How to know if you're genuinely sick or in opiate withdrawal?

[johnloperamide]

So I haven't taken Hydrocodone in 7 days, I was withdrawing from just a few days of use so it wasn't bad at all... The thing is after 96 hours I started taking Tramadol so I wasn't sure if that was making them go away, however, by the 96hour I was completely fine... so anyway, today after just a few hours of taking the Tramadol my throat starting hurting bad and now after almost 12 hours I have 100.4F fever...

So I know fever can be a symptom of withdrawal but I only experienced it once and it was very low, just barely 98.6F, and it also was after much heavier use...
And throat pain is something I never experienced at all, it hurts a lot....

So I think I'm just sick, not in WD, what do you guys think?

 

[sm0kestack]

Yeah, may just be coming down with something else. I don't think I have ever associated a sore throat with opiate withdrawal, and if you were going to withdrawal from opiates like tramadol and hydrocodone, it would have set in way sooner than 96 hours. Like you were saying, after 96 hours acute withdrawal from opiates such as those ones, and the length of time they were used, it should have been done with for real.

A good tool I use to see if I am dope sick / in withdrawal from opiates, and how severe it is, is the COWS sheet (Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale). I usually use this tool to help me determine how intense WDs are when I am trying to transition from heroin to suboxone to avoid precipitated withdrawal.

But anyway, the COWS sheet has all the signature and most common opiate withdrawal symptoms on it that you can honestly score yourself to.

None of the symptoms on it point toward a sore throat, so my educated guess is that the sore throat is not associated with opiate withdrawal, but with some other ailment.

Hope you feel better bro!

 

[Hodor]

How much Tramadol did you take? If you took several hundred miligrams, you might be suffering hyperthermia because of excessively high serotonin levels (Tramadol is both an opioid and an SNRI, so Tramadol abuse can easily lead to serotonin syndrome).

 

[morphine-dreams]

Sounds like you're probably just sick. I've never had a sore throat during wd either. Hope you feel better though!

 

[Phil.McKeer]

Put me down for "just sick". Opioid withdrawal very likely weakens your immune system (I have no evidence for that, just an educated guess) so it was probably precipitated by the fact that you were withdrawing, but sore throat and fever are symptoms of bacterial/viral infection, not opioid withdrawal.

Get well soon and good luck!

 

[Znegative]

Od>bdd

 

[LesFleursDuMal]

That is a really great question! I suspect you're just a little under the weather. Opiate WD's are different from a virus, you may not be able to sleep, you'll have aching joints/muscles, you will probably feel seriously depressed. If you suddenly stopped after heavy, heavy use you're candidate for WD's.

 

[AnythingEverything]

To echo the others, I also think you are sick with some kind of bug or virus for sure. Opiate withdrawal from just a week or so of use would be minimal to none and I wojldnt expect to feel any effects apart from mental and emotional ones maybe, especially after more than 96 hours. And yeah, as others have said, your symptoms aren't really in line with withdraals symptoms. Hope you feel better soon.