Can anyone tell me approximately how it takes for bowel probs to subside when coming off co-codamol?

Like so many other people who have been prescribed co-codamol, its adverse effects on my bowel have been really bad. I've been taking it for almost five years now for a spinal issue and when, soon after starting them, I developed what was eventually diagnosed as IBS, not a single medic suggested that it could be down to the pills. Recently, however, I saw a colorectal consultant who said that it was almost certainly codeine causing my problems and that I should stop taking them if at all poss and see 'how things went'. I cut down from 3 doses of 30/500mg to 2 doses, from there to 45/500mg twice daily and, after 3 weeks at that level, decided I could stop them altogether ... and what a daft thing to do that was! Thought I was going bonkers until I found these posts and realised that I wasn't alone in experiencing all the weird and horrible sensations I was having because of the sudden withdrawal. However, I think, having read, what you've all said, that I can just about cope with that stuff, but what I'm finding truly difficult is managing the diarrhoea. Within an hour or two of eating, I'm visiting the bathroom every 30 minutes or so for the rest of the day - and it's really explosive too! Sorry to be graphic about that, but if anybody out there has experienced this and could give me a clue as to how long it might last, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to write these posts, they've helped me no end.

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