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View Full Version : How quickly can a person become addicted to Vicodin?


Stephen913
Feb 4, 2010, 08:22 PM
I was prescribed Vicodin last Thursday (28 January) for 5 days. I took it less frequently than directed as I didn't need it every 6 hours and stopped after Monday (1 February).

Here it is 4 February and I've got a splitting headache, I've been so moody that my fiancée doesn't want to be around me, I've eaten less than a third of what I normally eat in the last 36 hours because I have no appetite, and I can't sleep for anything.

Are these withdrawl symptoms, and could I have gotten addicted to Vicodin that quickly? It concerns me because I have a VERY high tendency to become addicted to things (I'm so dependent on caffeine that without it I cannot function at all and it didn't take long for me to get that way).

carpenter-t
Feb 4, 2010, 08:31 PM
I'm no doctor but I took it for about a month before a hip replacement and a couple of week after.that was 3 years ago.and I had none of those symptoms.

justcurious55
Feb 4, 2010, 08:37 PM
I've been prescribed vicodin before too and never experienced any of those symptoms. I was on it for about a week. My boyfriend has also take vicodin in the past. I'll admit he was abusing it, it would take it instead of dealing with stress, not for physical pain usually. But he didn't experience withdrawal symptoms when he stopped. He was just a little crankier because he had to deal with things instead of get high. Is there anything else going on in your life that could cause these things? Stress can cause those same symptoms.

Stephen913
Feb 4, 2010, 08:44 PM
i've been prescribed vicodin before too and never experienced any of those symptoms. i was on it for about a week. my boyfriend has also take vicodin in the past. i'll admit he was abusing it, it would take it instead of dealing with stress, not for physical pain usually. but he didn't experience withdrawal symptoms when he stopped. he was just a little crankier because he had to deal with things instead of get high. is there anything else going on in your life that could cause these things? stress can cause those same symptoms.

Nothing really. The only thing that changed was I got my wisdom teeth pulled, put on vicodin the same day, then stopped. I've maintained my normal caffeine intake (which is a little high, but I'm working on that), tried to stay hydrated, I exercise daily for the most part... nothing's chagned except the drug.

I could be a little oversensitive to it as I become dependent on substances easily: I became addicted to and quit alcohol all between my 18th and 21st birthdays, and got to the point that I had to take two pills of diphenhydramine to go to sleep at night for a while (I don't take them anymore). Then there was the caffeine, when I was taking in almost a full gram of it a day and it wasn't working (I'm down to about 200 mg now). Maybe all that has something to do with it?

Stringer
Feb 4, 2010, 08:46 PM
Several years ago I fell from a ladder and smashed two vertebrae in my neck. They were replaced and I was on Vicodin and a prescribed pain patch for two weeks. The doctor said that he would 'take me down' slowly, he didn't. He had me go cold turkey and I was in a fetal position in bed for three days with withdraw symptoms.

I think many things apply Stephen, the amount of Vicodin and your threshold. And in my case there was another drug involved, I don't remember at the moment what it was but it was also strong.

Stringer

justcurious55
Feb 4, 2010, 08:51 PM
When I got my wisdom teeth out, I couldn't eat like normal for days after. Has your mouth finished healing yet? Have you talked to your dr about it? What are you doing to cut back on caffeine? Do you maybe need to be cutting back more gradually?

Stephen913
Feb 4, 2010, 09:01 PM
when i got my wisdom teeth out, i couldn't eat like normal for days after. has your mouth finished healing yet? have you talked to your dr about it? what are you doing to cut back on caffeine? do you maybe need to be cutting back more gradually?

Well I can eat normally without it bothering me. They didn't cut them out, they just elevated them so I didn't get stitches or anything and was eating normally on about the 3rd day.

As far as caffeine goes I cut back very gradually (it took about 2 years to get down from the gram that I was taking in down to about 300 mg). I cut back from 300 mg to about 200 mg over about a month's time frame and was just fine. I haven't actively tried over the last few days so I've been sitting at a level that my body's used to, so I think that throws that out.

Stephen913
Feb 4, 2010, 09:02 PM
And I'm nervous about talking to my doc because I'm in training for Army Aviation and I don't want to get grounded.

justcurious55
Feb 4, 2010, 09:06 PM
Army aviation? As in flying? You would rather put your health, and possibly life and maybe even the lives of others, at risk than talk to your dr? Flying when you're not sleeping and eating enough can be dangerous. Very very dangerous. What if this has nothing to do with the vicodin and you're getting sick with something?