It spirals so quickly. It can happen to anyone so don’t think bad of yourself. I started taking codeine for a serious back injury 6 years ago. I stuck to the recommended amounts for awhile but to get that original feeling I had to keep taking more and more. That feeling lures you in and before you know it you just can’t stop. And honestly you don’t want to! Then something clicks and you realise the codeine is controlling your life.Getting your life back is a huge motivation.
I’m not too sure about tapering as I went cold turkey but the fact you went from 522 to 32 so quickly you’re going to experience withdrawals even with the 8mg pills. To avoid withdrawals you’d need to taper really slowly. There are people here who tapered that might advise you better on that.
Physical withdrawals last around a week and that agitated/overwhelmed feeling lasts around 2 weeks cold turkey. Once you pass the 2 week mark you start to feel so much better. Anxiety and insomnia can linger longer but nowhere like the initial couple of weeks.
I promise it gets easier and it’s so worth it.