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Cocodamol tapering off

Posted , 10 users are following.

lyndsy26237
lyndsy26237

Hi all , not sure if some will remember me on here a good few months ago taking approx 10-15 30mg cocodamol every day for about 7 years , I tried cold turkey on New Years to no avail , but am now down to approx 3 solpadeiene Max 2 times a day , so 6 tablets approx a day , I had a few down falls along the way , but am getting there , but am really feeling it lately , with cold like symptoms , feeling generally rotten .. But as soon as I pop 3 pills I'm back on top form so it is clearly withdrawal

I'm going to Vegas in September and starting to really panick that if I take some with me ( for emergencies ) if I'm not fully off them by then which I do hope to be !.. Just in case , that customs may take them off me and il be in hell for 10 days ... And not enjoy my holiday , I can't just come off them I know that as my body just shuts down I feel like death .. Any suggestions , tips , please , have you been to Vegas also , do they confiscate them ???? Please help ...

1 like, 26 replies

26 Replies

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  • jo57386
    jo57386 lyndsy26237

    Posted

    She is damaging her liver with the paracetamol she could overdose on that. Does she feel nauseous? Let me think on it overnight and will msg you tomorrow its 1.40am here at mo x
  • nikki48530
    nikki48530 lyndsy26237

    Posted

    Hey lyndsy,

    If it were me I would use your holiday as further inspiration to get off the pills.

    I know the fear. I feared going into detox more than I feared death. Try not to think of what you haven't done yet and focus on how well you have done. You should be so bloody proud of yourself. Opiates are one of the hardest drugs to come off.

    I was taking codeine for 9 years and went cold turkey twice. It is hard... That's putting it mildly. I got 5 days in, hadn't slept a wink and was ready to take drastic measures to get rid of my restless legs. I'm talking like sawing my legs off and knocking myself out.

    I decided to go talk to the doctor instead haha. He prescribed me a medication called "Lyrica". It's an anti convulsant used to treat epilepsy and nerve pain. Within an hour of my first dose my restless legs were gone. It helped me get a few hours sleep too.

    It made the rest of my detox so much more bearable. Keep in mind though, you will still feel tired and crappy.

    I promise you your holiday will be so much more enjoyable if you're clean. You can do it mate.

    Take it eazy chicken sqeezy

    Nikki

    • lyndsy26237
      lyndsy26237 nikki48530

      Posted

      Hi Nikki thank you so much for your reply I'm only just seeing this so sorry didn't get a notification 🙄.. Grrr .. I'm hoping to be clean by September .. Really trying some days are worse than others , I am worse of at bed time .. As I get a great nights sleep when Iv had a few tablets .. Say 5 30mg every night ... I'm gradually cutting it down .. But some days like I say are worse than others ... Once my stomach starts hurting and I need to rush to the toilet for you know what ... It gets me down , it's like poison in my stomach sometimes , then a few pills later I'm back on top form .. No headache no nothing .. I hope I get there one day I really do .. Can I ask the drug you took from doctor can I get it in the uk ??? Xx
    • nikki48530
      nikki48530 lyndsy26237

      Posted

      Haha that's OK. Mine gives me some notifications and not others too.

      I never bothered trying to commit to tappering because like u said, as soon as I felt crummy I'd shove a few extra pills in my gob. I got so bad at one point I'd take 30 pills at once which was so harsh on my stomach they'd all just come straight back up. I'd wait half an hour (longer depending on the neasea) and take another handful.

      Don't be too rough on yourself. It's not as simple as choosing not to take it. Your brain chemistry has changed. It doesn't just want the high. It needs the high to feel "normal".

      As far as I'm aware Lyrica is available in the UK. It may under the name "pregabalin". If not there's other similar medications such as gabbapentin. If you can get a prescription for one of these I'm willing to bet you could go cold turkey. It's one of the only reasons I stuck it out. The restless legs and insomnia always killed me. I dunno how much longer my sanity would have held up if I didn't take the lyrica haha

      Even if you can only cut out one pill, it's a huge accomplishment.

      You will get there hun. I have faith! smile

  • jo57386
    jo57386 lyndsy26237

    Posted

    How are you going with your tapering Lyndsy? Jo xx
    • lyndsy26237
      lyndsy26237 jo57386

      Posted

      Hi jo , thanks for asking for me ,, well I think I'm slowly getting there , some days though are just too tough , once the withdrawals kick in its tough going , especially when you've a home to run , 3 dogs and a full time job .. Being on the loo for an hour at the time clutching my stomach is just a no no .. 😢..

      It's at bed time I struggle the most ... How are you getting on ?? Xx

  • JaydJames91
    JaydJames91 lyndsy26237

    Posted

    Hey Lyns!

    How's it going?

    I hope you're doing well! Having started my journey last June I was so proud of myself and thinking how daft It had been to ever let myself get on the cocodomol in the first place! Then some months ago I had a headache in work and asked for some paracetamol off a coworker as I didn't carry tablets anymore!

    Then these two little red pills appeared on my desk - I knew straight away they were solpodeine max tablets! I'd been abusing them long enough to know what they looked like! I figured hey I've done so well I'm obviously clean - why can't I take them to rid me of my headache! It's only two I used to take 10 at a time!

    Baaaaad move!!!! As soon as I got that floaty warm feeling running through me (off only two!!) it was as if I'd never stopped! That was it! I bought a pack and you know the rest.

    But then after a week or so I gave my head a serious shake and asked what the heck I was doing. What id been through to get off them - what I'd tried to do to help others. I was ashamed. Went through it all again and now I know I can never take anything with codeine in it again!

    We are all only human. I felt ashamed I'd sat on this website telling people it does get better and it does get easier only to fall back into the same trap! I am once again clean and healthy and I can only hope that you continue your taper. Mine wasn't as bad the second time as I realised what I was doing and that I had to stop before it became a serious problem again!

    Trust me - life is so much better. Crack on with your taper and don't you give up! The symptoms do go away. The headaches do get easier. And you will get through this. I believe in you! And you need to be ready for Vegas Baby! The chicken wings in hooters (just across from the MGM) are the best - go at happy hour and drinks are 241! And if you get down to Fremont street the zip line is a must do!

    Good luck. We're all in this together!

    Jayd X

  • Lulu80
    Lulu80 lyndsy26237

    Posted

    Please please try and stick to your taper of that's the way you have chosen, but maybe speak to your GP to see if they can help you with a taper that's not going to be as bad as it seems to be for you just now?

    I did it cold turkey, tapering was never ever going to work for me as I know that any tiny excuse would be enough to make me reach for just one extra !

    I won't lie the cold turkey wasn't the best time of my life and i took it a minute/hour/day at a time, to be honest after 48 hours in there was no hope of me using again as I was in no fit state to get to a chemist!

    The sleeping was the worst issue for me and my GP did give me a very short course of sleeping tablets to help with getting my brain back to a normal sleeping pattern, they did work and actually getting a sleep made me feel so so much better.

    You know the thing that made me realise I will never ever use again is that my husband told me 3 weeks after stopping codeine that he felt like he has his wife back, i was funny again, a laughed and had fun again, he had spent the previous years thinking I was having an affair, i was but my affair was with codeine and crazily he was relieved that was what the problem was!

    Going to your GP is honesty my best advice, mine was fantastic even if it was just to go in and have a cry and moan to when all the crazy mental emotional withdrawal started, talking to someone who understood and could give me a high five and tell me I had done amazingly was just enough to give me that confidence I was doing ok! I'm always about if you want a chat or a virtual high five smile xx

  • andy1992
    andy1992 lyndsy26237

    Posted

    I'm too scared to come off them. No health professional has ever offered me any help and I don't really want to go cold turkey. 

    The only thing I have tried is reducing the co-codamol from 30/500 to soluble 8/500.

    Good luck

  • hinazille
    hinazille lyndsy26237

    Posted

    Hi! firstly, great job on cutting down to where you are at now, its very difficult to do so, and you have been successful this far. i wish you luck in kicking the rest of the habit too.

    how do you plan on cutting down more? an idea would be to alternate between taking 5 one day and 6 the next, til you are comfortable with taking only 5 a day.

    then alternate between taking 5 one day and only 4 the next, and so on.

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