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Detox Detoxing from opiates during LOCKDOWN, but worried about benzo addiction - OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, INTO THE FIRE?

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MrMojoRisin’

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Joined
May 23, 2020
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Hello, first time posting on this site but it’s been a lifesaver for me throughout my years of addiction.
(Apologies if this is not the appropriate thread, thanks for any help/advice in advance)

Last October I went to a detox centre to come off Suboxone. I had been on it for 7 years (since age 18), starting at 16mg and getting down to 1.2mg by the time I entered detox. By the time I left I had been 7 days clean.

I still couldn’t sleep when I got home and although I was VERY positive at the detox centre, when I got home I instantly wanted to use again. My drug of choice was Oxycodone back in the day. I couldn’t get hold of any of any oxy (I Live in the Isle of Man where it’s hard to get just about any drug!) when I got back but after I had been back home for about a month I found an old strip of 0.4 mg subutex. I started sniffing the stuff immediately and very quickly my tolerance rose again and when I ran out I started back at day 1 in terms of withdrawal. I then proceeded to acquire a few strips of Clonazepam to help with the withdrawals, but I started using it recreationally.

I went to the drug and alcohol service on the island and the doctor (who I’d know for many years) suggested I go back on 2mg of Suboxone and 15mg Diazepam a day (I was apprehensive about this as I am due to start studying at University in Scotland this coming September and wanted to be entirely clean by then :/ ).

That was around the end of January.

A few weeks ago I was able to acquire a few strips of 40mg oxycodone and 1 strip of 10mg oxycodone. I had not come across any oxy for years, and when I saw those pills my heart raced and in that moment I had to have them!

But when I brought them home I thought to myself “I can’t start this cycle all over again, not now when I have a future ahead of me after going back to college and getting the qualifications I need to go to university” So I decided that I would use the oxy to taper rather than use it recreationally.

From 2mg of Suboxone, I had to take 180mg if oxy just to keep the withdrawals at bay (Bupe is CRAZY strong!). Through sheer force of will (and having the Diazepam helped tbh) I tapered down from 180mg of oxy to 10 mg in 6/7 days. It was hellish NO WAY NERE as bad as the Suboxone detoxes I’ve done. Perhaps it’s just me but I’d rather taper from oxy than bupe ANY DAY!

I took my last 10mg dose of oxy on Friday, it’s now Sunday. I managed to get hold of 5 300mg Pregabalin pills. I’ve split them into 150mg doses.

I had 150mg yesterday morning and another 150mg before going to bed (day one with no opiates).

This morning (day 2 with no opiates) I again took 150mg Pregabalin and plan to take another 150mg tonight. I have only taken 5mg of Diazepam (as opposed to 15mg) before bed as well.

NOW TO THE POINT - the pregabalin has helped TREMENDOUSLY with the withdrawal symptoms. They’re still there, but no way near as pronounced as previous withdrawals. My big fear though is that I will have withdrawals from the Pregabalin when I stop taking it. I have taken less Diazepam per day whilst taking the Pregabalin but that is another substance I need to get off before I go to university. I’ve never done a real benzo rattle before and I’m quite frankly TERRIFIED as I have friends who’ve been through hellish benzo withdrawals.

Id like to start tapering off the Diazepam whilst this lockdown is still in effect and I’m not working. ANY HELP/ADVICE ON HOME REMEDIES OR MEDICATIONS THAT WILL HELP WITH A RAPID BENZO TAPER? AND ANY GUIDANCE ON HOW PREGABALIN MAY HAVE AFFECTED MY BENZO TOLERANCE (they both work the GABA receptors do they not?).

Honestly I just wanted to post on here for support as well. My family were horrified when I relapsed after going away to the UK mainland to detox (for wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money etc) so they aren’t really available for support. I’m too ashamed to tell my friends I’d relapsed so none of them know, and with this lockdown I don’t have access to Drs or support workers at the Drug and Alcohol service, so I’m feeling quite isolated and alone.

Again, I apologise if this is in an inappropriate thread or if I have said anything I shouldn’t have in this post. This is my first time posting.

Thanks in advance for any help, support or advice. I’ve used Bluelight as a resource for years and love the community vibe :)

Thanks again 🙏

MrMojoRisin’✌️
 
Hey Mojo! How are you doing? I've never been through benzo withdrawal so I'm afraid I'm not much help there. I just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. I detoxed off of tramadol and gabapentin during the lockdown. It turned out to be a great time for me bc I couldn't work anyway, but it wasn't easy. I got a prescription for clonidine (the blood pressure med) to help with the sweats and other symptoms...it made a huge difference on the opioid side of things. I hope someone who knows more will comment but I feel for you not having the support of your family and friends. Keep us posted on how you're doing - this forum has been a gift from Heaven for me!!
 
From that amount of pregabalin you wont have wds,the diazepam has a long halflife AND at those doses you are not gonna experience a harsh comedown from it. At most youll experience some insomnia but that's it. Take care n good luck.
 
I dont have much useful to add but I'm in a similar position.

I've fucked up and used loads of opiates and benzos over the last few weeks and now I'm having to go through withdrawal again. I feel utterly crushed and alone, dont want to admit to family friends etc.
 
i don't think a rapid benzo taper exists, its just asking for trouble. BUT, as nzn implied, I don't think a short course of pregab while going through the withdrawal is going to make a massive difference, so don't worry about the pregab. the diaz will be more difficult, 15mg per day isn't a huge habit but you absolutely need to be careful with benzo withdrawal. have you spoken to your doctor about your desire to be clean before uni?

are you getting any psychological help? you need to look at the reasons you're using and address them. moving to scotland for uni will likely make things worse if you don't, you'll be away from your support system and living independently means you'll be able to 'get away' with using to a greater extent. i moved to france when i was 20 for ERASMUS, thinking being in England was making me unhappy. within 3 weeks i was on a daily benzo script because i'd just wanted to die. i spent my last couple of months in france in inpatient psychiatric treatment. being on my own in a foreign country, even though being neighbouring its very culturally similar, just brought all my problems to the fore, because the problem was me, not england.


CAT- i'm sorry you feel utterly crushed and alone, i think this weird period has had that effect on a lot of people, even without the interference of drugs. and yeah i absolutely get you about not wanting to tell family and friends. i used a couple of times before lockdown started (its actually saved me from a full blown relapse cos i went back to my parents), i haven't been able to tell any of my NA friends, my therapist, my family. My job contributed hugely to me scoring, and even when my mum was pressing me about my decision to leave at the end of my current contract even if i don't have anything else lined up, all i could do was say it was putting my recovery in danger. its so hard when you've worked your arse off to build back people's trust and you know that telling them will put you back at square one, even if that means you're actually being less trustworthy.
 
I'm always coming off of diazepam and I use Valerian root tablets in very high doses

I also use promethazine along side Valerian sometimes at the start too, or if I want to start cutting down Valerian, this time I'm doing it a bit different, I've been mostly taking Valerian and Promethazine but I'm cutting down on the Promethazine first then tapering off Valerian with lower dose tablets as Valerian comes in so many different strengths, you want the 385mg herbal, Kalms, or Holland and Barratt 400mg Valerian or an equivalent, you'll need 3 or 4 of thses stinky tablets so 4 x 400mg a night and 20mg-40mg Promethazine

You can also take Valerian in the day for anxiety, it also works on the gaba receptors

The Promethazine is called Sominex (make sure its the UK sominex as America is diphenhydrinamine)

This time I using Valerian and Promethazine to come off Mirtazapine which by the way really helped my PAWS from when I came off tramadol and diazepam

You might not experience it, but some do, its anxiety depression and drug cravings

Mirtazapine helped big time
 
I thought valerian root didn't do anything unless used in very high doses? I read on here that unless you're taking like multiple grams of it daily that it can't cause withdrawal. I suspected I was experiencing huge increase in anxiety that could be considered a withdrawal from daily use of it at 400mg extract capsules I believe.
 
It does cause withdrawal as I've been though it, course it goes it effects gaba, I was on very high doses, the other night I took 6 x 400mg, I was on it 3 months when I got the withdrawal though, this time I've been on it a few weeks so far

It don't work for everyone but it definitely helps most, unless you're on ridiculous amounts of other drugs (zopiclone once got me, diazepam another time, and another tramadol) before you start, in which case you need to taper off said drug, then move onto Valerian when you've reached the lowest dose that drug can be taken in
 
Possibly but add Promethazine to help your sleep, I've only used Valerian for Benzos, Zopiclone, Tramadol and sedating antidepressants, I'm stuck on 2 x 400mg Valerian and 40mg Promethazine which is my lowest dose yet on this withdrawal

It can't hurt trying Valerian it might help but I've not used it for Heroin as I had no idea about it 18 years ago when I quit, I used methodone

You'll need to taper to a low dose of heroin or it won't help

Other comfort meds will like gabapentin, clonadine, loperamide for diarrhoea etc
 
Fentanyl withdrawal is awful. Valerian isn't going to help at all, that's like bringing a 3/4 empty water pistol to a four alarm skyscraper fire.

Promethazine is useful to have as a nausea supressant but it's not a miracle cure. Don't overdo it either, too much prometh can make you delerious I'd think.

Gabapentin and clonidine are good to have, cannabis can help too.

There's no two ways about it though, fentanyl w/d may be intense but thankfully the peak is over before too long.
 
bamadoll said:
Hey Mojo! How are you doing? I've never been through benzo withdrawal so I'm afraid I'm not much help there. I just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. I detoxed off of tramadol and gabapentin during the lockdown. It turned out to be a great time for me bc I couldn't work anyway, but it wasn't easy. I got a prescription for clonidine (the blood pressure med) to help with the sweats and other symptoms...it made a huge difference on the opioid side of things. I hope someone who knows more will comment but I feel for you not having the support of your family and friends. Keep us posted on how you're doing - this forum has been a gift from Heaven for me!!
Click to expand...
Hey Doll! Thanks for your reply. Apologies for my delayed reply, it's been a rough week or so. I made the post on the 23rd whilst I was tapering down off the Oxy. On the 30th I was 3 days clean and relapsed. I had a few Oxys stashed away and, like a reckless fool, I ate them up. Of course all of my withdrawal symptoms vanished but I didn't catch a buzz really at all. But I started at day 1 again, this time with no secret stash of Oxy.

It's now bee 5 days since I relapsed. I'm starting to feel more alive. I have been taking 150-300mg of Pregabalin a day and 10-15mg Diazepam at night and the combination has really helped me. HOWEVER, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMBO TO FOLKS WHO HAVE LITTLE TO NO TOLERANCE TO BENZOS AND/OR GABAPENTOIDS.

I do however worry about the coming storm that is benzo/gaba withdrawal. I live on the Isle of Man, a small island between Britain and Ireland but intend to move to Scotland in September to study Psychology and Politics and I would ideally like to be clean off both benzos and opiates before I leave.

Thanks again for your reply :) I appreciate your thoughts and I am happy to hear that you were successful in detoxing from Tramadol. I have dabbled with it in the past but never enough to have withdrawals. But a mate of mine (who later died from a bad batch of Ecstasy of all things!) once had a seizure because he was rattling/withdrawing from Tramadol. From what I understand it works on serotonin as well as dopamine receptors, so overdoses can cause serotonin syndrome which causes seizures. Really nasty stuff. I'm glad to hear you beat it :)
 
nznity said:
From that amount of pregabalin you wont have wds,the diazepam has a long halflife AND at those doses you are not gonna experience a harsh comedown from it. At most youll experience some insomnia but that's it. Take care n good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks nznity, I appreciate you replying. I know that the benzo rattle wont be as bad as my opiate rattle as I've been on Suboxone for years. That stuff gets into your bones!

Thanks again, and stay safe!
 
Thank you everyone for your caring and informative replies, I really appreciate you all during this time.

I'm five days without any opiates now and it seems like the worst of the physical withdrawals are behind me (although I may be just numbing myself to it with the pregabs and diazepam!)

In some ways I think the initial, very physical withdrawals (or acute withdrawals) are the easiest part of the process. For me personally I just dig in and tell myself that I can just get though the first 3-4 days. Its the point I'm at now that I find the hardest - When most of the debilitating physical symptoms have subsided and you feel like "YES, I've done it!" But you still can't sleep and you start to feel really down and depressed, and that's when the cravings start to nag at you.

As a side-note: what do you good people think about the use of cannabis for opiate and/or benzo withdrawal? I am sure there are threads on BL addressing this, so I apologise if this should be elsewhere. This has been my first time posting to BL and I'm not 100% on how everything works.

BIG LOVE

Mr. Mojo Risin
 
Flower Fairy said:
It does cause withdrawal as I've been though it, course it goes it effects gaba, I was on very high doses, the other night I took 6 x 400mg, I was on it 3 months when I got the withdrawal though, this time I've been on it a few weeks so far

It don't work for everyone but it definitely helps most, unless you're on ridiculous amounts of other drugs (zopiclone once got me, diazepam another time, and another tramadol) before you start, in which case you need to taper off said drug, then move onto Valerian when you've reached the lowest dose that drug can be taken in
Click to expand...

Good day Flower Fairy! Thanks for your feedback, really appreciate it.

I've only been on the Pregabalin for about a week now and plan to take my last 300mg dose tomorrow. It's more the Diazepam withdrawal I'm worried about as I've been on it for 4-5 months now.
 
Be careful. Once I kicked my HEAVY oxy habit, time went by and it was horrific. The insomnia loss of appetite, diarrhea, not even wanting to drink water and so much more. Those stupid DEVIL pills. Pure EVIL.

Years went by, anxiety came back roaring like a mofo, abused xanax and now tapering off klonopin (medically).

Take it from me. And LISTEN TO ME don't be stubborn like me. I'm the type to always do what others tell me not to and always think I'm invincible. Have at that mentality with everything else in life. Just not drugs.

Wish you well.

Are you reading this and thinking to yourself eh he's just a junkie I won't overdo it, I have it under control. opiates are all that and then some. Well, you're ignorant and naive. and I am sorry the internet glorified this big pharma poison to you.
 
one thing at the time, you need to choose one drug, quit this drug and then do this to the next one, successively.

Stop opioids, if you need benzos that's ok, you cannot worry about everything at the same time.. use benzos responsibly taking only when necessary, without overdoses, no overkill, it is going to be ok.
 
benzos are not sleeping pills, take it during the day and not before bed, this is a mistake that makes you increase your resistance without creating a relief for anxiety, theoretically you're sleeping and not anxious at that specific moment.. if you have panic in the middle of the night, take a dose in the middle of the night when it is happening. Summing up, you take a benzo when you are anxious, it is not a preventive treatment it is a palliative strategy.

I am a fake surfing on the internet without medical formation
 
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