Fractal-Flow
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2012
- Messages
- 10
Hey everyone,
I lurk all the time but hardly post. Regardless I value this forum tremendously and have been browsing and occasionally popping in for some time now. I can't thank everyone here enough for your participation. BlueLight is exactly what worldwide drug culture needs. So THANKS for being you!
On to the main event....
I have been on buprenorphine (Suboxone 8mg) maintenance for.... god, I don't even know how long I have been on it. Probably on the order of 3-4 years. I had a couple close friends who were on it long term and was able to just get subs through them for all these years. I have never been prescribed Suboxone and have always purchased it from friends. It has been solely maintenance for me since day one. Ever since I got on the subs a few years ago I have not used nor relapsed once. I have absolutely zero desire to.
At this point it feels like that shit was a whole other life. I am a 25 year old male who lives in the United States. I have always worked (since 16) and have followed all the standard moves. I have never been out of work for more than 2 weeks and that was simply transition time in between quitting the last job and starting a new one. I have always worked full time in office and hospital settings. A few years ago I entered manufacturing industry and have done well for myself. I have a very high paying job which most people will work their whole life trying to attain so I'm very aware of how fortunate I am here. I don't recall even thinking about using opiates in the past 3-4 years (if you can even believe that).
So I finally decided I'm just going to cold turkey it, wrap up that stage of my former life and move forward pursuing my goals and dreams in life. A little overview of the timeframe and my buprenorphine dosage:
- I have been taking only 2mg of buprenorphine per day for the past 3-4 years. I find even 8mg was way too much and simply unnecessary, let alone 16mg or above. So I've been on 2mg this whole time.
- Again I haven't had any desire or thoughts of using opiates in years. I have so much going for me in life that I get my kicks from reading and writing, creating, being outdoors, deep conversations etc. The thought to use opiates simply isn't in me anymore.
- I jumped off from a 2mg daily dosage. The last 2mg dose I took was on 11/14/15 (16 days ago today). I have a very professional job where I have to interact with managerial types, do complex and difficult things, lead meetings and deliver results. For this reason and this reason alone, I purchased some Kratom fearing I would be unable to work in W/D.
- I started to feel withdrawal setting in and began to take the Kratom daily in order to be able to still work and not lose my job. Last 2mg buprenorphine dose was 11/14. W/D set in on 11/16 so I began taking Kratom daily to ward off the effects.
- I continued using Kratom (daily dose between 3g-6g) until 11/19 when I ran out. I spent the 19th sick and went to a headshop on the morning of the 20th to pick up some overpriced Kratom. I dosed that Kratom from 11/20 through 11/26, always 3-6g throughout the course of the day, never more.
-However I couldn't find clear consensus online as to whether the Kratom will simply prolong your withdrawal. So I stopped taking it. Last dose of Kratom was 11/26, a little over 4 days ago. The only withdrawal symptoms I am having now since discontinuing the Kratom are weakness/tiredness/lethargy and most alarmingly (what I presume is) High Blood Pressure.
I do not have a Blood Pressure machine to test it at home but I feel a tremendous pressure in my head. Sitting and standing makes me so dizzy and the pressure rises a bit and it almost feels like I'm going to tip over. I feel its a bit worse when I remain seated or laying down and the pressure sensation becomes far less pronounced when I am up and moving around for several minutes. The peak of this (presumed) high blood pressure started yesterday 11/29 around 11AM and by 10PM the sensation was alarming and pronounced enough that I decided I needed to take action. I did some research and found HBP is commonly associated with opiate withdrawal and that Clonidine is usually prescribed by physicians to manage this. However I do not want to go this route unless absolutely necessary (i.e. if I could be in potential physiological danger).
It was pronounced enough last night that I took a 10mg Lisinopril tablet which is for HBP. It seemed to help a bit and gave me some relief, however I am not sure how effective it is because as I understand opiate withdrawal induced HBP may have another mechanism at play than the one Lisinopril acts on. When I woke up this morning I feel like the sensation has improved, maybe 10-20% but its hard to say. I went to work all day today and it seemed to be a bit better than it was yesterday. I have been home now for a couple hours and just took another 10mg Lisinopril just in case.
My question is; how dangerous is opiate withdrawal induced HBP? How long does it typically last? Is it dangerous to withdraw off opiates cold turkey for this reason? It seems like you would hear of tons of people dropping dead from blood pressure related shit when ceasing opiate use but I have never heard these stories. So I'm wondering if the sensation of this pressure in my head is more alarming than the actual physiological risk?
Again I don't wish to seek medical help here unless absolutely necessary. I am thinking about heading out to Walgreens or CVS or something and using one of their electronic blood pressure machines to get a reading, as I'm sure that would be most useful to you guys in answering my question.
I am going to go do that now, will report back in 20 minutes or so.
In the meantime, is anyone experienced with this? Has anyone quit buprenorphine/opiates and gone through a similar thing? I mean the pressure in my head is quite pronounced. It "feels" like serious HBP is about all I can say about it. Is it dangerous to do this cold turkey? Note I havent taken any kratom for about 110 hours, a tad over 4 days. I am not going to take anymore and will just throw it out. I can't be sure its not just prolonging withdrawal or contributing to these issues so I am not going to use it again.
I apologize to be long winded but I know BL'ers love details, dosages, procedural stuff etc so I wanted to lay it all out in a way that would actually be useful for you guys. I apologize its pretty fragmented/scattered, but I'm still withdrawing and pretty weak and dont have much energy generally. Fortunately all other symptoms except extreme lack of energy and potential HBP have ceased at this point...no RLS, no flu like symptoms, etc. Just those two things I mentioned.
Also note: For the past 2+ years I have been super into diet and exercise. I eat clean, don't eat a lot of sugar or drink soda or anything like that, lots of fresh veggies. Only on rare occasion do I have greasy shit. I also take about 20 various vitamins and supplements every day in an effort to stay healthy. I am in great physical shape and run 3-3.5 miles on a treadmill 4x a week as well as doing 20-30 minutes of weight lifting exercises. I am physically fit, healthy, in good shape. Last checkup I had was about 2 years ago (I had to have a medical examination before beginning this job) and everything came back fine... blood pressure, blood test, etc. So I know at that time everything was fine. And like I said I'm very into diet and exercise. I never slack on those things. So I HIGHLY DOUBT I normally have HBP and suspect its entirely opiate withdrawal induced.
You're input is VERY much appreciated. I am really worried and don't want to risk having a stroke or something like that.
Thanks again, looking forward to hearing from you guys!
I lurk all the time but hardly post. Regardless I value this forum tremendously and have been browsing and occasionally popping in for some time now. I can't thank everyone here enough for your participation. BlueLight is exactly what worldwide drug culture needs. So THANKS for being you!
On to the main event....
I have been on buprenorphine (Suboxone 8mg) maintenance for.... god, I don't even know how long I have been on it. Probably on the order of 3-4 years. I had a couple close friends who were on it long term and was able to just get subs through them for all these years. I have never been prescribed Suboxone and have always purchased it from friends. It has been solely maintenance for me since day one. Ever since I got on the subs a few years ago I have not used nor relapsed once. I have absolutely zero desire to.
At this point it feels like that shit was a whole other life. I am a 25 year old male who lives in the United States. I have always worked (since 16) and have followed all the standard moves. I have never been out of work for more than 2 weeks and that was simply transition time in between quitting the last job and starting a new one. I have always worked full time in office and hospital settings. A few years ago I entered manufacturing industry and have done well for myself. I have a very high paying job which most people will work their whole life trying to attain so I'm very aware of how fortunate I am here. I don't recall even thinking about using opiates in the past 3-4 years (if you can even believe that).
So I finally decided I'm just going to cold turkey it, wrap up that stage of my former life and move forward pursuing my goals and dreams in life. A little overview of the timeframe and my buprenorphine dosage:
- I have been taking only 2mg of buprenorphine per day for the past 3-4 years. I find even 8mg was way too much and simply unnecessary, let alone 16mg or above. So I've been on 2mg this whole time.
- Again I haven't had any desire or thoughts of using opiates in years. I have so much going for me in life that I get my kicks from reading and writing, creating, being outdoors, deep conversations etc. The thought to use opiates simply isn't in me anymore.
- I jumped off from a 2mg daily dosage. The last 2mg dose I took was on 11/14/15 (16 days ago today). I have a very professional job where I have to interact with managerial types, do complex and difficult things, lead meetings and deliver results. For this reason and this reason alone, I purchased some Kratom fearing I would be unable to work in W/D.
- I started to feel withdrawal setting in and began to take the Kratom daily in order to be able to still work and not lose my job. Last 2mg buprenorphine dose was 11/14. W/D set in on 11/16 so I began taking Kratom daily to ward off the effects.
- I continued using Kratom (daily dose between 3g-6g) until 11/19 when I ran out. I spent the 19th sick and went to a headshop on the morning of the 20th to pick up some overpriced Kratom. I dosed that Kratom from 11/20 through 11/26, always 3-6g throughout the course of the day, never more.
-However I couldn't find clear consensus online as to whether the Kratom will simply prolong your withdrawal. So I stopped taking it. Last dose of Kratom was 11/26, a little over 4 days ago. The only withdrawal symptoms I am having now since discontinuing the Kratom are weakness/tiredness/lethargy and most alarmingly (what I presume is) High Blood Pressure.
I do not have a Blood Pressure machine to test it at home but I feel a tremendous pressure in my head. Sitting and standing makes me so dizzy and the pressure rises a bit and it almost feels like I'm going to tip over. I feel its a bit worse when I remain seated or laying down and the pressure sensation becomes far less pronounced when I am up and moving around for several minutes. The peak of this (presumed) high blood pressure started yesterday 11/29 around 11AM and by 10PM the sensation was alarming and pronounced enough that I decided I needed to take action. I did some research and found HBP is commonly associated with opiate withdrawal and that Clonidine is usually prescribed by physicians to manage this. However I do not want to go this route unless absolutely necessary (i.e. if I could be in potential physiological danger).
It was pronounced enough last night that I took a 10mg Lisinopril tablet which is for HBP. It seemed to help a bit and gave me some relief, however I am not sure how effective it is because as I understand opiate withdrawal induced HBP may have another mechanism at play than the one Lisinopril acts on. When I woke up this morning I feel like the sensation has improved, maybe 10-20% but its hard to say. I went to work all day today and it seemed to be a bit better than it was yesterday. I have been home now for a couple hours and just took another 10mg Lisinopril just in case.
My question is; how dangerous is opiate withdrawal induced HBP? How long does it typically last? Is it dangerous to withdraw off opiates cold turkey for this reason? It seems like you would hear of tons of people dropping dead from blood pressure related shit when ceasing opiate use but I have never heard these stories. So I'm wondering if the sensation of this pressure in my head is more alarming than the actual physiological risk?
Again I don't wish to seek medical help here unless absolutely necessary. I am thinking about heading out to Walgreens or CVS or something and using one of their electronic blood pressure machines to get a reading, as I'm sure that would be most useful to you guys in answering my question.
I am going to go do that now, will report back in 20 minutes or so.
In the meantime, is anyone experienced with this? Has anyone quit buprenorphine/opiates and gone through a similar thing? I mean the pressure in my head is quite pronounced. It "feels" like serious HBP is about all I can say about it. Is it dangerous to do this cold turkey? Note I havent taken any kratom for about 110 hours, a tad over 4 days. I am not going to take anymore and will just throw it out. I can't be sure its not just prolonging withdrawal or contributing to these issues so I am not going to use it again.
I apologize to be long winded but I know BL'ers love details, dosages, procedural stuff etc so I wanted to lay it all out in a way that would actually be useful for you guys. I apologize its pretty fragmented/scattered, but I'm still withdrawing and pretty weak and dont have much energy generally. Fortunately all other symptoms except extreme lack of energy and potential HBP have ceased at this point...no RLS, no flu like symptoms, etc. Just those two things I mentioned.
Also note: For the past 2+ years I have been super into diet and exercise. I eat clean, don't eat a lot of sugar or drink soda or anything like that, lots of fresh veggies. Only on rare occasion do I have greasy shit. I also take about 20 various vitamins and supplements every day in an effort to stay healthy. I am in great physical shape and run 3-3.5 miles on a treadmill 4x a week as well as doing 20-30 minutes of weight lifting exercises. I am physically fit, healthy, in good shape. Last checkup I had was about 2 years ago (I had to have a medical examination before beginning this job) and everything came back fine... blood pressure, blood test, etc. So I know at that time everything was fine. And like I said I'm very into diet and exercise. I never slack on those things. So I HIGHLY DOUBT I normally have HBP and suspect its entirely opiate withdrawal induced.
You're input is VERY much appreciated. I am really worried and don't want to risk having a stroke or something like that.
Thanks again, looking forward to hearing from you guys!
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