How much hydrocodone/vicodin is too much?!

How much hydrocodone/vicodin is too much?

My doc prescribes hydrocodone for menstrual cramps. I found myself feeling a "high" from the meds, and enjoying it, and wanting more. I took all 40 of the pills in the first 60 days and now he won't refill it though it has been 4 months since I got the prescription. Ten pills (500 mg) per month isn't that much, is it? I am depressed and anxious and often irritable. I have tried anti-depressants and bipolar meds. Nothing gives me the warm-fuzzy sense of peace that pain meds do. If it makes me feel good and I am not taking enough to harm myself physically, is that so wrong? Some days I can't bring myself to even answer the phone when someone close to me is calling. But when I take the vicodin, I love to be around people and I feel happy. Then it wears off and I find myself canceling plans that I made while I thought I would be able to get out. I am sad and scared and depressed. I have family and friends who ask me out to do things, but I can't make myself go most of the time.

1 month ago
I didn't ask for a refill until 4 months and one week after the original prescription, so my doctor doesn't know I took them all in two months. If I can make 40 of them last for 4 months next time, is that too much?

1 month ago
Thanks to all of you who are kind and willing to go out on a limb with the fact that I am abusing this medication. There's no reason to be ugly about it, and by the way, I am in my 40's, not EXACTLY "in my youth". I have uterine fibroids and they cause me to have extremely painful periods. Just because you (you know who you are) don't have this kind of pain does not mean it doesn't occur. I was reaching out for help, not a slap in the face.

stop taking them if you dont need them, that is one of the worst things to get addicted too!!! i know how you feel, they make you feel great. and when you dont have them you feel horrible and iratible. but trust me, stop it only gets worse. 10 pills a month, and you feel like that??? thats bad, i was taking like 10 a day. just stop taking them, i broke my hand, and dr. kept giving me them like candy, and i was horribly addicted to them. its very hard for about a week or 2 from the withdrawls. but after that its ok.