The Weekend So Far
Friday saw a few people arrive for the 95th AGM, plus lots more hacking at brambles in the garden. Beerage, frothage, a houseful of folk and much fun followed.
Saturday morning saw the lovely and talented Shirley take a look at my back. She has come tothe conclusion that there may be some nerve displacement (which should show up on the MRI), and pointed out that one side of my pelvis is over an inch higher than the other, which may be me compensating for the problem. She did some of her massage therapy magic, and managed to leave me with something 3 months of physio has failed to achieve - no pain!
The rest of the day was spent in a pain-free bliss. Good AGM, everything wrapped up simply, and on to Jumbo's for a nice chinese buffet, followed by a really nice time with everyone at some of the nicer watering holes in York. I'd elected to be the designated driver, which means no painkillers or drinkage, obviously, and by 10pm I was feeling distinctly under par. Still having a great time, but hampered by the onset of what felt like withdrawal symptoms, we left around 11.30pm.
Back at the ranch, the wonderful Mr Southern connected up and transferred the data onto my shiny new PC, which he has built. It is made of win and the graphics are awesome. I poured myself a glass of wine to try and knock out some of the more unpleasant feelings - hot and cold sweats, a few shakes and a killer headache, but wasn't enjoying it. Evetually I admitted defeat and went to bed, where I eventually got to sleep after a lot of tossing and turning.
Slept in, made pancakes for the remaining guests. Still feeling lousy. The headache's gone, but the hot and cold sweats and shakes are ongoing. My back's stiffened up slightly but is still better than it's been for a long time. I'm unhappy about how chemically dependen I've clearly become on my meds, and I really don't want to go and take painkillers I don't need for their primary purpose just to stop the 'flu-type feelings I've got.
My question is, therefore:
How long does physical codeine withdrawal take? I've been taking around 120mg per day for around 6 months.
I'm trying to decide whether I hold out as long as possible and see if I can cold turkey, then only use my painkillers if I need to in future on odd occasions, so I don't get the chemical dependency again, or whether I decide that this discomfort is unnecessary and go for a slow step-down, or take half doses for a couple of days and then go get my doctor's advice? What would you guys do?