Hi tadhg and welcome to this thread. Thats great news that you are off solps how long will symptoms last? thats hard to say each person is different and for anyone to say it wil last this long or that long can become dispointing. The first three days are the worst but symtoms do linger all i can re-assure you is that the longer your clean the better it will get. i hope this reply has helped somewhat. jaxxxx

thanks, i actually feel a lot better tonight! migrane has gone and i feel well enough to go out for a few beers and watch the footy with friends. Not enough beer to cause a hangover though as tomorrow will be day 6 off the solpadene.
i just hope i dont get those heavy restless legs again tonight they drive me MAD

Very well thanks wackyjacky. It's all begining to seem like a past life experience thank goodness. What is amazing is that I feel better than when taking the drugs and look back and wonder quite what the buzz was that i was after. I remember it and remember a sort of strengh and numbness but remembering that and how I feel now...I just know which one I would choose in a second.
Hope all good with you too?
And Jack and Louie147 and Dave.....and hang on in there tadhg.

Tadhg i would say have one for me but im a non-drinker. Maybe when you get time to reflect you maybe can sort how why you took the pills in the first place? Beer hides feelings too hun;) jaxxxx

Jade thats great news that you feel much better its so hard to believe when your in the depth of addiction. jaxx

wackyjacky i think i first started taking them in my early twenties after going through a period of panic attacks which touch wood i haven't had for 8+ years now. Then i was in an accident and broke a few ribs and it carried on from there really, honestly just a bad habit i think. I have never taken more than 4 x 2 tablets in one day, when i read people have taken a whole pack in a day it seems unbelievable, shocking, and it must have put their livers under great strain. i wish them all good recoveries.
I read somewhere years ago that graham souness had a solpadene addiction back in his managing days so i suppose it can happen to anyone.
Anyway great to have found this place reading about people who have found themselves in situations simular to mine. i really do feel like a new man tonight as felt so dreadful since wednesday, last night and earlier today being the worst so far, maybe tiredness had a big part to play on how i felt today.
Anyway i'm going to go and enjoy a few beers with friends, i can assure you i could never give up my beer, love it too much but dont worry i have at least one or two nights off every week and try to stay within recomended limits but apart from that and my newly kicked solpadene habit i'm a good boy. Don't smoke, don't do drugs, eat well and very fit playing lots of sports.:)

Thats great news about the fitness it will sure help you out. It suprising how many people get addicted to pain pills. Im so pleased you in a good place emoptionaly, and i hope you continue to post to help out others. jaxxx

i'm up and at'em this morning! feel good this morning, not a bad nights sleep although legs got restless again but way better than previous night. Feel full of energy and off to work, off to Arsenal champions league game tonight after work also. Good luck everyone off the solp today, remember YOU DON'T NEED IT!!!!!

tadhg,
Stick at it!!
I gave up in mid June and have not taken any since.
Hard work in front of you but the "aches" will ease, restless legs seem to last longer than most "aches".

During home improvements I located half a box of the dreaded solps, I must have hidden, & I had no worries about dumping them straight in the bin.

Keep at it and use this page for encouragement during your rehabilitation!!

Hi Tadgh,
you'll find all that info further back in the thread but let me tell you one thing that will help,
taking paracetamol is the worst thing you can do,
they cause more rebound headaches and pain than anything else,
cold turkey has to be cold turkey from all painkillers,
my symptoms wore off after about 5 weeks but now i live pain free and havent touched anything in over three months,
be brave and know in 5 weeks max you will be totally pain free and drug free,
but you have to be determined and noone else can help but you,
good luck and well done you've started and thats the hardest part
good luck

thanks crazy dave,
Having a really good day today, feel really upbeat and proud of myself. no aches or pains or longings to have any solp!!
I used to smoke many moons ago 20 a day when i found out my wife was pregnant with our first born i threw my last pack in the bin and have never had a cigarette since that was 11 years ago now so hopefully i will have the same willlpower. With many things in life if i really want to do something there is rarely anything that stops me, hopefully this will be the same!
I feel a little bad that i had 2 panadol paracetemol yesterday when i had my migrane and i suppose it's those moments when you genuinly need some medication is the time you are most likely to relapse. Hopefully i will have the inner strength to battle on regardless and just get through the day in hand. The important thing is i could have easily gone for the solp and i didn't!

Just one observation after recent messages, we are all different in our recovery time.
Probably due to how long you were addicted to those Solps, & how heavy you were into the addiction.
Some say they used to take the maximum recommended, others (including myself) went over this quite often.

tadhg, you will beat this going on you past record.

Hi everyone,

Sorry for my absence I'm afraid it's one of those times when life throws a lot of stuff up that I'd rather not have!

tadhg - hey, I've been catching up on your posts, and it sounds like things are going great for you. It takes willpower, courage, determination and lots of other qualities to come off these insidious little devils. You're going great - keep at it, remember we're ALL here rooting for you. Like Jacky says the first three/four days are the worst, but you need to be aware that there are longer term effects too - the legs and tummy in particular. I'm sure you'll have picked up on that already.

You had me wondering about the couple of beers. I stopped alcohol a long time ago now, (just went off it), but I wondered whether it is or can be a contributory factor to your headaches? Not so much hangover, but the yeast residues in beers are reputed to have toxic effects. Like Jacky intimated, there could be a trigger there - it's worth exploring.

I have a tendency to agree with Louie147 that still taking paracetamol products could cause rebound headaches. Like CrazyDave, I readily accept that we're all different and our time to come off is different. We all need to adjust the painkillers in a way that works for us personally, but without deluding ourselves. Just coming of the solps is a big thing in itself. I guess we're just anxious you don't replace one painkiller with another - I'm sure you're aware of the risk with that one!.

Personally, I found relaxation techniques useful, and I'm also a great believer in using Peppermint oil for headaches too - yeah, not the immediate relief we seek, but can and does work given a little time and patience. Your physical fitness can help big-time. It's an old method but just going out and getting fresh air can help headaches a lot. Not always an option at 3a.m. but it sure as heck beats watching the re-runs on TV!

CrazyDave - Mmm! I've been doing the same thing as you. Change of routine has meant I've been doing tidying and housework differently. I found places where I'd put tablets and then forgotten them too! In one case one of the old 60 boxes - a nearly full one! (When did they stop those? I used to buy those three at a time too!) Doesn't come close to JadeSamantha's little haul in her hide and seek post. I fully understand where you're both coming from though. It reminds me of an old film with Jack Lemmon I think where he and his wife were both alcoholics. They had booze hidden all over the house.

Anyway, keep the story to yourself. It's bad enough that I admitted to using the Lavender oil, now I've just owned up to housework too! My reputation could be ruined - lol! I'll keep the stories of silk underwear on Saturday nights to myself - lol.

Anyway, I've rambled on more than enough again. Take care of yourselves everyone!

Jack

XXX <--- for the girls only! (just in case you really were wondering! ha-ha! The guys can have a 'manly' handshake!)

I actually went to see this! it was really good.

No pain, no gain ...

Sculptor Jason Shulman's exhibition turns pill to thrill

<a class="go2wpf-bbcode" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="">
When Jason Shulman used to be a graphic designer on a national newspaper he developed a liking for Solpadeine pain-relief tablets, those quite pricey, strong, little white ones. Take a couple of those with a hangover and you soon descend into a kind of warm, dark haze. But why, I ask him, those ones in particular, not just aspirins, or Anadin Extra, or ... I hesitate to use the N-word. 'Nurofen? They're probably all the same, really. I just liked Solpadeine best.'
Little did he know that in later years Solpadeine would so richly repay his brand loyalty. For having abandoned his job he became an artist, and two years later held his first show, last Wednesday at the Madder Rose gallery near London's Old Street (guests included artists Marc Quinn, Harland Miller and Gavin Turk, and actor Ian Holm); and Solpadeine loomed large.
Literally. 'The bigger the headache, the bigger the pill,' as George Clinton used to say. Of the 18 works on show, at least 10 are Solpadeine-inspired or Solpadeine-related. And they're all lovely: exploring the line where reality and perception blend, fade, fizzle quietly and pass into darkness. Photographs do them no justice, for - using mirrors, magnets, secret substances and conjuring tricks of the kind that would delight any eight-year-old - they do lots of optical things that seem impossible.
The non-Solpadeine-related artworks are also remarkable, including a piece made for a dead friend whose image comes to ghostly life when a small mirror is breathed on; and a piece for a dead father, Milton Shulman, the drama critic, made using his ashes in stratified, magnetised, colour-coded layers; and one in video, with the sun setting ... as a Solpadeine tablet dissolves fizzingly into a glass of water.
Come on, Jason. Why Solpadeine? 'They're the ones that just about give you the strength to get out of the bath in the morning. I'm not really religious but I wanted to say thank you.'

Sculptor Jason Shulman's exhibition turns pill to thrill

thanks for your supportive responses.
Its a week today that i quit!!:D
I had a great day yesterday, felt top of the world but went to bed and had restless leg syndrome all night, it drove me mad and i had to be in London by 7am so up since 5.30am, probably got 2 hours sleep!!:mad: this is the part i find the hardest, i am used to falling asleep as sson as my head hits the pillow and this is totally the opposite of my normal sleeping habits!! ggrrr once i've beaten that i will feel like i am really getting somewhere. from reading other posts many people suffer this when coming off the solp, i wonder why and if there is a name and reason for it? how long will it last?
Despite feeling tired i do feel good again today and have NO longing at all for taking solp, i have felt a bit more sharp the last few days. Mentally sharp, I seem to take more in and hold it. I suppose the solp sort of makes you fuzzy after a while?
Anyway wishing all of you support.
regards
Tadhg.

sleep will come:)
get up early, don't nap and keep busy during the day.

gradually your sleep will return to healthy patterns.

here is a simple self hypnosis technique for sleep:
3,2,1 hypnosis:

self hypnosis exercise for sleep, calm, relaxation or focus:
set agenda for self hypnosis (IE I am doing this exercise to achieve a callm and restfull sleep)
Close your eyes and make yourself more comefortable
Visualise three items in the room in your minds eye, take each item individually and take time to notice the shape, colour, contours, texture of the item in detail (detailed movie) repeat this for each of the 3 items. (example waldrobe, cupboard, lightstand, picture etc)
next take three things in the room you can hear and focus on the sound as above repeat for each sound, examples, traffic souns, the wind, house sounds, your breating,
finally focus on 3 things you can feel again one at a time in detail, the weight of the covers, how the bed supports your body, the movement of your chest as it slowly rises and falls with your breath.

then return to the visual real and focus on 2 more things you could see if your eyes were open, lots of detail, take your time, 2 more things you can hear and 2 more things you can feel.
finally repeat with one final thing you could see if your eyes were open, hear and feel, if you run out of things to listen to or feel focus on things you'd like to hear or feel like the sounds of laughter, feelings of calm and relaxation/

the gradual narrowing of consciousness during this self hypnosis technique (designed by Milton Erickson's wife) bring your mind into a clear calm and focused space.

enjoy

google sleep hygene for more advice on healthy sleep

Jack Your post made me laugh today thx for that jaxxxxx:)

Had a good day today, i say good meaning solp wise. I have NO desire at all to take them the thought now repulses me (a bit like smoking)
a hard day work wise, started at the crack of dawn this morning and only just home now!! hopefully i am so tired i wont experience the dreaded restless heavy leg syndrome tonight that i'm finding the hardest thing of withdrawel. I did have a few stomach issues over the first 5 days but they seem to have subsided now, all the flu'ey symptoms have also gone just this damn leg thing.
watch this space hopefully tonight it won't keep me from my dreamy splendour! got 2 very hard days of work with very long hours ahead of me along with family life involving 3 kids, oh the joys! who ever would have thought i could survive without solpadene? not me! but i think i'm winning the battle and long term going the war!!

Jacky - "Laughter is the Best Medicine!" (it used to be a regular slot in Reader's Digest that I always turned to). Glad I raised a smile though!

CliffChuff - Sounds like an interesting exercise to try in lots of circumstances.

Jade - the exhibition sounds interesting. Well, it's maybe interesting for Londoners. Art critic Brian Sewell says that us northern folk don't have the capacity to appreciate art - mind you, that could be that we now struggle to appreciate him? I would like to see Jason Schulman's exhibition though.

tadhg - the legs still bother me on a regular but less frequent basis. It's gradually going. What I have found to help is laying on my back (...yeah! I know Jacky - I'm being careful here !!..) instead of on my sides, with more pillows than normal, and doing deep slow breathing exercises counting as the breaths go in and then out. I think the mental counting takes focus off the expectation of leg twitching. Like I said, I think Cliff's exercise could help too! I also like a warm milky drink before retiring for the night too, I think it has a calming effect, but it could just be that I'm getting old!

Jack

thanks jack, i too like a milky drink before bed and i'm not that old:rolleyes:

another day off the solp and again no desire to take at all at anytime BUT have had the annoying heavy legs all day. Up til mow its only been at night and it keeps me awake now on day 8 i've had it all through the day!
if it wasn't for this blasted heavy restless leg problem i'd feel home and dry!

not too bad a night, heavy legs seemed to subside somewhat and slept quite well.
My wife is in bed with the flu (swine flu?) and my flu'ey symptons that i've had on and off since giving up the solp are quite bad today, achey, sore throat, runny nose, headache etc etc so had to take 2 x paracetemol this morning not that they helped me at all but had to take something as very busy at work at the moment, LONG hours!!!! why do i feel guilty having paracetemol? does anyone else feel like that? when i took it i felt like i was cheating but stopped my thought process and looked at the bigger picture.
A full working week with no solps
winning the battle and hopefully well on the way to winning the war!!
Tadhg

touch wood, i think i'm over the worst of it now

had a solp free weekend, NO HEAVY RESTLESS LEGS!!!! and great sleep!!! still got a niggling cold but the mrs had flu last week so may just be the tail of that.

good times, let them roll on :rolleyes:

tadgh to be honest i really think you need to stop taking paracetamol,
your swapping one for the other and they wont help you in anyway,
they will only prolong the restless legs and rebound headaches,
i got a mgrastick from the chemist which is lavender oil and that helped me through,
i was busy in work too when i gave up but i put up with it,
dont use anything as an excuse for painkillers no matter what they are they are defeating the purpose of builing up your natural endorphins

HI Louie,

Thanks for your response, i thought cutting down from 3 - 4 lots x2 of solp a day over a 10 year period to taking only 2 lots of paracetemol in a period of just under 2 weeks was pretty good going considering i deep down think i had flu last week as wife and kids had it?
maybe i'm not so hardcore afterall?
:(:(:(:(

well its your choice T but for me its either you give up painkillers or you dont,
the only way to clean your system is to totally give up and get your natural endorphins back up,
any painkiller creates endorphins and kills your own,
taking anything is prolonging the pain,
i was addicted for years too by the way,
your doing well but clinging on by taking paracetamol,
let go

maybe you're right?

I thought i was trying to battle a codeine addiction as far as i am aware paracetemol isn't addictive is it? maybe anything can be addictive i suppose.

Just to confirm, i have taken 2 x 2 tablets of paracetemol in 2 weeks, not every day for 2 weeks just one off consumption of 2 tablets trying to battle flu like symptons. The rest of my family were dosed to the eyeballs with night nurse/day nurse, lemsip and even the dreaded solpadene!

i abstained from it all bar basic paracetemol so i'm gonna big myself up as 2 weeks ago i would have taken the lot.

I'm of the opinion that you find your own method of withdrawl from these Solps, tadhg.
I personally gave up without need for anything else neede to replace them. It has been a long hard road to this stage but I know that I wont take anything like these again.
I think I have come through a bad 3 or 4 months but only look forward to the future. Hospital soon for a minor op will soon be here and pass.
When I get over that i may write the history of my solpediene addiction.
Does anyone know when these thing were first availble on perscription?
:rolleyes::D;):eek:

I'm of the opinion that you find your own method of withdrawl from these Solps, tadhg.
I personally gave up without need for anything else neede to replace them. It has been a long hard road to this stage but I know that I wont take anything like these again.
I think I have come through a bad 3 or 4 months but only look forward to the future. Hospital soon for a minor op will soon be here and pass.
When I get over that i may write the history of my solpediene addiction.
Does anyone know when these thing were first availble on perscription?
:rolleyes::D;):eek:

no dave sure you dont even need a prescription here in ireland its a joke,
when i see people walking out of chemists now with box's of them i feel so sorry for them,
good luck with your op by the way hope it go's well for you

2 weeks today, NO SOLP and feeling a lot better for it!!

Dave im not sure when they were first introduced here in UK but i do know they were taken off script around 22 years ago. jaxxx

jacky,
I was courting my wife in 1972 and suffered fom serious migraines.
I had one come on me in her grandparents house and they gave me a few solps to ease it. :035:

They were having them for their own problems on prescription then.
They worked too well and these few started me on the road to addiction many years later.

So 37 years ago at least!:007: