In 2008 I went cold turkey off of 100mcg fentanyl patches. I was chewing them. That withdrawal was straight out of the underbelly of hell and I have PTSD just thinking about it. I beat myself up with my fists and pulled my own hair out just to distract myself from the agony. It took 17 days of pure torment and many more months to feel normal.
With that ugly memory still fresh, I went into this withdrawal with dread in my heart. So far, I feel like I’ve escaped any real anguish. I did taper from 40mg of hydrocodone down to 30, then 20, then 10, and finally 5mg on the last day. I did this taper over the course of 2 weeks.