Codeine addiction

[morpheus]

Last 4 months since  I started new job, I have used codeine every 2 days at dosage 320-500mg. At first these doses gave me great buzz, relaxation and euphoaria (thought short lived), but now these doses just make me "normal". 

I've tried to reduce dosage,but without sucess.

Withdrawal  sets in after 24h after last dose. I can stand  physical simptoms (day 2-3 being the worst) , but cannot stand psychological simtoms - cravings,depression,anxiety. Which leads to relapse and so on.

Maybe there are peoples who are ex users and can share their own sucess story.

[WinterRosie]

I went cold turkey from opiates and just treated the anxiety as a stand-alone problem. This may not necessarily be the best way to do this. I didn't have access to subuxone and I needed off.

 

[morpheus]

Thanks for reply.

 

How long anxiety last?

[MiaB]

I went through four detox /rehab programmes trying to get off opiates. There wasn't a chance in hell that I could have done it on my own, but we're all different.

I strongly recommend talking to a doctor about this.  If formal rehab isn't an option, at the very least you can get some medical care and monitoring while you detox. 

Also, NA isn't for everyone, but it's worth considering if you've not already tried it. 

[WinterRosie]

4 hours ago, centaurus said:

Thanks for reply.

 

How long anxiety last?

Well, anxiety runs in my family, so it's there. But I don't think that's a withdrawal thing.  I think it was there before I was using, and that it is still there because it's something that runs in my family and that I also got. 

So I can't say how long it might last, for you. The nice thing about talking to a doctor as Mia suggested is that they can help to manage the anxiety and depression, too. You don't need to do this alone! Like I said, my way wasn't necessarily the best idea.

[morpheus]

OK, thanks.

I'll do this on my own,because here were i live,  if you are no heroin user,then they cannot help you, maybe prescribe clonidine but thats all. 

Edited September 10, 2016 by centaurus

[Anna]

Umm... Codeine can be pretty potent.  If you have an anxiety problem you MUST be honest with your doc about your use. Opiates and benzos can be bad news.  Opiates= opiates=opiates.  It doesn't matter if you're a heroin user or not.  However, definitely,  clonidine, if your doc will prescribe and if you live in a state where it's legal, marijuana is one of the best detox options that exist.  I DO live in such a state, have detoxed with or without weed, but clonidine can help you.

The dose you are at is HIGH.  Usually, Codeine is given out in 5--10 m.g. amounts.   You may need to set up a taper plan with your doc and/or some IOP program for support, maybe, but the good news is that Codeine has  a SHORT half-life, meaning that your detox and eventual cessation may be fairly short.

Honestly, with co-occurring disorders it's harder.  It took me forever to taper off  Ultram, my particular opiate of choice, and that was BEING on the highest recommended dose.  However, when I tapered off Suboxone (wild amounts of Ultram relapse  and Codeine use led me to maintenance for a few years) it was HELL.  Suboxone has the longest half-life of any opiate I know-- 72 hours.  Those half-lives stack up, you end up with a 96-day detox, I found the first 6 weeks the most  hellish.

Talk to your doc, set up a taper plan, if it were me, I would not COLD-TURKEY from 500 m.g. of Codeine.   Really. 

Anna

[morpheus]

Thanks for your input. I tried taper, but couldn't go under 80 mg/d.

 

Was 10 days clean, and today I relapsed and took 300mg. Just couldn't resist depression and boredom. Will see soon a specialist.

[morpheus]

Again 10 days clean. Doctor prescribed clonidine this month, next month I will take naltrexone course.

[olga]

10 days is terrific!  Keep at it, and I'm glad your doctor has a script that will help with the anxiety.

olga

[morpheus]

Day 16. Clonidine helps,but i've strong cravings for codeine. When these cravings will end? 

[WinterRosie]

I'm not sure when the cravings end.  Mine gradually went away, although they still flare up every so often and it's been close to two decades. It gets easier, though.

[morpheus]

Ehh.. my brain keeps telling me "just one more time".

Does naltrexone reduce cravings? 

[WinterRosie]

I'm not sure - I've never been on naltrexone. It didn't exist when I cleaned up. However, my understanding of how it works isn't that it reduces cravings. So it makes sense to me that you'd want to use.