Hello, im trying to quit this nasty hydrocodone habit that I have. I
have been doing this for 2 years, and in the last year its been an
everyday habit of 50 to 100mg. The reason why i have all of a sudden
decided to quit was i started feeling sharp pains in my left mid chest
area. I would only feel this pain if i took alot of hyrdo in the 80 to
100 mg area. I have no cut myself down to 50 mg a day and am going to
do less and less each day. I have even started to do cold water
extraction to give my liver more of a break (if thats the problem).
But i have been having problems. On the first day of extracting all
the APAP out of the hydro, that night I woke up cause i did not feel
right. I was sweating a little and proceded to take my blood pressure
and it was up to 155/100. My normal is 130/80 usually around. I also
had a physical a year or 2 ago and i do have very high cholesterol and
tryglycorides. I have been eating better and i have lost 25 lbs( not
sure if thats cause of the hydro abuse though making me eat less ).
Anyway I was able to go back to sleep. I pretty much guessed that
this was because i went from taking 2500 to 3000 mg of APAP a day to 0.
The next day I took 1500 mg of apap and i did feel better and with no
pain in my chest.
But unfortunately the next night I woke up sweating and cold (because
im wet) and a bad headeach. I took 10mg hydro and 325 mg of apap and i
felt better instantly).
Can anyone offer any advice on my condition? I have been pondering
going to the hospital if this gets any worse. I do not want to go to
my family doctor since i dont want them to know im a drug addict. I
have been able to quit hydro before (when i was doing less amouts)
Im going to do 40 mg of hydro today and take a tylenol before i go to
sleep and hopefully i should sleep better. Thankfully as long as i
stay below 50 mg hydro/1500 apap i havent had any left chest pains.
I am concened am i having liver failure? causing my body to sweat to
fight of colds since its not working?
Gregory Poon - 15 Dec 2004 03:58 GMT
It might help if you elaborate what you exactly do in your "cold water
extraction". If you were experiencing liver toxicity (from APAP or
whatever), you might expect symptoms such as jaundice, poor appetite,
malaise, abdominal pain, etc. Some of your symptoms (sweating, headache)
sound like withdrawal or rebound symptoms (from both the hydrocodone and/or
APAP). It'd be a good idea to get yourself checked since you do have some
risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and your chest pains may be a
warning sign. I'd imagine your doctor should be understanding/sympathetic
if you go with an intention of dealing with your problem. Have you
considered methadone?
But honestly, get yourself some medical help, soon. If something happens
and you end up in hospital and then they find that you're loaded with a
narcotic, it may be more than embarassment you have to deal with.
> Hello, im trying to quit this nasty hydrocodone habit that I have. I
> have been doing this for 2 years, and in the last year its been an
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> I am concened am i having liver failure? causing my body to sweat to
> fight of colds since its not working?
mikey - 15 Dec 2004 16:07 GMT
It was really odd, i think i was having withdrawls from APAP more then
hydrocodone. I was able to live off 50mg of hydro without a problem in
the past. After i did the cold water extaction i had these symptoms.
I felt the hydro very strong after the extraction. But that night i
woke up because (this is weird) kept repeating the same vision in my
head over and over. I woke up felt a little panicky and took my blood
pressure and it was up along with heartbeat. I dont think it was a
nightmare cause i do not remember a thing.
The good news is this is the first day without any symptoms. I took 50
mg of hydro durring the day and 30 at night , no left lower chest pain,
or sweating, headach or waking up. I did drink alot of orange juice
not sure if that helped =P
MobiusDick - 20 Dec 2004 16:40 GMT
Keep in mind the a normal dose of acetaminophen, salicylates or NSAIDS
will add to the analgesic effect of hydrocodone. With all opiates I
have ever tried, a standard dose of the above mentioned OTC analgesics
will make it seem that you have taken a higher dose of opiates. Not
just for analgesia (aka pain relief) but also for the euphoriant
properties of these drugs. I usually take a single dose of aspirin with
my opiates because you do IMO feel the opiates more.
MobiusDick
W4PHM - 15 Dec 2004 16:28 GMT
I am sorry for your problem Mikey and hope that you understand
that the dependence on a narcotic is a disease and does not make
you a criminal or a social deviant, although you may have done
some illegal things to get your hydrocodone.
Fotunately for most people, hydrocodone is much easier to
detox from than oxycodone or morphine. The symptoms you
describe such as night sweats, probably abdominal pain and
some diarhea are typical of withdrawl symptoms. The elvated
blood pressure is common.
If you were to go to a doctor who specializes in this sort of thing,
an addictionologist (of which there are many in private practice who
can comfortably detox your out patient), they can help. Often they
will give you clonodine which lessens many of the symptoms and
is a blood pressure medication, as well as Ultram for a few weeks.
The withdrawl is going to feel horrible for about 3-4 days but
if you stick with the regimen, the doc will most likely not taper you
down put take you off cold turkey as long as he can put you on a
regimen of medication as mentioned above or similar.
I wish you luck, I know a very good Doc in Richmond VA who
does this with herion addicts, oxycotin addicts etc., and he has
great success. He puts a naltrexone sustained release capsule
under the skin that lasts for a month + as well as ultram and
clonodine and he has great results.
Wishing you the best.
--
Patrick H. Mason M.Sc. OHST, EMT-I
> Hello, im trying to quit this nasty hydrocodone habit that I have. I
> have been doing this for 2 years, and in the last year its been an
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> I am concened am i having liver failure? causing my body to sweat to
> fight of colds since its not working?
Rich McKellar - 20 Dec 2004 06:26 GMT
GO TO DETOX!!!!
3% chance it works for heroin addicts, probably higher for a hydrocodone
addiction. Also, get your a.s to some NA meetings or AA.
>I am sorry for your problem Mikey and hope that you understand
> that the dependence on a narcotic is a disease and does not make
[quoted text clipped - 65 lines]
>> I am concened am i having liver failure? causing my body to sweat to
>> fight of colds since its not working?