Opioids Why it's so hard to quit Vicodin

[george29]

Hey all -

<NO PRICE DISCUSSION>

First post, stumbled over here, and now I'm a member. I've been taking Norco for about 3 years now. The way I get them and the way my life is right now (good) makes it very hard for me to quit.

For starters, I started taking 2 every other day or so. Now, however, I'm pretty addicted. I would say I take minimum five and as much as 10 in a single day. I take them every day now and I make sure I always have them on hand.


At first, I would get WD around 4-5pm. I get SUPER fatigued, muscle aches, diahera, night sweats but mainly, the fatigue is what kills me. I can sleep for 12 hours, but if I don't take vicodin I get insanely tired. Now, I have WD almost as soon as I wake up - I need to take at least one just to fight the fatigue.

The drug has not ruined my life nor does it seem like it will. I have a prestigious job, that I excel at, a beautiful girlfriend that I plan to marry and who just finished law school. My addiction isn't hurting me financially. It isn't hurting my work or my relationship. I also exercise regularly.

What it does do, however, is make me smoke like a chimney. I hate that. It also has a grip on me - I know I'm addicted. I feel like such a chump when I go crawling back to the quack doctor for four more refills (it is a four hour process to get these refills because I have to drive far). I want to quit because I can't take this drug forever.

To be honest, I would take 2 Norcos and be on cloud 9. Now, I need 4 to just get started, and two more shortly after that. I'm pretty much immune to them now, I have way too high of a tolerance. God knows what my liver looks like ...

My problem: I don't drink. I don't do other drugs. I just like to do Norco because it makes me feel so good. I love just hanging out surfing web and watching tv on them. I feel like life would be so boring without them. And that's a big problem for me.

I'm going to try and quit again today. I feel like I know Im going to fail. I take half a norco to help fight WD when it gets bad and eventually, I'm clean. But for some reason, I feel like I'll be crawling back to that doctor for a refill. Maybe that's why I joined this forum. Just get some support.

Anyway, here's to quitting, again. Wish me luck.

"Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a 100 times. -- Mark Twain

 

[Pineappleexpress42]

Exactly that's the reason I quit cigarettes, I didint care much about health effects and money issues didint effect me too much. What really bothered me was I was addicted to somthing, I'm dependent. I need that substance and I don't like that. Of you wanna Be free you have to taper off get the will power and join a group like pills Annonomus. A lot of people find it easier to just quit cold turkey because yeah you suffer through bad w/d but after its done it's done. Where as tapering can take much longer. You have to go through withdrawl to get clean, its not gunna be fun.You can do it, I know it's hard. I mess with pills once in awhile and I've seen how addictive they can be. I know so many people's who's lives are messed up because of them. If you continue your just gunna get a stronger tollerence then start CWE-ing pills to take more hydro if not moving on to oxy. And you know if you try oxy it's over because it will become too much of a habit and you will move to heroin. Quit now, you can do it. And in the mean time I'm not sure how much acetametaphin your taking per day but if it's up there 3,000-4,000 CWE-ing in the mean time while you quit would help your liver immensely. Good luck.

 

[Coraline]

They are very addictive that's why you can not stop.

You don't feel there is a problem so you will keep doing it.

If you really want to stop you have to taper your self down. Instead of 4 in the morning take 3 and instead of two later on take 1. Do this till your body is use to it then cut back more 2 instead of 3 and so on.

Opiates work for pain and I take them too daily for pain. I cut back from 4 a day to 2. If its really bad I do take more but that might be once or twice a week and only like 1 extra dose if the first isn't working. But I have to be careful too.

Opiates make smoking worse IMO. I have increased my smoking but I stay home all day. When I do stuff I cut back.

Anyways, what caused you to start taking them? Sometimes there is emotional problem that people cover up by drug use and that needs to be handled so you can stop.

 

[TyLannister]

I agree, i dont know who said it but it was along the lines of "If i just joined a website to see if im hooked on drugs, more than likely i probably am."

P.S. I would like to say, hydrocodone and oxycodone are indeed different, but they are still both narcotics. Saying "as soon as you try oxy, your done" seems a bit ignorant to me. Assuming hes taking norcos orally, to say oxycodone taken in the same way will defiantly lead to heroin is not right. The majority believe it or not dont move to heroin just like that, and certainly if oxycodone leads there than its hard to determine that hydrocodone wouldnt do the same thing.

 

[Pineappleexpress42]

Well yes I understand that. But when tollerence increases most switch to oxy because it is roughly 1.5 times stronger so it's easier to take without having to do CWE. Both my neighbors did this exact same thing went from Vicodin to norcos to oxy ( different forms) and when it got too expensive they switched to heroin. I'm not saying he's going to try heroin today or soon. Just I think if he continues on this track and sees no reason to quit it can get out of control easily. I take oxy In different forms occasionally and I'm not doing heroin. I'm just saying that when you addicted to opiates in general because hydro and oxy are so similar you could be just as addicted to that.

I think of it like a alcoholic, if your addicted to say "beer" your not going to say I can have vodka and be fine. If your not already addicted you can enjoy "vodka" occasionally.

 

[bronson]

I think the best advice that can be given, even though it's tough to hear is to quit now. It's just a matter of sheer willpower and dedication. The longer you put it off and keep escalating your use the deeper hole you dig.

Check this thread out, it should give you lots of insight and strategies on how to quit...
The Opioid Withdrawal Megathread and FAQ

 

[george29]

Anyways, what caused you to start taking them? Sometimes there is emotional problem that people cover up by drug use and that needs to be handled so you can stop.

It all started out for fun. I had a friend that could get them and once in a while I'd take 1-2 and play games like Madden with him. I just *loved* how they made me feel. I would just feel so happy, everything was more fun. I'm already a social guy and I'm very happy on where I am in life today. I've achieved a lot.

I don't know why I started taking them. Maybe there is a deeper issue. I haven't really thought about it. I remember when a freind told me about this doc, who writes scripts, and was like, "I'm gonna sell that stuff and keep some on side for myself." At first, I did do that, and made some really nice side cash that I splurged on myself and the girlfriend. Now, I want them all to myself. It's messed up, I know.

I seriously feel like death when the WD kicks in. Maybe I'm being too weak. Maybe I just have to stop cold turkey. Idk ... Just to clarify, I take one or half of one as soon as I wake up because I feel like death. Don't touch them again until about 4-5 p.m.

 

[george29]

P.S. I would like to say, hydrocodone and oxycodone are indeed different, but they are still both narcotics. Saying "as soon as you try oxy, your done" seems a bit ignorant to me. Assuming hes taking norcos orally, to say oxycodone taken in the same way will defiantly lead to heroin is not right. The majority believe it or not dont move to heroin just like that, and certainly if oxycodone leads there than its hard to determine that hydrocodone wouldnt do the same thing.

I've tried Oxy before. The same friend that showed them to me eventually got addicted to them. He was on his way to becoming a doctor. Lost *everything* because of that pill. It's just not my cup of tea, Oxy. As I recall, I would take them and just lay in bed feeling like I'm floating on a cloud. Felt like a vegetable. Doesn't give me that same "happy" effect like Vikes do. I'm not dissing anyone on Oxys or who enjoys them, I just don't like them and they scare me (because of my friend who lost everything)

 

[Deblanc]

I agree with Bronson, you should just quit now. Don't put it off any longer. Of course you feel like crap when you wake up, wd's suck and the aching, fatigue and general malaise is no fun. Here is the good news: if your habit is as you describe, you should be done with the roughest physical stuff in 3-5 days. I've kicked a long term 120mg hydo habit before and it took 4 days. The PAWS also wasnt as bad as it could have ben because I was in the gym for 2 hours every day for 2 weeks when i kicked, and that went a LONG WAY toward fixing the paws. In fact, I think vigorous exercise it the answer to PAWS and to MILD-MODERATE wd's in general. I've been through deep, dark heroin wd's before and there was no going to the gym for those, at least not for a while. But you are in the right place to quit, you already work out. Bite the bullet and kick this shit out of your life. And don't look back. And drop your doctor. Good luck.

 

[tricomb]

@OP, please read the OD guidelines and BLUA prior to posting again, both links can be found in my signature.

Related Reading

 

[Swimmingdancer]

It all started out for fun. I had a friend that could get them and once in a while I'd take 1-2 and play games like Madden with him. I just *loved* how they made me feel. I would just feel so happy, everything was more fun. I'm already a social guy and I'm very happy on where I am in life today. I've achieved a lot.

I don't know why I started taking them. Maybe there is a deeper issue. I haven't really thought about it.

There is almost always some kind of deeper issue where addiction is concerned. Some people can try crack or heroin without getting addicted, others get addicted to things are that are not even dependence-causing or "addictive", like shopping, the internet, or aspirin. Some people are prone to addiction, and the fact that you started doing it in the first place and loved how it made you feel says something. Often people who use opioids are unknowingly self-medicating for some kind of problem like depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, fibromyalgia, etc, but it's not always super noticeable on the surface. Even boredom (although that is often connected to a deeper issue). Understanding addiction is a good step in learning how to heal from it (I can recommend some great books on addiction if you are interested, they have helped me a lot). The physical dependence is only part of the picture, many people go through withdrawals but they still start using again. And when you first started using you were not physically dependent but kept doing it more and more frequently until you were - people are usually mentally addicted before they are physically dependent.

In order to succeed, you really need to work on your mental addiction and why you use in the first place. You have to identify and treat/work on the underlying causes (and I don't mean just by using other drugs), and you have to understand addiction and cravings and how to deal with them and replace drugs with healthier things. Drug addiction changes your brain, so you need to take charge and rewire it.

I seriously feel like death when the WD kicks in. Maybe I'm being too weak. Maybe I just have to stop cold turkey. Idk ... Just to clarify, I take one or half of one as soon as I wake up because I feel like death. Don't touch them again until about 4-5 p.m.

It's not about being weak, withdrawal is a miserable hell for anyone. Gradually tapering off the drug can help a lot, but sometimes it's very hard to do a self-taper and we need professional help, like detox or a supervised taper. There are a lot of things you can do to help with the withdrawals, and others have provided some good links already. But you will likely have to learn how to bear at least some level of withdrawal without compulsively using. I have learned that I don't have to use just because I feel like shit or crave it. And remember that the withdrawal is only one part of it, it doesn't deal with the mental addiction.

If you think you have an addiction then you do, and it's better to start working on it and trying to quit right away before it gets any worse. It takes a ton of courage and effort but it is possible. Best of luck to you

 

[george29]

@swimming dancer

Thanks for thoughtful reply. You know, you just pointed something out to me that I didn't mention. I've quit Vikes before (briefly). I believe I went a month without them. You know what made me come back?

I was doing other drugs - ones that i didn't like as much - instead of Vikes. Yes, I stopped doing one drug only to start sniffing adderal, or blow.

If someone were to ask me right now why I do Vicodin I would say boredom. That is another problem for me. I was heavily abusing other drugs - not daily but on weekend for example - when I briefly quit Vicodin. As I recall, I went back to my old ways because I was spending too much cash buying other drugs; a couple of addys and two grams of blow a week can get expensive.

Yesh. What the hell is wrong with me?