I want to quit Hydrocodone

[Chrisdfw]

Hello all. My name is Chris and ive read on here a bit and decided to get the courage to post.

I have been using hydrocodone consistently for the last 5 and a half years. I have taken them occasionally for much longer than that. I would say 10-12 years but everyday for tthe past 5 or so. It started out with about 3 a day for the first year or so with an occassional 4 or 5. Well obviously it escalated to near 10-12 10mgs and sometimes here recently as many as 14. I remember a friend who used to take this much when i first started and i would wonder how the hell someone could take that many. Well now 10 is nothing. So now im at a point where i am flat broke and cant but anymore so im thinking this is a good time to quit. I wont have money for 5 days. My question is...how will i make it thru this? I have no money for remedies to help with the withdrawals and trust me i know the symptoms as there has been times i have tried to quit. I guess im just tryin to find support and motivation. I am on day 1 right now. I took my vitamins and drinking water. I actually dont feel terrible but its usually days 2-4 that are the worst for me. I will keep you updated on my progress and you guys support would really be appreciated. Its going to be tough to do this but i do want to quit. I know that much. I am 34 years old and its time to kick this habit.

[YesLife4Me]

I can't tell you how many times i WANTED to be done, but just couldn't stay away.   I would run out, be flat broke and say "this is it", I'm done.   Or, I would decide not to get any more, then get a few days into it, couldn't stand the mental and physical torture and start it up all over again.   One of my big triggers was payday.   It was like Christmas day a couple times a month.   But either the pills or the money would always run out.    I tell you this so you can set yourself up to succeed.  If you have any sources, any refills, or any way of obtaining pills, I promise you that your mind will start romancing the thought of using and soon that pill is down your throat.   Your story sounds so much like mine, although I was on that roller coaster another 10 years on top of where you are at.    I don't want to see anyone else endure what I did.  You did the right thing reaching out for help.   We can help you through the physical withdraws and support you afterwards.  It won't be easy, but it can be done.   Keep posting and reading!    

[killerzoey]

Hi and welcome! I feel for you on your side of things but I can share that it gets better. I spent a ton on Thomas Recipe stuff and only used some of them, honestly. You don't really need them, you will survive.

BUT...if you can scour your car for a few bucks' worth of change, I would recommend buying Imodium. Generic name is Loperimide. That is probably the cheapest thing and it helps the most. Just don't do what I did, haha...don't take it past the need and end up in the ER with constipation. Talk about a chunk of change! Seriously, though, if you take about 6 a day in the worst of it, you will feel better, and it's cheap. At least in the U.S. Not sure where you are.

The sooner you just plow through, though, the sooner you'll feel better. You can really mess yourself up, even die, from withdrawing from alcohol or benzos like Valium. But as horror-show as opiate withdrawals can be, they're not thought to be dangerous, even at their worst.

Even if you are pushed into withdrawals by lack of pills, this can be the wake up call you need. I was ready to quit Tramadol for like a year, but never felt like I had the time to do it, I figured I'd have to take like two weeks off work, from the horror stories I read about. I was pushed to do so by supply issues in December, and I'm so glad I was pushed. Things are much better on this side and you CAN do it. Please keep us updated!

[VICourageous]

Hi chris It sounds like you have the experience about this. I usally go into the methedone post because of my use for the past 12 yrs, but before that I was on hydo/oxy my body built up the tolerence were I needed more &more too. Anyway my husband went c/t when I went c/t. He did nothing but ride the storm out and in less then 2 weeks he had to go to his job (we own a drywall business) Oh yea He was very weak, but he got moving quick. For me I had to ride out many stages for months and just started to do all things within my  4th month. I was in a very weak stage until I changed the foods I ate, low sugar fruits, proteins all day and complex carbs so the insulin does not spike.  So anyway we all seem to have our own ways of detoxing and w/ds, but we share the same experiences in many ways too! Im soooo glad you are useing the hydros to taper from and NOT going on that methedone beast. You know what up!!!!! I am proud of you. Now at the end of my 5th month and I am feeling soooo good better then ever in my life. I have alot of support from family, friends AA/NA and GODS been working so fast in my life now I Love it!
God Bless Keep On Truckin
vvic

[Marlatt07]

I'm on about 12 days clean using no remedies at all. And let me tell you it *****. Only thing I've used is ibuprofen for my head aches and that's no more then 400mg a day.
I've thought about using the clonidine for my anxiety but I just dot wanna feel dependant on that...if you know what I mean. I haven't really been on here in awhile but today is really bad for me :(
I'm just ready to be 100% again. No more crazy thoughts no more ringing in my ears no more anything

[Norco1947]

Hi Chris ,  Welcome , You found a great site that can help .
The posts above are some of the best i have ever read .
If you make up your mind to quit , this site and the people here will help & support you .
These people have been where your at now and recovered there lifes , You will get help , support , advise that works .
You must fight hard , think positive , stay as strong as you can .
I am 66 years old and did it ( near 5 months free of Norco) with the help of the people here , yes it was tuff the first few days but gets better ever few days after that.
You can do this , just need to want a normal life back real bad .
Life pill free is nice , feel good wakeing up again , No more wakeing up sick , No more 2-4 hour up's & down's , No more mood swings . You can do things and enjoy your day & nights again.
Also start hateing the pills not yourself look what they have done to you.
When its tuff post questions or vent , just get thru the first 100 hours hour by hour if need be , do it any way you can . ... Ron

[OpenMind24hours]

Hi Chris and welcome! Congratulations on your decision. How are you going to get thru this? With flyin colors! Clean_in_ks covered it very well for you. What I wanted to ditto is cutting off your connections. Be it a doctor or a dealer, if you're committed to really stopping and getting your life back that's what needs to be done right now.  Also, hot baths are going to help you for sore muscles, sleeplessness and calming down your jitters.

To get free from opiates it first requires some pain, but suffering is optional. A little food for thought: I'm clean from Hydro because it stopped working for me. It became a bottomless pit requiring more and more to get just a tiny shadow of what I first got from it. I didn't want to use I HAD to use. I found addiction is a cunning disease with no known cure.  I wouldn't worry about the WDs as much as In 5 days you'll get money, like you say, and that day will turn into either success or you'll go back to a yet, lower bottom until you run out of money or dope again. You mentioned you've been reading this community for awhile. I'm sure you picked up on the fact that we not only get clean but we're staying clean. There's the getting clean part, then comes the actual recovery part, which is on-going from there. The best weapon for recovery is the recovering addict.  Most of us on here are through WDs and are working on not wanting to use again. Helping you helps us to stay clean.  Once you're through withdrawal you can then get into the position of not even wanting to use again by taking part in your own recovery through some form of aftercare, starting here with us. Again, you asked "how". How stands for Honesty Openness and Willingness, and I see that in your post Chris. All you need to do is want to get free, and it becomes completely doable. Keep posting, we're with you!!

[Sober07]

Same here 40 days clean and I did it w/o the help of remedies. I think it helped going without because it makes me never want to go through it again!!!!!!!!!!

[kyle505]

My story is very similar. Today I'm 13 months clean. Sharing this so you'll understand where I'm coming from when I ask - are you quitting because you want to, or because you don't have the money to buy the meds? In five days, when you have the cash, are you going to relapse? If you aren't determined that this is it I guarantee you that five days in to detox your head will be screaming at you to get more pills, and thus relapse is a real possibility.
You're the only one who can answer this question. A final point - detox gets harder and harder the older you get. Good luck. Keep posting.

[clean_in_ks]

Hey Chris....so glad you found the courage to post!  I was a heavy hydro user for 4-5 yrs, too.  I also am flat broke!  I also didn't have the knowledge OR the money to buy "remedies" to assist in w/drawals. Didn't even KNOW about them.....  I didn't even discover this MedHelp forum until I was 55 days clean.  Do you NEED all those remedies to make it????NOPE.....does it make it "a little easier", "provide a little less discomfort" yea probably.....but since I didnt KNOW ahead of time I didn't have all those fears and worked up emotions stressing me out.  I just knew I had to quit as I was killing myself, my tolerance had me up to 20-30 (10mg) hydros/day, my pain was NOT better, my high was LONG gone, and I had spent every dime I/we had.  
All that to say.....ideally, spending the needed money on items to ease w/drawals or that you have read about as remedies are "helpful" but not "required".  Since I didn't even KNOW about them, guess I was fortunate as I just made up my mind to get thru it......there are some things you can do that are FREE and won't cost money.  You can prepare your bedding, have cotton clothes clean to change into, clean towels, puke bowls should you need them, plenty of toilet paper, wet wipes, hot pads, blankets, lots of pillows, paper to journal, music that feeds your soul, books (if you can read....I couldn't read, type or drive for a longggg time)  and probably some others things, too. LOL
I just know I made it thru....and you can too!  Post your questions, vent what you are going thru, have someone to talk to.....cut off your sources to pills, begin thinking of what kind of aftercare support you want to "try on" as you will need the support and will need to learn new coping skills.  We used opiates for so long to cope w/ almost ALL our life situations, we need help with coping.  You can COPE and you can HOPE and not use DOPE! LOL  And you can tell your dr and get help there, too.
Welcome aboard......making the decision to QUIT is FIRST....and now you are on your way~