[circlhill]

Hello all, I was recently prescribed Norco for knee pain. The doc gave me 90 pills, up to three per day. A few months ago I went through two scripts of Hydrocodone. My question is: How long can I take this stuff without having intense physical withdraws–6 months, a year? It works great, but after reading other people's experiences I'm worried that I will end up in worse shape. Thanks for any advice!

[Kaidog]

circlhill:

The time in which one becomes dependent upon any drug varies greatly from person to person. The important thing to remember is that Norco's are extremely addictive period. I am speaking from a long, 7 or 8 year romance with them.

Usually, a person who is taking Norco's for any length of time in excess of a few weeks to a month or so, will develop a dependence upon them, even if that person is taking them exactly as prescribed.

A real tell-tale sign would be if you find yourself taking them more frequently or at a higher dose to achieve the same level of pain relief, you are developing a tolerance to them. This tolerance is unavoidable with all opiates.

Lastly, the dose you indicated appears to be rather low but if you hop over to the pain killer addiction thread, you will read about many who have experienced horrible difficulties getting away from them at a similar dose. Also, they are unbelievably deceptive. Because of the pain relief (a good thing) and the energy levels they afford us (another good thing), we are deceived into thinking that the pill usage itself is also a good thing. Hence, very quickly we find that we escalate from 3 or 4 pills a day to 8 then 10 or 12. Eventually I found myself taking 30 or 40 a day and no longer got any measure of pain relief or any of the energy I so desired. I was only taking that many to keep the withdrawals at bay.

Proceed with extreme caution. It is a road filled with dangers.

[circlhill]

Wow! 7-8 years is a long romance, especially these days. Congratulations on your new abstinence. Thanks for your info it helps a lot. Maybe every few days I will take 3 days off or so. At least this should keep my tolerance down some. The only problem I've noticed thus far is trouble sleeping, if I cut them out. Although, on these nights I am inclined to have a glass of wine or two and this helps. My poor liver!! Tell me, how were you able to get clean after 7-8 years, and how is it that a doctor was willing to prescribe (if the case) this drug for such a long period?

[pdxRx]

Originally Posted by circlhill

Wow! 7-8 years is a long romance, especially these days. Congratulations on your new abstinence. Thanks for your info it helps a lot. Maybe every few days I will take 3 days off or so. At least this should keep my tolerance down some. The only problem I've noticed thus far is trouble sleeping, if I cut them out. Although, on these nights I am inclined to have a glass of wine or two and this helps. My poor liver!! Tell me, how were you able to get clean after 7-8 years, and how is it that a doctor was willing to prescribe (if the case) this drug for such a long period?

I will just added that I am kicking only a 5-6 Norcs/day habit, and it is not easy, I haven't really slept in about 12 days. I understand the need to take them for pain, thats where i started. But it became pleasure before long. When and if your injury heals, kick the pills to the curb!

[Baby Steps]

Hey KAI KAI and PDX... Great Advice...