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Help....Hi, i have been on Dihydrocodeine for 18 years and next week i'm going cold turkey

Posted , 2 users are following.

Ginner
Ginner

I have been taking DHC for around 18 years, it started off with a back problem and before i knew it i was collecting a prescription for 200 per month. To start off it was Co-Codomol with 30mg of codeine but after 6 months it changed to 30mg of DHC. At my peak i was taking 18-20 30mg per day. This wasn't to get me high it was what my body asked for just to get me through the day. I have tried weaning myself off gradually but it never works. I have seen several doctors over the past 18 years and everyone had a different idea of how to get me off. Eventually i found myself getting weekly scripts for 8 per day which wasn't enough and forced me down the buying route. Luckily enough i found someone who sold me 5 boxes of 28 for £40. This cost me a fortune each month as i needed 2x loads. My last visit to the doctors i was seen by a new registrar and he said it was time i was off them and sent so many post dated scripts to my chemist at a weekly reduction of 1 tablet which would have taken me 8 weeks. Not a chance, i told him i didn't want to do that but he was adamant so i visited my pal and bought them from him for 8 weeks, i went back to the doctors and told them i wasn't off them but the same doctor said as far as the surgery was concerned i was off them. The only way i could get some more-he said- was to buy them as he wouldn't prescribe any more. This sent me in to a wild panic as my pal didn't get enough to see me through so in the end i went to see a different doctor and begged for help. She gave me enough for 5 a day and 12x 2mg of Diazapam and some Burscopan. The latter 2 are for the 17th of June where my work has given me 5 days off to come off the DHC altogether. I feel let down and now i'm going to be on my own coming off a drug i've been on for 18 years. I don't think 2mg of Diazapam is any where near strong enough but it's what i have. Anyway, i just wanted to share my story. I would have been quite happy to continue the rest of my life on these tablets that the doctors failed to inform me were so highly addictive but i know i have a big responsibility for finding myself in this position. Hopefully everything will go ok and i can save myself £80 per month and be opiate free. Thanks for reading, Chris

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Pumpkin1
    Pumpkin1 Ginner

    Posted

    Gosh, thats a challenging situation you find yourself in. lots of things going on for you. You have my sympathy with it all. i came off 240mg per day dhc cold turkey a few years ago and its not fun. I wasn't addicted, wasn't buying dhc, but my body was dependent, so I'm sympathetic of where you are and whats to come. You may

    • Ginner
      Ginner Pumpkin1

      Posted

      Thanks pumpkin1, appreciate your words of support and I hope you are doing well currently.

  • Ginner
    Ginner

    Posted

    'Day 3, struggling really to make anything make sense. 5mg of Diazapam isn't helping that much as struggling to sleep, just writing about it on here seems to help. Restless leg (all over my body) is a constant and it's this that's stopping me sleeping, someone suggested Potassium so I've eaten a banana, who knows, it may work. Even though it's just a prescribed opiod painkiller i would seriously suggest that if your doctor offers you these for a prolonged period of time that you ask what the risks of long term use are, this is something i was never told, i turned in to an addict and now paying for it. Hopefully I'll be back to myself in a day or two but will update at a later point

    Thanks All

    Chris

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