addiction

You have to ever so slowly reduce the dose you take, you will literally need to file little bits off the pills to reduce their dosage, its as bad as being addicted to heroin to be honest :?

I had the same problem with these tablets. I am a drug worker for the criminal justice service and was given DF118 whilst waiting for back surgery after an injury. To get off the drugs you need to go cold turkey, and yes it's hard but noone ever died of opiate withdrawal. I experienced complete withdrawal such as a heroin addict would. Shaking legs, stomache cramp, headaches, moodswings and flu like symptoms. The worst part to deal with is the psychological addiction. You can access day programmes at your local drug services to help deal with this side of things. It's best to go through it and stop them now rather than wait until your liver gives up from the hepatoxic effects of an opiate.

hi, ive just read some of the posts and this one im replying to as really made me think,i have just been prescribed these tablets to take along with some migraines tablets and from what i ahve read and i am very grateful toall of you that as posted..i dont think i will be taking them any more,i only take them as and when,but when i have read the side effects from these tablets i allready have some of them..

[quote:55e08a2346=\"michael\"]Will someone please help me ? i was prescribed DHD after knee surgery 3 yrs ago with my dosage being six ,30 mgs per day.

Iam over my knee pain but have found it hard to stop the DHC

i now take anything upto 18 aday just to get the BUZZ they give cos if i dont have them i cold turkey so bad i thurts i get shivers ,tremble and really bad mood swings and find it hard to cope without them !

i am totally addicted to this horrible but effective drug and would love some sound advice on how to get off it ! please help me ?[/quote:55e08a2346]

Sorry to hear of your addiction to DHC.

I am also sadly dependent on DHC (as I am prescribed 6x60mg per day for chronic neck pain). I can say that I have never \"had a buzz or got high on this medication\" but only constipated.

[b:55e08a2346]May I suggest that you seek qualified medical help - as it is the only way [/b:55e08a2346]to ensure that your reduction of DHC is done in a correctly controlled method (as not too shock your system nor to trigger any other conditions)

Wish you good luck

:wink:

I unfortunately have a similar problem, but one of my own making. Thankfully I am coming off them slowly with my GP's assistance. I started taking them while off work and depressed, they totally blotted out all bad feelings, however I couldn't see it then, but my behaviour was pretty erratic.

Actually started on Kaolin & Morphine which you can buy OTC, but mentioned DHC to a mate one day and he said he could get me some. The K&M wasn't actually as unpleasant to stop as the DHC so I'd use it when DHC ran out, to offset symptoms. Still, difficult to stop - when you have a bottle you just tend to neck it.

Ended up costing a small fortune to maintain the habit, I eventually got the courage to ask my GP directly for help. He started me on 240mg daily of codeine which very slightly eased the symptoms, but not nearly enough. After 2 weeks he agreed to put me on 240mg DHC daily and reduce it by 30mg (1 tablet)/ week on condition I don't \"supplement\" or \"substitute\" which helps me, as I don't mind following sensible rules.

This has still not been easy and the temptation is always there - I sometimes think cold turkey is better if you can spare the 5 - 6 days of being too ill to really function.

If you don't want to see your GP then I would suggest J Collis Browne's TABLETS, not liquid as it's too tempting to neck. Start out with as many as you need to feel reasonably OK and cut down by about 1 tablet every few days - it's nowhere near as bad as DHC withdrawal, but more expensive as they're about £4/ 18 and you can easy take 36 a day at first. They have a small amount of Morphine in them but they're slow to eat and so easier to ration. Don't really get much of a hit, however they do stave off virtually all the symptoms, I did use them successfully to stop completely several times - you have to remember that this stuff is very like tobacco - very few people can just have the odd cigarette, especially if they were once a regular smoker - they will invariably go right back on them. DHC is the same - no \"last hit\" or \"one more time\" or whatever other plausible excuse your brain cooks up to justify it - and don't you hate that your brain fools you every time into taking it?!

I've made myself start exercising 4-6 times a week, that seems to be helping more than anything - replacing the artificial DHC endorphins with my own naturally produced ones. Takes around 2 weeks to start working, but it really helps your mood and willpower.

Good luck quitting,

I'd be interested to see any reply/ opinion.

:shock: Hi, sadly the addiction to these df118's is all over the world. I took them for Migraines and to be honest the pain was terrible and i was addicted to them. My doctor who prescribed them to me (400+ a month) when he found out i was now an addict he prescribed me Methadone and i had no clue what all these drugs were. I took bad advice from my doctor who i trusted and i now take 160mg daily of Methadone, in truth he put me and my family through hell. After he found out i was an addict he told me not to come see him again or he would strike me off the doctors register. Now taking the Methadone my Migraines are a lot less and when they do come on i give myself an injection of Imigran. Being an addict isnt the worst thing in life seeing your kids call someone else dad is. Ween yourself of the codeine gradualy and go for walks anything to get your mind away from your meds. God bless

[i:892785da24]Its not that easy [/i:892785da24]when you have a terminal chronic pain condition, which is why it all started in the first place !

Regards

I was taking dihydrocdeine for back pain, and was like everyone mentioned totally hooked for months on these pain killers, I managed to wean myself off them, but it took months of gradually cutting down to be totally free of them. If in future i need some relief from the pain i will never take these tablets they could be dangerous for me as i think i have an addictive nature.

i am now on my 4th day without dhc It has been very difficult as iv been trying to do this since the end of june and had lots of conflicting advice

Im still off work as i have been experiencing depression and mood swings along with all the flu type symptoms and extreme agitation etc every time i try to cut down. What i had to do was take 60mg 4 x a day then when i felt reasonably able to cope i cut down by 1 tab per week you can also half them if you need to do it more slowly.When i got down to 3 tabs i just stopped them which was on sunday. Iv had the aching + mood swings balling at my poor husband who has taken time off work to support me.it has'nt been as bad as before,I'm taking lots of \"quiet life\" (like calms) and aromatherapy baths plus herbal nitol to sleep I know im not out of the woods yet but im determined to stay off them. My back pain is really bad now and I don't know how i will cope but i want my life back even with the pain

I'm trying to come off these at the moment and i am down to 30mg x three times a day and right now i feel like just giving up i feel so down :cry: i can't concentrate or anything,i feel totally useless :cry:

Hi, I must be the odd man out from the above posts regarding Dihydrocodeine. I have always taken the tablets as prescribed and in full dose daily as well as other analgesics and only thank the doctor for providing me with pain relief I badly need. It is easy to take more to get the 'high' and a lot of people do that. This is what then causes problems as 'oh! they are a terrible tablet'. I only know that my life has been made a bit better by using them and getting that pain relief so I may function daily.

May I add If the dihydrocodeine are a dangerous, horrible and lousy tablet why not stop them after taking the first one.

Best regards.

To finish on a positive note, know thyself. DHC has been a saviour in my pain control but I've had to manage dosage according to my personality type - control it rather than vice-versa.

This might seem pompous, and I apologise if it strikes you thus, but the drug helps me to function normally. We all have different body chemistry and adding DHC into your personal equation will mean that x = x+1. In the words of Toyah, \"It's a mystery...\" as to how it affects one.

Good luck with your personal battles, I believe you'll be fine.

Warm regards.

[quote:47e5437c35=\"DHC User \"][quote:47e5437c35=\"michael\"]Will someone please help me ? i was prescribed DHD after knee surgery 3 yrs ago with my dosage being six ,30 mgs per day.

Iam over my knee pain but have found it hard to stop the DHC

i now take anything upto 18 aday just to get the BUZZ they give cos if i dont have them i cold turkey so bad i thurts i get shivers ,tremble and really bad mood swings and find it hard to cope without them !

i am totally addicted to this horrible but effective drug and would love some sound advice on how to get off it ! please help me ?[/quote:47e5437c35]

Sorry to hear of your addiction to DHC.

I am also sadly dependent on DHC (as I am prescribed 6x60mg per day for chronic neck pain). I can say that I have never \"had a buzz or got high on this medication\" but only constipated.

[b:47e5437c35]May I suggest that you seek qualified medical help - as it is the only way [/b:47e5437c35]to ensure that your reduction of DHC is done in a correctly controlled method (as not too shock your system nor to trigger any other conditions)

Wish you good luck

:wink:[/quote:47e5437c35]

I'm sorry but you are in complete denial. Anyone who takes a substantial amount of an opiate based painkiller, and 360mg daily IS a substantial about, is bound to feel the buzz these drugs are notorious for.

I am prescribed DHC for a trapped nerve, and am definitely aware of the euphoria & relaxation I get after taking them. I really don't understand why people can't admit they feel a buzz, when its blatantly obvious you do.

look, the ONLY way to get off these meds (as with all addictions) is to decide not to take them anymore, i was on tramadol 50mg taking 8 at a time, plus heavy drinking.

got arrested for taking 2 hours to try and tie up my shoelaces on the street, falling over each time i took my hand off the ground, apparantly they were watching me on CCTV and laughing.

anyway, i decided to stop taking them, and drinking, and smoking.

now it doesnt so much matter the method you use (although i went cold turkey, 3 days and i could just about function enough to eat soup) its the mindset... my fiancee threatened to leave me and that was my mind made up... i still want to take them, i still want to drink... but i dont.

make up your mind, decide right now that whatever it is you take, you cant anymore... ever again...

then pick a method, cold turkey, 1 tab less a day (akin to cold turkey, call it cold turkey lite) or the 1 tab less a week method.

and the most important thing... dont be afraid to talk about it if you need to, but stay quiet if you dont.

I was a nurse and started taking these for a bad back, to cut a long story short I ended up addicted to DF118 for 30 years as the 'buzz' they gave me made me feel so wonderful. I went cold turkey horribly round about 100 times in total each time it took me 2 weeks to even begin feeling human again, then another 2 weeks for my natural pain killers to kick in. What a total waste of a life - 100 cold turkeys with a month recovery time with lots of panic inbetween times when I ran out of the drugs! In the end I ditched my career in order to get away from them and am finally clean. I have to be VERY careful to make sure I am NEVER put into a situation where drugs are available as I don't think I could stay clean.

I go to Narcotics Anonymous and for the first time in my entire adult life now feel I have a future. I am 50 years old.

My advice is don't start taking drugs like this in the first place. Also avoid Paramol available over the counter, they are just as addictive and the withdrawal is almost as bad.