Sorry to disagree with you there but if you stop taking opiods for a while your tolerance will go way down. Stop taking them long enough and it will go back to normal (what if was before you ever took opiods or narcotics in your lifetime). I have been addicted to these things for years now so I can tell you from experience. It does take a while but eventually tolerance does reverse just the way it devoe
lopes. Opiods or narcotics (vidodin,
percocet,
Tylenol 3,
ultram) develope tolerance quickly, but it also goes away quickly if you can stop taking it. You hear stories in the news all the time about heroin addicts who spent a lot of time in jail or else where, or just plain decided to quit drugs. Then when they got out of jail or decided to relapse they went back to the regular dose they used when they were a big time addict (and also had an extremely high tolerance) and went right back to using the same amount they used while they were using on a daily basis and end up overdosing because they dont have the tolerance they used to. I'm sure it's different for everyone depending on their body chemistry but tolerance does diminish after a while. They make drugs such as
fentanyl patches, which are somewhere between 80-100 times more potent than
morphine, to the point that it has to be measured in micrograms instead of milligrams that are only supposed to be used in opiod tolerant patiens because the drugs could kill a person from overdose who is not opiod tolerant. My mother in law uses them, and the warning on the box makes you aware of the fact that you need to be opiod tolerant, not just ten years ago, but recently because tolerance does go away. And the number one reason I know this is because of all the times I have had to go off of these drugs (prescription pain killers) for long periods of time and my tolerance went down for sure. I lived in a state where I got Medicaid so all my medical care was paid for. During that period of time I became addicted to painkillers, percocet, vicodin, darvocet, tylenol with
codeine, ultram anything I could get my hands on. If I was desperate enough, I would go to the doc and fake a really bad cough just to get a bottle of cought medicine with codeine in it. Well eventually I had to move to a different state because of life circumstances and they dont give out free health care (medicaid) like the state I lived in previously. I lived in this state for over two years without any health insurance and needless to say, didn't have any money to go see a doc or pay for prescriptions or any of the other things I would have needed to feed my addiction to pain killers. I suppose like many others I could have tried to find illegal drugs, or even try to just get heroin, but I went throught the withdrawal, got through it on my own, and didn't know anyone to get any drugs from since this was a move over 1200 miles accross the country. I just sort of ended up getting off the drugs since there was no way I could afford them and no way I knew of to get them. Now I cant tell you for sure how long it takes for tolerance to lower but I will get into that in a sec. I do know after a whle it DOES get back to normal. When I first lost my health insurance {medicaid} I was taking about 10-15
oxycodones a day for four months, and before that 15-20 vicodin a day, and darvocet and ultram and like I said before, anything I could get my hands on just to avoid the withdrawal. Well after I moved, I didn't have access to drugs anymore, which was a good thing for me in the long run. However,after 15 months, I had some visitors,and one of them takes Vicodin 5-500 for pain management. And as most of you know old habits die hard. It had been that long (at least 15 months) since I had taken any opiods whatsoever. Well of course, I decided to steal one of those Vicodin. We're talking about me, who used to be able to take 20 of those suckers a day, not to get high, I didn't feel high from them anymore, just felt normal. Well, I stole one of them, and took it. One Vicodin 5-500, and I know my tolerance had lowered a lot because just after taking that one pill,I was high as a kite. I couldn't beleive how good it made me feel. It was like the first Vicodin I ever took in my life, the one that made me feel like "hey, I could get addicted to these" Sadly, I have since moved back to the place where I get the free health insurance, so I have become addicted to the painkillers again. Not to mention the fact that now I live near the guy who takes Vicodin for pain management. Which is turning me into an awful person. I steal them from him all time. He is my stepdad, he has been so good to me, but I steal his pain pills. I have actaully gone to the extent of buying regular Tylenol that looks similar to his Vicodin and switched them with his Vicodin so I could have them. You would think you cant much lower than that but I have. I have someone close to me that has recently started taking the Fentanyl patch for pain management. For those of you who aren't aware of what that is, as I mentioned before, it is a one of the strongest opiods available. It is stronger than morphine,
demerol,
oxycontin, you name it. It is 80-100 times more potent than morphine. Well, I have stolen these patches from her several times. She hides them in different places, the most recent being her underware drawer, but I always find them. They help me avoid withdrawals when its too early to refill my prescription. Or I will just steal them to catch a buzz. I am such a horrible awful person. I have never heard of anyone being this bad. These are two people who I love dearly and who really need these drugs for their horrible awful pain, they need them just to function, and I steal them. I am in my mid 20's so I don't need them, I am just very addicted to them. I don't know what to do. No one knows about this. My parents, brother, husband, no one. I don't know what to do because they (especially my husband) can never find out. I always tell myselfe I am gonna quit,and taper down with the next script, but I never can. I just have to catch a buzz. It's the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning. I need pills. But anyway, the purpose of this thread is about tolerance, and I can tell you from personal experience that if you stop for a period of time, and let the withdrawal kick in, and then pass, you will be able to take one pill and it will get you high. I would give it two weeks to a month, and that should do it for you. The more time you give,l the more you lose your tolerance. That is one of my biggest fears is my tolerance. I am so opiod tolerant now, I have to take a whole bunch of pills just to feel normal. I don't even get the buzz I used to. I usedto feel like I could conquer all. I used to take a vicodin, may be two and be able to run five miles on my treadmill. Now I have to take that many or more just to feel normal. I really don't know what to do about this. People are gonna figure out I steal drugs (some of those drugs are exremely powerfull((the fentanyl) that they REALLY need and I will lose everything...my husband (who I love dearly, he is my soulmate), my young 6 year old daughter who wouldn't be able to survive without me since I am a stay at home mom, or me without her, my mom, my stepdad especially since he doesn't have any tolerance what so ever for thieves, and he is the one I steal from the most. I cant believe I have been so desperate to switch his Vicodin with regular Tylenol that looks similar to his Vicodin. How awful is that? I have been browsing this board for a while and I have never seen anyone who has done that. I am awful. But anyway, this thread is about
hydrocodone tolerance, and thought I may be nothing but a junkie, hydrocodone tolerance does go away. Sometimes when I can get it, I wait for the withdrawal to start (which I realize is awful) and then if you wait for that, I guess your tolerance must go down a little because when I do that, like cant get some for a while, and go into withdrawal, as soon as I take a pill, I fell good, like I actually get a buzz. I just want to add one thing. Being tolerant to opiods scares me to death and this is why. What if you get cancer? What if you end up in horrible car accident? There are so many horribly painful conditions that can happen to you. And then what will happen to you. They won't be able to control your pain. During one of the periods I was addicted to opiod painkillers I had to go to the ER for my appendix and have it removed surgically since it was infected. This was during one of the times I was addicted to painkillers. Since I was addicted to them, my tolerance was so high because I was taking so many a day it was next to impossible to control my pain with the high tolerance I had. They kept telling me if this doesn't control your pain were really sorry but anything more can affect your breathing and kill you. So I really want to stop and get on track with these drugs just in case I really need them some day. I just don't kinow how to stop, and I don't think I can ever tell my husband. And I know I can never tell the poeple I love dearly that I stole their drugs because they arenot hte understanding types and will never forgive me. Especially my stepdad since I didn't just steal his Vicodin, I actually swithced them with pills I bought at walmart that look almost the same jsut so I could swith them and have some Vicodin. Sorry to ramble on and on but I do hope I was able to answer you question. Tolerance does go down a little at a time. More so depending on the person since everyone is differnt. But tolerance does go down, I know that from my own personal experience. So just give it some time. Seriously, give it a month with no opiod pain killers,then takeone. If you are taking them for the buzz, you'll be glad you did it.
hydrocodone tolerance 
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