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dihydrocodeine fears and major bowel surgery scare

Posted , 3 users are following.

grace42
grace42

for twenty years,i have suffered from a spastic colon(irritable bowel)nearly two years ago,my doctor,gave me dihydrocodeine,i was so relieved at first,as these tablets,went straight to the pain in my stomach and deadend it,unlike any other painkiller,i had tried.I thought my days of being driven out of my mind,with the pain were over,and they were at first,the tablets worked very well indeed.now of course my body is used to them,they dont work,quite so well.I have had no problems whilst taking them,my problem is,since i have been reading up,about these tablets,over the internet,and hearing about peoples terrible withdrawel symptoms,i am starting to worry very badly,as to what will happen to me,if i try and stop them,i never used to worry about this before,as i was just so grateful,for the relief these tablets gave,there is nothing worse,than being in chronic pain.Sometimes i wish i never even looked at this site,as i am so very worried.A few days ago.my doctor informed me,that another patient,had to have major surgery,to get her bowel removed,as the dihydrocodeine,had caused a permanant twisting of her bowel or something,and she was only taking five a day.I wish my doctor would of told me this,at the start of my medication,and not nearly two years in to it.I dont want to live in chronic pain,and these tablets do help,i feel i am in a no win situation,do i carry on taking them,and have a little bit of relief,or do i stop and anticipate a dreadful withdrawel.Could anyone please take the fear,out of stopping these tablets,for me,maybe they did not have a bad time,coming off them,and have something positive to say about them,thanx by the way,i take no less than 3 a day,and no more than 7[ sad

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I would not worry to much about dihydrocdeine withdrawel symptoms as long as you do it properly and do not just stop taking them.

    I was hooked on them for 18 months and sometimes taken up to 16 a day wanted to come off them so discussed this with the Doctor and all you need to do is reduces the amount you take weekly say 6 a day one week then 5 per day the following week and so on until you end up take 1 per day for the second last week then you take one every other day for the last week.

    If you do it this way it should be easy it was for me the only slight withdrawal you get are at night times when you are on you final week but my Doctor gave me some sleeping pills 1 weeks supply only she recommended 1 every 3 nights but I didnt even need them.

    I would not believe all the horror stories on web sites about this drug it is really not that hard to come off this drug if you do it properly.

    Good look if you do it this way smile

  • grace42
    grace42

    Posted

    shaun aaa.thank you so much,for replying to me,i have written your instructions down,about stopping dihydrocodeine,and intend to follow them,i cannot thank you enough for taking the fear i had,away from me.Some people i have spoken to have also compared me to an heroin addict,i mean this is a bit much,as i only went to my doctors for some pain relief,i am quite sure these tablets are not as strong,as heroin,that you can buy on the street.I know someone who was a heroin addict,and she described to me,some terrible withdrawel symptoms,and she also said that heroin addicts,when they are arrested,are given dihydrocodeine,to prevent them going cold turkey.Lately i have been feeling i have bitten off far more than i can chew with these tablets,but your sensible instructions about coming off them,have given me hope,and i intend to start very soon.Thank you again so much,i will say a special prayer for you tonight,God Bless :lol:
  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    grace42, hi , i am interested in how your reduction programe went? hope you are off them now, i experienced terrible nightmares along with sweats, anger, anxiety and water dripping out of my nose! i take 150mg a day for cronic back pain caused by sciatica. my doctor is reluctant to prescribe me more. the reduction advice was good advice, thats how i intend to come off them, just wondered how you were coping? prayer is good, it has never failed me, regards mark.
  • Stobban
    Stobban

    Posted

    Hello All, I think, what we loose sight of is the real reason we start and agree to take these tablets. Most of us are in constant severe pain and cope well with taking them and If we get frightened with taking one type of painkiller we then swap for another, unless we didn't need them at the start. All painkillers for moderate to severe pain are addicting; so what do you do, suffer, or thank the Lord for the relief and live a more comfortable life.

    Take care.

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