[ghostsurfer4]

HI, MY NAME IS TAMI, I AM GHOSTSURFER4,S DAUGHTER.
I AM HAVING A REALLY BIG PROBLEM WITH PAIN MEDS, SUCH AS VICODEN, PERCOCET, ANYTHING THAT CAN MAKE ME FEEL BETTER.
I HAVE BEEN ON VICODEN FOR THE PAST 8YRS, IT STARTED OUT AS JUST 3 A DAY, BUT THROUGH OUT TIME I NOW TAKE ANYWHERE BETWEEN 10 AND 12 A DAY.
I TRULY DO KNOW THAT I AM DOING HARM TO MYSELF, AND I KNOW ITS NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER UNTIL I ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
I,VE HAD PEOPLE TELL ME TO GO INTO THE HOSPITAL FOR METHODONE TREATMENT, BUT IM STILL SO AFRAID THAT I,LL GET IN THERE AND THEY WILL TAKE ME OFF OF THE VICODEN, AND I WILL TOTALLY LOSE MY MIND, AND NEVER COME OUT OF IT.
I HAVE TRIED TO CUT DOWN ON THE VICODEN BY MYSELF, BUT IT HASNT WORKED, IM ALL READY GETTING TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION, AND PANIC DISORDERS. AND I,VE ALWAYS BEEN SCARED OF HOSPITALS, EVEN WHEN I HAD MY TWO KIDS I HAD TO HAVE SOMEONE STAY THERE WITH ME THE WHOLE TIME.
IT SCARES ME SO BAD TO THINK OF BEEN IN A HOSPITAL ALL ALONE, TRYING TO COME OFF OF PAIN KILLERS. AND NOT HAVING SOMEONE THERE WITH ME THAT I TRUST TOTALLY.
I JUST THOUGHT MAYBE SOMEONE MIGHT HAVE SOME ADVICE AS WHAT I SHOULD DO. AND HOW TO DO IT.???
I DO NEED HELP, IM JUST SO AFRAID OF THE UNKNOWN.
THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TO READ THIS.
TAMI

"Be strong...and work; for I am with you," says the Lord of hosts.

[cluelessNJ]

There are many options.. Contact your doctor. Enter a rehab. I went cold turkey but I don't recommend it because you don't know what other problems can result. I went 4 days cold turkey finally got the balls to call my doctor and he gave me kilopins just so I don't have a seizure (I don't write this to scare anyone, I have an irregular heartbeat). Your going in the right direction seeking help!

[sweetchikk05]

Well my dear, you dont necesarilly have to go into the hospital, they have methadone clinics everywhere, not an option for myself because the closest one is over 50 miles away, but there might be some near you if you were thinking of methadone treatment, you can also get them from your dr if you dont feel comfortable, but I can tell you from my own individual experiance, when I started taking methadone, I never went back to the vics, unless they were the only thing I could get my hands on, the good thing about methadone is they take away your cravings for the vicodin, at least when you are taking them, and another thing about the methadone clinics, its not a hospital, at first you do have to go there every day to get your dose of medicine, plus from what I hear, they test your urine to make sure you arent taking anything else, so that would be better for you then going into the hospital, besides Ive never heard of a hospital that treats with methadone unless your already on it and out of your meds, so check it out, I am sure there is a clinic in your area, at least talk with them they might be able to help you, and they arent very expensive from what I hear eithr, something like 10$ a day if you dont have insurance but thats not too bad, I know when I was using I spent up to 20 a day just to purchase my pills..so look and to it, let us know what you find out, and how your treatment is going, you will be in my prayers, although I dont know your name so I will refer to you as ghostsurfer4's daughter...
keep in youch, take care...
Liz Ann

[Banze]

Ask your doctor for Suboxine it is primarlly for opiod use, I too was asicted to Vicodin for 7 years and have been off it for 20 days. MEthadone is not a good choice, I have heard awful things about it and its harder than hell to get off it once you are on it, besides have you ever heard of Methadonia, zombie people, you dont want to go that route.
Suboxine is the new drug for opiod users, Vicodin, Lortab, Percocid,,,etc. It is wonderful, after your first dose your withdrawl symptoms are gone just like that, it really works that well. Suboxine is also an opiod blocker, so if you took Vicodin while on it, it either wouldnt work at all, or would make you very sick. I take 8mg od Suboxine a day and it helps with my cravings, and withdrawls. You will have withdrawls from Suboxine when you decide to come off it but nothing compared to Vicodin withdrawls, or Methadone withdrawls for that matter, and your doctor will put you on a realy good maintanence/taper program that lasts about 3 months and it isnt that bad in the long run. The only cons I see with Suboxine is its expensive, 30 pills are $100 for people w/o insurance. Check on Suboxine.com and they will give you a list of doctors in the US that are allowed to prescribe suboxine, and pharmacys that dispense it, not many do. Plese just stay away from the methadone your just asking for trouble.
How you chose to get on Suboxine is your choice. Another major down side is you have to be in major withdrawls to take your first dose or it wont work. Usually about 72 hrs after your last Vicodin, i know it sounds rough but it works. If you take it before you are in withdrawls the Suboxine will flush out the Vicodin in your system and launch you into mega withdrawls that the mediation cant help. So be honest with your doctor and it will really help you.
I chose to go to a detox center which I dont recommend. They were jerks, and it sucked, I hate hospitals, group therapy, and all that ****. If I could go back and do it over again I would just have contacted a doctor on the Suboxine website and worked with them, it would have been a lot easier, and I would have been at home and not in a hospital surrounded by strange people. But its up to you, its nice that you now can get Suboxine w/o having to go to detox or rehab, but its up to you. I now see a therapist once a week and got to Pill Annpymous meetings, its tough but its working and each day gets better.
So I wish you the best of luck, I totally understand your problem and your fear, but try Suboxine DEFENTIELY before methadone, that stuff is outdated and dangerous.
How this helped!

[KizzieB]

Well i think first of all you need to stop saying to yourself that you need them cos u dont know right now , your judement is clouded by the drugs. you are an addict that has come on this forum for help so read through and admit to yourself you are an addict that is after a high and there is no harm in that we all do it, booze, fags, chocolate, drugs, everyone in the world has an addiction of some kind so chill out.

10 or more a day is bad and you are aware of that, the conditions you can develop from this type of drug abuse is bad, i know i am suffering them and i will not get better.

you may one day take the very dose that you dont wake up from...

what do you want on your grave stone cos you better let your reletives know now.

i dont mean to be nasty, thats not how i want to come accross to you, i just need you to see what you are doing and to re-evaluate your habbits and life style

hospital is not the answer for you, i did it cold turkey with my hubby as my carer, he is my rock.

water,fruit,raw veg and salads help alot, hot baths every day as often as you wish and lots of good books ans films.

do alot of laughing and help relaese those lost and dulled endorphins.

7 days max is as long as it takes to get through you and its worth it.

you will need the following:

strong antidiarhia medication like diacalms, can get over counter.
paracetamol, no more than 3 every four hours for sweats and aches.
some one to talk to about your withdrawal, like this forum or your partner.

first day is easyest, no pain no cramps or anyting just annoying is all
second day is the worst, you will wake up with major tummy cramps , take diacalms ,2 of them and drink plenty clear fluid and juices.
third day cramps are lots better but may have head ache. use paracetamols every 4 hours.
fourth day no cramps but aches and sweats with a feeling of tingles going up from the centre of your back to the top of your head, this is your nerver system re-awakening, keep taking the paracetamol.
fith day iritable mostly while trying to sleep less sweats and chills less aches but only take the paracetamol as and when you need it now.
day six , you will want to get up and do a little so do something simple but like the day before you will still suffer a little but each day is so much better.
day seven the worst is over now you start to find a new addiction, a positive one like chilling with a puzzle book or a magazine, what ever it is make it a good one.

once an addict always an addict, you can never have anything with the smallest ammount of codine in ever again or your right back where you started from.

good luck and god bless.

kizzie.b.

Everything happens for a reason.................

[lordy]

Hi Tami,
First, you have to believe that you can do this. People all over the world survive opiate w/d, everyday. I'm only 9 days clean, and that first week sucked-- but no more than childbirth-- you are so much stronger than you think.
It's true, as someone else mentioned, that your brain is clouded with the drugs right now-- your brain has been chemically altered, and it will tell you, for a long time, that you "need" the drugs. But that is just your addicted brain talking; and as you get further from the pills, your healthy brain will start to get distracted and interested in other things...
Imagine if it was one of your kids telling you about their addiction. (I have two small sons, and this logic works for me). As hopeless as they felt, you would encourage them and *know,* from the bottom of your heart, that their lives didn't have to be messed up, let alone *forever*. Recognizing you have a problem is the very first step, of course, and you've already taken that. Think how nice it will be to live a life w/o the expense, shame, and cloudiness of pills. I can look at my own use over the last few years and see, absolutely, that I simply (and because of the pills) do less then I used to: less exercise, less time w/friends, less hobbies, less reading, less learning new things. All because opiates made me happy (in the short term); made me not care, at all, about long-term growth. I can't live that way anymore. I am depressed about that-- it's like my best friend has died-- but people lose loved ones every day, and so I can bear this.
It will be hard, early on. Please write soon. You can do it, is the thing! I PROMISE.

Nicole

[sweetchikk05]

Hey Tami, havent heard from you yet, how are things going?? I have been thinking about you, I keep checking this post to see if you have responded but you havent..please let us know how you are doing..

Liz Ann