Opioids Is opioid withdrawal dangerous?

[thatrandomdude]

Hello, I was just wondering if withdrawing cold turkey from opiates can be hazardous healthwise, or just the nasty full body aching sickness and all that other lovely stuff. I used to be a chronic alcoholic, sober for over 8 months now, that was awful to go through, took being in hospital with pancreatitis twice before I decided to stay sober. Have also been heavily addicted to benzos in the past aswell but come away from that, and I know from first hand experience withdrawing from them both had some serious dangers coming along with the withdrawals. For some stupid reason I thought I could just take some opiates one day and then not feel the need, but I have ended up taking them everyday for the past 2 months or so (dihydrocodeine to be exact)

anyway to make a long story short is it dangerous to withdraw? Or just the general feeling really unwell? thanks

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

If you are an otherwise healthy individual then opiate withdrawal is unlikely to kill you. Just make sure to stay hydrated, keep up a steady diet, and try to get as much sleep as you can.

I think dehydration, weakened immune system, and a little extra stress on the heart are the only dangerous symptoms that come from opiate withdrawal. If you have a good immune system, a decent heart, and the ability to drink fluids you should be fine.

 

[RedXIII]

Agreed, for this reason they generally do not admit people to the hospital for opiate WD's, instead they have you wait out till your in full speed WD and just hand you a single dose of buperenorphine and tell ya to come back tomorrow for more. Besides pre-existing conditions that can make WD dangerous, the only thing i can think of is self-harm. Depending on your habit and opioid of choice, wd can be so heavy that suicide starts to creep into thought rather then dealing with the initial 3-5 days...

Suboxone is a miracle drug, just dont take it for more then 2 weeks (Same with methadone).

 

[SheWasLvL18]

I thought I would mention something that might pertain to your situation. Look up the sedative-hypnotic kindling effect. Basically, my understanding of it is: everytime you withdraw from a drug in this class (alcohol, opiates, benzos, etc.) it makes the next withdrawal worse on your body. So the more withdrawals you've gone through, the worse the withdrawal.

 

[tacodude]

They do not give suboxone into a hospital. They might admit you to a chemical dependency treatment ward if they have one. It is easy to dehydrate or struggle with other issues through the withdrawal so doing it alone is definitely not recommended or at least keep a cell phone on you in case you start choking throwing up bile. With proper medical care no one should die from withdrawals no matter how excruciating and with proper treatment it doesn't have to suck.

 

[thatrandomdude]

yeah when i went through the WDs of alcohol and benzos I was having seizures, couldn't eat / drink or swallow anything due to the inflammation on my pancreas. I have general anxiety disorder and panic disorder which i'm getting therapy for, i really shouldn't have started taking opiates but like we all think at first "i'll be the one who can not take anymore" thanks for your input guys, i guess i'll talk to my GP about it next week when i see him since he's helped me through everything in the past. My usage has been about 300+mg a day of dihydrocodeine for over 2months or so now i think. I just wanted to know if there was anything to be worried about, the general feeling sickly and aching all over I can deal with, I'm on 2mg diazepam (i know, great right?) for my general anxiety when needed and they seem to help a bit with the withdrawal, and just taking a few co-codomal seems to ease up a bit on the pain

 

[thatrandomdude]

oh and yeah I've read about the kindling effect before, i think that's more about the use of benzos and alcohol more so than opiates from what I remember. Both of which were absolute agony to go through, I was in hospital for a month or so before getting released

 

[tacodude]

Benzo and alcohol withdrawal is dangerous if severe and can cause death unlike opiates.

 

[thatrandomdude]

yeah i know, i've been through them both, i was just wondering if opiate withdrawal is as severe since i've been t total of booze and benzos for a while now

 

[Keif' Richards]

There are statistical outliers, sure, but in general, Opioid withdrawal is not a permanently harmful process, it is just extremely unpleasant. It's like many other medical conditions in that, the old, infirmed, unwell in general, are far more likely to die as a result of complications from withdrawal. You here of people dying from withdrawal in places like jail, where they may be left for days without any kind of medical attention and without adequate (or any) food and water.

At the Valley Street Jail, in Manchester, NH, they left a man who was withdrawing from Opioids in some kind of straight-jacket thing, because he was being "unruly" in the drunk tank for days where he was unable to adequately hydrate among other things. The extreme diarrhea, coupled with the lack of hydration, led him to die by the third day.

These things happen, bu dying from Opioid withdrawal is a very rare occurrence and there are almost always extenuating circumstances involved.

 

[Fresco]

Opiate withdrawal wont kill you, while going through it you wish it did though

 

[thatrandomdude]

i can imagine being in jail whilst straight WDing would be one of the worst experiences ever, i'm 25 and slightly overweight but i'd say other than that i'm pretty healthy. I'll have to speak to my GP about it and see what he says, he's never let me down before with my habits / addictions so i'm sure he'll help me. I usually keep super hydrated anyway, always have water by my side. Thanks for all your input guys, I wasn't expecting the WD to be easy (it never is, is it?) but am at peace knowing it's not generally as harmful as alcohol / benzos.