Vicodin Recovery - Starting Week 4

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Callie79

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Wannabehappy

Thank you so much for your response.. it helps a lot knowing that i'm just not going crazy... i have never been an anxious person.. so all of this is really new to me.. i quit cold turkey off the Vicodin and thought it would all be over and done with in no time at all... boy was i super wrong... Your definintly right about having a couple of OK days and then basically having a relapse.. i have been trying to keep myself busy.. but find myself wanting to cry and give up!!! Of course i won't give up.... i am not starting this journey all over again.... it's really hard! Its hard for me.. when i'm used to being the happy go lucky person at home,work, and in my life.... and at this moment i'm not that happy because i'm trying to cope until i become normal or semi normal again, so i put on a face for my bosses and co-workers so they think everything is ok... My bosses do know about my situation and are supportive.. but at the same time.. they think that i should be back to normal.... But little did we know that it would take this long and longer... I realize what i've done to my system and that i need to get it all cleaned out and its going to take some time.... but of course with everything i've done in my life... i think i can rush it...hahaha... oh am i learning!! I thank you so much for reading my post and responding.. it makes me feel less alone in my dilemma... :) THANK YOU!!!! Its nice to hear from someone that is going through a similar situation, i try to explain it to my family.. but they just look at me with nothing much to say... because they can't identify... They are supportive though... Luckily Vico is my only addicition.. unless of course you consider Fitness Magazines an addicition.. and if so.. yes i suffer from that as well :) I buy all of them to get all the health info out of them... isn't that funny???? I'm popping Vico's but am very passionate about fitness??? Weird i know..!

I do take Buspar for the anxiety.. i only take one a day and its the low dose.. and i take Calcium and Magnisium.., and i've gotten a B Vitamin Shot... Is there anything else that i might want to take to help my body recover???? Again... i'm very thankful for your response.. and i will definently take your advice on the baths and teas.. and etc.... and let you know how they work.... i know that you are facing your own trial and i wish you all the best.. and please if you think i might be able to help you or you just want to vent or whatever.. please write me!!!! Again i really do appreciate the advice.. you will never know how much this meant to me! Oh.. i almost forgot... do you get a prickly sensation on your skin???
 
Reach-

Thanks for your insight.. thats a really good way to look at it as well!!!!

:)
 
Hello, this is my first post on a forum of any type. I have been reading some of your trials with vicodin withdrawl and I must say it makes me feel better to know I'm not alone or going through something not normal. Actually it isn't normal because we wouldn't have gotten hooked on the stuff if we realized how devastating the withdrawls are.
So, thank all of you for your posts.

I'm beginning week # 4 tomorrow 10/27/09. I still have mild diarrea, severe but short lived headaches, nausea and occasional vomitting. I have restless leg and it has manifested itself tremendously since I quit. Most of the body aches are finally gone. But they were very bad two nights ago. The insomnia is still here but that's another story of addiction to add insult to injury. Unpleasant feelings come and go more with less frquency than week # 1 but sometimes they are just as intense. I thought I had more problems than normal until reading some of your posts. This forum media may be more theraputic than we think.

My daily habit for 8 years was 2-4, 7.25/500 hydrocodone a day. Normally it was 2-3. But the real problem I believe is the 8 years. It has been more emotionaly challenging to quit than I had thought.
I will post more later, but I wanted to begin and join the group. Hope I can help some of you. I have other addictions so I have all kinRAB of empathy, sympathy and first hand knowledge.

Happy Trails all, "wannabehappy"
 
Congratulations on your recovery!!! I am in week 4 and it hasn't been easy.. if i didn't have anxiety from this.. this whole process would have been a lot easier.. I just want to know if that ever goes away... i can take waking up earlier than normal.. just not liking the anxious or guilty feelings about stupid things.... Your past your week 4 now.. does it get better???
 
Vicodin withdrawal lasts 4 weeks??? Heroin withdrawal takes 7 -10 days tops... is yours lasting so long just because of how long you've been abusing them for? I've never heard of withdrawal lasting that long unless we're talking about suboxone or methadone... were you addicted to benzodiazepines as well or something? Maybe you are suffering from PAWS, post-acute withdrawal syndrome. I've never heard of the physical withdrawals lasting so long, and I'm very sorry for you.
 
Also, yes, I have read a lot about people having a prickly sensation on their skin when going through opiate withdrawal. One guy said he woke up many times in the night and would have to swing his arm around to get blood circulating again and get rid of that "asleep" feeling in his hanRAB. I've never experienced it, but other people have.
 
Hello, Callie79.

Congratulations back to you for getting in to week # 4. I'm on week # 6 now and it is finally getting to feel like I'm going to return to normalcy very soon. In fact, with the exception of some insomnia it is pretty much over.

Week # 4 was a tough one for me becuase I thought, "Well this has been long enough! Why am I still having these roller coaster withdrawls?"

I'd have 2 O.k. days that weren't too annoying and then, Bam! I felt like week # 2 again for a day.

Vicodin is some very powerful stuff. I had mild hallucinations for a couple
of hours early last week. (that was the beginning of week # 5) I don't know where that came from. Well, yes I do; it came from some traces of the poison Vicodin still screaming to stay in my mind and body.

If you have read my posts to PainsofXavier I suggested warm baths. They really work. Short term but they work. Sipping hot herbal tea is a new fad of mine that helps as well. PainsofXavior and Denon both agreed about the baths.

Go turn it on, get in and relax. Tell me later how it feels afterwarRAB. It really works. After you have relaxed and you begin to "Fidgit" start occupying yourself with something you like or need to do. Writing on this forum is a huge help to me as well as doing some chores around my home that I've let slide. Do little positive things to help yourself be better at something. Get better at your hobby, academic interests, do some overtime play with your pet(s) or children in your life. Perhaps make a seniors life a little easier and enjoyable. Helping others really helps me. But that's true for most people.

That's why I'm so long winded on these posts. I'm helping myself and hoping that something I write will stick on you and helps.

One last thing. Have you noticed a phenomonen that time seems to be moving slower now that your off the Vicodin?

Be strong and be good to yourself. Go take a bath. Shop for a rubber duck and an inflatable bath pillow tomorrow. Wannabehappy
 
Dear Digmusic, I'm happy that we have yet another person in our little discussion group.

As for the long withdrawl from vicodin. I can only speak for myself. Here is another version of my story.

I was on vicodin for 8 years. I first began using vicodin as a way to deal with the pains of open heart surgery. My daily doagse was 2-3 sometimes 4-5 750/500 mg each tablets. I pretty much averaged 2.5 per day. The bottle said said I could take 1-2 vicodin up to 4 times per day. So I figured I was well under the overdose threshold. The trouble I first began noticing was that my energy level was low and my restless leg syndrome began bothering me during the day whenever I skipped or took a low dose.

The Doctor said, opiates are an effective way to treat RLS. He also said he would prescribe the vicodin on a regular basis in order for me to keep my RLS under control. I though, well; way cool! I can get a daily energy boost and keep my RLS under control. It seems that effective drugs for RLS such as Requip didn't come out for another 2-3 years. And yes they (rls drugs) are very effective with the exception that requip makes me lethargic and sleepy. That's O.K. and even welcomed at night, but if you've got daytime attacks of RLS you gotta have the vicodin as well. I have RLS throughout my extremities and my upper back. It is an extremely annoying sensation and it can become even painful at times. But RLS in itself is a whole new forum topic.

So, back to my addiction (s). After the Dr. basicly blessed my continued and daily use, and sense I got a double benefit (energy and relief) out of the stuff I felt that everything was very good in wannabehappy's world.
I began to feel another benefit. If I took the vicodin on an empty stomach I could manage to get some slight euphoria as well. Wow! what a drug! This is heaven. And it's all legal, justified and prescribed.

Let's rewind or fast forward however you look at this time line; to just 5 months ago. I am a Viet Nam vet who is being treated for PTSD. I'm in a group with other Vets and I get benefits both monetary and medical (for the past 2 years) from the V.A. The V.A. has been very, very good to me in the past 3 years. Prior to that, back in the 70's when I tried to get some help the V.A. wanted no part of us (Viet Nam Vets). Things have changed tremendously for the better. My only problem with the V.A. is they will prescribe drugs too easily! More vicodin and a new source! And a new reassurance that it's O.K. for me to take it daily. Again, Legal, justified and prescribed.

One day I'm looking at my little plastic tool chest full of drugs. Drugs for depression, anxiety, blood pressure, vicodin, allergies, sleep, etc. etc. I'm also looking at my empty booze bottles all over the place.

About 5 months ago I truly believe God said: "When are you gonna get a clue?" "You don't need all of this poison in your life".

So, I don't have time to go in to the side effects of anti depressants, booze, anti anxiety pills, sleep pills, etc., etc. But I just stared at the little tool box overpacked with pills. I guess God got through to me and I decided to begin the weaning process. I began with the anti depressants, then the anti anxiety, then other stuff. One day I decided to knock off the booze and the vicodin. I tried to wean myself far too quickly off of everything, but I was able to stay clean from everythijng except the booze. The booze has been the toughest, but I'm fiinally over that hurdle as well.

I'm trying to get back in to excercise but I also have some lung and breathihing issues. So that is another challenge that I face. I know that many of my health issues are form Agent Orange exposure and others are self inflicted from abuse to myself. But, that goes full cirlce back to the PTSD issue.

I'm going to sign off for now because this has been such a long post. Soon I will write back about my thoughts on the longevity of vicodin withdrawl since I'm not the only one who has taken 6-7 weeks to recover according to testomonials on this forum.
Thanks for listening,Wannabehappy

So, my little tool box is now beginning to refill but it's mostly supplements and vitamins.
 
Callie 79

Sorry I did not address your feelings of anxiety, guilt and just "stupid things" as you put it. Well I have and had those same emotions. We are addicts and we feel guilty about it.
Anyone who's been or is in our shoes feels the same. If they say they don't they are just in denial. I have other addictions (alcohol) which I am also going through withdrawls on. Most of us who are easily addicted have more than one bad habit. If vicodin is your only (poison) then you are almost to the end of the rainbow!

You need to feel very proud of your recent accomplishment which is not easy. It's very tough.

I believe those feelings are common amongst all of us and those negative feelings will fade away. Just always remeraber how murky and dangerous time can be. It may lull you in to the false sense that you can try the poison again without negative effects. Wrong!

The very definition of insanity is doing the same things over & over and expecting different results. I have picked up the bottle so many hundreRAB of times and expected myself to be able to control the consumption of it. It just doesn't work. That is another of my "Stupid things". But, I'm in control now!

Hang tough! You are near the finish line. God Bless you, Wannabehappy
 
Hi

Just wanted to put my own 2 cents in here. Smiles.

I learned to think of each symptom that comes with withdrawal as a symptom of healing, not of suffering. Each period of anxiety that came, I reminded myself that it is all part of the healing process. The symptom passes and we are yet another step closer to healing our bodies, brains and souls.

Please don't despair when the legs bounce on the bed or the mind is fretful... these things do abate and eventually vanish. They begin to occur less frequently and pass more quickly. Step by step, day by day, we heal. and once the healing has happened, we can look forward to the rest of our lives being so much more normal than they have been in years.

Take care, stand strong, and continue to heal.

reach
 
Today is day 10 for me of going Cold Turkey from Vicodin. I feel so much better. No more brain fog or zaps. No more nausea and dizziness. No craving at all. I was taking about 6 a day for a while!!! It was a little painful the first 4 days but I did it. If I can do it anyone can do it!!!! The only thing I did need was a little clonazepam for the first 4 days. My doctor wanted to taper me, but I refused anymore Vicodin. Thank god I did.
Good luck to all.
 
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