Tapering Norco - shivering, sneezing, teary eyes...How Long?

[SunnyBuns]

Hi My Lovelies!

I'm about 8 days into aggressively tapering down my norco (after cold turkey with the Fentanyl & Oxys).  Is it normal to have goosebumps, cold chills (in 90 degree weather!), sweats, sneezing, and watery eyes with opiate withdrawal?  If so, How much longer will this last?    I keep thinking I'm going to have a "good day" and start to finally make plans to see friends but I'm not ready and keep cancelling.

How long does the sleepless last?  Few weeks or months?  I remember I did not sleep for 6 months after I stopped vicodin post knew reconstruction few years again.

[Ann2497]

Glad to hear you got sleep!  That is so awesome.  It is hard to stay clean if you can't sleep.  Staying up all night feeling like crap is absolute torture.

Clonidine is the only reason I got thru w/d.

[VICourageous]

Hi SunnyBuns..Glad you got some sleep..The Clonidine is pushed around here a lot..It is one that is used so much by DRs. Also there is a Non-Addictive one called Buspar. It is a Anxiety med. I finally broke down after 22 days of He11 and took the Clonidine at night only, and the Buspar during the day. The buspar did not work for so long because my Anxiey was on the Moon but then it did kick in. There are a lot of natural meds to..Cal, Ds, Magnz and Potassium will help at night. Just keep on doing what you are doing..You will see all your Blessing roll in soon..lol
Bless

[SunnyBuns]

Thanks for the idea to take a clonidine again  IT WORKED!  I slept!  Didn't know it would help with sleep too, thought just the restless leg and sweating.
I hope other people find and read this information when they need it, too!

[Ann2497]

The symptoms you are experiencing are completely normal.  By tapering,  it drags out the w/ds longer but they aren't as severe (all at once).  Some people do better with tapering, others can only do it cold turkey.

The sleeplessness really varies.  Can you get a dr to prescribe you Clonidine?  It helps a lot with sleep.  It is a blood pressure med that is prescribed frequently for opiate w/d.  It is not addictive.

congrats on being committed to continuing your taper.

[SunnyBuns]

Hi Suzz,

I am taking a total of 1 - 10mg Norco pill per day (for 3 days so far).  Tomorrow I will take only 0.5 for 3 days.  
Yes, I'm having lots of withdrawal symptoms.  But it's easier than Fentanyl.  My whole body hurts; every joint, and every muscle.  Like I said before, sneezing (i never sneeze), watery eyes, headache.
For me, the worst part now that the shakes are gone, is the lack of sleep.  I take Ambien, Lunesta, Xanax, etc for sleep and for these past few nights NONE of them work!  I'm wide awake and exhausted at the same time.  I've tried herbal sleep help - useless.  I'm shocked my RX sleep meds are useless right now too.  I know it's the withdrawal bc before this, they always worked.
Thanks for helping!!!!!!!!

[SuzzQ]

I still occasionally get some sweats, but not as bad at all and not as often.. Once you quit, I found, then you start the w/d.. you are going through w/d.. I did the same thing.. I went through less through tapering I think. But, .. well.. Theres still the quitting..

[SuzzQ]

I sleep every day 7 hours.. ; O )   Keep it up.. but, there has to come the time to completely quit doll...

[SuzzQ]

As I recall, all your symptoms are normal... they will subside after you quit... it takes a while but I promise those symptoms do go away... I get better it seems every single day! You can do it... I did, you can too... : O )  Stay strong minded..

[SuzzQ]

Hi! I tapered for about 2 weeks I think. Then everyone in here suggested I just quit... So, I did.. The tapering, to me anyway, really dragged it all out.. such a long time. But, maybe made my symptoms better.. it took so long, seemed like forever.. Now I am on day 10 of no pills at all!! I still sneeze sometimes.. so weird, because I never used to sneeze hardly ever.. weird... My pain is so much less!! Astonishing!! I tapered myself... to very low amount of norco... I was taking like one pill a day I think.. but, I would break it up into tiny pieces and just take a very small piece. I think everyone in here was right... I was wasting time, when I could have just been quitting!!! So, I did quit.. now its 10 days tonight.. I think clearly, much more clearly than I did for so many years.. My pain level is down.. I'm not sure I only took Norco... but, I am feeling so much better.. and using self talk.. (I feel good, I feel strong, I can do anything, I have energy).. anyway, its working for me!! 10 days... I am trying and I am getting me back.. I don't know if you should stop the norcos now, because you were taking the other stuff... I wish I knew so I could really help you... Just keep up the good work, keep trying.. and you will soon be where I am !!  Sure, there are still symptoms.. stomach aches.. but, I just eat crackers.. and drink a lot of water.. remember to flush those toxins out of your body.. Keep going! Don't give up!

[ariley13]

Hi there! I didn't taper, I went cold turkey. I would imagine your symptoms will come and go until you have fully stopped taking them. Hopefully the taper will keep the symptoms to a minimum  after you quit. The chills for me lasted about a week. The sneezing and watery eyes lasted a bit longer. Probably about 3-4 weeks. I have really bad allergies, so hopefully yours will be much shorter. I slept a little on day 4 and got a little more and more every night after that. Everyone's different and it's impossible to predict what your experience will be. Hang in there. Sounds like you are doing great with your taper.  Congrats on getting off of the other opiates.