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STOPPING DYHYDROCODIENE

  1. I suffer from severe back pain which is the reason I was prescribed the horrid adictive opium based drug in the first place back in 1990 like some of the experiences on this site I started to take them when the pain killing effect wore off therefore was taking them three hourly instead of fours hours and they still did help me I also went through two years of menopause where I only slept every other night therefore was also taking them through the night as well. Like a lot of people I did not read instructions of this drug and trusted my doctor which I will never do again I am not blaming the docter as I am guilty of oversubscribing myself but got so badly depressed I took an overdose of various pill but did not work which I am grateful now as I was being totally selfish to my family by doing this also have been on prozac for a long time now which will be my next challenge. I cut myself of from all of my friends would rather stay in the house than go out got done for shop lifting a few plasters out of a packet cannot explain why totally out of charater for my luckily only got a caution, have cried more tears than a river over stupid things self analised all of the time had loads of counselling also the new positive treatment counseling nothing worked. This drug has wasted eighteen years of my life through my own stupidity. Then I was watching one of these police raid programmes on tv one night when they found these tablets in a house which the people were dealing could not believe this so started to look them up and discovered they are opium based panic I decided then they had to stop. So I was on ten a day so went back to the four hours between tablets did get symtoms unable to go out due toilet problems pound shop sell ultra calm so bought several packets also bought a heated mains tenns machine and also heat pads from the pound shop which helped with the pain, the following week managed to stretch out to only taking six it was hard but the feeling of the change in my mood I felt like a new person which gave me the will power to go through all the side effects I was suffering two weeks later dropped to three pills a day side effects again but got through them due to my personnality change then stopped the afternoon one for a week then the morning one for a week and finally on the 13 of this month stopped them all together and will never take them again its been really tough but possible I have probablly done this to quickly and would advise others to take longer as the side effects could be easier. The only problem I have now is that I cannot sleep very well but do not get the panic attacks in the middle of the night like I used too when I get really tired I sleep then my only problem now is that I have to get an injection for my pain but there is no appointments available at the pain management clinic so I have no idea how long I have to wait so will carry on with heat pads and tens machine. I am a totally different person now more confident no more tears or depression even going to Cyprus to see my daughter and grandaughter next month. Hope this helps somebody else its really worth it say no to any codiene.

  2. :shock: How come no one has responded to this post? It is brilliant. It has given me hope in life reading this. May be I can get off these meds? I am desperate to come off them but kind of accepted my declining health and hopeless addiction. I have been waiting to die for so long. I lost a lifetime through taking these and thats not kidding. I am 36 and have been on these tablets since I was 22. Prescribed at first for endometriosis, then had dvt discovered I had protein S deff, caused several more dvt's then a few PE's then the final almighty hit when I had 3 PE's (blood clots in my lung) that became infected, I got pneumonia and my body shut down I was put into a medical coma and my family were told I was NOT waking up ever again. On a life support machine in ICU while my temp just kept boiling and my body swelled like a blowfish until I didnt look like me at all. But I did, wake up, I couldnt speak, or write, or walk, had bed sores, and needed a hospital bed and pressure care matress for nearly two years. Now I walk with a stick, I lost and regained all my hair, lost some teeth, look like death and I suffer terribly with pain but my addiction to the DF118s is far far worse and has cost me so much. My marriage, my daughter (a miracle I was blessed with despite my health) my career (oh yes, I was a nurse, a sister actually) my home, almost my family as they could not cope with the emotional traumatic rollercoaster ride I kept putting them on. I never intended to get so hooked but I did and needed more and more to get rid of the pain until I was finding other ways of getting them to keep up with my needs. My prescriptions were running out THREE WEEKS EARLY. Thats a huge problem. I was giving up on life. Tonight has been my lowest ebb. I had managed four whole days without any df118 until my script came in the post and I almost ran to get them....sadly I will only ever almost run because my legs are so badly damaged now due to complications of heparin injections when I could not take warfarin anymore. They caused skin abcesses as the df118 killed my immune system, this led to lots of surgery huge cavities that take months to heal and are painfully packed every day. And of course the 6 DVT's havent helped much. It has been a very bad place living in my life. My greatest fear is that I have passed on some kind of anxious/addictive personality to my little girl who is the only sunshine in my life. She is just 7 and has been visiting me in hospital most of her life. She has witnessed a lot of horrible things. She counts every step and gets anxious if she hasnt landed on an even number. Anxiety behaviour I know and I know I have caused this. I have felt like I have been already in hell and then I read this and cant help wondering why no one has responded to such honest and sound advice/experience. This is like a ray of sunlight in a very dark place to me. I am going to try it. Soon. I wonder, I wonder if there just might be a way out of this after all for me? Thank you for this post. I feel hope somewhere my heart once was right now because I read this. So thank you very much. How terribly sad that no one has responded to this honesty yet. This is hope people. Real proper hope. In a hopeless situation that is a life jacket. :o

  3. Hi, I have read the last two blogs refering to addiction to dihydrocodeine. I have taken them for a lot of years and ONLY do so for pain, nothing else; unfortunately others take them again and again for the 'high'. The high is enjoyed and some then says,' I want lots more the high is great'!

    Many, many people take these tablets only for excruciating pain like myself and thank the doctors who prescribe them, for people like me, so we can live an normal life.

    Why don't people who know they 'love' the tablet for the high not stop before addiction begins, to me that makes sense, not to take more and more. If the drug doesn't suit you, stop it! But do remember there are responsible people who religiously take the drug for pain, as prescribed and thank their lucky stars they get relief, and not for the 'high'.

    Ron.

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