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  • EADD Moderators: Pissed_and_messed | Shinji Ikari

Anyone else had a codeine addiction?

SproutOnSmack said:
I've never bought linctus in my life, co-codamol is far more widely available, and has legitimate uses. I'm pretty sure any pharmacist worth his MSc knows that codeine linctus is primarily used recreationally.
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Codeine linctus really is an excellent cough remedy. Works much better than bleedin' pholcodeine which does precisely sod all of anything as far as I can tell.
 
Shambles said:
Codeine linctus really is an excellent cough remedy. Works much better than bleedin' pholcodeine which does precisely sod all of anything as far as I can tell.
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It probably is effective, but I have honestly never heard of anyone using legitimately for a very long while.
DXM cough preparations, or DPH, seem to be the most popular medicinally.
 
Cos DXM is never abused :D

If I have a cough I always go for opioid-based cough medicine for preference cos it just works well. Don't think I've ever used DXM and certainly not DPH (diphenhydramine is that? for a cough?). Failing that I just go for the traditional hot honey and lemon/blackcurrant drinks (homemade not Beecham's). Actually I rather like those anyway cos they iz yummy <3
 
Thank God for suboxone. I could never read or engage in this convo without that med or even on 8 mg of it. I'm absolutely petrified of coming off suboxone. I think that when I do, I will have to leave Bluelight to stop being triggered.

I feel a bit bad engaging in this conversation encase someone comes to this thread sorry help. Sorry for being such a kill joy. When I come off suboxone how do I deal with the cravings? (I'm begging now please don't judge or mock me I want genuine advice from anyone who has conquered addiction). I know the day will come for me to come off suboxone n face it. I don't regret the decision I made to choose suboxone. It wasn't as simple as to 'deal with withdrawals' it was more complex than that. I stand by that decision n would make the same one again if i had this over again.

Evey xxxx
 
Honestly, Evey, I found quitting Subutex a doddle when I did it first time round. Although my situation was a bit different as it was the tail end of a lengthy heroin/methadone addiction. I went for a quite a long, slow taper and I really didn't have any problems at all tapering bupe once I'd switched to it from methadone. Didn't get any cravings as I recall either. However, I did go in for an inpatient detox for the final stage and agreed to take part in some pilot study involving combining high dose bupe with an increasing dose of naltrexone which was utterly horrid. I had to walk out in the end cos it was too intense but I was fine once the naltrexone was out of my system and didn't crave bupe at all once I was back home.

Best advice I can offer is to try not to build it up too much in your mind. The more you build it up the more you get stressed about it and the harder it tends to feel. It really isn't that hard to quit bupe as long as you take your time and taper at your own pace - go with how you feel and you'll be fine. No need to try to rush it just take your time and let your body adjust to each lil step down and you honestly barely notice any difference from day to day. It's big, sudden drops that tend to have people feeling awful and wanting to jump straight back up again.

Ultimately there is no way to completely avoid all w/d but with a sensible taper plan it really can be as close to painless as it gets with bupe (imo, ime, ymmv, etc, etc). I'd rather taper and quit bupe than any other opiate/opioid by quite some considerable distance.

And don't worry too much about a lil wavering from the topic - this happens in all EADD threads but if it goes too far off track in a drug thread a mod will step in to reign it back in.
 
Im not bothered or frightened of the withdrawals.... Nor was I of codeine withdrawal.... This is what people don't understand n why I get so frustrated n angry when people judge me over going onto suboxone (which I'd do again in a heartbeat). It's the mental obsession/ psychological addiction that frightens me, the pure grief - feeling I'm moaning the loss of a love one, the world still turning but everything so bleak n everything has been drained away n there's nothing left. That's what completely overwhelms, frightens me. Not the withdrawals. They were a doodle. But that psychological shit. Well I can't cope with it, I couldn't handle it.
I'm probably weak.

I really don't understand how anyone can handle that. The being sick, runs, hot/cold flushes etc - I don't fear that. Give me physical pain over psychological any day. Because I'm completely afraid of that.....

Sorry if I'm not making sense here xxxx
 
Eve that's how everyone sees it. The psychological addiction is always far more difficult to overcome than a few days of extreme physical discomfort. But it's all withdrawal, be it physical or psychological.
 
there were always big 500ml bottles of benilyn at my grannies. My granddad had a good relationship with the pharmacist. He was a sort of pharmacist back in the day and in the local GAA book there's a tale about him giving the team some tablets before a game that made them feel goooood. These days one of my aunts is dead funny about giving me tablets coz she knows about my liking. It's annoying really.
 
StoneHappyMonday said:
Eve that's how everyone sees it. The psychological addiction is always far more difficult to overcome than a few days of extreme physical discomfort. But it's all withdrawal, be it physical or psychological.
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Oh....... really????? I been thinking I was a weak person n lost the plot all this time. Does everyone really feel like that???? It's not just me? I'm not a weirdo after all. I'm shocked. I genuinely felt I was different n weird.
 
Physical withdrawal is always easy to portray and dramatise, so that's the side we're presented with as being the consequences of 'addiction'. Surprise surprise, the truth is arse ways about face, and psychological draws are far harder to overcome, with many more trigger points - just not so melodramatic as a pile of sick and some sweating and stuff.
 
yep, it's the head games are the worst. Do you still miss the codeine now you're on the subs? It's good to occupy your head with other things. Do what you can to take your head off it and don't be beating yourself down. Embrace your addiction and remember that there is more to you than that. see in the gibs thread where it was on about labels and stuff? We all wear as many hats as we want to. Sadly, there are folk who see us in one hat and that's what they think we are and they treat us how they think a person of that label/ hat should be treated. I know for a fact that if certain people knew about my heroin hat they would treat me very differently. I'd love to be open about it because it's a part of me and I have nout to be ashamed of. In fact it was bl many years ago that helped me to lose the shame and sing from the top of the tower blocks "If yer proud to be a bag haead clap your hands" You gotta work out what's best for you and do what's best for you. I would love to have the convo with my siblings about how I'm not ashamed but they don't give me a chance to. All they see is me the bag head and me being a bag head makes them feel better about themselves and excuses their treating / turning my dads house into a hovel because even if my father gets frustrated by what they do, in their eyes I casue more disharmony with my habit. It is very frustrating when you feel alone.
 
Yup everybody I know of with an addiction barely thinks about the physical stuff really. Yes it's horrid but we all know it's only a few days - a week or so at most with anything short of methadone or poppies. It's very much the psychological side that messes with people. Any addict will have been through more physical w/d than they could possibly remember - that's par for the course - but most only manage to do the psychological w/d the once with that being the time they actually quit for good. Obviously there are some exceptions cos people do fall off the waggon even years down the line long after even the psycholgical w/d are gone if perhaps not entirely forgotten, but for the most part it's only once you really have to get through that stuff right till it's actually gone. And it does go. Can't put a timeframe on it cos everybody is different but it fades and I will say that bupe is one of the least psychologically addicting addictive substances I can think of. If not perhaps the least.

I've said it quite a lot recently but I really do think it all comes down to wanting to quit. At some stage - and I can only really speak for myself here but am pretty sure it's basically universal - you just don't want to keep taking whatever it is you take. Bupe is particularly good for this I'd say - you've mentioned yourself that it just doesn't have that same pull as codeine did for you. You take it to stay stablised and keep w/d at bay until the time comes to finish with the bupe. I suspect you'll know when it's time to come off the bupe - at least that's how it was for me last time around. It's called a maintenance drug for a reason: cos you maintain on it whilst dealing with other stuff. Generally there are reasons for addiction. Sometimes those reasons may just be that somebody happened to get caught out and wasn't ready to deal with all that comes with quitting so soon. At some point you will feel ready to come off of the bupe and I honestly think you'll be surprised at how relatively easy it is compared to trying to quit your Drug of Choice (DOC/DoC - another of those acronyms you may come across fairly regularly on BL - not to be confused with DOC the psychedelic amphetamine which is why I prefer DoC).

I'm sure anybody who doesn't necessarily move in addict circles day in, day out is gonna feel different and weird cos they don't have that interaction with a wide variety of people who're all going through the same - or at least very similar - thing. Ultimately addiction is addiction and it's much of a muchness for anybody addicted to anything. I'm fairly sure that more or less any worries or concerns you've had pretty much all the rest of us have had too. Don't be afraid to ask questions or seek second opinions on anything relating to you addiction and experiences cos the chances are somebody else will be wondering about the same thing and plenty others will know exactly what you mean but wouldn't think to say cos nobody's asked. There really are no bad or stupid questions - we're all basically learning as we go along and trying to help each other out as best we can cos it's a difficult and lonely thing to go through on your own. And with addiction we all tend to feel like we're on our own much of the time.

Sorry for ramblings - hope there's summat useful in there somewhere. But yes, psychological bit really is kinda shitty, huh? :!

(but it really does get better)

<3
 
Post wd syndrome...
It's a big part of wd Evee - And I totally understand yr fear. My advice would be to really get into something you love doing or take up a new hobbie.
That really helps take yr mind off that aspect, but you need to proper.focus on it.
Hope this helps when the time comes n try yr best to not fear it so badly (easier said ofc!)so you have the proverbial weapons to go into the battle.. proverbially :)

Loperamide for any physical wd helps too but u need big doses for some symptoms: Codeine attaches to lots of gut receptors so u get tummy cramps bad. Well I do n others have noticed the same.
 
Thanks for responses. I get these scarey dreams sometimes (aint had one in a while) where I'm back being that being taking lots of pills, hiding them, feeling the way I used to. Then I wake up as I am n feel relieved.

Well I really do learn something every day. I thought what I was going through wasn't normal - which is why I often get defensive xxxx
 
Yeah using dreams, never got them whilst on bupe. But once completely off opiated I got mad heroin dreams, would wake up and check my room cus they were that vivid.

They lessen over time. I'm on codeine constantly now, but don't get heroin using dreams even though I take smack once a week (maybe twice, but that's less common)
 
Eve, it took me a long time and several attempts to get off bupe. I just couldnt hold out for longer than a week the first few times i tried. I eventually completely relapsed and gave up giving up for a couple of months, i guess i kind of rebuilt a bit of stamina in that couple of months, because it was far easier to stop after that. Even when i finally got off bupe i guess i wasnt quite ready to give up opis entirely as i bought shit load of kratom. At that point my key worker threatened to throw me out of their centre as it didnt appear to her that i was even trying to get off opis and recover at that point. I went a bit mad with the kratom for a few weeks, but have been able to quit that relatively easily. The worse thing was not knowing what the w/ds would be like mentally and physically after just 3-4 weeks use. Things were a bit wobbly on both fronts to start with, but within 5 days i feel ok physically and mentally. I have amazed myself that i have actually finally done it, and feel able to hold out on both fronts this time round. I mean, if i can do it, then truly anyone can. (But i do have benzos to help with the psychological aspects, so that is possibly making things easier than they would have been otherwise. As im allready dependant on them anyway i had nothing further to loose, but i wouldnt recommend swapping an opi habit for a benzo habit. I did have both, allbeit it a very minor opi habit, by many peoples standards, but now i only have 1 troublesome habit left to deal with)
 
mydrugbuddy said:
Eve, it took me a long time and several attempts to get off bupe. I just couldnt hold out for longer than a week the first few times i tried. I eventually completely relapsed and gave up giving up for a couple of months, i guess i kind of rebuilt a bit of stamina in that couple of months, because it was far easier to stop after that. Even when i finally got off bupe i guess i wasnt quite ready to give up opis entirely as i bought shit load of kratom. At that point my key worker threatened to throw me out of their centre as it didnt appear to her that i was even trying to get off opis and recover at that point. I went a bit mad with the kratom for a few weeks, but have been able to quit that relatively easily. The worse thing was not knowing what the w/ds would be like mentally and physically after just 3-4 weeks use. Things were a bit wobbly on both fronts to start with, but within 5 days i feel ok physically and mentally. I have amazed myself that i have actually finally done it, and feel able to hold out on both fronts this time round. I mean, if i can do it, then truly anyone can. (But i do have benzos to help with the psychological aspects, so that is possibly making things easier than they would have been otherwise. As im allready dependant on them anyway i had nothing further to loose, but i wouldnt recommend swapping an opi habit for a benzo habit. I did have both, allbeit it a very minor opi habit, by many peoples standards, but now i only have 1 troublesome habit left to deal with)
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MDB, I know all this. I 've been talking to you when all this happened. Are you off the kratom then?
 
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