En route to being Vicoprofen free...

[yannb77]

This is not really a question per se. In June of 98 (I was 20), I bugged my then doctor boyfriend to give me some potent stuff for a toothache. He came up with Vicoprofen (7.5mg). You all know the rest of the story. I got high, felt great, and pretty soon was taking anywhere from 15 to 20 pills a day. I had an infinite supply at hand. All I had to do was beg a little. In 2005, boyfriend got nervous with having to order so many VP samples which I would giddily swallow all day long. My excuse was: I'm writing my PhD thesis, I need to feel good. In 2006, I defended my thesis. We broke up and I moved to Europe to take on a job. But we remained in good terms and I engineered a UPS-backed plan to continue to get my supply. But the ex-boyfriend kept on growling more and more. In 2008, I reduced to 6 pills a day. Never thought I could do better. About a year ago, I had an epiphany and began to cut the pills in half. Suddenly, I was only taking 4 a day. Then seven weeks ago, I cut them again in half. Little by little, I'm now down to 1.75 pill a day. It hasn't been hard at all, just a tad annoying. I'm planning to go cold turkey in a few weeks (I want to be at a solid 1.5/day when I do it).
I once found myself without pills for four days when I was on 6/day. I went through hell. So I know going c/t even on a low dose will be hard after nearly 15 years of daily use. But I'm almost ready to grab the bull by the horns. And I'll be reporting on my progress for all of you desperate souls out there who found yourself caught in this nasty chemical snare. Hopefully the information I can provide will be useful to some of you.
Don't give up, friends! I'm going to get it done, and so are you!

[toothfairie]

thanks for updating us.....good luck with the taper and good luck with the surgery!  just keep your eye on the prize!  let us know how you are doing!  

[yannb77]

Update: for the first time in 15 years, I was able to survive 22 hours on 1/4 pill of 7.5mg Vicoprofen. I felt a bit tingly and nervous. But nothing I couldn't have overcome if I'd tried a bit harder. I gave in 30 minutes ago and took a 1/4 pill. The plan is to go cold turkey next weekend. I first need to see how I'm doing on very small doses during workdays...

I don't have much choice anyway. I'm scheduled to have a rather annoying operation in 2 weeks. If I'm not clean at least 5 days before then, there's a high risk of relapse during the painful recovery awaiting me. I've already warned the surgeon that I want no opiates post-op. Enough with that poison.

[yannb77]

Thanks!! I wish you the best on your journey to success!

[SmilingBright]

Congrats to you!!!  You will feel so good about yourself!!  I'm currently weaning and down to 5 mg of methadone and actually taking it one day at time.  Today was a great day and that's all that matters at this point.  

Keep up the good work. I will be praying for ur success!!  ;)

[yannb77]

Update: I'm now at 1.25 pills a day. It's not always easy, but it's far, far, far from being hard. When I start craving, those annoying incontrolable yawns show up. But they go away after about 30 minutes. I'm actually getting to the point where I can almost control them. The leg cramps are of course the most dreaded signs of craving, because the announce it's time for the next dose. Right now, I still cave in when they show up. Still, I can now go 6 hours on 1/4 pill. It's not perfect yet, but 2 months ago, I couldn't go 4 hours without taking 1 full pill. And a few years back, couldn't go 2 hours without taking 2 pills. So it's totally doable. It's taken me way too long to start disciplining myself. I thought I could never do it. But I've been taking it one day at a time, and it's actually coming to an end. I'm a mathematician, so I've plotted my progress. As Nature would suggest, I'm going through what is called an exponential decay. This means the time will come when I'll have to take the big jump and go cold turkey. My plan is to do it when I'm at 1 pill/day solid. Originally I planned to do it from 1.25 pill/day, but I think it's wiser to wait till I'm taking 1/day.
On Feb 17 I'll turn 36. I've been on Vicoprofen since I was 20. I've promised myself this year I'll have a clean birthday.  

[britbrit88]

I use to get oxy from my boyfriend who kept me in major supply..But not because he was a doctor, i wish lol, he sold them..and pot and coke and other things..Anyway, but a few years ago after he became a : "guest" of the State of Texas, and I stopped speaking to him, I went cold turkey for a few days until going to my doctor of seveal years and bursting into tears but only this time complaining of my back pain, and then got my own prescription. I am now beginning a long taper to get off of Percocet and other pain meds with aceteminophen in them. Was also addicted to Darvocet but that was pulled off the shelves in 2010..I was devastated, but replaced it with Vicodin, with my always there Percocets. I had a slip-up yesterday but after reading all these posts, it only makes me want it, instead of HAVING to do it because of health reasons. I really want it. I'm not going to be a slave anymore. Good luck to you too!!