Opioids A research question regarding Oxy and heroin

[lecroute]

I'm writing a story where one character goes from occasional Oxy use (low dose, just to take the edge off) to a week where he uses everyday in higher doses (almost OD) and finally even snorts heroin.

Now I understand that personal dispostion to addiction and health issues play a role in how fast somebody can detox and be drug free again. I have an acquaintance who volunteers as my source for this kind of stuff. She said that after using for a week my character would definitely be depended and go through both physical and mental withdrawal. But then I read somewhere that it takes in fact much longer for the BODY to get dependent, and after a week of using a person would feel only slight discomfort (more like a hangover after a a good night's partying).

Anyone willing to share their experiences/knowledge/thoughts?

 

[WellTram]

Well, once i did pure hydromorphone (and oxy and morphine ) pure powders from Pharma factory and i was smoking All the time, and imagine how strong is pure smoked hydromorphone...i did it for 4 months, after that i was dangerously addicted.

After one week of huge tramadol doses i was not addicted.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I'm writing a story where one character goes from occasional Oxy use (low dose, just to take the edge off) to a week where he uses everyday in higher doses (almost OD) and finally even snorts heroin.

Now I understand that personal dispostion to addiction and health issues play a role in how fast somebody can detox and be drug free again. I have an acquaintance who volunteers as my source for this kind of stuff. She said that after using for a week my character would definitely be depended and go through both physical and mental withdrawal. But then I read somewhere that it takes in fact much longer for the BODY to get dependent, and after a week of using a person would feel only slight discomfort (more like a hangover after a a good night's partying).

Anyone willing to share their experiences/knowledge/thoughts?

A week of daily use technically CAN cause some physical dependance (3 days allegedly can) but at any dose, after only one week the withdrawal would be very mild, if there was any. For me it took about 6 weeks of IV use 6 times a day to get physically dependant (this was morphine and it was in hospital, I was given 20mg IV morphine 6 times a day for 12 weeks...after about 6 I noticed if I tried to skip a dose - as my pain improved - I'd experience like nausea, diarrhoea, some sweating).

 

[Snafu in the Void]

As a very general rule of thumb, it takes about 14 days for physical dependence to begin to form. This is why if you are injured and prescribed opioids for pain, they generally only provide them for 7-14 days max. After about a month, the physical dependence starts to become very significant. But this rule of thumb is for people who have not been using opioids and have no tolerance.

For someone who occasionally uses oxycodone before switching to heroin, physical dependence may set in a bit quicker than that. But everyone's body is different and it's impossible to come up with any sort of standard. Some people claim they do not experience dependence/withdrawal at all. Everyone has different genetics.

Also, psychological dependence can begin immediately after first use, but this is not the same as physical dependence, yet generally results in the same behavior.