painkiller addiction, im ashamed of myself, i need help

[ashamedofme]

hi i am a regular but ive had to name change.

i had an operation years ago and was given painkillers at the time. (co-dydromol) since then ive been taking any strong painkiller i can find. i dont know exactly why i take them but they make me feel slightly lightheaded and i like this feeling. i did stop taking them while i was pregnant without trouble so i really thought i didnt have a problem.

Over the last few months i have found one type that are strong and i can buy over the counter and i have been taking these. ive now started to feel lethargic in the mornings and ive been sick quite a lot. in the last couple of weeks ive tried to stop taking them but by the end of the day i get stomach cramps, i sweat, feel sick and have a massive headache. the only thing that stops these symptoms is taking the painkillers. so now i know i have a serious problem (i even have to go to different chemists to get them) the trouble is if i go to my GP and admit it, what will happen? will they take my baby away? i feel really stupid for getting myself into this situation and dont know if ive done long term damage to myself. does anyone know if i can stop myself by reducing slow or to suffer the cramps and go 'cold turkey' any advice please?

have started a thread to look for one!

coudl i just say
your symptoms are purely your body craving codeine

A bit like smoking, having a cigarette doesnt' do anything for you other than stop you craving nicoteine

So maybe just to take them regulary throughout the day and lower your dose each day would be good

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mellowma i average 16 a day sometimes though its nearer 20 odd

you need to look on the box and see how many mg of codeine is in each

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would or would not??

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they would take my baby?

"IME you would have your dc taken from you"

Sorry I just wanted to clarify if you meant would or would not! As the next sentence didn't sit with it (about the gp being helpful)

aom think (hope) that may be a typo

i cant go to GP then can i?

they will not take your baby.

You should go to your GP.
I have had addiction problems in my teens which had popped up again after I had my children I was worried about going to the dr but when I finally admitted my problems to my partner (I hid it from him for ages) he made me go and she was great, she could see the kids were well looked after, and refered me to a drugs worker...may not do this with you but I was doing street drugs..the worse. And I'm now clean from all drugs and have a great relationship with my partner and GP.

Good Luck

It's not quite the same but my sdd was getting a lot of migraines and her mother is a GP and she was giving her loads of codeine type pain killers. Then every time she stopped she got headaches and so took more and it was a spiral. Apparently it was something called rebound headaches. She came off them all at once and had an awful 2 weeks of headaches, feeling sick etc but then was OK. She now sticks to ibuprofen only - no paracetemol or Codeine.

I would say though that her mother still doesn't believe any of the rebound headache stuff and tries to get her to take Codeine all the time. I have a feeling that some GPs just think these drugs are the answer to everything and dole them out without too much thought. No wonder poor people like you and my sdd have so many problems.

Good luck with trying to wean yourself off.

I agree with the others - you have no need to feel ashamed and you are not selfish. It's bloody hard work looking after a young child. Cutting the pills down slowly is a good idea. The reason why codeine makes you feel good is because it is an opiate and we all have opiate receptors - bummer eh! When you are taking a pill for reasons other than pain management it's useful to explore why that is. If as others suggested you are depressed, maybe a short course of anti-depressants would put you right. If it's because you like the feeling you get, maybe you need to find something else that gives you a similar feeling but is healthier eg complementary therapies. I've heard that acupuncture is popular with people who are trying to come off substances so even though yours is over the counter it should still apply. I would also recommend reflexology as it is a holistic treatment so can help with the irritable bowel, pain etc as well as balancing hormones. I'm having it myself at the moment and have noticed a huge difference even after only 2 sessions.

Agree that was a typo - no way a GP would say you can't look after your kids over this - don't worry.

p.s you shouldn't try and wean yourself off, as you don't know what effect this may have.

They won't take your baby away unless it is being harmed in anyway.

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phew!

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god my heart was thumping. thank you.

i will try to do it myself i think. im just so embarrassed. the pills i take have 10mg codeine phosphate and 50 mg caffeine so im assuming no tea coffee while i do this yes?