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What Are The Withdrawal Symptoms Of Vicodin?

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Posted on Mon, 17 Aug 2015
Question: I am having to come off Vicodin I lost my script and the Doctor won't write another until my next appointment (Aug 13). My question, is there any thing I can do to make this easier? The pain (osteoarthritis and RA , Fibromyalgia) is getting What are the symptoms of withdrawal? I am a 65 year old female.
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Answered by Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
several issues.

Detailed Answer:
Withdrawal is pretty obvious:
nausea/vomiting/overall incapacitating pain especially abdominal but NOT where you normally get pain/sweats/diarrhea.

Doubtful. It takes a lot of narcotics per day that is hard to acheive on vicodin alone.
And....
Certainly people with pain have it get worse when it is not treated. I might mention that fibromyalgia by definition must mean that there is nothing wrong with someone. The "research" says that it is a disorder of pain perception in which the opiate receptors are broken. Having that actual condition but not actually having fibromyalgia. It's bunk. The other definition of fibromyalgia is
people have every symptom of depression
people score very high on every paper test of depression
people have their pain treatable by depression medications
Personally, I call this "depression". Someone who's joints show up as damaged on x-rays, people who have serum antibodies that gunk things up, get into joints and cause really bad inflammation and destruction in the joints.......
don't have it due to a mental imbalance nor a pain issue nor addiction.
Maybe if you call absolutely everyone who comes into your office fibromyalgia, you don't have to take any time to like.. talk or think?

So... addiction is a cognitive problem in which people misperceive their situation and want drugs when it makes things worse.
Depression is a brain chemistry problem that doesn't actually break down joints.
Withdrawal is from being on steady amounts of fairly high amounts of narcotics and having a LOT of problems all over when you quit. The onset is generally within 24 hrs, peaks at 3-4 days and ebbs off in 1-2 weeks. Pain from arthritis starts back within 6-8 hrs and just sort of stays.

Ok... so, there are things you can get that are not narcotics that help each of these. But I want to concentrate on RA, osteoarthritis and pain.
Aspirin like drugs are helpful BUT quite dangerous, even the over the counter ones. The danger tends to be dependent on the total amount taken and a little bit about how much one takes at one time. Either way, ONE dosage is enough to see if it does anything and is the lowest risk. One Aspirin or ONE aleve in an 8 hr window is enough to judge if it is going to do anything. if it is, it's long term use has to be carefully monitored by the physician (bleeding, kidney function, very slight increased risk of heart attack and/or stroke) for the first few weeks/months someone is on it. Mostly (80+%) they're safe.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman

Addiction Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1985

Answered : 4214 Questions

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What Are The Withdrawal Symptoms Of Vicodin?

Brief Answer: several issues. Detailed Answer: Withdrawal is pretty obvious: nausea/vomiting/overall incapacitating pain especially abdominal but NOT where you normally get pain/sweats/diarrhea. Doubtful. It takes a lot of narcotics per day that is hard to acheive on vicodin alone. And.... Certainly people with pain have it get worse when it is not treated. I might mention that fibromyalgia by definition must mean that there is nothing wrong with someone. The "research" says that it is a disorder of pain perception in which the opiate receptors are broken. Having that actual condition but not actually having fibromyalgia. It's bunk. The other definition of fibromyalgia is people have every symptom of depression people score very high on every paper test of depression people have their pain treatable by depression medications Personally, I call this "depression". Someone who's joints show up as damaged on x-rays, people who have serum antibodies that gunk things up, get into joints and cause really bad inflammation and destruction in the joints....... don't have it due to a mental imbalance nor a pain issue nor addiction. Maybe if you call absolutely everyone who comes into your office fibromyalgia, you don't have to take any time to like.. talk or think? So... addiction is a cognitive problem in which people misperceive their situation and want drugs when it makes things worse. Depression is a brain chemistry problem that doesn't actually break down joints. Withdrawal is from being on steady amounts of fairly high amounts of narcotics and having a LOT of problems all over when you quit. The onset is generally within 24 hrs, peaks at 3-4 days and ebbs off in 1-2 weeks. Pain from arthritis starts back within 6-8 hrs and just sort of stays. Ok... so, there are things you can get that are not narcotics that help each of these. But I want to concentrate on RA, osteoarthritis and pain. Aspirin like drugs are helpful BUT quite dangerous, even the over the counter ones. The danger tends to be dependent on the total amount taken and a little bit about how much one takes at one time. Either way, ONE dosage is enough to see if it does anything and is the lowest risk. One Aspirin or ONE aleve in an 8 hr window is enough to judge if it is going to do anything. if it is, it's long term use has to be carefully monitored by the physician (bleeding, kidney function, very slight increased risk of heart attack and/or stroke) for the first few weeks/months someone is on it. Mostly (80+%) they're safe.