My last few days of Codeine Withdrawal
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Join Date: Apr 2012
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My last few days of Codeine Withdrawal
Hi,
I am a new member and have been reading about withdrawing from codeine on this site; as it has been a help to me I have written up my last few days of cold turkey from codeine (as it came out in one long go I'm afraid). It is long, but I figure others may want to know what it feels like for someone else, so here goes:
I have been cold water extracting 4-6 packs (32*8mg) every / every other night. It started as a weekend thing taking far less then than I ended up doing, but made sleeping so easy and the next morning feeling great and ready to go. It actually made my performance at work better when I started dosing during the week. The mix of the left over codeine's fluffy coating with a can of energy drink made the mornings at work a breeze. Didn't take long to get to four packs a night. Always had insomnia, even as a child, so this stuff is great for that!
A few months ago I had three days off the codeine and developed flu on the third day, but didn't put two and two together. When this happened again I realised it wasn't flu. I can time it perfectly:
• Dose one evening.
• The next day great, but sleepy in the evening.
• The following day beginning of flu-like symptoms which makes work hard, but I can get through it, just... Then dose in the evening. Ahhh, much better.
I've had restless legs a couple of times over the past year, but as I've had this before, as a child and an adult, when not being able to sleep, I had at the time put that down to insomnia due to not having the sleepy effect of the codeine, rather than having a withdrawal symptom.
Having increased my weekend dosing to every other day / every day over a year, I have had to plan my route home from where I work via different towns to spread out repeat visits to the same pharmacies. One by one some pharmacists noticed my repeat purchasing and stopped serving me. I now cannot use six or seven pharmacies and am now ready to stop. Before I get banned from all of them and have no choice! As it is the Easter break I have time to be "ill"!
I do still want an occasional evening, once a month say, but not the dependency. I am an occasional recreational user of various drugs without dependency, I don't smoke weed and hardly drink any more as I just get a headache straight away now. So I want codeine use to be like these. Occasional. So in the last few days I end up going cold turkey without planning it...
Wednesday Night: Dosed
Thursday: Tired in the evening (when normally dosing), but didn't dose and had an early night.
Friday: Went to work and handled it OK, but cold/hot sweaty, tired, and cannot concentrate. I went home at lunch, driving via various pharmacies to stock up. Go to bed a bit flu like as I don't want to dose in the day and have it wear off before bed. I wake up Friday evening with restless legs etc, start to think about quitting, tolerate it for a while but end up having a dose. Straight away feel much better. Having had another glimpse of what to expect I decide I will quit for sure... Soon. I have a week off work before travelling to a friend's for the Easter weekend. So now would be ideal.
Saturday: In the evening get through two grams of (rubbish) coke and four beers. Have codeine to take the edge off when the coke runs out and get to sleep. This was my last dose.
Sunday: Stay in bed watching films, eating, generally lazing around through the coke comedown as I usually would in this situation.
Monday: Sleep, eat, drink lots of tea, smoke half a cigarette (the first one since Saturday), this just irritates me and winds me up. Feeling far less flu-like symptoms now (nowhere as bad as last Friday), but now I'm restless. Very restless. Legs would be better cut off! I know that my left arm isn't doing this yet and that it soon will and that will be the worst bit. I decide to take antihistamine to try and get some sleep.
I drive to the supermarket before the pharmacy shuts feeling OK, but knowing I will be awake for a long while and buy the supermarket's own sleep aid. I take shed loads - turns out that dyphenhydramine doesn't work and may even make it worse. I down 70 mg of ceterizine on top (I usually take this with codeine to stop the itching and for hay fever and has a sedative effect usually).
Other than being really straight and restless and wide awake I don't actually "feel" that bad. However this is the worst bit. Comfort is unreachable. Watch tons of TV etc, change position every twenty seconds. Begin to have sudden jerks throughout my whole body, which are irritating. My left arm becomes the most uncomfortable, but takes my mind off my legs while I focus on how much I hate my left arm. Now it's all just p***ing me off. AARRGGHHH! At some point after this seemingly endless horror and having been in every possible position my body can achieve (I even tried headstands etc to have something physical to do) I must have slept, because I wake up the next morning with a very mild headache (dehydration) and no other symptoms. I know I'm past the worst (physically) and I am grateful for getting some sleep.
Tuesday: Decide to stay in bed and try to sleep through it, I know if I get up I will end up dosing (I still have a stash ready just in case - this keeps me going, knowing I can have it if I need to rather than panicking about having none available). I drink lots, sleep, watch films, have a bath (very nice) and pretend to be ill to my family, but actually feel OK, - just straight! So straight!
Wednesday: Today. I have to do something! I ache all over from being in bed for practically three days. My room is a state. I decide I'm going to tidy up after a bath. Tidy room = tidy head right? I listen to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter in the bath, probably a bad idea as by now I feel depressed and lonely. Been watching the sunny days in the distance out the window since Sunday and need to get out I think.
I go to collect a parcel from the post office. Driving is OK, but kinda fuzzy, probably not a great idea, but the warmth of the sun pounding on the car soothes my aching bones. Having parked and joined the queue at the post office interacting with people is hard work. Don't know where to look. Anxiety... I know this as I had CBT and was prescribed propanolol for this a few years ago and got over it (but that's another long story). I decide that being at home feels much better than moving amongst all these people. I go to a pharmacy to get ceterizine (for my hay fever which is kicking in now I'm outside), and manage to not buy codeine, but go into another pharmacy as I pass it (nearly) and buy co-codamol. Add this to my emergency stash when I get home, and now I am in the throws of anxiety.
The worst thing about anxiety is there is no reason for it, no practical way to resolve a problem that doesn't exist. Forgetting my mum has propanolol I have two beers. Anxiety goes, but headache begins. Did not tidy my room. Too anxious. Wait for the beer to eat the anxiety up. Eat. Drink tea. Have paracetamol and ibuprofen for my headache. Steal three of my mum's Lyrica (avoiding the Tramadol!). My headache persists, but my body feels fine. I Laugh and feel good watching TV. Stretch my legs and feel comfortable. Body feels great and I feel great feeling my body feeling great. Just the headache now (and that was the beer I think - always get headache when drinking beer, but could be the lack of codeine).
Now I really want to feel the opiate duvet, but actually feel good being through it all. I realise I've also quit smoking as a side-effect! Eating melon and drinking Genmaicha, lots of it. Once the headache has gone I'll just be straight. Straight and bored, but ready to sleep and face tomorrow. Eating has not been a problem all through it really and helped me to avoid dosing as I would always dose on an empty stomach. Never after eating.
I'm going away to stay with friends over Easter and coke is a likely occurrence - that'll be the test, sleeping after coke without codeine.
The worst part of the whole thing was the restless legs and arms, but knowing it's only one night of that is a relief. Flu-like symptoms are fine, cause at least you can sleep and snuggle up feeling ill the day before the restless legs (and left arm).
All in all this was nowhere near as bad as an experience I had on some mislabelled stimulant which kept us up for three days thinking we were going to die to the point of having other friends consider hospital as the only way out, but that's another, other, long story...)
Feeling sleepy now it's midnight. All done. Bed time... and ready for it.
I am a new member and have been reading about withdrawing from codeine on this site; as it has been a help to me I have written up my last few days of cold turkey from codeine (as it came out in one long go I'm afraid). It is long, but I figure others may want to know what it feels like for someone else, so here goes:
I have been cold water extracting 4-6 packs (32*8mg) every / every other night. It started as a weekend thing taking far less then than I ended up doing, but made sleeping so easy and the next morning feeling great and ready to go. It actually made my performance at work better when I started dosing during the week. The mix of the left over codeine's fluffy coating with a can of energy drink made the mornings at work a breeze. Didn't take long to get to four packs a night. Always had insomnia, even as a child, so this stuff is great for that!
A few months ago I had three days off the codeine and developed flu on the third day, but didn't put two and two together. When this happened again I realised it wasn't flu. I can time it perfectly:
• Dose one evening.
• The next day great, but sleepy in the evening.
• The following day beginning of flu-like symptoms which makes work hard, but I can get through it, just... Then dose in the evening. Ahhh, much better.
I've had restless legs a couple of times over the past year, but as I've had this before, as a child and an adult, when not being able to sleep, I had at the time put that down to insomnia due to not having the sleepy effect of the codeine, rather than having a withdrawal symptom.
Having increased my weekend dosing to every other day / every day over a year, I have had to plan my route home from where I work via different towns to spread out repeat visits to the same pharmacies. One by one some pharmacists noticed my repeat purchasing and stopped serving me. I now cannot use six or seven pharmacies and am now ready to stop. Before I get banned from all of them and have no choice! As it is the Easter break I have time to be "ill"!
I do still want an occasional evening, once a month say, but not the dependency. I am an occasional recreational user of various drugs without dependency, I don't smoke weed and hardly drink any more as I just get a headache straight away now. So I want codeine use to be like these. Occasional. So in the last few days I end up going cold turkey without planning it...
Wednesday Night: Dosed
Thursday: Tired in the evening (when normally dosing), but didn't dose and had an early night.
Friday: Went to work and handled it OK, but cold/hot sweaty, tired, and cannot concentrate. I went home at lunch, driving via various pharmacies to stock up. Go to bed a bit flu like as I don't want to dose in the day and have it wear off before bed. I wake up Friday evening with restless legs etc, start to think about quitting, tolerate it for a while but end up having a dose. Straight away feel much better. Having had another glimpse of what to expect I decide I will quit for sure... Soon. I have a week off work before travelling to a friend's for the Easter weekend. So now would be ideal.
Saturday: In the evening get through two grams of (rubbish) coke and four beers. Have codeine to take the edge off when the coke runs out and get to sleep. This was my last dose.
Sunday: Stay in bed watching films, eating, generally lazing around through the coke comedown as I usually would in this situation.
Monday: Sleep, eat, drink lots of tea, smoke half a cigarette (the first one since Saturday), this just irritates me and winds me up. Feeling far less flu-like symptoms now (nowhere as bad as last Friday), but now I'm restless. Very restless. Legs would be better cut off! I know that my left arm isn't doing this yet and that it soon will and that will be the worst bit. I decide to take antihistamine to try and get some sleep.
I drive to the supermarket before the pharmacy shuts feeling OK, but knowing I will be awake for a long while and buy the supermarket's own sleep aid. I take shed loads - turns out that dyphenhydramine doesn't work and may even make it worse. I down 70 mg of ceterizine on top (I usually take this with codeine to stop the itching and for hay fever and has a sedative effect usually).
Other than being really straight and restless and wide awake I don't actually "feel" that bad. However this is the worst bit. Comfort is unreachable. Watch tons of TV etc, change position every twenty seconds. Begin to have sudden jerks throughout my whole body, which are irritating. My left arm becomes the most uncomfortable, but takes my mind off my legs while I focus on how much I hate my left arm. Now it's all just p***ing me off. AARRGGHHH! At some point after this seemingly endless horror and having been in every possible position my body can achieve (I even tried headstands etc to have something physical to do) I must have slept, because I wake up the next morning with a very mild headache (dehydration) and no other symptoms. I know I'm past the worst (physically) and I am grateful for getting some sleep.
Tuesday: Decide to stay in bed and try to sleep through it, I know if I get up I will end up dosing (I still have a stash ready just in case - this keeps me going, knowing I can have it if I need to rather than panicking about having none available). I drink lots, sleep, watch films, have a bath (very nice) and pretend to be ill to my family, but actually feel OK, - just straight! So straight!
Wednesday: Today. I have to do something! I ache all over from being in bed for practically three days. My room is a state. I decide I'm going to tidy up after a bath. Tidy room = tidy head right? I listen to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter in the bath, probably a bad idea as by now I feel depressed and lonely. Been watching the sunny days in the distance out the window since Sunday and need to get out I think.
I go to collect a parcel from the post office. Driving is OK, but kinda fuzzy, probably not a great idea, but the warmth of the sun pounding on the car soothes my aching bones. Having parked and joined the queue at the post office interacting with people is hard work. Don't know where to look. Anxiety... I know this as I had CBT and was prescribed propanolol for this a few years ago and got over it (but that's another long story). I decide that being at home feels much better than moving amongst all these people. I go to a pharmacy to get ceterizine (for my hay fever which is kicking in now I'm outside), and manage to not buy codeine, but go into another pharmacy as I pass it (nearly) and buy co-codamol. Add this to my emergency stash when I get home, and now I am in the throws of anxiety.
The worst thing about anxiety is there is no reason for it, no practical way to resolve a problem that doesn't exist. Forgetting my mum has propanolol I have two beers. Anxiety goes, but headache begins. Did not tidy my room. Too anxious. Wait for the beer to eat the anxiety up. Eat. Drink tea. Have paracetamol and ibuprofen for my headache. Steal three of my mum's Lyrica (avoiding the Tramadol!). My headache persists, but my body feels fine. I Laugh and feel good watching TV. Stretch my legs and feel comfortable. Body feels great and I feel great feeling my body feeling great. Just the headache now (and that was the beer I think - always get headache when drinking beer, but could be the lack of codeine).
Now I really want to feel the opiate duvet, but actually feel good being through it all. I realise I've also quit smoking as a side-effect! Eating melon and drinking Genmaicha, lots of it. Once the headache has gone I'll just be straight. Straight and bored, but ready to sleep and face tomorrow. Eating has not been a problem all through it really and helped me to avoid dosing as I would always dose on an empty stomach. Never after eating.
I'm going away to stay with friends over Easter and coke is a likely occurrence - that'll be the test, sleeping after coke without codeine.
The worst part of the whole thing was the restless legs and arms, but knowing it's only one night of that is a relief. Flu-like symptoms are fine, cause at least you can sleep and snuggle up feeling ill the day before the restless legs (and left arm).
All in all this was nowhere near as bad as an experience I had on some mislabelled stimulant which kept us up for three days thinking we were going to die to the point of having other friends consider hospital as the only way out, but that's another, other, long story...)
Feeling sleepy now it's midnight. All done. Bed time... and ready for it.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,258
thank you for posting this, I don't know how I would've ever went clean if I could buy from any local pharmacy... sounds like you are wanting this, but keeping a stash just in case? No addict can do that for long...I say flush it.
Reading through this reminds me of my withdrawals, tossing and turning all night, so irritated I couldn't sleep. At 50 days clean today I sleep like a baby, wake up on my own without alarm feeling so good. It took some time but made it...you can too...My husband would know when I was detoxing because I would kick my legs on the bed to pass the restless leg...god I do not miss those times.
Reading through this reminds me of my withdrawals, tossing and turning all night, so irritated I couldn't sleep. At 50 days clean today I sleep like a baby, wake up on my own without alarm feeling so good. It took some time but made it...you can too...My husband would know when I was detoxing because I would kick my legs on the bed to pass the restless leg...god I do not miss those times.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,258
thank you for posting this, I don't know how I would've ever went clean if I could buy from any local pharmacy... sounds like you are wanting this, but keeping a stash just in case? No addict can do that for long...I say flush it.
Reading through this reminds me of my withdrawals, tossing and turning all night, so irritated I couldn't sleep. At 50 days clean today I sleep like a baby, wake up on my own without alarm feeling so good. It took some time but made it...you can too...My husband would know when I was detoxing because I would kick my legs on the bed to pass the restless leg...god I do not miss those times.
Reading through this reminds me of my withdrawals, tossing and turning all night, so irritated I couldn't sleep. At 50 days clean today I sleep like a baby, wake up on my own without alarm feeling so good. It took some time but made it...you can too...My husband would know when I was detoxing because I would kick my legs on the bed to pass the restless leg...god I do not miss those times.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,422
How messed up is it that this post actually made me want to use?? I miss codeine and you get to use coke... damn.
Thanks for the post - glad you got through it okay. My H tapered off codeine with scripts, so he didn't have to go through full withdrawal. Took ages though. Neurofen+ is the big problem in this country cos you can just pick it up over the counter bah. H slipped back a few times before I finally kicked it. There are three pharmacies within 5 mins walking from our house. Ugh.
Good luck dude, I'll be interested to hear how it works out
xx
Thanks for the post - glad you got through it okay. My H tapered off codeine with scripts, so he didn't have to go through full withdrawal. Took ages though. Neurofen+ is the big problem in this country cos you can just pick it up over the counter bah. H slipped back a few times before I finally kicked it. There are three pharmacies within 5 mins walking from our house. Ugh.
Good luck dude, I'll be interested to hear how it works out
xx
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 2
Legal Drugs, the downsides.
I swear there's more legally prescribed & or accepted addicts of Opiate based medication that the illicit forms. Hidden in the queues of pharmacies and the like.
Thanks MDA, I've taken two weeks off work to detox from a crappy 16 years of meds, in reading a lot of the topics on the net I hope its enough time.
I'll give a summary: 1998 involved in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) that left me badly damaged through a drink driver. I'm not here to bleat on about drink driving, we've all (well the majority) have taken risks that could have had a bad impact on others, his was merely the a lot of booze the night before.
So the slow road of recovery started and along came the medication gravy train, you name it they gave it. Not because I was a drama queen, but the tricky balance of keeping my body going whilst they operated. The positive was I didn't even remember being a smoker!
Gradually got back to walking albeit with a limp and various other complications, I got back to work. In the meantime whilst I have been pushing myself my Doctor has been awesome, varying my medications and keeping the body not so reliant on the medication or immune, whichever term you prefer.
Fully aware of the addictive nature of some of the meds I’ve been given or should I say taken. There’s been no choice for medical reasons, the pain was so bad at times I didn’t notice cutting my hand badly whilst prepping food or trapping it in a door. Luckily the coordination has massively improved since then or I’d not be typing.
So after my last operation just after Christmas (2014), I'm almost pain free from the accident, a thousand steps away from when I came round from the accident. The problem is, the withdrawal from pain medication is as bad as some of pain I experienced along the way.
I'm on day four, have no wish too take any other medication as I'm well-enough to function with a decent TENS machine and the odd coffee shot (long story). So far this week, I’ve barely slept, a friend has called this cold turkey and been like a cat on a hot tin roof.
Although my Doctor has been amazing, fully aware of the hard medical choices I’ve had to decide, he’s always been conscious of the addictive element, advising me not to stop via abstinence. So day four has arrived, fuzziness galore, bones aching, cramps, involuntary body movements and generally fidgeting more so at night. I’m more shocked at the bodies reliance and/or addiction than anything nevermind this almost false-dawn of a pathetic flu. My mind however is categorical, it does not need medication of that level, maybe the odd paracetamol but I don’t need anything opiate based as I’m better. The downside is, the body is telling me otherwise but that’s life!!!!
The irony being, whilst having a drink to celebrate coming off the meds which I had pathetically underestimated the power/addiction of, I found myself wanting to quaff alcohol like water to stop what I can only assume is replacing a withdrawal with another vice Don’t get me wrong I’ve binge drunk at university and the like, but this was different, I was George Best in disguise.
So I’m hoping it eases in a month or so, whereby I can get some sleep without flipping left to right. The wife has been amazing, fully supportive but I have elected to sleep in one of the guest rooms so she may sleep instead of having a fish out of water on the bank flapping around.
Whatever your reasons, or how you’ve got where you are or where you’re going through thanks for the posts and a learning curve from someone that’s never really understood physical addiction on whatever level. Certainly a life lesson for me…
Thank you very much.
Thanks MDA, I've taken two weeks off work to detox from a crappy 16 years of meds, in reading a lot of the topics on the net I hope its enough time.
I'll give a summary: 1998 involved in a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) that left me badly damaged through a drink driver. I'm not here to bleat on about drink driving, we've all (well the majority) have taken risks that could have had a bad impact on others, his was merely the a lot of booze the night before.
So the slow road of recovery started and along came the medication gravy train, you name it they gave it. Not because I was a drama queen, but the tricky balance of keeping my body going whilst they operated. The positive was I didn't even remember being a smoker!
Gradually got back to walking albeit with a limp and various other complications, I got back to work. In the meantime whilst I have been pushing myself my Doctor has been awesome, varying my medications and keeping the body not so reliant on the medication or immune, whichever term you prefer.
Fully aware of the addictive nature of some of the meds I’ve been given or should I say taken. There’s been no choice for medical reasons, the pain was so bad at times I didn’t notice cutting my hand badly whilst prepping food or trapping it in a door. Luckily the coordination has massively improved since then or I’d not be typing.
So after my last operation just after Christmas (2014), I'm almost pain free from the accident, a thousand steps away from when I came round from the accident. The problem is, the withdrawal from pain medication is as bad as some of pain I experienced along the way.
I'm on day four, have no wish too take any other medication as I'm well-enough to function with a decent TENS machine and the odd coffee shot (long story). So far this week, I’ve barely slept, a friend has called this cold turkey and been like a cat on a hot tin roof.
Although my Doctor has been amazing, fully aware of the hard medical choices I’ve had to decide, he’s always been conscious of the addictive element, advising me not to stop via abstinence. So day four has arrived, fuzziness galore, bones aching, cramps, involuntary body movements and generally fidgeting more so at night. I’m more shocked at the bodies reliance and/or addiction than anything nevermind this almost false-dawn of a pathetic flu. My mind however is categorical, it does not need medication of that level, maybe the odd paracetamol but I don’t need anything opiate based as I’m better. The downside is, the body is telling me otherwise but that’s life!!!!
The irony being, whilst having a drink to celebrate coming off the meds which I had pathetically underestimated the power/addiction of, I found myself wanting to quaff alcohol like water to stop what I can only assume is replacing a withdrawal with another vice Don’t get me wrong I’ve binge drunk at university and the like, but this was different, I was George Best in disguise.
So I’m hoping it eases in a month or so, whereby I can get some sleep without flipping left to right. The wife has been amazing, fully supportive but I have elected to sleep in one of the guest rooms so she may sleep instead of having a fish out of water on the bank flapping around.
Whatever your reasons, or how you’ve got where you are or where you’re going through thanks for the posts and a learning curve from someone that’s never really understood physical addiction on whatever level. Certainly a life lesson for me…
Thank you very much.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 2
So from the March 16, 2014 to today, I’m unsure of the days (I preferred not to count past 14) but I can confirm I'm on no meds and suffering not much in the way of pain or withdrawal. I ask people but not advise you as I don't know your individual circumstance, to consider detoxing/withdrawing whilst working and/or keeping busy. It helped me no end and was worth it, in terms of distracting me and keeping me busy with purpose. It was harder at home...
Admittedly sleep was a nightmare (sorry for the pun), i've felt somewhat more sensitive / less confident since being off my meds, but I suppose that's natural or perhaps I forgot who I was?
I hope everyone is progressing with their aims, I must admit, I've learnt more about drugs since detoxing than any time in my life. I'm still abstaining from Alcohol as its helped me feel better physically and not so sure about the mentally. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a converted hater of vices, merely trying to do the best with what I have. I dare say my summer holiday will see me have a few beers, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't self-medicating pain, depression or replacing one with another by binge drinking or anything similar.
There’s no hiding the issues or problems with detoxing, the bone ache, itching and frustration on top of pain I’d not wish on anyone or the lack of motivation. I have had the odd painkiller, paracetamol for normal items, but have avoided all other types. Just keep busy if you can.
I've been reading from a distance, thank you for teaching me a lot!
Take care
Admittedly sleep was a nightmare (sorry for the pun), i've felt somewhat more sensitive / less confident since being off my meds, but I suppose that's natural or perhaps I forgot who I was?
I hope everyone is progressing with their aims, I must admit, I've learnt more about drugs since detoxing than any time in my life. I'm still abstaining from Alcohol as its helped me feel better physically and not so sure about the mentally. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a converted hater of vices, merely trying to do the best with what I have. I dare say my summer holiday will see me have a few beers, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't self-medicating pain, depression or replacing one with another by binge drinking or anything similar.
There’s no hiding the issues or problems with detoxing, the bone ache, itching and frustration on top of pain I’d not wish on anyone or the lack of motivation. I have had the odd painkiller, paracetamol for normal items, but have avoided all other types. Just keep busy if you can.
I've been reading from a distance, thank you for teaching me a lot!
Take care
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