Cold Turkey 4 days in and feeling relatively ok!

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Just wanted to put out there my story and gain any advice that people can offer me. been addicted to codeine for 5 years now and have known for ages that i had to stop, and recently ive been attempting to taper but after so many false starts where i would cut down to 5 a day etc i would cave and jump up to my more regular dose of 12-15 30mg tabs every night. i have been on the sick from work following knee and elbow surgery and I have worried lately that this would eventually affect my marriage and end up losing my family etc as i would normally sit up till 2-3 am feeling euphoric while my wife would go to bed at 10 ready for work the next day thus meaning our physical relationship has suffered. however i had not planned to go cold turkey as the fear of withdrawels petrified me. for a reason unknown to me i suddenly decided to stop last thursday night. It has coincided with me suffering a very heavy flu like cold which had started before i stopped the pills. however after 4 days in and whilst i am feeling relatively drained i feel as though i just have a heavy cold and so far i have had no real desire to collapse back onto the drugs. my current symptoms are. Lethargy, a bit loose on the toilet, feeling fluey but not too bad. a bit emotional thinking about my children and grandson (but this actually helps as i keep telling myself that i will be able to be a far better granddad to my 2 y/o grandson who idolises me and me him.) a bit insomnia waking up about 5 but lying awake till morning. other than this i dont feel to bad at all and what is strange is that in the past when i have just gone one day without the drug the withdrawals were awful and far worse. i am unsure why this time i feel relatively OK and from what i understand at this point after 4 days things should start getting better day by day. luckily my appetite has not suffered at all so i am eating well, juicing healthy fruits and eating veg, taking vitamins etc so i can see the benefits of ridding my self of this drug. I just wonder when the lethargy will start to ease as to me this is what has dominated my life for so long. i long for the morning when i wake up full of energy and step outside at 7 am breath the beautiful air and know that i am truly over this addiction. a little bit of inspiration that has helped me was reading a book called "recovery Freedom from our addictions)" by Russell Brand. theres lots of little wise comments in there when the cravings hit such as thinking about where you would be in one hour after giving in and taking the pills. Basically meaning in as little as an hour your buzz would be over and you'd be back to square one again. One other bit of personal advice i would like to give anybody who is currently going through what i am is to remove the problem from the equation, if like me you cannot fully bring yourself to get rid of the vile toxic pills. then remove them to somewhere that makes it more difficult to get to them. I have an allotment which is around 1 mile away from my home. i have stored the pills there. it has worked well for me as i know they are there if i should need them but as my routine was a night taker there is no way i would be able to go and get them when i would need them, subsequently knowing i cannot get to them helps curb the craving as if they are downstairs in my cupboard its simply a 30 sec trip down the stairs to collapse!! may not work for everyone but if this helps at least one person then thats great.

Thanks for reading and would love any feedback that can help me be one of the lucky ones.

Neil x

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  • Posted

    Just a quick update on day 9 now and still doing well, mostly all symptoms gone now although the lethargy is still gripping me. just waiting for a rush of energy . On friday i visited my allotment and burned my 200 remaining tablets (very proud of myself. Very little cravings for the drug and sleep just about starting to settle. i think i have beaten this drug.

    still looking for advice re. energy etc

    Thanks

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