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Codeine taper

S

scantraxx

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
155
(Not sure if this is the right section, so feel free to move it if isn't, thanks)

I am no stranger to the opiate world, I have done oxycodone many times (in long and short acting forms) Poppy pod tea once, hydrocodone a few times and suboxone 3 times. Codeine is the only readily available opiate and the others that I have mentioned don't come around too often, which I am thankful for really.

Anyway, I've been off plenty of times but everytime has been pretty crappy withdrawals and I always seem to keep coming back. I understand a lot of people think it is a weak opiate and the withdrawals are nothing like oxy or heroin but I have also been through pretty severe benzo withdrawals and while this does not seem to even slightly compare it is just sticking with me and very hard to shake.

I am wanting to taper, but I can't seem to find any info regarding how much to lower the dose. One thread I saw somewhere mentions cutting the dose 1/3 every 4 days. I am on 1640mg every second day (I can manage a day between but cannot seem to reach any longer, hence why cold turkey isn't working, I have done cold turkey a few times but if I can taper and it works I would much rather lessen the pain!)

How much do you guys think I should reduce the dose by each time? And how many days should I stick with that dose until reducing again?
 
So you're saying you only use every other day?
1640mg every other day... that's 820mg/day
A good way to taper would be to reduce your daily dose by 20mg each week. You'll be clean in less than a year if you taper that way.
 
IME you can't really taper codeine, it has too short a half life, if possible, considering the high dosage, you could talk to a doctor and do a quick bupe taper. Otherwise, go cold turkey.

Allthough i did a lot of morphine, and some oxy hydromorphine and H to mention a few, codeine/promethazine was the hardest to stop because of it's ready availability and cheap price. At the moment i am on bupe, and i feel waaaay better than i did when i was taking codeine (600-900mg/day). Bupe gives you a stability that codeine doesn't, it cut's the cycle of addictive behaviour towards opiates, and depending on where you live it could be financially more advantagious.

Also since it has been so long since i have taken a full agonist like codeine, i don't crave it (when i would cold turkey codeine when i used to use, the cravings were so strong i would give in after a week or two at the most).

So there you have it, there are several options, you can PM or write here if you want more specific info on how i quit the codeine mix
 
When you take that one day off, use 1000mg, then day off, then try 600-800mg, day off, once wds start, kill them off again with a weak 400mg - 600mg dose and then go cold turkey. This is the style I always WD in, and I do it in three days, barely feel the WDs at all really.

Also, does Codeine not have a ceiling dose?? How could 1000mg+ work? Explain please.
 
^ There is a maximum amount of codeine that can be converted into morphine, though it differs from person to person, but there are other metabolites of codeine that are psychoactive - hence the 'ceiling' dose is definitely not a hard and fast rule. There's a lot of discussion on this on BL - it seems most people don't experience the so called 'ceiling' dose - especially not at the commonly cited 400mg or so. I definitely notice increasing effects above that dose, too.

I 100% agree with tapering by skipping every second day. Scantraxx, if you can already skip a day, keep doing that. You'll probably find dropping down from your current dose to 400-800mg fairly painless. I would take 200mg off each time you dose. In my experience, there's not much to be gained by very slow tapers, especially with a short acting opiate like codeine. Tapering in a case like this pretty quickly turns into prolonging your pain if you drag it out.

Also, I would strongly recommend not going on bupe. Everyone has different experiences, I know, but bupe IME is horrendous to come off. A rapid bupe taper can be effective but it's not worth the risk, IMO. As such a long acting, potent opioid, you risk making your wd's much, much worse than simply coming off codeine.
 
Codeine withdrawals should not be that bad man. Each time I withdraw from opiates, it almost always includes Codeine CWE that I do as a little add on to the other potent opiates I use, and I just do a quick taper and it is painless. Codeine alone would be so easy, it is not even worth thinking or contemplating about how bad WD will be.

I mean Bupe and Methadone is just overkill to the max. Especially if he is to stay on the bupe as maintenance therapy. Rather use the Codeine as maintenance and jump off when ready. MMT withdrawals after prolonged use becomes a whole different ball game.
 
phatass said:
^^my suggestion to go on bupe is to prevent the nearly inevitable relapse that the OP stated themselves allready having happened when coming off codeine. Why would this time be any different?
Click to expand...

There's definitely benefits as well as cons to going on bupe. I made sure to put clearly in my post that in my experience bupe is a damn awful idea. But it's good for the OP to get a range of opinions and personal experiences so as to make a more informed decision.
 
teological said:
Codeine withdrawals should not be that bad man. Each time I withdraw from opiates, it almost always includes Codeine CWE that I do as a little add on to the other potent opiates I use, and I just do a quick taper and it is painless. Codeine alone would be so easy, it is not even worth thinking or contemplating about how bad WD will be.

I mean Bupe and Methadone is just overkill to the max. Especially if he is to stay on the bupe as maintenance therapy. Rather use the Codeine as maintenance and jump off when ready. MMT withdrawals after prolonged use becomes a whole different ball game.
Click to expand...

An 800mg/day codeine habit is more heavy than most hydrocodone/apap and oxy/apap habits (allthough they are potent you would have to be taking a huge amount of apap to equivalent an 800mg codeine habit)... It's an awfull 4 days, whereas IME when i cold turkeyed 60mg methadone, maybe because i was taking so much GBL i didn't even feel the withdrawl, but i felt every one of those dozens of codeine withdrawls, and thee shame of the subsequent relapses...

footscrazy said:
There's definitely benefits as well as cons to going on bupe. I made sure to put clearly in my post that in my experience bupe is a damn awful idea. But it's good for the OP to get a range of opinions and personal experiences so as to make a more informed decision.
Click to expand...

Indeed, we all react differently, and as you say it's wise to get as much input as possible.
 
Last edited:
Of course you can taper codeine. Lots have n quite successfully too. OP i will type a better response to you tomorrow, saw this while looking for another thread.

I'm an ex codeine addict - now on suboxone maintenance so feel free to PM me if you'd like someone to talk to who understands codeine addiction.

Take care,
Evey xxxx
 
phatass said:
^^codeine has a max 3 hour half life... have a fun taper
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, we will have to agree to differ here. In terms of the physical side of addiction I can see where you are coming from. However, as I've mentioned I am a former codeine addict and have tapered as well as being in a group of other codeine addicts who have also successfully tapered. Of course, in my opinion, I think that tapering is the more difficult in addictions than cold turkey, unless someone is able to dole out the drugs and that can bring along its stresses. With tapering, there is the temptation to 'take more,' get more and so forth. It's so easy to resist this temptation if you have access to your DOC (drug of choice). On the other hand, people have successfully done so, even with codeine. For instance, if a person takes 12 tablets per day, the may begin to take 11 per day the following week, then 10 per day for the week after, and so forth - that's how most people taper with codeine. It can be tedious and time-consuming but addiction tends to have a strong psychological component to it, a kind of an attachment if you like - so thus for some people they feel more comforted by tapering than they do by cold turkey.

For instance, they may feel comforted in that they're DOC has not just been snatched away from them which can sometimes feel very much similar to the grief of losing a loved one when the world has stopped turning for that person (at least in my experience it did). Of course, for me, the tapering route was not the best route and I went onto maintenance - some agree with this, other don't - that's life, we can't all agree or it would be an extremely boring place.

Nonetheless people have tapered with codeine and it can be done. I agree with your point about codeine only having a 3-hour life. However, for reasons that I have stated above in this post, that's why tapering with codeine can be a successful route for some people.

Different strokes for different folks.
 
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