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Codeine/Nurofen Plus.

Posted , 6 users are following.

Danesreilly
Danesreilly

Hi folks.

I'm addicted to Nurofen Plus.

I've never told anyone this, barely admitted it to myself. I'm a male in my 30s, with a kid.

I wont lie, right now I am on 11 tablets in the morning, and 11 at night. A few months ago I tried to go cold turkey, but as I work full time, I simply couldnt juggle the incredibly string withdrawals with work (no annual leave left).

I'm at the point that it's upsetting me daily, i feel f*****g weak. I hate that it's a secret from my wife, i hate that I'm spending the money. I've had enough. As of today I'm going to start tapering down. I plan on taking 8 in the morning, 8 at night for 4 days, then down to 6 after that, hopefully till I get low enough that I can stop altogether.

I've been trying to do this for weeks, but I always cave in and take my usual amount. There's always a reason. Whether it be stress, or whatever. Change of the bloody weather at this point would give me an excuse.

I decided to find a website and talk to people. This has tormented me for years now. Enough is enough, admitting im an addict wasnt easy.

Anyone have any advice? Anyone been through this, came out the other side?

My thinking is that talking to people on a forum mught be that little push I need. And by GOD do i need that push. I'm starting to hate myself, for lying to my wife, and taking these tablets.

Thanks folks.

1 like, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • susan89127
    susan89127 Danesreilly

    Posted

    Hi, I have been taking 8 cocodamols a day for 4 years for back pain. I'm also on Oramorph and Amitriptyline. I have had enough of all the meds. Plus, I'm worried about the affects on other parts of my body, liver etc. They make you so tired throughout the day. I've decided to wean myself off and I'm into my second week. It was going ok but today I'm starting to have the cramping pain in my legs. I think you are doing the right thing by reducing the amount but have you talked to your doctor. I'm sure they could help you to come off them x

    • Danesreilly
      Danesreilly susan89127

      Posted

      Hi there!

      No never went to doctor. I did think about seeing doctor, but I repeatedly see people talk aboht seeing their doctors and it being negative, doctors telling people to "simply stop taking them", as a solution. On top of this reason, im hiding this from my wife, shed want to know why I was seeing a doctor, shes smart and she'd see through any false reason.

      This led to me, starting today, deciding to take lower doses until I'm ready to stop together. If this fails, I will see doctor and possibly sit down and tell the wife everything. One thing is certain to me, it really cannot go on.

      Good to hear you're in your second week. I genuinely envy you. Wont be long until you have put it behind you!

    • susan89127
      susan89127 hannah_47557

      Posted

      Thanks Hannah, I think I prefer the weaning off plan I found on Google. As I will probably still have to take some cocodamol for my pack pain but I do want to greatly reduce the amount. At the moment I am alternating them with normal shop bought paracetamol, so that some of the does consist of one cocodamol and one paracetamol, then eventually will be all paracetamol, then work towards none. I know this will take time but I'm hoping it will work for me x

  • susan89127
    susan89127 Danesreilly

    Posted

    You have definitely made the right decision to reduce the amount and I wish you all the best. Yes, maybe you are right about the doctor as my doctor told me to just stop, a while ago, as she was trying new meds. And I was in all sorts of trouble. Had to start on the full amount again. Really want to stick to this now but not sure how my pain will be. I hope all goes well for you x
  • hannah_47557
    hannah_47557 Danesreilly

    Posted

    Hiya Sinky you. ..I'm in the same position only it's cocodomol 30/500 mg....my partner or none of my family know nothing about it. I am prescribed mine by my GP. I only realised how dangerous these tablets were till I went on holiday and ended up in hospital...I ran out of them and had none for 3 days. It was a total nightmare....sick...sweats. .dioreahh...cramps and restless legs. I was totally dehydrated when I got to hospital so ended up on drip (I never mentioned meds to them) so they thought it was tummy bug or food poisoning! I've googled thomas recipe and stocked up on all the supplements and I'm going to go cold turkey on Monday...I'll just have to pretend to family it's a tummy bug (hate lying)...good luck and maybe u should Google Thomas Recipe....it's supposed to help with withdrawal

    • Danesreilly
      Danesreilly hannah_47557

      Posted

      Hey Hannah, good to hear from you. I will also eventually cold turkey. I tried last year and failed miserably, I think I was simply on too high a dose of codeine, so the next 7 days or so i will lower it until I'm at a good jumping off point. I will try and time it so that the worst of it hits me at the weekend when I am off anyway.

      Its not great hiding things from family is it. I really hope to quit, and out this behind me forever.

      The Thomas recipe, I had never heard of it. Is it all stuff you can get over the counter here in the UK?

      Your holiday sounded terrible. I had to buy loads of nurofen before my holiday to avoid your scenario. Had to hide it in luggage. Again, horrible feeling doing things so secretive.

    • hannah_47557
      hannah_47557 Danesreilly

      Posted

      Yeah all the stuff available over counter Sinky. ...I will follow your story on here and I'll be posting mine starting on Monday....and yeah it's horrible lying but hopefully we are all on the way to putting this all behind us smile

    • Danesreilly
      Danesreilly hannah_47557

      Posted

      Yes, please start posting regarding your progress as of monday. The website is amazing, and exactly what i was looking for at this point in time. It might not be as good as speaking to someone face to face, but the ability to talk about this stuff to anyone (when i never before) makes a huge difference. I am totally determined not to fail this time. Keep us updated.
  • Lee20279
    Lee20279 Danesreilly

    Posted

    hey. I used to take 240mg of codeine every day for around a year. I was addicted and in denial.  I went cold turkey. Not going to lie it was the worst 2 weeks of my life but I got through it. I suggest tapering is a good idea but my issue was that if the codeine was there I would take it so I went cold turkey and the worst days were from days 3 to day 7 - I would say. I couldn’t believe how well I felt afterwards - more alert, wanting to do stuff and so so happy. 

    I took some vitamins to help, drank lots of fluids as was unable to eat and must have lost about a stone in weight due to no appetite and Diarrheoa. I was around 4 months free of codeine then I stupidly started taking it again but didn’t like the feeling it left me in. I took them for around 2 weeks and I am now 7 days free from codeine again. I did have withdrawals but nothing compared to what I had. Still it wasn’t nice. 

    My tip was getting them all out the house. If you are tapering down I suggest putting the amount you want to take into a wee box and take that amount in the morning. Don’t count them just take them and the same for nighttime. Might be worth a try.

    Good luck 

    • Danesreilly
      Danesreilly Lee20279

      Posted

      Yeah It's funny, it's like there are two versions of yourself. The rational one, then the irrational one who caves in and takes them later down the line. You're idea of the wee box is something I've been thinking about a lot recently.

      I actually decided to hell with that, it's about control and ethics. I need to quit, I have all the nurofen plus in my work bag, but I am sticking to this tapering and simply not allowing myself to take any more than that. Took 8 tonight, rather than 11. Will stick to taking 8 (morning then evening) until I feel I am used to it, then bring it down to 6 in the morning, then 6 in the evening.  Then cold turkey from that point. I think I hit that wall, where you know you can 't go any further.

  • maree96037
    maree96037 Danesreilly

    Posted

    You are not alone! There’s thousands of us in the same boat .. come and find the group codeine addiction on Facebook .. you can use a fake profile if you like .. I have done both cold turkey and now tapering. Cold turkey is hell. To be honest you are still going to get bad withdrawals with what  you have planned.. dropping 10% a week is a good idea if you can stick to it.  There’s heaps of resources in the group if you join. Good luck 
    • Danesreilly
      Danesreilly maree96037

      Posted

      Hey Maree thanks for the reply, ill check out the Facebook! It's definitely good to know other people are in the same boat.

      Yeah I did the cold turkey before, its hellish. I also tapered in the last, almost no withdrawals. If done patiently of course , which is my plan this time. Not to drop too much too quickly.

    • hannah_47557
      hannah_47557 maree96037

      Posted

      Hiya Maree thanks for posting about Facebook group I'm gonna check it out now as well....good luck everyone on your journey x

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