhea and insomnia for the first few days. I have been keeping my mind occupied as well and that seems to be helping. With the support of my wife and family is also a big help. Im goin to start working out to help rid my looks body of the toxins. My future looks brighter and so far 2010 is off to a good start.
Thanks for listening and good luck to all of you who are in the battle… believe in yourself and you will prevail but you really have to want it.
Right on, Chris. Sounds to me like you are doing quite well now. Hang in there, don’t slip up now. Start on with the exercise thing, slow but steady. It will help a lot, and kick your endorphins into gear and produce real dopamine in your brain. This has helped me tremendously…..
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