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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask how long withdrawal lasts?

236 replies

Scunthorpee · 16/06/2025 11:37

So for some bizarre reason I have gained a bit of a habit buying Cocodamol and Nurofen plus. It got to a point where my stomach was starting to hurt and realised I was upping my dose so I have decided to nip this in the bud. Yesterday I took 2, this morning I have took 2 and had some diarrhoea (sorry tmi) I felt they helped calm me down after my divorce but in reality they didn’t and I will be so glad and proud to be free of this

OP posts:
EmeraldShamrock000 · 19/06/2025 21:53

If/when the little voice in your heads tells you that you can start again, as giving up was easier than you expected, remember the pain, despair you felt when you were taking the pills.
The low will come, I'm not trying to scare you, just preparing you, you'll be up for the fight.
Best of luck 💐

Scunthorpee · 20/06/2025 06:14

EmeraldShamrock000 · 19/06/2025 21:53

If/when the little voice in your heads tells you that you can start again, as giving up was easier than you expected, remember the pain, despair you felt when you were taking the pills.
The low will come, I'm not trying to scare you, just preparing you, you'll be up for the fight.
Best of luck 💐

Will I ever get to a point where I just don’t think about it? Or is this something that will probably stay with me?

OP posts:
Hoardasurass · 20/06/2025 09:10

Scunthorpee · 20/06/2025 06:14

Will I ever get to a point where I just don’t think about it? Or is this something that will probably stay with me?

It will stay with you until you deal with whatever it was that caused you to abuse opiods for a year

user1471516498 · 21/06/2025 01:21

I find that I have to ask myself why do I feel entitled not to live with reality. Currently, my reality is that I live with severe pain, and it is wrong to run away from that reality. I now avoid any medication that just gets rid of symptoms as to me it is all part of the same bad thought patterns. For me, even taking antihistamines or paracetamol is a step down a path I don't want to go back to

Yeoldlondoncheese · 23/06/2025 23:07

How are you feeling @Scunthorpee ?

Scunthorpee · 24/06/2025 07:45

Yeoldlondoncheese · 23/06/2025 23:07

How are you feeling @Scunthorpee ?

Yes I am all good, felt a little depressed as obviously I have been numbing my emotions but I am dealing with it. It’s been just over a week.

OP posts:
Lollapalo · 07/07/2025 13:10

I took up to 30 Nurofen plus a day (filtered out the ibuprofen). When I gave up two weeks ago I was taking about 25 a day. I tapered in 6 days with absolutely no side effects beyond a tiny bit of an upset stomach and a headache. Have been off them entirely a week today.

Breezy1985 · 30/09/2025 00:58

PharmacyFiend · 17/06/2025 01:29

I have name changed for this. I have experience of codeine withdrawal that may be helpful to the OP.

At my "worst", I was taking 72 Nurofen+ a day, in 'doses' of 8 tablets (so just over 100mg of codeine) at a time. My life revolved around driving to different pharmacies to buy them, cringing with shame each time I asked for them, dreading the odd occasion when the Pharmacist would refuse to sell them to me. It cost me an absolute fortune, got me in serious financial trouble, made me incredibly sly and secretive, and I ended up with a gastric ulcer which burst in the middle of the night and I then had a week long stay in ITU. I was very unwell.

When I was discharged, I contacted my GP and they agreed to prescribe me large quantities of codeine, so I could taper at home. I had been addicted (on and off) since I was 21, and the ulcer burst just before my 42nd birthday.

I initially cut my doses down to 4 times a day, but kept the dose at 100mg a time, and I didn't have any physical withdrawal symptoms to begin with. I cut down by 15mg per dose every 3/4 days, so around 3 weeks in I was taking 30mg 4 times a day. I then cut out one dose per week for 2 weeks until I was taking 30mg twice a day. That was when the physical symptoms kicked in. It wasn't too bad to start with, some nausea, lack of appetite, irritability (which was tricky, as I didn't tell anyone other than my Doctors about my addiction), and the worst of the symptoms; sweating, restless legs and the total inability to sleep. It was horrific. There were a few times when I just couldn't stand it, and ended up taking some extra just to stop my legs from feeling like they were crawling with ants.

The jump down from 30mg twice a day to 15mg twice a day was hard, but more psychologically than physically at that stage. I had relied on codeine to make the world ever so slightly softer and easier for virtually my entire adult life, and it was like coming out of a calm, quiet room into a busy train station. I was totally overwhelmed, and it was at this point I realised I needed to talk to someone about why I'd starting using codeine to ''take the rough edges off my life", rather than for pain relief.

I spoke to an excellent Therapist, and I continued with the 2 doses of 15mg a day for 6 weeks, while I worked through the psychological issues attached to my addiction. I was then able to go down to 7.5mg twice a day (at which point it was having no discernible physical effect, it was only the psychological dependency remaining). Then 7.5mg once a day for a week, then none.

I still had 10 x 30mg tablets left, and a couple of weeks after stopping completely, I had a really shitty day, and that little addict voice in my head said "Ah, go on, you deserve to take the edge off, you've earned it!" and I took 60mg in one dose. As the familiar feeling flooded through me, I got really scared, and realised how stupid I had been, as I could see that I would immediately be hooked again, and back in the old, familiar, lonely cycle. I crushed the rest of the tablets and washed them down the sink. I felt a flood of relief that they were gone.

Sorry, that was long! My experience was that the worst of the physical withdrawals lasted around 5 days, but the psychological withdrawal was much longer. Even now, years later, I have days when I think "I could just buy one packet..." I'm not sure if the psychological dependency will every be truly "gone" for me, I was addicted to those little bastard tablets for such a long time.

I really feel for anyone else who gets "stuck" on codeine, it really is a total arsehole of a medicine, far too easily available, and far too easy to get addicted to.

The way you described codeine, the addiction and the thoughts is exactly my experience, apart from I had to use subutex to come off them.
Ended up on subutex for the past 7.5 years, and been off that for 6 days, coming off that is bad enough but nowhere near as bad as trying to withdraw myself off codeine, it's the restless legs and lack of sleep that is getting to me.

I wouldn't advise anyone to come off opiates without support, but sadly some drs don't seem to realise just how addictive it is.

FriendofDorothy · 08/10/2025 11:29

Breezy1985 · 30/09/2025 00:58

The way you described codeine, the addiction and the thoughts is exactly my experience, apart from I had to use subutex to come off them.
Ended up on subutex for the past 7.5 years, and been off that for 6 days, coming off that is bad enough but nowhere near as bad as trying to withdraw myself off codeine, it's the restless legs and lack of sleep that is getting to me.

I wouldn't advise anyone to come off opiates without support, but sadly some drs don't seem to realise just how addictive it is.

Well done getting off Subutex. Hopefully you are feeling a lot better now.

Breezy1985 · 13/10/2025 21:22

FriendofDorothy · 08/10/2025 11:29

Well done getting off Subutex. Hopefully you are feeling a lot better now.

So much better, thank you. 3 weeks on Wednesday, finally sleeping and feeling like a human again. It was hard, but I am so glad I am finally free from codeine and subutex after many, many years.

FriendofDorothy · 13/10/2025 21:46

Breezy1985 · 13/10/2025 21:22

So much better, thank you. 3 weeks on Wednesday, finally sleeping and feeling like a human again. It was hard, but I am so glad I am finally free from codeine and subutex after many, many years.

Well done! It's the head fuck that goes with it that's the hardest to deal with... the physical passes. Hopefully it will get easier from here on.

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