[donut]

Hi people

I am bipolar. I currently take quetiapine and lithium an have been stable for ages. I work full time. I have also been taking codiene for over ten years. I have tried to stop it but feel awful when I do. It seems to work on depression far better than antidepressants ever did and without the hypothymia. I don't take huge amounts about 60mg a day sometimes a bit more. I know I should stop but I can't. Any one else in same boat?

[lynn P.]

Sorry you're struggling with this and thanks for your honesty. Is the codiene in the form of a pain reliever or is it a cough syrup? It can be risky to take pain relievers for this long - even just regular tylenol can cause kidney damage. Maybe you can speak with your doctor and he/she can help you get off of it.

[madisgram]

i'd have a talk with your doctor. is he/she prescribing this to you? this seems to be an awfully long time to be on it and i'm sure it has addictive properties. that's why you're feeling so bad when you try to stop. it's most important you be weaned off with a doctor's care involved. keep us posted donut. glad you were willing to talk about this with us.

[donut]

Thanks both.

Actually it is not prescribed but rather over the counter meds. Which is actually worse than just regular codiene as it has iboprofen in it which is dodgy with the lithium I take. I am finding it impossible to stop. It might be easier if I went into rehab, but I am a single mum and can't afford time off work.

[Melbadaze]

Over here otc codiene only contains 12.5g of codiene so to be taking 60g you'd be taking about 60 pills a day, with that amount you'd be OD'ing.

[anna342]

^ They said 60mg, so it'd only be 5 tablets. Still an OD if they are all taken at one go, but not as bad as 60 obviously!

I've been in a similar situation but shorter term. I was able to come off it through using a very small dose prescribed by my GP, and a lot of will power. It won't feel good and you might spend time in bed wishing you could have some, but you need to have the commitment to overcome that. You cannot expect not to have to work for it, and work quite hard. There might be some sort of addictions support group you can go to in your area too, I have no experience so I don't know how good they can be.

[donut]

Hi all

Still trying hard to quit the nurofen plus. I don't take a huge amount but I do take four at one go, sometimes more. I need to lock myself away somewhere miles from any where so I can detox in peace. Not likely to happen any time soon. I am in an extremely stressful job so there is no way I can stop right now.

[splitimage]

Ask yourself if there will ever be a "good" time to stop. For years I kept telling myslef I was too stressed to stop drinking and that I'd stop next weekend. I stopped when I lost my job. Yes detox is unpleasant, but you can survive it. Could you book a Friday or a Monday off work and have a three day weekend. That would give you uninterupted time to get over the worst of the withdrawal.

Once you're off it, there's a medication that you can take that will keep you off it. Revia (Naltrexone) is an opiate antagonist so it blocks you from getting any high when you take an opiate. Up here it's pretty widely prescribed to opiate addicts. It also helps with alcohol cravings which is what I take it for. But you need to have the opiates out of your system first otherwise if you take it, it'll immediately put you into withdrawal.

Splitimage