withdrawal from lortab

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jnn0821

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Well, I was off of them for about 36 hours and then started back :( I am mad at myself. I am just so scared of the withdrawal symptoms. But I know the longer I stay on the worse the withdrawals are going to be. I hate this. I feel like a horrible mom and feel so guilty. I love my daughter and I want the best for her. Ok I am going to try again. Wish me luck:)
 
I have been taking lortabs for about 6 months now I only take 2 7.5's a day but last time I stopped taking them I got reallyyyyyy depressed and went through bad withdrawals well I am back on them and I want to stop but the depression is scaring me. I have a 13 month old daughter to take care of and I couldn't function because of the depression last time. Can anyone tell me how long the depression will last when I stop? And what other symptoms can I expect? Thanks
 
JNN, have you tried tapering? I know you "want off" but the cold-turkey approach is not working for you. There are many good tips for tapering on this thread....could you consider trying that so the depression doesn't hit so hard and your body has time to adjust?
 
I can't tell my doctor or my family. So I have to do this pretty much alone. I want to stop but I am so scared of the withdrawls.
 
since ALOT of what you are dealing with really IS mostly in your head and minRABet? the one really truely helpful thing that i did for me when i knew this was the end and i desperatly needed help and a taper plan was thinking of this whole situation as actually just having the 'flu'. that IS exactly how i looked at it and treated is too since some of the symptoms are just the same when you are tapering or espescially going CT? you just already KNOW that when you have something like the flu, you are just going to feel like crap for awile but you also know at some point you will come out the other side just fine too, ya know what i mean? this is your mind against an addiction here. you CAN kind of 'trick it' into thinking you merely have a virus that WILL PASS with time vs thinking of this as actual WRAB from a drug kind of thing. this really is what i did when my time came and i do think, espescially considering your lower dosage amount you have been on, it can work in your head too. you have the flu here, not going thru WRAB anymore. luckily just the overall amount that you have been on wont impact you anywhere near as hard as someone who was taking like handfulls a few times during their day. your situation should be milder here.

just look at this a something NOT actual WRAB and you can do this so much more easily. so much of addiction overall is set behaviors and minRABet. this just helps tons in how you think about what it is you are actually doing. and like i mentioned before? anytime you start to feel like using again, you just think about that one person in your life who truely loves you unconditionally. that just IS your anchor here in all this right now. i wish you sooo much luck with this. you CAN do this, i have no doubt about that one. please let us know how things are going, marcia
 
Well, I am still on them and have actually increased my dose :( But I am going to try the tapering so it isn't as bad. Any helpful ideas on tapering would be great. You guys are so supportive and nice. I am taking two 10's a day.
 
Well, it's different for everyone. At just 2 pills a day your withdrawals shouldn't be horrible, but again, it's different for everyone.

You can try weaning off them. Rather than 2 a day, cut back to 1.5 a day for a few weeks, then down to 1 a day, etc. Personally, I went through it and I came clean with my doctor and he got me off of it safely. That's the first thing I would do if I were you, even if they aren't being prescribed. Your doctor will probably be understanding as it won't be the first time he or she has dealt with that sort of thing (I would imagine).

The depression can last from a day to a week to months. When I kicked my habit it took about 3 months, but I was taking about 10-12 a day for a nuraber of years. It isn't pleasant but it will pass.

My main concern is for your child though. If you need the pills to function and take care of that kid, then don't just up and quit. Get some help and do it right, for your sake and especially the sake of your child.
 
Sorry you feel so alone, honey....I can relate. As someone else mentioned, you fortunately aren't on a high dose and are only taking two pills a day. Perhaps you could just shave a little tiny sliver off each day? At that low dose, you hopefully won't even notice it. Then, in a few days (or whenever you feel comfortable), sliver a little more, then a little more, and before you know it, you'll be down to nothing! Just a suggestion....please keep us posted and we're here if you want to talk.
 
Please be sure to stop this drug with the help of your doctor. You have been given very good advise and if you go slowly instead of a fast detox you will not experience that kind of depression. AfterwarRAB, I would suggest you find out if you need an antidepressant anyway. Many people find a way to self medicate because of underlying depression.

Best regarRAB,
Sheila
 
Well the first thing to do is to give the pills over to someone that you can trust and can give them to you so you don't have control over them, because in essence you don't have control over them. Then have this person give you the daily amount that you are to take for that day. If you are taking 2 10mg hydro's then the best way to taper would be to go get a pill splitter and first split them in half. So the taper would look like this

15mg hydro (1 1/2 pills) for 1 week
10mg hydro (1 pill) for 1 week
5mg hydro (1/2 pill) for 1 week
2.5 mg hydro (1/4 pill) for 1 week - you will need to split the pills in half and then split them in half again to get 1/4 pill
Then STOP

So it would take you approximately 4 weeks to completely taper and stop taking them. You have to be dedicated and stick to the taper. Get a calendar and put it on each day exactly how much you are to take and when you should drop the dose down. Let us know how it goes.

brian
 
Ok for about 3 days I was taking 3 tabs a day instead of the 2 I normally take. Well I decided NO MORE so my last lortab was 32 hours ago and I am starting to feel the depression. That is the worst part for me. I hate it. How long will the depression last? I am already on Zoloft (anti-depressant) I have been on for a while. I was hoping it would make a difference when I stopped the lortabs but it doesn't look like it's going to help with this. I want to just take a lortab so I won't be depressed but then it all starts over........And I have to ACT happy because no one know about this........:confused:
 
I can understand what you are going through. I have 3 children under the age of 5 and was very concerned about how I would be able to function well enough to take care of them without the pills.

As far as the depression goes, I am now on Prozac and it has worked wonders. I also have some other issues that I am contending with so the anti-depressant is needed.

Like other posters have said, take things slow. Do you have a support system in place in case you are not able to care for your child? I have a neigrabroador who watches the girls for me when I need a break. Also, aside from the meRAB for depression, I do yoga and try to do some meditation (it's mainly some deep breathing in a quiet place) for about `10 minutes or so each day and that seems to help me.

I hope that you are able to work through this. We are all here for you if you need us.
 
just one thing i wanted to mention about hydro in particular? for some insane reason, this particular drug does things to our brains in some that i personally have never actually 'felt" wih ANY other narcotic out there. it actually appears to be able to truely 'lift' depression like nothing else i have ever tried for mine. there is also a bit of an overall "energizing" type quality to it too(i was freaking supermom while on it). so coming off hydro, WILL increase the feelings of the depression for a while til your own 'happy chenmicals"restart and kick in for you. i just could not believe how non depressed i would feel with only this particular drug. i had at that time moderate depression. this IS of course how i kept justifying the use of it in my head. we WILL use anything to justify our usage of the crap we know is making our lives and our bodys miserable.

i would always recommend to anyone who suspects depression is actually a big factor in their lives to go onto a good anti D before even starting to go off this crap. if your zoloft is not working for you, try and see about trying another like lexapro. it is a good anti depressant that just does not appear to have as many overall side effects. i have been on the lex now for about six years with some pretty good results overall. sometimes you really DO need to try different anti RAB to just see which one really works best for you. they all do have subtle differecnces from one another. just know that you WILL feel a bit more depressed and a bit less energy when you do come off. it does not last forever tho and you WILL feel 'you' coming back within a couple weeks, espescially with the lower dose you have been on. you can speak with your doc about trying a new anti D and not have to tell him anything at all about what you are planning, unless of course you want to? they can help if they know what you will be dealing with in the WD dept. just a thought.

anytime things just feel too overwhelming, just think of what you are doing for you and mostly your child. children are a great anchor during the rough times, ya know? i do wish you luck with this. the worst part is at the beginning hon, it does get better over time, trust me on that one. Marcia
 
I would definitely go to your doctor that prescribed the zoloft and tell him/her that your depression has worsened and see what they do. They might end up switching you to something different. I know that when I tried to go off of Ultram(tramadol) my depression really hit hard, I was crying for no reason, having suicidal thoughts, did not want to get out of bed, etc.

I told my doctor that I HAD to have something for the depression in order to get off the Ultram. I started on Lexapro and I am also on a mood stabilizer called Trileptal. You could probably tell your psychiatrists about your addiction without them telling your family doctor if you are worried about that (unless you have signed one of those disclosure agreement). You could say something like "can I tell you anything without you telling any of my other doctors? If your psychiatrists says yes you can tell him/her anything and not have any worry that they will tell someone else, then you could go ahead and tell them. If it came down to it, and you needed Suboxone to really get off the Vicodin then your psychiatrist would be the best for getting a referral to a doctor that would or could prescribe it for you. Good luck and I understand the terrible depression and what it feels like.

brian
p.s. If it really gets bad and you are having thoughts of hurting yourself or your child, then PLEASE CALL 911.
 
As suggested I would do a taper, you may still have some withdrawals, but the good news is that as few as you are taking, even if you cold turkey, these symptoms should not last more than 3-5 days, it's like having a bad flu. Start vitamins, a good multi-vitamin, including magnesium. Some supplements to look for that may help Emergen-C for energy, Valarian Root for anxiety. There is a list of supplements and advice for kicking this habit at the beginning of these forums under a sticky. Eat a healthy diet Fruit, especially banannas, veggies, etc. You really should be in good shape as you have only been on the Vic 7.5 for a short time and have only taken two a day. As for the depression. Your natural endorphins (responsible for mood) have been hi-jacked to a certain extent by the opiate in the Vic. To really help your mood, as you are tapering, eating well, EXCERCISE. Get some form of excercise, walking, swimming, whatever to boost your natural endorphins; this will help your depression enormously. And remeraber: do this for your child. You are only doing two 7.5 a day now, what about later on? Read some of the posts on message boarRAB about other's addiction to this hellacious drug. Jumping off of two is a piece of cake compared to ten to twenty a day for years rather than only six months. As you get your body healthy with diet and excercise, your depression will lessen. God Bless.
 
Thanks so much Brian!! That was very nice of you to break it down for me. :) Now do you think I will go through many withdrawals when I do it this way?
 
The withdrawals should be very minimal to none if you do it this way. However, the mental withdrawals and cravings could be ALOT worse than the physical withdrawals. This is why it is so important to have alot of support and give the pills over to someone else to hold because you may have a bad craving and then go on a binge.

brian
 
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