Codeine Withdrawal Diary

hi lee,

my story is very similar to yours. on them off and on for years. id come off for about a month then go back on them again. however november last year i decided id had enough. my sources of cocodamol were repeat prescription with ny gp, my friend at work and my mum neither of which had no idea i was addicted. i too felt ashamed of what id become so i knew i had to do something different this time. i told my gp and said dont ever prescribe them to me again! the worse part though was telling my friend abd mum. again i begged them not to give me any ever again. i referred myself to the local drug service, FORWARD. i only saw them about 3 times as after a week the physical symptoms had gone and i felt good. however last month i fell off the wagon. mum had some lying around and i just took them home with me. There was no reason whatsoever. i have a great marriage, good job, brilliant kids. i just thiught yeah its a little treat. i take them because i just like tge feeling they give me.i dont take them because im depressed or in pain. anyway im on day 6 of withdrawal. its been ok because i wasnt on them that long. my battle is staying off them!! good luck mate. ill be checking in with you daily!!

bullldog

Thanks for you comments and support. I feel the same as you and struggle to stay off them. I am now 24 hours since last codeine dose. I feel generally okay so far. Felt a little more tired than normal today but overall okay. I suspect the withdrawals will really start tomorrow. Don’t feel any cravings as yet but again I think it’s to early.

Will drop in again tomorrow.

Lee

I'm currently taking 30/500mg cocodomol ...I take 4 a day so how many mg a day is that I'm taking Lee?

so im now on day 7 and feeling good. friday wasnt great though. that awful lethargy when everythings an effort and youve no energy. Still getting the odd sweat on and the runs but i try and look at that as my body getting rid of all the toxins. i stopped smoking 19 years ago and just keep telling myself if i can do that, then i can do this!! keep going lee! you wanna cone off them and just lead a normal life. we both do. thats why we keep pushing on!

I have been on cocodomol for around 10 year's. I went to tt 3 year's ago and stayed longer than planned so had no cocodomol for 3 days but I was really ill. ...runs sweats sick and very agitated. I persuaded my partner to take me to local hospital...I never told them about cocodomol so they said I was totally dehydrated and had to put me on drip. I couldn't wait to get home and as soon as I did 2 cocodomol and half an hour later I felt great! it's the lies and deceit that's killing me...my partner nor anyone else knows I have a problem. if my doc had have told me when she put me on these they were addictive I would never had started taking them (mine are prescribed) if I went cold turkey how long would withdrawal symptoms last? I'm really scared doing this coz last time I thought I was dying!!

So now today I am again feeling okay. Got a runny nose and feel a but achy. Also the tummy cramping is beginning. Had a bit of a headache today but not a severe yet as I remember it from last time. Because I have been through this I am aware of how I am going to feel. From previous experiences my withdrawals lasted around 10 days with the diarrheoa lasting the longest and lack of appetite. The insomnia lasted a lot longer than that but I eventually was able to sleep all night.

Cravings seem to be at bay the now but I tend to not get the cravings til I passed all the withdrawals and been free of codeine for around a month. So determined this time to stay off. Good having support here

how's things now Lee?

oh dear sorry guys iv not been on here as planned my kid was very ill needing hospital treatment. They are on the mend now and home but unfortunately I wouldn't be able to deal with the withdrawals as well. Although I have relapsed slightly I am taking half of what I would normally take and feel good. I feel pretty good that I'm not taking as much but also have the will power and strength now to perhaps do a tappered plan. So I now take 60mg morning and and 60mg afternoon which is an improvement. By next week I'm aiming for 60mg a day before cutting out conpletely. Hope eveyone well!!

Lee xx

Hi Lee I,m Maureen and i have just joined this discussion to night so i am busy reading through all your great efforts to stop this dreadful addiction to co codamol I too am a victim of this beast! I have lumber disc problems- painful- attained 20 years ago from a fall from a horse and have been on this pain killer since. I am toying with the idea of how i MUST stop this opiate for my health sake but trying to find a way to get round constant everyday back pain without it I am looking into steriod injections at the minute. So as of to night i am still taking 8 - 10 co codamol tabs per day- perscribed for pain 30/500mgs and still helps the pain dispite the length of treatment with them I k now this dose is too high and is dangerous to my liver but living with constant pain is so hard I am not as of this week planning to come of this drug until i can find out if the injections in my back will kill the pain BUT in the event that they will i plan to go cold turkey I am not a 'tapering off' type of person- at anything- if i want to do something i have to do it and get it over with so its all or nothing I know a lot of the horrible withdrawals to expect- actually someone mentioned Immodium on another site as a help in withdrawal???? never heard of that - did you? But any help and advice is welcome as i feel i am about to tackle Mount Everest! I am a DRY alcoholic - sober 23 years and i withdrew from that by myself cold turkey - dangerous i know .... so if i can kick the booze i sure as heck can kick the shakes, sweats, anxiety etc I just wondered if any of you great guys on here who are already on your journey of withdrawal or recovery have any tips for the first four or five days of withdrawal???? Any suggestions would be so appreciated. I am going to read a lot of your post here and the ones i have read have been inspiring Thanks in advance Maureen

Hi Lee I just put my first post on but its showing down at the bottom of this page - sorry have not mastered the format of this site yet- just signed up for starters lol Maybe you can get it below on public post Thanks in advance Maureen