Hello again
I guess it worked. I hope everyone is doing ok today. I just really wanted to express my gratitude to u all, right from the beginning of these posts (Maggie37, Rachbn, Betterlife spring to mind) right up until the more recent posts (Markymark, Wynter, CaseyJ) & to all of you who have shared your struggles & so freely have given your support & care. I came across this forum whilst looking for ‘codeine withdrawals’ & it has been an absolute lifesaver for me. I have read & re-read the whole thread many times whilst going through CT, & I know for sure I wouldn’t have made it through the first couple of days even without it.
I am now Day 29 codeine free. I have been taking 6 NP 3x daily for around a year & half. I had an ongoing knee problem which had slowly been getting worse & have been on the waiting list for an operation for around a year now. NP was always a ‘go to’ for me once every now & again for pain, so I naturally turned to this when my knee pain started. The pain was awful, so before long I was regularly dosing. Once I was out for the day & took an extra 2 tablets, & I’ll never forget how wonderful I felt. I have been sober for 2 years now, & this was about 4 months into my recovery whilst I was still struggling not to drink. These devil pills made being sober so much easier (obviously I was beginning to cross addict though I didn’t realise this at the time) & before long I was up to 6 pills 3 times a day. As you all know, you are still fully functional & it’s easy to hide it but it just puts you into a lovely little bubble where things just don’t seem so bad. They gave me the energy & motivation I had lost when stopping drinking, made everything easier to cope with. But I always was going to stop ‘tomorrow’ I was becoming aware that after the energy boost came the slumps, & I looked forward to the next time I could dose up. I was always tired, headaches, achey when they began to wear off. I tried a couple of times to stop but always gave in after a day or two as I felt so agitated & rough. I certainly never EVER imagined the sheer hell CT would be, until a week into January I had just had enough. On day 1 I was feeling terrible, & thankfully came across this forum. I read all the way through, & quickly became aware I was in for a rough time. Those first 10 days were torture, day 3&4 I actually thought I was going to die, but I trusted what I read in this forum, & took the advice for making it more comfortable. Without this forum & you amazing, brave people on it, I wouldn’t have made it. After the initial physical hell began to get better, the panic attacks & anxiety started, again, I felt reassured by your posts. I did end up going to the doc cos I seriously thought I was having a heart attack my heart was racing so fast, & he prescribed propanolol, which really helped & was also suggested in this forum. Things are beginning to feel better for me now, took nearly 4 weeks & I’m still not right & realise this will take time, but it’s doable, things are looking brighter, & my continued recovery is all down to you guys, & I sincerely thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
I would really like to stick around with u all on this forum & to help anyone who needs it as I have been helped. I have kept a journal of ‘the hell’ so have a timeline of symptoms & stuff & how things have been up until now, so I am here if anyone needs anything & bless all of you for your support.❤️❤️xxx