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Chipping and avoiding dependency

N

newchipper

Guest
First and foremost, I know that this is a bad idea given that I was clean for some time before this started, but what's done is done and I would like some advice on how to successfully chip and avoid dependency.

Basically, I've been using heroin via IV again but want to keep my usage at a level where I don't have to worry about waking up sick in the morning. At first, I tried keeping it to one day on, three days off however I found that on the days off all I could do was think about getting high to the point where it was nearly unbearable. Surprise surprise, I know.

In the last 5 days though, I've been using every day. However, I've been able to keep it to only once per day; one shot every evening. So far, I haven't become dependent physically.

My question then is this: has anyone else had success at using heroin only once per day and avoiding becoming physically dependent? I'm hoping that by waiting 24 hours I'm allowing the short half life of the heroin to clear it out of my system by the time I take my next shot, thereby keeping me free from getting physically ill.

Any likewise experiences, or am I just slowly working my way toward a habit again even if I'm only using once a day?

Thanks guys.
 
The half life is too long for using once per day. It's not totally leaving your system within a day so you're basically becoming physically dependent by using daily.
For me, even if I just use once, I'll feel very slight w/d symptoms 48-72 hours afterwards. So I have a rule not to use more than once in three days, preferably four. I can still feel a tiny effect from my dose 24-48 hours after, a slight calm and relaxed feeling.
 
I hate to say it, but I suspect this whole discussion is academic. If you already can't go a couple days without it dominating your thoughts forcing you to use at least once daily, do you think you can sustain ANY schedule?

If preventing physical dependency and addiction were a matter of just willing it a way and sticking to a schedule, few (if any) people would become addicted.

The question I'd be asking if I were you would be, "if using at all will almost certainly lead back to dependence, is it worth it?"

Some people certainly can chip successfully but I have yet to meet someone who has been physically dependent on heroin and was able to go to successful chipping regularly like you want to after that for any length of time. I'm sure it happens but if you have like a 1% chance of being successful, is it worth it?
 
I've tried some of the same things you've said OP. After a few weeks however I end up doing multiple shots a day, every day. Good luck with the whole "chipping" thing.
 
i have been able to chip for the last 2 and half years, but i've also been on suboxone. it seems near impossible to chip without being on suboxone/subutex...
 
^I certainly wouldn't consider that chipping because you're still dependent on opioids.

The definition of chipping itself seems to have changed over time... previously it was understood to mean someone who uses rarely/infrequently, not just someone who uses and is not acutely physically dependent.

Furthermore, if someone is using regularly and thinking about it when they're not, arguably it has just as much hold on them as if they were using all the time and they'd likely still meet criteria for substance dependence (according to the DSM-IV-TR) they just wouldn't be physically dependent.
 
if it's nearly unbearable on the days off then you're wasting your time attempting this. sure, you could avoid physical dependency but what is the point if every day you don't use you are craving it? that's why people get addicted to drugs in the first place. it's not that they can't control their intake, it's that controlling their intake is not pleasurable because of the cravings and since the whole point is to experience pleasure they end up deciding to use daily.

and like others have said, you will not avoid physical dependency using daily even if its only once.
 
If preventing physical dependency and addiction were a matter of just willing it a way and sticking to a schedule, few (if any) people would become addicted.
Click to expand...

Cane speaks the truth.
 
I know so many people who have said "I'm not addicted I just love the feeling, I have done it everyday for the past week though". I mean come on you can't make yourself swallow that lie for too long before you become sick even thinking about not using
 
i have been able to chip for the last 2 and half years, but i've also been on suboxone. it seems near impossible to chip without being on suboxone/subutex...
Click to expand...

That's not chipping its called relapsing.

If you've already been addicted once chipping is next to impossible. The only people I know who chip, are a slim few who are able to use heroin the same way someone casually has a drink or smoke marijuana. Their pleasure of choice just happens to be heroin.
 
I've chipped for about two years now, but it's not just sticking to a schedule that helps me to avoid physical dependency and addiction... it's luck, and no one can know for sure whether luck is on their side or not until they begin using.
 
I only started using heroin during the past year. Ive never been sick enough to throw up. I only snort, having found iv to be too much. Itching and puking are not my ideas of a good time. Ive been only using three days on three days off but feeling down in between cycles. Now im reducing to only two days on. Wish me luck
 
After being on opiate maintenance programs and having heroin & Oxy/Morphine habits if I am clean and I use once for two days in a row I end up withdrawing for nearly a week! That number of days and uses has gotten shorter and shorter. Its used to be 3 days in a row then i'd WD then before that 5 days etc I can use once every 4-5 days and not end up sick but that's not something I do.

I am on a low'ish dose of methadone so I am not a chipper but I do only use heroin at most once a fortnight, usually less and sometimes go months and months without it. Heroin is something I love and I knew that if I didn't figure out a way to use functionally then I would never be able to use again and that would be so sad in my eyes, heroin is beautiful to me and its such an amazing tool to reward yourself when you deserve a treat or are just overwhelmed with life. To have to stop using it completely is not something I want to do at least at this point in my life so I think that it enough to keep it to a minimum.

I know ex-addicts who chip and normal people who haven't been addicted chip. Ive only ever met one person in my life who smokes heroin too, everybody else injects it. I believe its possible to be successful in this BUT I agree that most people wouldn't be able to do it. I really don't think id be able to use at all without at least being on bupe.
 
Be careful. You do run the risk of addiction, and it's playing with fire.

I used to chip with pharmecutical opiates taking them in low doses orally. I'm damn lucky I never got addicted. Had I really loved the high as much as cannabis, LSD, mushrooms, and alcohol, and had unlimited access to them I would have became addicted.

But if you use dope once a day and IV it you are going to get addicted, if you are not yet already physically addicted. Be safe.
 
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Once you let the monkey out of the cage, he stays on your back. It's all or nothing. In the cage....or on your back.
 
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