Hello,
Here is my story. I recently moved out of the States for a job opportunity. This is huge for me and I am very proud of my accomplishments in life. I got accepted into Grad school, and have built a great career for myself. Problem is this secret I have that no one knows about , and its eating at me. I created an addiction to Norco. It started years ago. I actually only took ONE a day. YES one a day in the evenings. I had surgery and liked the way it made me feel. So every night after a long day work for me it was like a glass of wine. I could go without for weeks if I had to. I wasnt addicted then I dont think as the amount never went up. Then after 2 years of that, just one a day, I had a horrible break up with my bf whom I thought I would marry. He cheated on me and I had to move out. It killed me. The pain was unbearable and I didnt want to feel anything so I slowly started taking more pills. suddenly i was taking them in the morning, throughout the day. Over a year and a 1/2 I managed to get myself up to 8-13 10mg Norco a day. Crazy. I became addicted, clearly. For me it was hard to accept as I dont drink, I dont even like alcohol or how it makes me feel, I dont smoke, I have never even tried any other drug at all. So I never imagined Id get myself in this situation. I still dont drink or take anything else. So part of why I took this job is I knew I wouldnt have access to that many pills a day anymore. The country I am in doesnt offer them and my doctor can only give me so much before I left. I had to put myself on a tapering schedule as I knew I couldnt do and it wasnt safe to do cold turkey. So I am proud of myself as I have gone from my 10-14 a day all the way down to 5. I am on 5 now. I am basically lowering the dose slowly, allowing my body to get use to a smaller does for a few days , then lowering again. Thats the only way I could come up with. Is this the best way to do it? My plan is in a week or two to get down to 1 or 2 a day. I got into a car accident a few months ago and actually had REAL pain. I had major injuries to my back so i got prescribed the meds. NO I did not make this up to get pills. having real pain made me realize and see the medication differently from before. My issue and what scares me is bc of my addiction I have to suffer through my actrual real injury pain now. If I continue to take for the injury I will never get over this addiction. just wondering if there are any thoughts of support, advice, help, etc? I am tired of feeling the shame and guilt that I feel every day. Im tired of pretending Im taking vitamins when others see me. I am tired of worrying if I will go deaf from taking them and worrying about my liver and being irritable. i am tired of the panic attacks. I want to feel again. I dont want to be numb anymore. I want to live normally.