Hey
So I am a codeine addict. I have been addicted to codeine for around 3 years. Have managed to come off the drug for short spells here and there, longest being 3 months after a horrible withdrawal process. I tend to only come off the drug for a maximum of one month then end up craving and back addicted. I have decided enough is enough and need to come off.
No one at all knows of my addiction. I have a family with a young child who is my main reason for doing it. I would rather not tell my family about my addiction really due to embarrassment and failure.
Currently I have been taking codeine for around 6 months - usually 240mg per day however now seem to be taking around 300mg.
I have decided to keep a withdrawal diary which I will post to here daily for my own record and maybe even help others. I will be following a cold turkey withdrawal as using the tapered effect doesn’t work for me. I find if I have codeine in the house I will take it and more than intended so need to get rid off all tablets to begin. Currently today I have had 300mg - last dose at 5pm. I normally have 60mg first thing in the morning so tomorrow morning shall be a challenge. I feel I am ready for this mentally.
Anyway of you got this far, thanks for reading.
LEE
hi lee, my story is very similar to yours. on them off and on for years. id come off for about a month then go back on them again. however november last year i decided id had enough. my sources of cocodamol were repeat prescription with ny gp, my friend at work and my mum neither of which had no idea i was addicted. i too felt ashamed of what id become so i knew i had to do something different this time. i told my gp and said dont ever prescribe them to me again! the worse part though was telling my friend abd mum. again i begged them not to give me any ever again. i referred myself to the local drug service, FORWARD. i only saw them about 3 times as after a week the physical symptoms had gone and i felt good. however last month i fell off the wagon. mum had some lying around and i just took them home with me. There was no reason whatsoever. i have a great marriage, good job, brilliant kids. i just thiught yeah its a little treat. i take them because i just like tge feeling they give me.i dont take them because im depressed or in pain. anyway im on day 6 of withdrawal. its been ok because i wasnt on them that long. my battle is staying off them!! good luck mate. ill be checking in with you daily!! bullldog
Thanks for you comments and support. I feel the same as you and struggle to stay off them. I am now 24 hours since last codeine dose. I feel generally okay so far. Felt a little more tired than normal today but overall okay. I suspect the withdrawals will really start tomorrow. Don’t feel any cravings as yet but again I think it’s to early. Will drop in again tomorrow. Lee
I'm currently taking 30/500mg cocodomol ...I take 4 a day so how many mg a day is that I'm taking Lee?
currently you are taking 120mg of codeine a day.
so im now on day 7 and feeling good. friday wasnt great though. that awful lethargy when everythings an effort and youve no energy. Still getting the odd sweat on and the runs but i try and look at that as my body getting rid of all the toxins. i stopped smoking 19 years ago and just keep telling myself if i can do that, then i can do this!! keep going lee! you wanna cone off them and just lead a normal life. we both do. thats why we keep pushing on!
thank you and good luck on your journey. ..I'll be following your diary.
I have been on cocodomol for around 10 year's. I went to tt 3 year's ago and stayed longer than planned so had no cocodomol for 3 days but I was really ill. ...runs sweats sick and very agitated. I persuaded my partner to take me to local hospital...I never told them about cocodomol so they said I was totally dehydrated and had to put me on drip. I couldn't wait to get home and as soon as I did 2 cocodomol and half an hour later I felt great! it's the lies and deceit that's killing me...my partner nor anyone else knows I have a problem. if my doc had have told me when she put me on these they were addictive I would never had started taking them (mine are prescribed) if I went cold turkey how long would withdrawal symptoms last? I'm really scared doing this coz last time I thought I was dying!!
well done!!
So now today I am again feeling okay. Got a runny nose and feel a but achy. Also the tummy cramping is beginning. Had a bit of a headache today but not a severe yet as I remember it from last time. Because I have been through this I am aware of how I am going to feel. From previous experiences my withdrawals lasted around 10 days with the diarrheoa lasting the longest and lack of appetite. The insomnia lasted a lot longer than that but I eventually was able to sleep all night.
Cravings seem to be at bay the now but I tend to not get the cravings til I passed all the withdrawals and been free of codeine for around a month. So determined this time to stay off. Good having support here
yep day 7 for me and still got the runs a bit but for me by day 8 im good to go....physically! its staying off them thats bloody hard. they make you feel great dont they. .but then i ask myself if theyre so great why do wanna quit?? cos in the long run they take over our lives!!! anywsy last week i joined a running club for beginners and im just back from a mini run i the park. just relaxing now in the bath. keep me posted guys!! bulldog
how's things now Lee?
oh dear sorry guys iv not been on here as planned my kid was very ill needing hospital treatment. They are on the mend now and home but unfortunately I wouldn't be able to deal with the withdrawals as well. Although I have relapsed slightly I am taking half of what I would normally take and feel good. I feel pretty good that I'm not taking as much but also have the will power and strength now to perhaps do a tappered plan. So I now take 60mg morning and and 60mg afternoon which is an improvement. By next week I'm aiming for 60mg a day before cutting out conpletely. Hope eveyone well!!
Lee xx
Hi Lee I,m Maureen and i have just joined this discussion to night so i am busy reading through all your great efforts to stop this dreadful addiction to co codamol I too am a victim of this beast! I have lumber disc problems- painful- attained 20 years ago from a fall from a horse and have been on this pain killer since. I am toying with the idea of how i MUST stop this opiate for my health sake but trying to find a way to get round constant everyday back pain without it I am looking into steriod injections at the minute. So as of to night i am still taking 8 - 10 co codamol tabs per day- perscribed for pain 30/500mgs and still helps the pain dispite the length of treatment with them I k now this dose is too high and is dangerous to my liver but living with constant pain is so hard I am not as of this week planning to come of this drug until i can find out if the injections in my back will kill the pain BUT in the event that they will i plan to go cold turkey I am not a 'tapering off' type of person- at anything- if i want to do something i have to do it and get it over with so its all or nothing I know a lot of the horrible withdrawals to expect- actually someone mentioned Immodium on another site as a help in withdrawal???? never heard of that - did you? But any help and advice is welcome as i feel i am about to tackle Mount Everest! I am a DRY alcoholic - sober 23 years and i withdrew from that by myself cold turkey - dangerous i know .... so if i can kick the booze i sure as heck can kick the shakes, sweats, anxiety etc I just wondered if any of you great guys on here who are already on your journey of withdrawal or recovery have any tips for the first four or five days of withdrawal???? Any suggestions would be so appreciated. I am going to read a lot of your post here and the ones i have read have been inspiring Thanks in advance Maureen
Hi Lee I just put my first post on but its showing down at the bottom of this page - sorry have not mastered the format of this site yet- just signed up for starters lol Maybe you can get it below on public post Thanks in advance Maureen
So sorry folk Its new member Maureen again I seem to be making a big mess of getting my post in the right place so i will wait until i see if i get any replies Thanks guys
Hi Maureen
Welcome. So I had been taking codeine for around a year and half when I went cold turkey and managed to stay off codeine for about 5 months but unfortunately started taking again for short spells over the course of around 3 years. I have currently been taking codeine 10 tabs a day for around 3-4months I think and was planning on going cold turkey as I thought I didnt have the willpower to do a tappered plan. However I feel I am in better place and have more than halved my codeine dose over the course of a week. Currently taking 4 tabs (120mg) . Aiming to drop that to 2 tabs next week. I havent suffered any withdrawals doing this plan so far. When I have done the cold turkey - the first time was the worst time ever. Felt dreadful and literally couldnt move. Over the course of the years doing the cold turkey route hasn't been as dreadful but I haven't been on codeine for as long. I did use immoduim the first time as the diaarhoea was bad. I also took some vitamins and herbal sleep meds for the insomnia. I remember feeling flu symptoms and initially very tired. After that passed the headaches were intense and insomnia was bad. I also had bad diaarhoea which lasted around a month and lost loads of weight. hope thus helps and keep us updated on progress
Lee
Dear Lee Thank you so much for your reply I am planning on starting cold turkey on Monday- i dont really FEAR the withdrawal symptoms that much but dread the return of my back pain. However i also take tramadol with no addicition problems- can take it or leave it but left it on my script so perhaps if i up my tramadol dose and just suffer the withdrawal from codeine You might ask why i want to withdraw from codeine as i need a pill for pain - well i HATE that a tiny white pill is in control of me- but i still have pain and always will- surgery not an option so looks like i will have to just replace my codeine with tramadol and hope it does not get the same grip on me My doc has told me to take 400mgs tram per day along with my codeine so i know i cannont go over the 400 mgs of tram as thats the ceiling dose Yes I am a NURSE - how's that for getting bite in the ass! So naturally i have to take a week of work and do this in total secret I HAVE NEVER ABUSED THE HOSPITAL DRUGS AS MY DOC HAS ALWAYS GIVEN ME ENOUGH so i had no need to sneak around for them so from that point of view i was fine but the human resouraces board may not look at it that way Will keep in touch and good luck with your withdrawal -d o you have pain or is it for the buzz. Why tramadol wont bother me is that it never ever has given me a buzz whereas i am one of the unlukcy folk that metabolizes codeine into morphine in the liver and do get that lift Let me know how you are doing and thanks so much Maureen
hi LEE ,I admire your courage and determination and you know already the road ahead is not going to be an easy ride. Keep your child in focus but try to take things slowly .My neurologist consultant in LONDON and doctor both understand my determination to get off my strong addictive pain killers both cocodamol and pregablin both prescibed for severe chronic neuropathic path and familial hemoplegic migraine .Both acknowledge these drugs are highly addictive but here in the UK SADLY although now cbd.oil is legal for severe rare chronic pain illness thousands cannot get an NHS doctor to prescribe it even though the uk export s CBD OIL to EUROPE ! There is world wide proof cbdoil products can help relieve chronic pain better than most products and is not the happy chill out base leaf product but the refined oil .there is no high. advice given to me is to reduce the dosage l very slowly each time over several weeks at each stage ,hopefully reducing the horrible side effects of withdrawal which can be very dangerous health wise if done too quickly .I know how hard it is to come off very strong pain killers myself suffering the shakes , dizziness, nerve pain ,stomach cramps ,leg cramp spasms mood swings ,agitation anxiety and toilet troubles when ever i,m trying reducing both .Now under doctors advise and discussion I am reducing to half the size tablet fewer times a day only when absolutely needed for chronic pain ,reducing very slowly the times I take it a month .i aim to get it down from twelve to ten times a month then lower .i know its going to be long haul depression and very low moods can hit you if you reduce too fast .frustration can take hold and repressed anger at oneself can happen.I hope your doctor will help you .remember you are not alone there are thousands of chronic pain sufferers all over the world being legally given addictive drugs whilst less harmful less profit making drugs for the drug companies are being denied .I have offered myself for a trial in the BRITISH isles but no trials exist whilst we export the product across the globe .a very sad irony when very ill children are being denied cbd.oil here whilst businesses make huge profit exporting it .i believe several states in the US and in the EU including IRELAND not only legally prescribe the oil but also allow other products to be purchased and used openly .SURELY concern over peoples suffering should come before £ or $ .There has to be change of the thinking on the medical profession themselves as well as political redress .in the Uk millions of people are lobbying their members of parliament and their doctors .RESPONSIBILITY of prescribing very addictive non curative drugs whilst alternatives with curative properties exist is inhumane . the ££and$ mentality of cost does not help the sufferer . I SINCERELY wish you the very best in your efforts to improve your health away from addictive legally prescribed medication .I am thinking positively about the future but for all of those addicted to pain killers helping each other perhaps is the best medicine ahead .
Hi Everyone Thought I would give you all an update of my progress. I think I was being naive to think I would be able to post daily. However, I am now 7 days free of codeine. The tapered regime didn’t work - when the codeine is there the temptation is too high. So no codeine in the house and just went for it. The withdrawals seem to be getting better everyday - headaches and insomnia are still there but improving. I feel mentally happier in myself now and feel no need for those tablets. Not saying I am completely there yet. The thought of being 7 days free of codeine used to give me palpitations just thinking about it and the withdrawals. But I seem to be over the worst of it I think. Think staying off them will be my biggest challenge as I always tend to venture down that route but I feel more mentally prepared. I have some very good quotes that I have stored when I feel unable. Anyway hope all is well with everyone.
Lee