Vicodin and percocet help please?!
Question: I have a friend who is addicted to vicodin and percocets he has been for a couple of yrs. He really wants to quit. He was wondering if anyone knew how many days after he stopped will he feel horrible and if anyone knows of anything he can do to help with the affects of quiting. Thank you for your help
Answers: I have a friend who is addicted to vicodin and percocets he has been for a couple of yrs. He really wants to quit. He was wondering if anyone knew how many days after he stopped will he feel horrible and if anyone knows of anything he can do to help with the affects of quiting. Thank you for your help
Hi,
This depends on a few factors, as I always tell patients,
(1) How long you have used the drug
(2) What your dosage is
(3) How many times a day you take it
Based on that, I can suggest the following options:
(1) Subsitution: This means, switching him to another opiate drug and slowly tapering him off. At present, given the laws in the US, the two drugs that I can suggest for this are Buprenorphine (sold as Subutex and Suboxone) & Codeine. The third option is Methadone but that may be completely unnecessary for a Vicodin addiction. (It may be like trying to kill a fly with a shotgun)
(2) Cold Turkey: I can never in good conscience recommend this, knowing exactly what it does to the body, but if this is your only choice, then you can try and slowly taper the Vicodin and Percs down once every 5-6 days. This option may still be uncomfortable but it is heaps better that cold turkey. Your friend may still experience discomfort, fatigue, chills, mild diarrhoea, fever and generally mild flu symptoms if he follows a proper taper schedule (you can mail me or send me a PM on Yahoo Messenger if you like and I'll design one for you).
The whole process of quitting can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. But when stopping cold turkey, the symptoms from *most* opioids (and vicodin and percocets definitely fit this category), should peak at Day 3 and start tapering at Day 5-6. By Day 7 your friend will feel better. But if you choose the cold turkey method, be sure to have in hand the following:
(1) A sedative (Valium or Ativan. Don't give Xanax. And DON'T give anti-histamines. Some people are very sensitive to them and this can induce a delerious, nightmarish state)
(2) An anti-diarrhoeal (Immodium is the best. Also, Bentyl for stomach cramps is good.
That's about it.
What I do need though, is more information. I just need to know the answers to the first 3 questions. Based on that, I can give you a more accurate answer. As always, feel free to PM me or mail me.
EDIT: Right, this will hurt him. 20-30mg every 3 hours is equal to a total of 160mg - 240mg of Oxycodone per 24 hours. Am I right?
If so, please find a Suboxone or Subutex doctor. That, I honestly feel is the best thing to do. As the poster below me said, don't feel proud. So many people have been in this boat. People you would never expect. So please find a doctor who will prescribe you these and then contact me and I will give you a schedule to follow.
If you still decide to go cold-turkey, then I wish you luck first because this will not be easy. Your friend will have to go through pretty bad withdrawals. S/he will not be able to function until Day 3-4 maybe 5 and even this is variable. The whole physical process can last 7-12 days. But the worst bit is usually over at Day 4-5. S/he will gradually start feeling better from this point forward. But it may take months and even years before the cravings subside. S/he may also end up with an amount of depression which can last anywhere between a month to a year. I sincerely hope this was helpful to you and wish you the best of luck with what you decide upon. Please try and get an anti-diarrheoal like Immodium and perhaps some Valium for your friend for the first 4 days. Those are the worst. They usually begin anywhere from 2-24 hours after the last dose of opioid. With codeine it's 36 hours though for some reason. But with oxycodone, they may start much faster (possibly 4-8 hours after your friend's last dose).
EDIT: Please allow me to say this one last thing. Cold Turkey is indeed Molecular Murder! It is NEvER fatal (although I have my doubts about Methadone) but the amount of hell it puts your body through is just not worth it. Please find a Suboxone doctor. Or at least try a taper.
7 to 10 days for the physical addiction
the emotional part can last months to years
DO NOT LET HIM STOP COLD TURKEY, RAMP HIM OFF THEM. GET MEDICAL INPUT, he could have a heart attack, stroke or heart failure.
I have a spinal fusion, and when I got out of the hospital after a 5 day stay, I was sent home with a big bottel of percocets. I was taking 2 every 4 hours like clockwork, 12 a day! It's been a year now and I still have to take 2 vicadens daily, but getting off the percs was ruff!! I sweated, couldn't eat, hot-freezing at the same time, mean to my family, but they stood by me. I had to be left alone to get through it so there wern't any casualties, lol! But for me , the physical part lasted two days, the mental part is still there. If I try to do stuff, I hurt myself and run for the shelter of mother's little helper(Stones 19th nervous breakdown quote), So the battle goes on. When will it stop and I'll be CLEAN! Soon I hope. I no longer desire them physicaly or mentaly and I'd be fine If I did nothing at all. I'm now on a non narcotic med called neurontin. It keeps my body from tightening up from the nerves being severed. So I'm slowly getting there. If your friend just has a problem with taking them because It feels good and now I have to take them so I don't get sick, they need to get in a group of people just like them! They can do it, but don't do it alone or with a friend like I did. GOD, Thats so hard!! I now have the resorces that are getting me back into the mainstream of life. And man, it's good to be back. So altho I'm not compleatly clean,due to a physical condition, I FEEL I will be. So get some professional help. Don't be to proud. Just do it You'd be surprised to know how many people are in the same boat as you and are functioning. So 2 days of sick and a life time of control. God Bless, keep the faith-PEACE!! And AJ is right on!!