To ask how long withdrawal lasts?

[Scunthorpee]

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

I have many reasons why this isnt the best idea. Opioid withdrawal isn’t dangerous. If I cannot stay off them I will go to my GP but surely it is worth a try on my own first

Your doctor will not tell your employer

Long term use of Ibuprofen can cause a stomach ulcer, so whatever you do, don't ignore the stomach pain. You should also Google the other side effects which include acid reflux and if you get any of them - especially the extremely serious ones like 'coffee granule' reflux - you must seek medical help straight away.

To be honest this all started from
my doctor prescribing me zapain for sciatica. I came off them and starting using the OTC ones. I think they will just laugh at me to be honest. I’d rather save myself the embarrassment

I have acknowledged there is a problem, and I am going to deal with it, I quit smoking 8 years ago and never looked back, time to kick these things to the kerb now

The withdrawal is a punishment for me being so bloody stupid

I would not bother with GP, my DH asked for help, they just told him to cut down🙄

He was taking loads for 20 years and stopped cold turkey with no ill effects

My colleague was in a similar position to you OP. She became addicted following surgery. She quit cold turkey - she said she wouldn't recommend it

I have looked a few threads where a person goes for help and the doctor just says cut down 🙄 and then it is on your records isn’t it. Ridiculous

I think a lot of people are in this position to be honest, it seems so very common.

Wow that is a long time! Did he not withdraw at all?

I was told similiar with benzos the gp had no clue about safe withdrawal and just cut me straight of completely

Benzo’s are so dangerous to come off, like alcohol. That was really irresponsible of your GP

Yes I completely agree at dangerous levels.

This is simply untrue. (speaking as someone who works in this field so I know my stuff!)

Opiate withdrawal, whilst unpleasant, will not kill you.
Benzos and booze are a different issue.

Well done OP. Sounds like you have got the idea and are reducing gradually. I would say that if your stomach pain doesn't clear up once you have stopped taking the meds it would be worth a trip to your GP to check there isn't anything nasty like stomach ulcers.

I kind of know what I am dealing with but don’t want to out myself too much. I think this is something I can deal with myself.

Honestly since I stopped taking the ibuprofen it isn’t half as bad. I am going to pick some omeprazole up

Yeah i ended up having to Google it to do it safely

This is why it is so pointless to go to your GP. They don’t really know that much about it (some of them) and then when you need pain relief in the future genuinely you won’t be given it. Especially with opioids when it is about 72 hours of withdrawal and then it gets rapidly better.

I took 6 weeks of codein and I realised in the last weeks of taking it, that I was taking it because it was making me sleep so well.

I stopped taking them immediately and I didnt have any side effects.

See your GP. Its the Ibuprofen or paracetamol concentrations thst are most damaging. Your GP can prescribe codeine alone and reduce your daily usage from that. He/she won't be surprised, there are many users addicted in this way.

A year and 6 weeks is really different and whilst I hope my withdrawal isn’t too bad, I’m not optimistic. It’s my own fault.

Lansoprazole protects your stomach lining. You're burning a hole in your stomach taking these meds.

Codeine alone would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

It depends on the size of your habit and how quickly you do the reduction. Some people can break their addiction in a few days, some take weeks. But just focus on taking less today than you did yesterday, keep going down if you can each day until a half tablet, then a quarter, then finally none.

If you have trouble sleeping Nytol or some antihistamines make you sleepy. And use magnesium salts in your bath. A whole bag in the bathtub. Before bed.

Well done for trying to stop. The paracetamol in the tablets is extremely bad for your stomach.

Obviously the codeine is physically addictive as you know. And it doesn't really work well once you take it all the time.

You'll be so much happier without it. Stay strong!