To ask how to come off co-codamol

[Shambles12]

So I seen a post on here which prompted me to do this. I am addicted to Zapain, I take 4 a day since hurting my shoulder. I take it religiously regardless of whether I am in pain or not. Has anybody been through this as I really don't want to take this medication anymore?!

Slowly, and with your doctor's help. Please don't do it on your own. 💐

Yes wean off gradually and take paracetamol/ibuprofen whilst doing so. I got addicted to these due to headaches/repetitive strain disorder, and had awful rebound headaches afterwards when coming off. The GP said that codeine-based pills don't actually help with the pain in an anti-inflammatory way but just mask it because the opiate gives you a nice ambient feeling. Don't stop all of a sudden, reduce over time.

Sorry, this isn't personal experience, but when Dr Rangan Chatterjee did his Doctor In The House show, he helped someone cut down their daily painkiller use by switching out some painkillers for placebos and it seemed to work. Obviously they didn't realise, so it mightn't be so effective for you but you could try asking someone to dosh out a mix of real and placebo into a pill counter and see how it goes?

I feel like such a failure, Have never taken Illicit drugs or anything like that and here I am addicted to these!

Easy enough to do so don't beat yourself up about it. Been there, done that.

Go and speak to your GP and follow their advice.

What works for one on here may not work for you.

Don't worry, codeine pills have only had the 'don't take more for more than 3 days,' warning put on them recently, because it's only fairly recently that there's been a better understanding of how addictive they are. They get prescribed for a lot of things and so a lot of people will be in your position, my friend had major back surgery and was put on them, then advised to wean off gradually.

I've done this - start reducing really really slowly. If you're taking tablets, cut them up so you can start reducing by a quarter tablet at a time.

At least a week between each reduction but longer if you need it.

You might have diarrhoea as you reduce because codeine is an opiate and causes constipation.

It isn't fun but you can do it!

I've been off them for over 10 years and never looked back.
Don't take tramadol - much much harder to come off IME

I am so scared they will judge me or deem me an unfit mother

Pm me if I can help further.

GPS deal with this kind of stuff and a whole lot worse all the time.

How bad are the withdrawals if I just stop?

Getting help means you are a good mother. Any opiate based painkillers can be incredibly addictive and GPs will have seen this many times. Please get help, then perhaps ask the GP to put a note on your file to say not to be given any opiate based pain relief in future.

I was addicted (physically rather than for the high). I tried to stop quickly. I had cold sweats, vomiting, diarrhoea. I wouldn’t recommend it!
What strength are they? 30/500? It’s worth talking to your GP because they can give you smaller doses of the codeine to come down gradually. I mean you could sub one of your 4 30/500 tablets for an over the counter co-codamol (usually 8/500) but you might find it too big a drop.

Zapain has 30mg codeine per tablet - there are other preparations with 15mg, 10mg and 8mg per tablet. So I would talk to your GP, maybe keep same number of tablets but switch down through the preparations then reduce the number of tablets.

I got addicted to solpadeine max which is only 12.8mg of codeine per tablet. I would take 2 a day. Not every day but most days. So easy to get addicted to these.

I just stopped them cold turkey and wouldn’t recommend to be fair. I had horrific brain fog and confusion. Dizziness and anxiety. Went after about a week.

You are not a bad mother, and you have taken a massive step in admitting you have a problem.

There is some information here that might be worth using as a starting point. Don't just stop though.

https://www.addictionhelper.com/opiates/over-the-counter-medicine/

I take 8 a day and have done for at least 5 years. I'm probably completely addicted, and I am probably addicted to the other painkillers I take too, but I don't think I could mentally cope with my physical pain if I came off of them. You are not a failure. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Me too OP, I used to take 4 in the morning, four at lunchtime and 4 when I get home.
I'm desperate to come off them. My doctor didn't help me at all. He just said well stop taking them then.
A lot of it is mental health related, they calm me down so I don't feel the pain of CPTSD.
I've started cutting down by a half a tablet per week I cannot do any more than that or I start feeling panicky.
I'm onto 4 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon and I'm about to cut that down by half a tablet tomorrow. So four in the morning and 3.5 in the evening.
Slow and sure.

From a Zapain info leaflet online: aking this medicine regularly, particularly for a long time, can lead to addiction. Your prescriber
should have explained how long you will be taking it for and when it is appropriate to stop, how to
do this safely.
Rarely, increasing the dose of this medicine can make you more sensitive to pain. If this happens,
you need to speak to your prescriber about your treatment.
Addiction can cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking this medicine. Withdrawal
symptoms can include restlessness, difficulty sleeping, irritability, agitation, anxiety, feeling your
heartbeat (palpitations), increased blood pressure, feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, loss of appetite,
shaking, shivering or sweating. Your prescriber will discuss with you how to gradually reduce your
dose before stopping the medicine. It is important that you do not stop taking the medicine suddenly
as you will be more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms.

Wow, I cant believe how many of us are in the same boat!

Does anybody know?, I am a professional (healthcare) I should know better!

Well Done gettingby

Mine was also CPTSD related 🙁 I was using them initially for headaches and then as anti anxiety meds!

I have the willpower to stop them if I need to, but I do suffer side effects. Will sometimes go months with out but easy to fall back into a habit.

Does anybody know what?
DH was on 8 x 30/500 a day due to cancer pain. He started off by dropping one of the tablets at a time. I would say he did it over about a month.
Good luck.

If you Google there are tapering strategies you can use.