How to Wean Off Hydrocodone?
Question by hushlam: How to wean off Hydrocodone?
I’m going to wean off hydrocodone. Been taking about 6-7 10mg pills a day for few months. Does anyone have advice on how to wean myself off and do you think I will experience severe withdrawals? I’m scared. Thank you.
Best answer:
Answer by Jennifer
Hi.
Well,when it comes to weaning off any opiates….one should expect to experience some amount of withdrawals.
But,if you really want to wean yourself off,and hope to experience less withdrawals(still experience some amount though)?
You should slowly taper off by 1 half a tablet per day until your completely off the Hydrocodone.
This should make the weaning much easier for you,as well as the withdrawals.
Make sure you stay well hydrated during the weaning process,and also try to eat a well balanced diet during this process also.Remember? Being scared is to be expected when weaning off opiates/an addiction.So,keep focused on your goal,and taper off 1 half a tablets per day until your completely off the Hydrocodone altogether.Done!
You’ll get there.Just remember to stay focused on your goal….getting off these things once and for all! 1 and a half tablets per day until your completely off.Stay well hydrated,and eat a well balanced diet.Good luck to you.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
Oh,and for future reference? I strongly advise you to never take any opiates again/pain medications that contain opiates.If you do? You’ll have to go through this whole process again,and it might not be so easy next time.You may be severely addicted next time,and things may be really out of control with your addiction(if there is a next time).So,try to avoid using any opiates in your future.
Answer by Fredric
You didn’t specify exactly how long you were taking the hydrocodone, which is important.
A few months could be ten months or two. The longer you have been taking it, the hard it is to withdraw from it.
I would suggest that if you have a life partner or a close friend whom you feel you can trust, ask for their help in assisting you in tapering down from your opiate usage. The hardest part for most people is self-discipline, because a major problem with long term opiate usage is the inevitable addiction to the drug. This is nothing to be ashamed of, it happens to millions of people and most of them had no intention of becoming drug-dependent when they got their first prescription for pain pills.
I will tell you though that even after you successfully taper down from your 6 to 7 10mg. pill per day level of usage to nothing at all, you will still likely experience some detox/W/D symptoms. The difference is that tapering down will lessen the severity of these symptoms, making your experience what one would call “mild opiate withdrawal.”
So what does this mean? What is mild opiate withdrawal like? You will experience the following:
For about 5 to 7 days after your last dosage, you will notice that you are tired or groggy during the day, dragging your feet a bit. At night, you will find it hard to sleep and will tend to toss and turn for a few hours before falling off to sleep.
Starting about on day two, you will feel mild or periodic stomach cramping and mild diarrhea. But this will not be nearly as bad as it has been in your past, when you had a stomach virus. You may also feel occasionally a bit nauseated, but not everyone has that.
You may experience a scratchy throat and occasional sneezing, watery eyes and definitely more yawning than normal. This will gradually go away by about day five.
Finally, most people describe the worst symptom of mild withdrawal as what doctors call “Akithisia,” which refers to the strange feeling of “internal anxiousness.” This comes and goes, mostly on days 2, 3 and 4 and it features this strange feeling of being tired and a bit weak but also not being able to sit still and feeling as if you must pace the floor. Usually though, each episode of akithisia only lasts for about 15 minutes or so and then goes away.
The best news is that after 7 days of no more hydrocodone usage, you should be completely free of withdrawal symptoms, except for possibly occasional and very mild bouts of temporary depression. And if so, that will last only for about two weeks or so. But by day 7 you will feel better than you have at any time when you were taking the pills and this will be a pleasant surprise, especially if you have had any chronic pain issues in your past.
Good luck and don’t be afraid to do this and to stick with it. I assure you it will be well worth it to you!
Heroin use rising at an alarming rate among teens
Right now at the Watershed Addiction Treatment Program, the average age of heroin addicts who check in are under 30. They typically spend an average of 28 days there where they will go through detox, tapered off on medications to help with withdrawal, …
Read more on The Trentonian