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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

opiate withdrawal - huge pupils!

iameatingjam

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
557
Hey guys I'm withdrawing from about 6 months of opiate abuse. last 6 weeks have been on 6mg suboxone. Against the advice of... my girlfriend... my mom... my doctor... my counselor... I decided to stop cold turkey. Its funny because yesterday I came here to post about EASY it was... but it never hit me fully until today, day 6. And it was fucking terrible, I had to leave work. Immodium helped a lot... Anyway, that topic has been beaten to death.

I had a question for you guys... is there anything I can do about my pupils, I cant go to work like this... they'll think I'm on acid... any help appreciated. Any suggestions for ways to help sleeping would be appreciated too. Im going to the doctor tomorrow morning.
 
Jesus christ, well my first and probably only suggestion is not to quit cold turkey sub at 6MG, that is insane your probably sicker than shit, taper down... Regardless of what your family wants. I cant believe your docter suggested you jump off cold at that dose, ridiculous...
 
Why would you do that if you didn't have to?! I sometimes like to prove points to friends, family and clinicians at the expense of my own wellbeing and happiness, but I tend to draw a line in the sand as to how much pain I'm willing to endure. I've been really pissed off at Methadone Clinics in the past, but never pissed off enough for me to give them the finger and make a badass exit. I'm not saying this was you, but I can only assume that there was some kind of catalyst.

Unfortunately, your pupils are dilated (Mydriasis) due to your abrupt cessation of Buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a very potent Opioid, even if it is only a partial agonist. It's not to be fucked with and the withdrawal is known to be potentially interminable, even in comparison to Methadone. I normally am not in the business of disclaimers, but I feel you should pursue getting back involved with your Bupe provider while you still can. Begin a normal taper. You are likely to return to chronic Opioid use at the rate you're going, which would nullify whatever progress you've made thus far.

The only practical means of shrinking your pupis (Miosis) at present is going to be through administration of Opioids. Loperamide (Immodium) will have this effect, as it is itself a highly potent Opioid relative of Fentanyl, but I would highly advise against using it in any dosage higher than what is needed to control Diarrhea. Loperamide is well known for its ability to induce severe tolerance disproportionate to what users would typically expect.

Please try to get back in touch with your provider. You are just starting to experience the bullshit my friend. It's going to get significantly worse. Dilated puils are going to be the least of your concerns a week from now, when your supervisor thinks you're suffering from Ebola, assumes you're a drug addict and fires you. You need to make smarter decisions man, I'm sorry. I really don't want to be an asshole, but this is just bad. You have a job and a life to worry about.

Once you endure a week or two of insomnia (literally no sleep), shit is going to get real for you. I can't stress enough how badly this can backfire upon you OP. I'm not looking down on you or being judgmental. This is empathy.
 
I figured it wouldn't be so bad since I have only been on subs for a few weeks and before that my use fairly small... Frequent but small
( I never really wanted to be on subs I kinda felt pressured into it )

I am going to see the doctor in a few hours. He's pretty cool he is not the reason I'm stopping ,I'm stopping because I thought I'd save myself some pain. All I seem to read everywhere is don't stay on sub too long or you could be in for a lifetime.. which I don't want.

Do you guys REALLY think it's going to be that bad ?

EDIT: Also I'm going to just work from home for the rest of the week. I'll have to be back at work by monday though. I decided if I'm not feeling better by sunday-ISH I'm going to get back on.
 
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^Ah, I see. I've made a mistake here. I'm sorry for glossing over your post. I saw 6 months at the forefront and sped through the rest. That does change things for you obviously. It won't be nearly as severe as I had indicated. The reality is, however, that you might have to contend with some post-acute withdrawal symptoms. Like everything, it's going to vary in severity from person to person, just like acute withdrawal.

My symptoms, after acute withdrawal was over, included weakness, lack of energy and motivation, temperature insensitivity, anxiety and depression. It's good to have a strategy for how you will deal with it if it does become an issue.
 
I get the big pupils too, when withdrawing from any type of opiate, usually I'm yawning, my legs are restless, over emotional. And bam! Big pupils when I look in the mirror in my bathroom as I have to stop and catch a breather as I also get dizzy spells too. ..oh well...charge it to the game!
 
My best advice if you really don't want to be on sub for maintenance or do an extended taper:

Being you've been off a few days (and seen for yourself how long that bupe half life is!), I would take 1 or 2 mg today. Try 1mg , see f it helps...if not take 1 more mg. Tomorrow, see how you feel. If it's awful, take the same as you did the day before. If it's not bad, skip the day. Day 3...take 1 mg. Day 4...skip if possible. If not take 0.5 mg. Day 5-take 0.5 mg.

Don't take any after that unless you're in bad wd. And you shouldn't be. But if you are take another 0.5 or even 0.25.


That's basically how a detox does it...they start with higher initial dose, but you've already pushed through the first few days so you don't need to start at 4 or 6 mg; it would be going backwards

I really think a short detox like this gets you off the sub but makes you feel human and able to go to work, etc.


You haven't been on sub that long..so it's not so built up to be awful. But really, jumping off 6 mg cold turkey is not a good idea. It's like quitting a bundle a day habit cold turkey. Not so good. And sub takes like 3 days after dosing to even start feeling the wd. So you're likely to get worse if you just continue to go on using nothing.
 
If you've only been on subs for a few weeks, you could probably still pull off a relatively painless taper if you get 2 or 3 strips, and dose as low as you possibly can, reducing to a smaller amount each day.
Can you possibly get a couple of strips of sub?
Because if you've not been on bupe for that long, a bupe rapid taper is conceivably still possible.
And if done right, it can be almost completely painless...just some mild discomfort rather than writhing feverish puking mess
 
If you've only been on subs for a few weeks, you could probably still pull off a relatively painless taper if you get 2 or 3 strips, and dose as low as you possibly can, reducing to a smaller amount each day.
Can you possibly get a couple of strips of sub?
Because if you've not been on bupe for that long, a bupe rapid taper is conceivably still possible.
And if done right, it can be almost completely painless...just some mild discomfort rather than writhing feverish puking mess

Wish I read some of these posts before I went into the doctors today. I just got a refund on all of my none-dispensed sub and the dr gave me some seroquel for sleep. He figures since I've come this far I should stay the course. I feel better today than yesterday... but worse than monday. he's going on a vacation soon so friday would be my last chance to repeal my decision. I'll leave it for now and see what tomorrow brings. that for the suggestion.
 
Dude, seriously, go in there and tell them you thought about it and want a few to taper, rather than abrupt cessation. Tell him the wd symptoms are just too much.

It's like the difference between falling off your second story porch and landing on mulch....or landing on concrete.
 
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