klouise

I wake up and feel lousy. So, I take a pill. In the afternoon I feel sick. So, i take another pill. Then I take a pill before going to bed. Then of course I take a pill in btween all these times...I want to quit but yet I can't stop. Here I want to stop but am upset because one of the people I get my uills from said that they will not give me anymore for at least awhile. I think this person
feels I will turn them in....Now of course there are other places I could go to but do I really want to considering that I want to stop. I found a NA that meets near my home. However, I doubt my husband would let me go.Plus, I really don't want any family members to know because some of them can be a major pain in the butt....So, I feel things are rather hopeless.i am just tired of feeling yucky all the time...Can someone quit on their own without any support like NA or medical supervision. I been taking about an average of 8 hydrocone a day. Sometimes I will take other drugs like percocette(spelling).
I have also used cocaine, pot,alcohol, and speed in the past but that was a very long time ago..

Peter

Some people seem to be able to stop on their own when they are sufficiently motivated to do so.

I was not one of them and found help in Narcotics Anonymous.

I do not have any experience with pills like hydrocodone or percocet but it may be wise to seek the counsel of a professional as withdrawal from some drugs can be fatal.

Klouise, you do not need approval from your husband or any other family member to do something about improving the quality of your life.

skunkape

Klouise,

Addiction is a hard thing to face by yourself. It can be scary admitting defeat, but thats exactly what we have to do if we want to overcome the madness. You have to admit that you are powerless over you addiction and that your life has become unmanageable. Then you must be willing do whatever it takes to get sober.

Like Peter said, some people do seem to have the ability to get clean by sheer willpower. I know that I am not one of them. My willpower failed me every single time. I feel much more comfortable knowing I have a network of individuals who are facing the same problems and that are willing to help me. Thats what NA is about, you should check it out.

best

sufficiently motivated
I was able to stop drinking but I can't say it was all on my own.
Fear was my motivator. I had a sponsor who was AA but he was more a friend and never an officail sponsor. I did not do meetings.
I stopped but I wasn't healed. NA and AA guide us with the tools to help the whole person. Fear and a little wisdom from another helped me see good reason to stop drinking.
I can't say I was totally sober till I started working on the whole me. The spiritual side and the attitude side. The 12 steps are a wonderful reader's digest that get right to the problem. I found the steps through reading the bible. they are there, just not laid out as you find them in AA or NA.
As far as I have seen life... without the treating of the whole person, we never really find a sober life. The guidance of others helps us get there much faster and easier then anything we can do on our own.

REZ

Yes, I guess on could stop on there own, but could one stay stopped and have some measure of happiness on one's own? I needed help and found it in NA. Having an addiction is not just a little, simple thing that almost anyone can handle by themselves. It is a serious problem that can lead to jails, institutions, or death if not treated.

Time4Change

Hi klouise! I'm so glad you're here! It makes me sad to read that you doubt your husband would let you go to a nearby NA meeting. Does he know you use painkillers? Is he aware of your dosage and frequency? If you sat him down and told him you've become dependent on your medication and would like to seek some support in recovery, I would think he would be so incredibly proud of you and want to do whatever it takes to help you and support you in trying to better yourself and take control of your addiction ... oh, and quite possibly save your life! You're NOT a bad person trying to be good, klouise .... you're a sick person trying to get well.

Try not to worry what your family members think. This isn't about them, Honey. It's about you and your life. If someone who loves you looks down their nose at you because you regularly go to an NA meeting .... hmpf! They're not worth the worry. They most likely have their own picture in their heads about what an NA meeting is like. In my opinion, they're kinda similar to a bible study meeting (though NA is a spiritual, not religious program), just with a more ecclectic (and fun, exciting, crazy, happy, loving, giving, caring, etc) group of people. It's so weird ... if you told certain people you were going to a nutritional support group for your diabetes, they'd be like "Hey, that's great! How's it going? Good for you!" LOL! Oh well ... the good part is once they see the change in you after getting off the painkillers, attending NA regularly and reaching out for support, beginning to work a program and feeling good again, they'll more than likely become more accepting and understanding about your recovery; maybe even ask you questions about it. That's my experience anyways.

I'm so glad that you're putting yourself out there and asking questions, asking for support and encouragement, asking about NA meetings, and acknowledging your desire to stop taking the pills. Good job!

Keep coming back! We're here for you. (Oh yeah, and give that meeting a try ... I promise you, you won't be sorry).

milla

if you are taking 8 pills a day depending on the dosage.. maybe, maybe not on whether you can do it alone. I am sure there are others who will have lots of advice for you. Ahve you spoken to a doctor? it amy not be as scary as you think... I had a herniated disc several years ago and was put on codeine and percocet for several months, i had no idea i would form an addiction, but when i tried to stop cold turkey four months after going on them i found myself suicidal and depressed and panicked. i called my Dr and he told me to immedietly take 3 pills and that I couldnt stop like that (duh!) and I would need to ween myself off of them...etc..anyway, long story short, i stayed on 3-4 pills a day for a while and about a year later (I was travelling so much and using that as an excuse not to ween off them, saying I wanted to do when I was back in the country with my Dr around...total ******** of course...)..anyway, i finally decided i needed to start weening off of them, and stop lying to myself (my family of course never knew a thing althouhg my mom suspected)... so my DR had described to me how to ween myself off them and basically since i was living abroad i just did it on my own -- I was drinking with them as well and occassionally smoking pot etc... although I have never tried cocaine or heroine or anything else I knew what I was doing was a little ******* ked up... anyway, so what I did is scale down.... from 4 pills a day, I went down to three a day--then three weeks later I went down to 2 a day.. at that time I also began taking St Johns Wort b/c I was afraid of the depression and withdrawl etc and I knew that being on a chemcial anti-depressant wouldnt be allowed while I was still on the pain meds... anyway, I was taking maybe 1000 to 2000 mg of St Johns Wort a day, morning and night, for the whole month that i was taking 2 a day, then a scaled down to 1 pill day for three weeks,....still taking the st jonhs... and finally i stopped the pain meds, and the alcohol etc... and stayed on the st johns wort for the next year. i didnt experience a ton of depression the way i feared and I have not touched those pain meds since. i didnt go to NA (though I am not saying you wont need to...everyone is different...)... but I dont really know what your story is so can only tell you what i went thru. I was never ever an addict in a hardcore way... I was staright laced all thru high school and college, didnt drink, smoke, not even cigarettes ever... started drinking socially in my early 20's, never really tried anything, and that back injury really ****** with me and put me as close to the edge as i ever want to get. Now my Addict BF... thats another story anyway... you will know whats right for you. good luck, I hope it all goes smoothly.

emmer

Personally I can't imagine doing it alone,if it wasn't for this forum and the help I get as well as the help from N.A. my liver would be toast soon,and my drug abusing behavior would have no end. There are a lot of very selfless people @ N.A. as well as on this forum that are a great help. We all lean on each other, thats how we get thru each day. At least that's what I firmly believe. God bless......Joe

Digginit

I stopped on my own, but I was dam#ed determine. There were no choices left but to quit or lose all. At the time I couldn't stomach meetings....the whole "powerless" thing really pissed me off....lol. Doesn't anymore, and sometimes now I do go to meetings. The way I did it worked for me, but only because I had the deep-down, absolute, unwavering desire....and a few close friends who talked me through the toughest days.