Tylenol 1 Addiction / Sense of Hopelessness

[mobiius]

Hello, I'm new here... I'm 31, married, and the father of two.  I'm also addicted to tylenol 1's.  On average I take 15 pills at a time, 3 times a day.  There have been times when I have taken 20 per dose.  About half hour after I take them I get the high I want, but it doesn't last long, then I feel sick.  By the end of the day (after eating 45 to 60 pills) I feel horrible, I'm pale, bloated, and have difficulty going to the bathroom.  I know what I'm doing is wrong, but I don't really care.  I've been struggling with depression nearly all my life as well.  I look at myself as "damaged goods".  I feel that I'm broken and can never be fixed. I'm taking a lot of medication for the depression (Effexor 75mg x 3,Effexor 37.5mg, and Prozac 20mg, all that once a day)I like to drink almost every weekend, I smoke cigarettes like others breathe air, and I take tylenol.  I know that the tylenol is doing damage to my body, they must be by now - I've been taking pills like this for almost 2 years pretty much every day.
I'm not even sure what to do anymore...

[ariley13]

Hi there and welcome! This is a really old thread from 2007 that hasn't been posted on for over a year. I want to be sure you get all the advice and support that you deserve. Go out to the main page and hit the post a question link. You can tell your story there and get more responses. Good luck to you!

[foreversickme]

Hello. I am an addict to perc's, I have been addicted for nearly 2 years. I had started when I found these pills in my mothers room, as she is also addicted & has a severe back problem. When I run out of perc's or when I can no longer find them on the street (I live in a small town) I result to T1's because they're accessable (I live in Canada). They don't do half of what a percocet does but I snort them, and they help me with the snorting sensation & a little bit of the belly ache I suffer from. I'm scared to continue to do this because I'm scared I'm going to get sick (liver damage) and such... as a few of you mencioned. Especially at my age. Is what I'm doing bad to help me? Would it be bad if I tried to quit p's by using tylenol 1 instead?

[dl8286]

Forgot to mention : When I was 20 I nearly died because of 222 use. I was taking the kind with Aspirin and it actually made a bleeding ulcer in my stomach. This landed me in hospital with insane blood loss. My parents basically had to drag me to the front door and then into a wheel chair. I was in the ER and the lady in charge actually skipped me ahead of others because I looked so terrible.

So yeah when I was 21 or so I figured out you could get it with Tylenol....Brilliant **roll eyes**.

[dl8286]

Forgot to mention : When I was 20 I nearly died because of 222 use. I was taking the kind with Aspirin and it actually made a bleeding ulcer in my stomach. This landed me in hospital with insane blood loss. My parents basically had to drag me to the front door and then into a wheel chair. I was in the ER and the lady in charge actually skipped me ahead of others because I looked so terrible.

So yeah when I was 21 or so I figured out you could get it with Tylenol....Brilliant **roll eyes**.

[dl8286]

Hey I've had a problem with T1s as well. I'm 26 now and have been taking them on and off since I was around 19. Usually around 10-12 (sometimes more) at a time, 2-3 times a day.

I'm off them now (cold turkey) and while the first few days are kinda crappy it only gets better from there. I will admit I did take Xanax (prescribed by doctor) during the first week or so and that made it much easier to stop as well. I wouldn't really suggest that though, if you can do without the tranqs it's probably for the best. I also took Advil (4 twice a day) for a few days and then slowly stopped taking that as well. It's been aprox 3 weeks since I've taken any T1s, about two weeks since daily Advil. »

Major symptoms from cold turkey withdrawal : Soreness in extremities. Going to the bathroom more often (numero 2 =p). Possible headaches. Trouble sleeping. I`ll take those things for a few days over continuing to mess my organs up personally ;).

I also have problems with depression and anxiety like many others here. Although I feel like T1 use (and likely Opiate use in general) just makes depression problems worse. I've also stopped smoking marijuana and while my anxiety is sometimes through the roof I`m slowly learning to deal with it instead of masking it. I still take Xanax occasionally but am also avoiding daily use of that as well.

Since I've stopped taking T1s my urine is much more healthy looking (near clear if I'm drinking adequate water) and I can go poop daily. Last part is something unheard of when I was taking pills!

Going for blood and urine tests this week and just hoping everything will be fine. Also had a chest x-ray yesterday. These tests are for going back to school but I figure it`ll also help ease my mind. I don`t really feel like anything is wrong with me physically but I`m sure my anxiety will be lessened after (hopefully good) results come in.

Up next : weight loss!

I just need to remember what I want. A long life with the people I love or a severely shortened one fueled by drug use. Easy answer. I'm lucky to have a very supportive wife and family. If I was her I would of left me years ago.

[Murrshank]

I was sure I was the only person who whold get hooked on T1's, as any other drug user I know uses coke, weed, extacy etc...  I just stopped cold turkey about a day and a half ago...what a pain in the ***.  I felt like crap on them and now I feel like crap off them.  I quit cigarettes and alcohol no problem (don't drink at all) but this is hard like I never expected.  I have stopped before, but always went back.  The with withdrawls are brutal, and I have to keep thinkin of why I shouldn't take them (my kids are the big reason, not so much for me).  It's also hard to kick and still go to work and get paid... I'm just saying I have the flu, and people say I look like ****, so its a good cover, so far.
I  started due to migraines and have been using opiates for about 20 years and will take about any opiate in high doses when my head hurts.  I was taking about 100 every four or five days and had to rotate through several pharmacies to not raise their suspicions.  Anyway, here's hpoin' I can stay off this crap for a while and maybe stay alive a while longer...I know this is gonna kill me if I keep it up.  As sad as it is that we are all in the boat, it's good to know I'm not the only one.