Heroin My 10 'Happy Chipper' rules for responsible heroin use.

[TheUltimateFixx]

1. Don't regularly use with full-time junkies.
2. If it's feasible, don't use alone.
3. Make sure you and any using buddies carry Naloxone and know how to administer it.
4. Don't re-use or share equipment if at all possible.
5. If you're an injector, always follow best hygiene practice.
6. Never use more than 3 days in a row.
7. Don't use again for at least 2 x the number of days that you've used (ie 2 days on, 4 days off).
8. Never mix heroin with other sedative drugs such as alcohol or barbiturates.
9. Do a test shot first if you suspect / have got a positive test for fentanyl.
10. If at any point you find yourself getting increasingly preoccupied with it, or starting to neglect other activities or social contacts in favour of using more, TAKE A BREAK.

(And this incidentally goes for all drugs, not just heroin.)


Stay safe and enjoy

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

Seems fairly solid to me.
Good post, imo.

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

Seems fairly solid to me.
Good post, imo.

Why thank you.

 

[Jabberwocky]

works if you're not the sort to get addicted and have never had a habit. but tbh i think anyone regularly doing heroin, let alone planning and ritualising it as described above, is playing with fire.

i was obsessed with it from the first time i did it properly so it was only a matter of time til i got a habit.

once you've had a long term habit you will get withdrawals from using just once or twice. one of my worst ever rattles was after 4 days on it after 2 years almost completely clean. 3 years clean and i still get ill from OTC codeine products used as directed on the packet. probably wouldn't by now if i'd used literally no opiates in that time cos the receptors do renormalise over time.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

1. Don't regularly use with full-time junkies.
2. If it's feasible, don't use alone.
3. Make sure you and any using buddies carry Naloxone and know how to administer it.
4. Don't re-use or share equipment if at all possible.
5. If you're an injector, always follow best hygiene practice.
6. Never use more than 3 days in a row.
7. Don't use again for at least 2 x the number of days that you've used (ie 2 days on, 4 days off).
8. Never mix heroin with other sedative drugs such as alcohol or barbiturates.
9. Do a test shot first if you suspect / have got a positive test for fentanyl.
10. If at any point you find yourself getting increasingly preoccupied with it, or starting to neglect other activities or social contacts in favour of using more, TAKE A BREAK.

(And this incidentally goes for all drugs, not just heroin.)


Stay safe and enjoy

Wise words, but I and every other junkie in history has broken every single one of those rules.

And so will every other heroin user...

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

Wise words, but I and every other junkie in history has broken every single one of those rules.

And so will every other heroin user...

This is not, in fact, the case.

There are such creatures as:

- stable mid - to long-term non-dependent users who never incurred a period of dependence / addiction,
- stable mid - to long-term non-dependent users who DID go through a dependent / addicted phase (that's me),
- stable mid - to long-term dependent users who manage their dependence at a set level without constantly increasing their dosage, and are capable of a full social life and employment.

And those aren't a tiny outlier minority either, but amount to around two thirds of opiate users (if that is, you are prepared to take as your sample EVERY opiate user, instead of just the percentage of most extreme users who end up in jail or in treatment facilities).

The vast majority of studies suffer from a significant statistical bias in that they only recruit from clinical cases (ie the most extreme end of using behaviour). There's a blanket assumption that heroin user equals heroin addict, and that every single user will eventually become an addict.

Researchers cannot conceive of heroin users as anything BUT addicts, (and addicts can't either, therefore heavy users reinforce the stereotype amongst themselves) ; so addicts is what they look for in all the predictable places, and addicts is all they find. Completely ignoring a wide statistical sample of varying using habits, because moderate opiate users are just supposed to not exist.
It's like if you were doing a study on drinking behaviour and only considered those subjects who are starting the day by downing half a pint of vodka.

.. Do you think we'd get an accurate overview of alcohol consumption if we only studied the most extreme drinkers -?
If we presumed every drinker was also an alcoholic? (or on his way to becoming one)
If alcoholism was publicly accepted as not just typically representative of any kind of drinker, but as the ONE AND ONLY possible representation -?

And how many MORE problem drinkers do you think we'd likely have, if everyone had the idea that ANY level of alcohol use INEVITABLY led to ultra - heavy drinking?
'Oh better not risk that pint with your lunch ; you' ll turn into F. U. B. A. R. '.

... Just sayin'.


PS 90% of what turned me into a junkie was my 100% conviction I was gonna turn into a junkie.
If just one single person had told me this wasn't my 'inevitable fate', things might have turned out very different from the shit show they did.

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

works if you're not the sort to get addicted and have never had a habit

I was 'the sort' (as in impulsive, unstable, hedonistic, instant - gratification - seeking) AND I have had a serious habit in the past. Just to put that info out there for everyone's consideration.

And yes I DO have to be extra - careful with getting physically dependent these days ; it happens THAT much quicker.

 

[Jabberwocky]

- stable mid - to long-term dependent users who manage their dependence at a set level without constantly increasing their dosage, and are capable of a full social life and employment.

this was me for a few years and i thought the same way you do. i got a pay rise every so often which always expanded my habit but between pay rises i kept it constant. i got a mortgage, went on holiday to the carribean, etc.

i don't think i'm exceptional that it escalated the second something traumatic happened to me and then went out of control. and by engaging with dealers and other users you are more likely to experience traumatic events.

plus i hated myself. i hated being addicted to heroin. i liked that it kept me thin but i hated myself that i couldn't stop.

i do believe there are some people who never escalate to the extent that i did but i don't believe their lives are enriched by heroin.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I was 'the sort' (as in impulsive, unstable, hedonistic, instant - gratification - seeking) AND I have had a serious habit in the past. Just to put that info out there for everyone's consideration.

i understand that but i am just putting out there that i think only a tiny minority can do your steps without ending up with a full time habit.

i am really sorry to say but i think you are a couple of shitty events away from being back to a full time addict.

you're very lucky that you don't get sick from one use. don't push your opiate receptors too far. i had to do a rattle after using OTC codeine for dental surgery. it sucks knowing that if i ever have legitimate pain i can't have painkillers without having to rattle and i don't want that for you.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

This is not, in fact, the case.

There are such creatures as:

- stable mid - to long-term non-dependent users who never incurred a period of dependence / addiction,
- stable mid - to long-term non-dependent users who DID go through a dependent / addicted phase (that's me),
- stable mid - to long-term dependent users who manage their dependence at a set level without constantly increasing their dosage, and are capable of a full social life and employment.

And those aren't a tiny outlier minority either, but amount to around two thirds of opiate users (if that is, you are prepared to take as your sample EVERY opiate user, instead of just the percentage of most extreme users who end up in jail or in treatment facilities).

The vast majority of studies suffer from a significant statistical bias in that they only recruit from clinical cases (ie the most extreme end of using behaviour). There's a blanket assumption that heroin user equals heroin addict, and that every single user will eventually become an addict.

Researchers cannot conceive of heroin users as anything BUT addicts, (and addicts can't either, therefore heavy users reinforce the stereotype amongst themselves) ; so addicts is what they look for in all the predictable places, and addicts is all they find. Completely ignoring a wide statistical sample of varying using habits, because moderate opiate users are just supposed to not exist.
It's like if you were doing a study on drinking behaviour and only considered those subjects who are starting the day by downing half a pint of vodka.

.. Do you think we'd get an accurate overview of alcohol consumption if we only studied the most extreme drinkers -?
If we presumed every drinker was also an alcoholic? (or on his way to becoming one)
If alcoholism was publicly accepted as not just typically representative of any kind of drinker, but as the ONE AND ONLY possible representation -?

And how many MORE problem drinkers do you think we'd likely have, if everyone had the idea that ANY level of alcohol use INEVITABLY led to ultra - heavy drinking?
'Oh better not risk that pint with your lunch ; you' ll turn into F. U. B. A. R. '.

... Just sayin'.


PS 90% of what turned me into a junkie was my 100% conviction I was gonna turn into a junkie.
If just one single person had told me this wasn't my 'inevitable fate', things might have turned out very different from the shit show they did.

I kind of get what you're saying, but there is a massive difference between alcohol and heroin in that the majority of people who drink alcohol don't become alcoholics. But the majority of people who use heroin do become junkies. I'm not justifying alcohol use by the way (I only do it because smack has run its course and I'm a horrendous drug addict), but I once tried to justify heroin use and look where that got me...

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

it escalated the second something traumatic happened to me and then went out of control

This is kinda precisely what I'm talking about. You sentence yourself the minute you think of the stuff as this magical perfect pain - reliever that 'll take away AAALLLL your troubles.
... Believe me I've been there. The single most crucial element in readjusting my using habits was to fucking STOP putting it on this pedestal and projecting all sorts of semi - divine qualities onto it.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

This is kinda precisely what I'm talking about. You sentence yourself the minute you think of the stuff as this magical perfect pain - reliever that 'll take away AAALLLL your troubles.
... Believe me I've been there. The single most crucial element in readjusting my using habits was to fucking STOP putting it on this pedestal and projecting all sorts of semi - divine qualities onto it.

Heroin addiction isn't a state of mind. It's a very real problem that doesn't require putting on a pedestal...

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

This is kinda precisely what I'm talking about. You sentence yourself the minute you think of the stuff as this magical perfect pain - reliever that 'll take away AAALLLL your troubles.
... Believe me I've been there. The single most crucial element in readjusting my using habits was to fucking STOP putting it on this pedestal and projecting all sorts of semi - divine qualities onto it.

OK to specify. In recent years I've had my father die, my grandmother (whom I was very close to) also die, have had to cope with the off-the-scale existential threat of knowing my partner could contract COVID and die from it literally ANY day for the past 2 years;.while being thousands of miles away from me.
(the general population are indoctrinated by Bolsonaro calling it a 'little flu', won't distance or wear masks ; he's got chronic COPD which would likely fuck him if he ever contracted it).

... I've not yet turned back to full - time use because I didn't see how that would possibly benefit me.

 

[Jabberwocky]

This is kinda precisely what I'm talking about. You sentence yourself the minute you think of the stuff as this magical perfect pain - reliever that 'll take away AAALLLL your troubles.
... Believe me I've been there. The single most crucial element in readjusting my using habits was to fucking STOP putting it on this pedestal and projecting all sorts of semi - divine qualities onto it.

where did i say i put it on a pedestal? i had a habit anyway, bad shit happened, i found i preferred to be smacked up more than usual.

i didn't romanticise it or project semi-divine qualities. i didn't even think tbh. it was just automatic. don't get a job? buy an extra bag. friend dies? don't even try to moderate my use that week. i still felt like shit so if anything using on negative emotions made it even clearer that it isn't a magic cure all.

even when my PTSD was so bad that if i tried not to use heroin i had flashbacks basically continuously. and in fact i was aware that heroin was a fucking shit way of dealing with it but i had no idea how to get help or what help i needed.

i have never projected anything onto heroin. i've just been addicted to it. physically and psychologically. a lot of what you say is way, way off the mark for myself and many other addicts i know. i've never heard a single person say it took away all their pain.

 

[Jabberwocky]

OK to specify. In recent years I've had my father die, my grandmother (whom I was very close to) also die, have had to cope with the off-the-scale existential threat of knowing my partner could contract COVID and die from it literally ANY day for the past 2 years;.while being thousands of miles away from me.
(the general population are indoctrinated by Bolsonaro calling it a 'little flu', won't distance or wear masks ; he's got chronic COPD which would likely fuck him if he ever contracted it).

... I've not yet turned back to full - time use because I didn't see how that would possibly benefit me.

i'm sorry all that has happened and well done for not falling back into full time use.

i'd still recommend you get help because its clearly occupying a lot of room in your head when you clearly have more important shit to be dealing with.

 

[Jabberwocky]

It is doable until it is not. I would not say that you can not do it but I believe that for IV heroin/meth/cocaine use it is a really small minority who will not slip into regular use. That minority, in my opinion, has most important aspects of life functioning before they try to experiment. They have a job/career, good relationship network, hobbies...lot to loose. I believe that precisely those people will not go into IV H/C/M use because of precisely that reasons. I was addicted to amps and now I can save methylphenidate for days when I have to be up to the task on work. I believe that I could use Aderall the same way. Also I believe I could use oxycodone if I were prescribed, cause I used tapentadol, kratom and tramadol that way. But there is a big difference between pharma grade pills that are prescribed and H or crack cocaine from the street. Never used any opioid that is jot pharma grade and I never IVd.

But what I would advice is following:
-don't, it's not worth the risk
- if you do, wait till youre 30
-make sure that you have lot to lose (job, family, friends, hobbies)

Maybe that way one can use IV heroin and not fall of the wagon. Though I'm not sure cause life is full of unexpected traumatic events and then drugs are great short term solution. Problem is long term.

I would advice against IV use. Against unknown sibstances (street drugs). Wait till drugs become at least accepted and tolerated, if not legal and use them like people use drug called alcohol today. And still....some will get addicted to alcohol while fine with opioids, or addicted to sex while fine with cocaine. It is tricky. Very tricky.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I've never heard a single person say it took away all their pain.

@chinup it did take away all my pain, but perhaps I didn't have that much to begin with.

Heroin soon filled in the gaps...

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

Heroin addiction isn't a state of mind. It's a very real problem that doesn't require putting on a pedestal...

How is something NOT a real problem because it is also a state of mind?!

... Ok if we're talking physical dependence, that's a concrete physical thing. But physical dependence doesn't equal addiction; if it did, every single patient who was ever prescribed morphine in all of history would be an addict. The absolute VAST majority are not. So what we call an addiction IS, very obviously, nothing if not a particular STATE OF MIND.

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

its clearly occupying a lot of room in your head when you clearly have more important shit to be dealing with.

It doesn't in fact occupy a lot of room. In general I'll do some twice weekly, very occasionally a little more ; quite often less.

And when I'm not using, I 'm not expending any mental energy on the fact that I' m not using, or counting down the days to the next time I will be using. I'm just not using.

The reason I'm expanding a bit on it HERE, is because I hope my case might prove instructing or encouraging to someone who finds themselves in the same dismal place that I did, and is being told by everyone there's only two options, either lifelong abstinence (for which read self-deprivation, for a lot of people), or continuous reckless addicted use.

And that there's literally NOTHING in between those two extremes. I'm merely saying that YES there is, and it's attainable.

 

[Jabberwocky]

fair enough. if that works for you @The UltimateFixx - i've tried twice a week many a time, with plenty to do on my days off so also not obsessing, and just ended up sick 100% of the time so inevitably going back to a full time habit. your opioid receptors are evidently in much better shape than mine if you genuinely don't get ill but i'm quite glad mine are so fucked cos it means i am never even tempted to use heroin and have more money, time, and better health as a result.

you've done very well so far. i hope it stays that way for you. i've done my bit by pointing out to other readers not to expect this to work for them, so lets leave it at that.

@chinup it did take away all my pain, but perhaps I didn't have that much to begin with.

Heroin soon filled in the gaps...

even once the pain was that you're a fucking hopeless junkie and will likely die that way?