Codeine Withdrawal 3 weeks in advice please

[FrancisB]

Hi,

Apologies in advance for the long post here. I've been addicted to codeine for a few years now. In Ireland where I live you can get it over the counter and I have been abusing this for quite a while and it's escalated since covid. I had also taken some of the stronger ones that my Mam had been prescribed. I wasnt always taking huge doses every day but I was taking it quite regularly for a long time. To cut a long story short it I realised the dosage I had been taking had stopped working to address any physical symptoms or pain so I realised I would have to increase the dose. I made the decision to quit cold turkey and naively I underestimated how difficult this would be. I guess I figured cause it was an over the counter drug and not a street one then there wouldnt be major withdrawal. The physical symptoms were actually manageable but it's been 3 weeks since I've had codeine and my anxiety is through the roof and I feel so low. My moods are fluctuating and I have this impending sense of dread. I feel quite restless like my mind cant relax and this is making me upset when I'm around my young son as I feel I cant enjoy being around him and then that makes me feel worse. My question after all this verbal diahorrea is, is what I am experiencing here part of the withdrawal and will it go away? It's like an alien feeling like I'm perceiving the world in a nightmarish way and it's frightening me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks all.

 

[jhjhsdi]

@FrancisB sounds like you are in PAWS.
Aka Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms.
Just like the physical withdrawals eventually passed, these mentals one will do the same - they just take a little longer.
Hang in there you're doing great!

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Sounds a lot more to be like you were using codeine as a way of dealing with anxiety (either consciously or unconsciously) and now that you arent using it you're just noticing that anxiety more. Three weeks out from going cold turkey on even a weaker opiate at small doses is likely to still be affecting your mood three weeks in, but not by a gigantic amount.

Maybe this is just your natural level of anxiety? Your post days you've been using codeine for a few years so I would imagine it's quite hard to remember exactly how you felt beforehand, and our perspective on such matters in our own lives is not always accurate.

 

[mokele]

Hi,

Apologies in advance for the long post here. I've been addicted to codeine for a few years now. In Ireland where I live you can get it over the counter and I have been abusing this for quite a while and it's escalated since covid. I had also taken some of the stronger ones that my Mam had been prescribed. I wasnt always taking huge doses every day but I was taking it quite regularly for a long time. To cut a long story short it I realised the dosage I had been taking had stopped working to address any physical symptoms or pain so I realised I would have to increase the dose. I made the decision to quit cold turkey and naively I underestimated how difficult this would be. I guess I figured cause it was an over the counter drug and not a street one then there wouldnt be major withdrawal. The physical symptoms were actually manageable but it's been 3 weeks since I've had codeine and my anxiety is through the roof and I feel so low. My moods are fluctuating and I have this impending sense of dread. I feel quite restless like my mind cant relax and this is making me upset when I'm around my young son as I feel I cant enjoy being around him and then that makes me feel worse. My question after all this verbal diahorrea is, is what I am experiencing here part of the withdrawal and will it go away? It's like an alien feeling like I'm perceiving the world in a nightmarish way and it's frightening me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks all.

My fellow Bluelighter from WONDERFUL Ireland (been there once for 2 weeks fishing on a rented boat on the Shannon), no matter if people say only codein, DONT LISTEN!
You dont mean Dihydrocodein? Doesnt matter much. Decades before methadone even started in Germany, if you dont get your brown, codis were the only relief, beside poppies who were not always available. Ive been on " only dhc" Withdrawals so bad i couldnt get up and had liquids running out of both human openings. I dont know about Imodium but cant you get something, anything ( beware of pot, stims, even coffee!!!!)to ease it off? No? Well the good news is, you made it through the toughest part, the first days!! See, your liver metabolises codein to about 20% into morphin. Black people have a higher conversion rate ( i aint racist. Just is that Way. U can read that yourself in medicine sites) while many redheads cant metabolise any and have no gain whatsoever from codein. From now on you will feel it getting better each Day, although insomnia, no appetite etc may persist 2-3 days if you take no other opiate. Except Imodium( loperamid) which will help a bit. Phenibut is legal and would help alot, esp at night! Order soon, the drug pig Nazis want to cut it off soon .
The IMO worst part will be the PAWS!!!
If you have absolutely no one to talk who understand this, please (!) feel free to PM me! The Phone biĺl will be on me, dont let that hinder you!!! Much strenth, pal! You have a girl? Get her come over, your Libido will make her squirm n spritz ;-)

 

[Pickledlemons]

After 3 weeks you should be mostly out of the woods but you might experience some emotional instability for some time and that is normal. It can get a lot worse so stay away while you still can!

 

[TheInvisibleStoner]

Give it time. 3 weeks is still short. Each day you will get better. It will not last, I promise. However, you have to learn how to re live your life without numbing yourself. Take this time to think.

 

[Stassi202]

Hi,

Apologies in advance for the long post here. I've been addicted to codeine for a few years now. In Ireland where I live you can get it over the counter and I have been abusing this for quite a while and it's escalated since covid. I had also taken some of the stronger ones that my Mam had been prescribed. I wasnt always taking huge doses every day but I was taking it quite regularly for a long time. To cut a long story short it I realised the dosage I had been taking had stopped working to address any physical symptoms or pain so I realised I would have to increase the dose. I made the decision to quit cold turkey and naively I underestimated how difficult this would be. I guess I figured cause it was an over the counter drug and not a street one then there wouldnt be major withdrawal. The physical symptoms were actually manageable but it's been 3 weeks since I've had codeine and my anxiety is through the roof and I feel so low. My moods are fluctuating and I have this impending sense of dread. I feel quite restless like my mind cant relax and this is making me upset when I'm around my young son as I feel I cant enjoy being around him and then that makes me feel worse. My question after all this verbal diahorrea is, is what I am experiencing here part of the withdrawal and will it go away? It's like an alien feeling like I'm perceiving the world in a nightmarish way and it's frightening me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks all.

Damn dude I feel for you. I’ve been clean from heroin for 2 years and although I have never withdrawn from codeine, it can’t be that much different. Three weeks seems like a long time, but everyone is different and since I’m not a doctor, I won’t offer medical advice lol. Just don’t give up at this point, I am beyond impressed that you have actually made it this far. I would have caved at 3 days!