Solpadeine Addiction

Keep going

Pojo, well done to you, keep going. i am on day 9 and so pleased i have started this journey to come off them totally, and for good!
Do you have support of family or friends at your end?
Deeno

Hi pojo big congrats for making the right choice, its hard but does get better.
Ive had a slip but now back on track again. jaxxx

Hi,thanks for the support,it certainly helps.day 3 now rubbish night with virtually no sleep and bad restless legs but i'm on my way now,no turning back.not too bad during today,bit of a headache and no energy but i can't complain.

pojo,

things will get better, just go thru' the past threads of this page.
we all had or have differing after problems I don't think any two of us were alike
but you have backing now and we'll all try and help if we can

deeno63

keep at it you will soon get thru' it no doubt

I'm free of almost all of the earlier problems now & I was addicted for more years than most

Hi,day 4,slept a lot better last night,restless legs not too bad,background headache during the day and a bit anxious but hey not bad at all,feel like i'm getting on top of this but still prepared for a set back,
thanks for you support and good luck to everyone

Your doing well pojo but as i arite to many do you have any plans to find out why you took them in the first place? may prevent a relapse. anything you do can only be usefull. jaxxxxxxxxx

keep up the good work pojo and deeno in a month or two you will look back and wonder how you took those blasted things everyday!!
keep strong, and don't go back!!

Hi,day 7 and had an ok day,haven't really slept for 2 nights so a bit shattered,although a bit down on sunday,today has been a lot better and the first day i feel that i haven't got physical symptoms,fingers crossed.
i started taking solps because of aching and work load and to keep working hard i took more and more solps.
good luck to anyone else trying to give up and i know some of you have been taking solps a lot longer than me but have a go its worth it.

help

hi,
it's my first time here, i have never done anything like this before and have no idea if it will do any good, but i am willing to try anything.I am a 29 year old female and i have been taking solpadeine for around 6 years, though for around 2 years before that it was anadin extra. Ok, so im sorry if this bores everyone but just to give you more detail - i started with anadin mainly due to typical problems such as headaches, period pains etc, but due to some emotional problems i was having for a long time, i seemed to find mysellf run down alot, getting more headaches etc, so i kept taking more anadin. I then realised my body had basically become immune to them, so tried solpadeine plus soluble and never looked back. It sounds unbelievable, but although i knew i was taking alot over the years and that my actions were not normal, i still could not face admitting to myself i was an addict. I am an addict. I am crying my heart out right now as i write this, and even though i have a wonderful boyfriend and family and friends, i just feel so lonely. None of them know the extent of my problem. They do know i take solpadeine now and then, but they assume it is due to a few other minor problems ive suffered with. They do not know that i take up to 14 tablets every single day. I take them as soon as i get up out my bed in the morning, its just normality to me now, like going to the toilet or making a cup of tea. The habit is so deeply part of me now, i cant remember what life is like without solpadeine. I live in not the greatest part of the city, yet i go out on my own sometimes walking for miles at all times day or night just to get to an open chemist if ive ran out. I go to various different places so as not to arouse suspicion, but even sometimes if im asking for them in a chemist i havent been in before, i still feel my face flush - like i think they can tell my guilty secret. If im going out somewhere and i know i wont be able to take any for while, the last thing i do before i go is take some, and the first thing i do when i get home is take some. I live with my boyfriend, so if he is hanging around, or if im at a friends or relatives house, i do alot of my solpadeine taking in the bathroom so they dont notice - ive even used peoples toothbrush holders to drink it out of! in our flat though i always keep a cup in the bathroom, but my boyfriend thinks its for when i take vitamins etc. This is all coming out so fast, im sorry again to bore you, i just need help. I love taking solpadeine, but i want to stop, and i need to stop. im getting increasingly worried about what damage this could be doing to me, but i love the feeling of comfort it gives me, and i look forward to taking them so much. I know that this is so wrong. I dont feel comfortable in any way, shape or form going to my gp about this. I would be shattered and humiliated telling any of my loved ones, i want to beat this, but i know i cant do it totally on my own, so hence i am here asking for help. Thank you for reading my saga.

help is coming?

wonderwall,
help is at hand.
with all of us having gone thru' the feelings that you have shared with us.
we have had some or all of the situations that you found yourself in and can relate to them.
take the plunge like so many of us did and stop taking them and go cold turkey.
it seems to be the best way.
come clean with your partner and nearest family members cos they need to understand why you are in such a state in the early stages.
if any problems, we are all here to assist if possible.
it will be a hard road but ultimately when you come thru' the other side it will be worth while. take it from me.
fight on.
🙂

thanks

Crazy Dave, thanks so much for your reply. My problem is i have been trying to research this online, but there seems to be so much conflicting advice with regards to withdrawing. Some say just quit completely, some say cut down gradually, others say an immediate quit may lead to you having some kind of fit . . . I am v confused. x

Hi Wonderwall,
CrazyDave and all the guys on this site have been amazing. Best thing is they, and now we, have the experience.
Your story is the split of mine except I was taking more in a day and sadly for longer.
Look the cold turkey route is the best way. It is very uncomfortable and quite scary for some.Mine was. Others have an easier time of it.
All I can say is since I did it in August it seems like a different person was dependent on codeine.No more headaches no more mood swings no more knowing first thing in the morning that I NEEDED a fix, however innocent it may seem as an over the counter drug.
EVERYONE here is on your side. I was scared and asked if what I was going through was normal. In each case someone had had the same thing and a tip on how to get through it or an idea of how long it would last.
Believe me it really is a TOUGH ONE. But if you dig in and hang onto the thought that after a few weeks you will be looking at this addiction in the past tense.
The liberation from it makes me smile even now.
Stick with it. Keep hydrated and eat.Don't substitute any other painkiller for it. You have to retrain your inner pharmacy to get back to normal and that means starving it of the artificial.
Thinking of you and don't hesitate to ask anyone here anything!!
All best JADE X

Hi Wonderwall,
I too spent ages agonising over the million ideas on the internet. I even looked at a 10 day spell in a detox clinic that specializes in cleaning us codeine junkies up.
The answer lay here in self determination, stamina and support and advice from the guys in this forum!
Strong, br strong!
Jade x

thank you

hi jadesamantha,
Thank you for your kind messages. I have read through everything that you and everyone else has written with regards to your own experiences, and it is so inspiring. I am pleased you seem to have beaten this awful addiction, but my problem is that although i want to quit this too - and i NEED to quit it, i just cannot seem to envisage it happening. It is a total lack of self belief. I dont take any other drugs, and i am tee-total. I smoke (which i have vowed to have given up by my 30th birthday) and i can envisage being a non-smoker, but this solpadeine is something else! It has just totally taken over me. Every day of my life revolves around it. x x

good luck wonderwall,i hope you make the right decision.just done a week off them and am really chuffed with myself,it really is worth it,all the best

Hey there wonderwall,

I've just been reading your message again and feel so totally for you on so many points. There are so many things there that are things that I understand. The sneeking around taking Solps whenever you can;the side-routing to chemists out of my way and sometimes in dodgy areas (my worst was Boots as they always looked at me and said "Are these for you Madam? Have you taken these before?Don't take them with any other medication" God if only they knew and I was dying to scream out in the shop so everyone could hear..."Taken them before?? Yes I have!! Daily for the last 10 years in a glass about every hour thank you very much and sometimes a double dose if I'm going out and think i may not have access to a private glass of water for two hours! I even have non-soluble tablets on hand for situations where I can not disolve my normal Solps so need to back-hand a couple of pills, quite often with difficulty as they are a devil to swallow....but thanks for asking)
Other peoples tooth mugs. You bet! Yuk! I did it all the time or I took small water bottles with me with crushed Solps in them.
When I started I used to do it quite openly, even in a bar or restaurant but then more and more people read about OTC painkiller addiction and I had to start disguising it.
But joking aside the thing that really hit me was that it was a nasty grubby secret and I was so needy.
Like you i don't drink, I used to but not any more thanks. Drugs, yes again guilty but that was a while ago too. SMOKING?? I used to love it but again one day I just caught a glimpse of myself doing it and I just didn't like what I saw. Needy and dependent on something, on a dried leaf for God's sake.With all these things I was able to stop because I suddenly saw it for what it was and saw that I was completely at it's beck and call.The drink/ciggies/drugs message would pop into my mind and I would jump to have them, I craved them, wouldn't rest til I had them.

Just the same with Solps but worse.

I had quit all the others and somehow Solpadeine was my safe and OK crutch, my padding, my own personal little magic dust that would fizz away and make me numb and brave and speedy and feel.....just right with myself. It was legal, they sold it in the high street chemist and anyway I had that knee injury, that back ache, those headaches that just kept going round and round. Sure I knew about knock on headaches but as you say Wonderwall.....denial was the key.
Just like you I looked forward to them when I had been out, when i was going out and just when I was at home and working. The morning two-doubles in a row was delicious and it was my first bright thought on waking. i looked forward to it on opening my eyes. Even if I was going to make love with my husband I would double dose before. He was always saying What are you doing in there?? (Shush! those little pillies take a while to disolve and I hated the chunky bits when you drank them too fast before they were ready!)I never told him. But they were delicious. I loved the flavour and the refreshing slightly sweet chrystaline fizz of my Solps.
At the begining of last year I travelled to Greece and was told that codeine was illegal without a prescription there. I stocked up, packed and risked it. Not good and I felt dreadful going through customs. Like a drug mule.
Then more recently I was travelling via Dubai to Australia. Having codeine without doctors letters in Dubai is a prison offence, a long sentence. So what do i do. I go to my doctor and in tears tell her that I need a letter so that I can take a supply with me....for my sporting injury, my knee. She says OK but come and see me when you get back and we can check out the knee. Do you see where I am with this now.? I have a suitcase with 4 weeks supply of Solps in it (at about 12 doubles a day) that I have sourced from all over London and a fishy doctors note to say it's OK even though with that quantity it's not and I'm doing this going through a country that is not too great on women and will probably chop my hands off for smuggling what they class as a grade A.
Well the long and the short of it is I survived. But when I got back and stopped I suddenly just saw myself and this Solpadeine...the thing is IT was really big and looming and fizzy and I was in it's shadow, sneaking about, hiding my habit, needing, needing, needing....!

Like you wonderwall I just could not imagine myself without it. I could not imagine myself going to the shop on the corner without a fizzy glass of magic...or answering the phone or typing an email. Everything had body and substance because of my Solpadeine....nothing and nobody mattered more because I could not exist without it.

So there I am WANTING so much to leave it behind but just unable, so like you, to even take the first step when the phone rings. My doctor has booked me in for a blood test in 48 hours time. Routine stuff after a nasty cough I had. God, of course I needed to make sure that my blood was not full of codeine and she wanted a no-food 24 hour fast anyway.
So what happens? In the light of a greater threat than not having my Solps ie being found out) I resigned to putting up with some mild headaches (the ones that squeeze the temples and back of the neck) and I went without Solpsfor two days and had the blood test.
When I got home after the doctor it suddenly dawned on me that this was the first time in years that I had gone without. For two days!! Uncomfortable but not fatal.
I searched through the web for advice on keeping the ball rolling and coming off this stuff for good and found so much familiarity and guts in the stories in these pages here that I took courage (my own and not from a bottle or sachet) and dug in. Just me, my cold turkey and my very perplexed husband. (He had not really noticed that I had a serious problem with these fizzies)

This is a long introduction I know but I hope it helps for you to hear how (and I am so allergic to cliche but what can you do!!) You Are Not Alone.

Wonderwall, when you are ready to take the step and dig in for the cold clean out then let me and the guys here know. It is different for everyone both physically and emotionally and psychologically. I can help you with overlaps from my experience and all the other guys can help with theirs. Between us we should at least be able to advise you and what I found most helpful that they were able to take the fear out of it. To be able to say...ouch! yes that pain lasts for a couple of days but will go and yuk! that feeling is a real tester but this helps to ease it off before it goes for good.

Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is the winning ticket. Hope is strengh.

You don't need persuading and you have said you really want to quit I know but let me just say that the kicks you get from NOT taking and NOT needing are a bit like that smooooth feeling that Solps used to give. The body literally gets back to a rhythm of feeding you naturally occurring reward chemicals. All on it's own and without the rebound temple squeezers as a cost. Most important you just feel lighter from not carrying that cyclical need around, that fear that you will need topping up at any minute or your last dose might not be enough.

All I can say is I am amazed these drugs don't carry huge warnings. I'm amazed they are not prescription only and then only in small doses. They are too easy to fall in love with and a real bitch to shake off....but with guts and determination and stamina it is a real VICTORY and that my dear Wonderwall is what we would all like for you!!!

Keep us posted. We are here for you whenever you need us.

Jade x

thanks,Jadesamantha,great post,just sums it all up

Hi Pojo,
I have been a bit smug and not checked on the site for a while! Been feeling too well and busy but GREAT to see that you have taken this little white devil by the horns and have slammed the door on its insistent little hiss!
"No turning back" you said on the 19th and by yesterday you were really chuffed!! Rightly so, good on you! Well done!!
It's funny that in all these entries we kind of hint at how happy we are, how relieved to be tackling this problem. It's very personal. These pills were reliable friends who we could turn to with a happy little plink plink fizz. We didn't realize how incidious and deceptive they were.....until you try and shut them out and deny them access. THEN, boy oh boy do they scream and try and tell you that you can't live without them and show you their true less smiling face!!
We all really do deserve to be very chuffed. It is a huge achievement both in terms of will power and personality.
All best to you Jade x

wonderwall,

you can research on every relevant web page but this page is for addicts and former addicts of the very drug that you need to rid yourself of.

jadesamantha has given you the worse case scenario from someone like myself who was addicted from a long while back. she has explained fully the problems you will encounter and if this doesnt spur you on nothing can surely
life is so much better now. my wife was very supportive when I told here ( she knew really ) and sees the difference in me.

you can give up and seek support from your new "friend" jadesanantha & from the rest of us anytime.
we will all be here!
😀

Hi there wonderwall and friends wow it is good news to see people doing so well on their road to recovery well done all.
Wonderwall i picked up on what you said about enjoying solps well can i suggest that in view of that make them less tastie i.e have more water with them, cut them in halfs. Due to the salt content in them its not unheard of that instead of having a drink of water we reach for the solps (drinking plenty when the urge comes on is good it fills the belly) why because its what we do its association, habit. In my experience its the morning pills that take the longest to reduce but having less late at night can help reduce the urge, the rebounds too. So as a start can i suggest that maybe you write a diary so you can see when is your worst time best time etc it will also help to write down the pros and cons. This might sound kinda babyish but if you see it in writing its becomes more real and helps the denial. Untill your ready to quit its hard work going around this merry-go-round but the more you invest the more you will see what a waste of energy and a waste of life it is. You need to make it your hobbie as soon as your guard is down you can become weak. The longer your pill free the better life is. If you feel that you are not ready to tell anyone at the moment then thats ok all things come in time. I hope the tips have helped. Keep focused on your goal and small bits at a time. jaxxxx

Hi everyone,
Just a quick message to anyone thinking of giving up solps
i've now gone 2 weeks off them and a few things seemed to have improved
1) past three nights have slept really well
2) had a break from restless legs and just hope that will continue
3) brain fog seems to have improved
4) anxiety seems to be a bit better
5) saved about £30
6) constipation free,wahoo

i feel that this is all due to being off the solps

good luck everyone

hi, all my new partner has had the addiction of solphadine max for many years now, i think its about 10 years, she was on roughly 30 a day a few weeks ago but shes trying to quit now and is on 6 a day. shes experiencing restless legs and headaches which seem to be the usual on here.

exactly how hard is it to quit and how long do these symptoms last? a couple of times i have found more tablets on her and she used to sneek off to take more but i think its stopped now. thing is if shes doing this behind my back is she still doing it now? help please...

hi downs523,there is alot of people more experienced about all this stuff than me,but all i will say is that i was on about 10 - 12 a day.i felt most symptoms had gone after about 2 weeks.i had suffered from restless legs for a long time and giving up has improved that problem.
good luck

thanks for the reply mate, will the symptoms go away even if shes still on 6 a day instead of 30? shes been on 5 a day for a couple weeks now i think

hi downs523,there is alot of people more experienced about all this stuff than me,but all i will say is that i was on about 10 - 12 a day.i felt most symptoms had gone after about 2 weeks.i had suffered from restless legs for a long time and giving up has improved that problem.
good luck

Hi there downs cutting down on pills (solps) is for most that can the best way of stopping especially the amount she has been on. The w/d will last longer of course but will not be so intense. As too how long etc although most w/d are the same for people it is very much varied person to person. Can i suggest that maybe she looks in to the site and looks at the tips for coping with w/d that has been posted by many posters.
Does she have a plan on cutting down or is she just doing what is managable?. Its very much a long process im affriad once someone has stopped they then need to stay stopped but as you have read it is obtainable with hard work and help. Its very nice to see someone here who is supporting an addict. Might be nice to see what your opinions are on this subject, it would help all those addicts looking in who do not relise what effects their behaviour has on close ones. jaxxx

hi there downs523,

all of the replies are off former addicts who are either pulling through or have come out to the other side.
i found during my rehab that my wife was supportive of my attempt to come off them
i found the only way for me after 20 or so years of being tied to these "solps" was to go cold turkey.
very severe at the time but now 6 months on all is well and i know that i will never take any such pills again.
support her night and day and you will find a new wife waiting for you at the traumatic end of her rehab.
it will be worth it!
crazy dave:)

thanks again for the replies, keep them comming as there very helpful!! at the start we both agreed to just completly stop them, but that didnt work and it was then that i discovered some in her bags etc but she said there from before and she had forgot they were there?? i think she was lying to me at this point which was a horrible feeling.
another time i found a reciept with solphadine 30's on from tescos, i found the reciept a week after when she bought them. i asked her if she had bought any on that date and she said no i just bought nytol (another thing she takes 4 each night??) then i told her i found the reciept and she admitted buying 30 solphadine, but she said she binned them straight afterwards( i dont belive her tho). this is what it was like at the beginning, we have had arguments about it, im constantly worried and paranoid when ever she goes to the toilet, espically just before a meal as this is when she normally takes them, shes been in tears when we try and sort it out, promises have been made and broken on 3+ occasions. she desperatly wants to get rid of them but after so many years and stress at work (police officer both of us) its going to be very very hard. but now i give her 6 each day for her to take, she normally has 2 at lunch, 2 in evening and 2 before bed time, but she also takes 4 nytol with the 2 bedtime ones. another question,.. does nytol do any damage taking 4 a night?

today we agreed to stop with the solphadine and move onto a weaker tablet of co-dyrdramol 10/500. these have less of the codeine in having 10mg instread of 12.8 in solphadine. think were going to try 6 a day still though. just hope this works and no more lies and sneaking around happens or i seriously think it will ruin us, we have only been together 10 weeks, but known eachother for 8 months.

replies greatly appreciated, thanks..

Hi downs i would not advacate swopping one pill for another at this stage or any stage i would try to reduce what she is on now by slowly either breaking them in halves for a while or staying on the amount she is on right now and reduce them one at a time. The last thing you need is going backwards so a gradual decrease is what i suggest untill she can manage to quit. Im sorry i know nothing about the sleeping aid you refered too but that also needs to be stopped. As she is prob using the night med to get to sleep i would suggest cutting down on the night solps by halves first (caffene will keep her awake). She has come so far on her reduction that it would be a shame to rush things now and amper recovery. It is a long haul but as people have said its so worth it. jaxxxxx

Thank god I've found this!!!!

After ten years of hiding the fact that what started out as a pain in my knee, and these soluble white angels took away the pain, I have finally come clean with my better half after a major row over money last night, that I am addicted to these evil tablets. Every comment by others,it's me! the constant need for these pills, to prevent what I see as my body being wracked with pain, this is just he symptons of abusing these tablets for years. Last week I was taking in excess of 20-30 tabs a day, over the weekend reduced to 8-10 a day, feel like hell, but after reading comments by others it has given me hope that I can finally rid myself of this addiction. I intend to go full cold turkey as money is tight I can't afford to keep feeding this habit. So any encouragement will be gratefully received.

Hi there oldroadie well done firstly for coming clean ok so the need was there but things happen for reasons i believe. It can be done there is no such thing as cant. Have you read the tips that have been posted why not try some out for yourself the diary is a great one for that gentle reminders as to why this is a not a good place to be and also lets you vent out some of those frustrations, also it can spot weak points hi,s and lows ups and downs oh i am a mouth full of sayings today lol. As long as you are honest with yourself and never give up on giving up its all good hun good luck and keep us all posted. jaxxxxx