Hello, Thank you for your query. I understand your concerns. It is better for your mother-in-law to wean herself off from the Vicodin. If she stops it cold turkey, then she is very likely to get withdrawal symptoms. As she has been taking it for 20 years, she is likely to have become physically and psychologically dependent on it. Sudden stoppage leads to withdrawal symptoms as soon as 8-12 hours after stopping the last tablet. The peak withdrawal side effects are seen 3 days after stopping the tablet and on an average lasts for about a week, but can lasts for a couple of months (especially the emotional side effects). In fact your mother-in-law has taken it for 20 years; the duration of the withdrawal symptoms may be longer. Common withdrawal symptoms include sleep difficulties, muscles aches, cold flashes/chills, goosebumps, craving for the drug, diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, sweating, headache, emotionally labile with crying, depression, feeling suicidal, mood swings, lack of concentration, irritability, anger etc. The best way to stop Vicodin is to taper the dose slowly and stop it. This needs to be done under a doctor’s supervision. Your mother-in-law’s doctor would ask to gradually reduce her tablets from 4 /day to 3 /day for a few weeks. This will continue until she is on 1 tablet/day. Then she may be asked to skip a few tablets in a week and ultimately stop it. There are some medications like Buprenorphine which will help in this weaning off her Vicodin. Buprenorphine will reduce the withdrawal effects of Vicodin. As she is already admitted for her gall bladder post-op recovery, you could ask a doctor to help her with this detox. Some hospitals have specialists to deal with drug detox . I hope she gets well soon. I hope this answer has been helpful to you. Regards Dr Sunita Sayammagaru