hydro... plan to wean off

[longweekend]

Alright… I need advice and it seems like there is a lot of good advice here. For over a year now, I have been using Hydrocodone recreationally. Basically, I came into a large amount and had always liked the high so I figured that it would be good to have on hand. I was basically taking it on the weekends only until around August of last year when I slowly went from a day or two a week to 3 or 4 days a week. (Probably sounds familiar to some. Then, of course, over the last month it has gone to daily use. The thing is, that I have never taken it during the day. I take all of them in one dose (usually 4 – 5 of the 7.5/500 pills a night and I take them about 3 – 4 hours before bed. I never have had the urge to take the pills during the day. Well, until I started weaning off.
This past Saturday, I ended up talking way too many pills, about 7 or so with alcohol and got a bit sick and realized that I have to quit altogether. So I made up a plan…. 4 pills on Sunday, 3 and a ½ on Monday (which was yesterday) and planning on going down to 3 pills tonight. Again, I am taking them in one dose a few hours before bed. However, last night, for the first time ever, I couldn’t sleep and was wanting more and I actually woke up this morning feeling withdrawled and was tempted (for the first time) to take a pill or two during the day.

So I have a couple of questions for you all because some of you, I know have been successful with weaning off. Am I cutting the dose too quickly, because I feel like **** today? Not too bad, but I am nauseous and VERY anxious.
Also, If my allowed dosage is 3 pills today, would it make more sense to spread those pills out throughout the day?
It just seems to me that the idea of weaning off instead of c/t is to make the w/d tolerable. I honestly think that it would be easier for me if I could get time off of work and I would probably go c/t. But the most I can get off is a couple of days.
I am hoping to wean down and have my first night w/o any pills the evening before 2 days off in a row…

Sorry for the ranting post… not even sure if I am making sense… any advice is appreciated…  

[longweekend]

OK... well... after figuring out what I have left in pills I figure that I can get down from about 32.5 mgs a day to 17.5 between now and I run out (on 02.10.08)... what do you all think? I would still be going c/t off of the 17.5 mgs... what do you think that I should expect? Should I do a more aggressive taper?

[longweekend]

I am glad to hear that you are getting help. Hang in there and hopefully the doc an help you find an easier solution to getting off. I know that it must be hard when you have the back pain, but you can do it. Hang in there!!!

Also, thank you for the advice. I do plan on staying away from these things once I get done. I, like you, used to do some illegal drugs in the past and also never had this kind of problem. Amazing to me that pot (which I could always take or leave with no w/d in the past when I smoked it) is illegal and this kind of stuff is prescibed. So it goes...


Thanks again

[lostsoul2]

Make sure you stay off the stuff.  I've stopped c't several times just to relapse again.  I am finally going to my Dr. in a few hrs. to see what is the best route.  I am also on 2 differrent anti-depressants and Klonipin, so I think I should finally seek professional advice.  The w/d's were always hell, so of course I went back to the pills to feel "normal."  But it's not normal.  My brain thinks it is right now, but I know it's not.  I talked to my Dr.'s nurse on Mon. and told her the whole story and she agreed  Ineed to see him and he will probably have me ween off.  I will have to give them to my wife, again, to hold.  I tried that once before and guilted her into thinking I was in more serious pain, so she caved and gave the bottle, and of course I went right back up to my usual 10-15 7.5/325 per day.  Stopping c/t from that sucks.  I don't know if the other meds interact and contribute to the discomfort or help or what, but I need to seek professional help.  I had never had any issues with any meds in the past, including vics, but I was on them when my dad died 4 months ago, so my usage went up fast.  They became my escape, lessened the pain, and now I see how quickly a person can slide on this stuff.  I also have 2 herniated discs in my lower back, but I have to find other ways to deal with this pain than narcotic drugs. I can't play the waiting for refills to make me feel better game anymore.  Good luck and STAY AWAY.  In the past I have taken numerous illegal drugs recreationally and never had anything near the trouble I do with this stuff.

[longweekend]

Thank you so much for your input.
I am going to try and keep it just at night and taper that dosage.
Like I said, I am afraid that if I start taking it during the door, it will feel like a step backwards.
I have worked out a new tapering schedule that will have me off completely within a couple of weeks, should be a bit more gradual that originally planned and will leave me with zero pills at the end.
I have already told the guy that I got the pills rfom that I am done and he was cool about it.
He agreed that, even if I ask, no more for me.
I am still pretty nervous about this, but I know that I can do it.
It will take patienece.
I just can't wait to be free of this stuff.

Thanks again to all who are here for support.

[toxictome]

I am tapering off vics right now..I got down to 4  7.5 day for about 7 days. Then every 2-3 days i cut out 1/2 pill. So at 3 pills , i took 2 in the morning @ 7 and 1 pill at 3 p.m..so keep decreasing and when i got down to 2 pills/day, I broke them in half and divided 4 doses by 24 hrs., so I took 1/2 pill every 6 hrs. When I got to 1 1/2 pills /day, I broke them into halves taking 1/2 every 8 hrs.  When I got doen to 1 pill I broke them in 1/4.  I started with 15 pills and it took 1 1/2 wks to taper.It does drag out longer, but the wd are minimal...but every time you drop the dose, you can definately tell. I still had the crawly legs(take hot baths) and I continued to exercise...that really helped. I had no diarrhea so far...we'll see what happens on Thurs...my last dose is 1/4 pill on Wed. @4p.m.
I also have been a little achey, sometimes anxious, sometimes crying, but I know I can still do all my obligations and function.  You can PM me if you want any mor einfo...Good Luck...you can do it!!! Keep psoting

[longweekend]

Thanks agaion road2recovery!

YoungSalt45... I really appreciate you taking the time to respnd... I think that slowly but surely is the answer... Thanks

[YoungSalt45]

I think its way too fast. I hope this account my experience will help.  It may not be for you but I had little choice. 10 years ago I broke my back and will always be plagued with the fact that I must switch back and forth between 2 evils: pain or narcotics. Over a decade,I have quit for a few months when the doseages began to scare me and decied to live with the pain for 3 months time until that began to depress me. I have withdrawn from about everything there is I think, Oxycontin 120 mg a day, Percocet, Percodan 100 mg a day, Morphine 120 mg a day, Soma, Valium 40-60 mg a day, and then the worst devil of all....Methadone 40 mg a day. I'll try to make this as short as I can. Over time and tolerance, I would be given a bigger dose from my doctor. None of these, aside from the valium and Soma were taken together (at least as prescribed). For a few years, it was Oxycontin, then Methadone with percocet or oxycodone (percodan) as a break through. Each time I tired of life in constant withdrawal, I would cut the dose and re-enter the nightmare. Cutting 50% at one time or even within a few days was just too much. You know the stress the central nervous system goes though by now I am sure. My Plan was this: I would take nothing Thursday night. A half dose Friday at lunch and take the weekend plus Monday off to get through the worst of it and ultimatley be forced to return to work Tuesday and deal with it.  Down the road, when it came time to do this with the methadone withdrawl, I began by cutting 10% off every other dose of 10 Mgs, which was taken 4 times a day. In 10 days I had cut back 50%. While this still began to get difficult, the withdrawl was more gradual and my personal will allowed me to endure it.  It was the worst thing I have ever had to deal with physically and I once ate fewer than 200 calories a day for 20 days when I crossed the Pacific in my boat and lost most of the food stores 10 days into the voyage. This was harder. In 6 weeks, I began shaving it down again against my then 20 mg's a day until I halfed those. I was finally cutting one 10 mg tablet in two and taking a half every 12 hours.  It took discipline and determination to get to that point but it never once caused me to miss work other than that first day.  It was tolerable though uncomfortable.  After several months, the doctors switched me again and that time to Morphine.  Its not possible to cut a time released morphine tablet the way I did the methadone, so I have had a little more discomfort weening of of these in combo with the percodan but substituting 5 mg of those old methadone pills every 24 hours or only when the I wasnt sure I could stand another night of withdrawl made it so I didn't miss any work or daily routines getting off of Morphine.  I am only taking four to six 10 mg oxycodone tabs after stopping 45 mg of morhpine/day just four days ago but I feel good relatively speaking.  In a week, I should be off everything again for a few months or hopefully more if I can take the pain longer this time. The injury is the only thing that has caused me to be sedintary or miss work and when if that becomes a harship I will have to start over again.  Its not something I look forward to but I have little choice unless I want pumps and internal tenz units installed and I wont. This time however, the spine seems to hurt less than in the past.  I wish you luck.  Whatever you decide, take one day at a time and soon it will be over. Sorry for the novel I wrote but I have lived with withdrawl for a decade and hoped it might help.

[road2recovery]

no problem, a slow taper will definetly help out more....i didn't do a great taper but i am happy to say i am almost 5 months clean on a 15-10mg hydro a day habit...but i took them from when i woke up , and through out the day....So because of the way you are taking them i am not sure of what kind of taper you should do...
Someone with more info on a taper will help you...It is a little slow, but hang tight ok?
i am rooting for you
r2r

[longweekend]

Thanks for your encouragement road2recovery... it means a lot... I am actually a bit freaked out... I am hoping that the slower tapering will help...

[road2recovery]

you have gotton some great advice here...i agree you are tapering way to fast.
you are in the right place, and we will try to help you through this.
i do think you have caught this early and you will be ok
r2r

[longweekend]

Thanks all...
I have enough left to taper a bit slower, I just was trying to get it over with... I honestly think that if I went c/t I wiould have a lot of trouble working.
I know that it sounds weird that I have not noticed much w/d symptoms in past when only taking them at night, but it is true... this has always been a night thing for me and, although I have been a bit tired during the day (OK, sometimes VERY tired) I just don't have the need to take them during the day... I guess that I am afraid to start taking any during the day for fear that it will become tougher to quit, but as I said today and yesterday, just tapering I feel pretty bad...
So I think that I agree that I am going a bit too fast, I will reevaluate the plan... thanks for the advice... and should I still just take at night, or spread out dosage? Whatayall think?

Thamnks again for all of the support!!!

[feelingcrazierbytheday]

sounds like weaning will be your best option...however, you are experiencing withdrawls because your body wants more.  If you have been taking them only at night, 4-5 a night, and have not experienced withdrawls during the day, than there is some piece of evidence missing here.  You said you cut it down to 3.5 and in the morning was the fist time since august that you experienced withdrawls.  Giving that the half life of vicodin is only 4-6 hours, you would have been experiencing withdrawls for a while now within 6 hours of taking your last dose.  If the withdrawls are tolerable, and you can sleep at least somewhat through the night, than try to stay at 3.5 pills for 2 days to give your body time to adjust, than go down to 3 for 2 days, than 2.5 in two days and so on.  Time is the key ingredient here. Don't rush it.  You can't fool your body.  It knows when you are going too fast and you will know it's telling you so because you will experience more withdrawls.  So go slow no matter what your case is.  Do you have supply to give yourself time or are you running low?

[IBKleen]

I think you are tapering way too fast. Taper means gradual and that is what you should do to stabilize your dose. Stay on whatever dose you choose for 4 days, then down 1 or 1/2 and so on.

Good luck with it. It IS hard to do.

[taekwondo_fighter]

some people have had success with a taper plan... NOT ME!! i couldnt handle it.. for me it was , ok 4 pills today, unless i had an excuse to take more, like fighting with the wife, or a rough day at work.. ..  so i just quit..  do the same.. just go cold turkey if you can..  thats just my opinion..  good luck to you!!