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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Question About Fentanyl Withdrawals

Evil_Willy

Greenlighter
Joined
Mar 29, 2024
Messages
2
Hi. I've been smoking between a half point to a point of some rather weak fentanyl powder for a month or so. I'm curious about how bad the withdrawals would be should I decide to quit. It's not getting me high for real anymore, but I don't want to use more, because of the certainty of just nightmare withdrawals. Ive come off of a quarter gram a day habit before, and that was some bullshit I don't care to go through again. If it matters, I'm 39 years old and about fat as all get-out.
 
Hi. I've been smoking between a half point to a point of some rather weak fentanyl powder for a month or so. I'm curious about how bad the withdrawals would be should I decide to quit. It's not getting me high for real anymore, but I don't want to use more, because of the certainty of just nightmare withdrawals. Ive come off of a quarter gram a day habit before, and that was some bullshit I don't care to go through again. If it matters, I'm 39 years old and about fat as all get-out.

Well at only 1 month in, and assuming the fentanyl is weak, perhaps you aren't in for too much horror.

If I were in a situation like that, I'd switch to kratom extracts (like OPMS black, or bulk more generic kratom extracts sold online by kratom vendors), along with plain leaf kratom. I'd do that for the first 5 days or so and quickly cross over to a loperamide taper, starting at maybe 30 pills or so, decreasing one a day.

However if you can go straight to the loperamide without the kratom that would be better. The risk with kratom is getting hooked on it.

I've been through heroin, methadone, morphine (IV pills as well as opium in other cases), oxycodone and tianeptine withdrawal (and a few others, kratom, some RCs etc) but never fentanyl withdrawal. When I was using narcotics over a decade ago, street fent wasn't a thing, and while I used to shoot alot of fentanyl patches, I never experienced withdrawal solely from them. Point is, I personally don't know how bad the withdrawal is from say a .1g/day smoked street fent habit is. In any case, heavy kratom extracts plus plain kratom should soften the acute withdrawal, followed by a loperamide taper.
 
There are sourcing rules, but just make sure you get proper kratom/kratom extracts from a reputable source (I.e. not a gas station) @Evil_Willy
 
Hey @Evil_Willy :)

I'm sorry to hear you're facing withdrawals, that's never fun. My condolences for your being fat as all get out. I admire your honesty and confidence in saying so. You definitely beat me in that department, anywho onto your question.

It sounds like you've never had a terribly serious Opioid habit. In my day, it wasn't uncommon for someone to use 3g a day. On average, it was around 1g-1.5g for most people I knew including myself (at one point I did fuck up and found myself using quite a bit more than this).

It's really difficult to say how bad a person's withdrawal is going to be. We don't know you or what your drug usage looks like in your real life. If all we can do is have both of us guess, then you are the better judge as you know your body and mind.

Again, it sounds like you're not using too much right now. This is good. However, in my experience, using any Opioids for more than a few days had the potential to produce a severe withdrawal syndrome. I remember at one point, I had been completely clean for an extended period of time. This was about 10 years ago when the Heroin was Heroin. Someone gave me some Methadone pills, which I had never taken before at that point in my life. I ended up taking them for 3-4 days. I had a terrible withdrawal that didn't start getting significantly better until day 4.

At that point in my life, my knowledge of drugs was much more limited. Now, I know about the phenomenon known as the "Kindling Effect". The Kindling Effect in medical literature refers specifically to sedative/hypnotic drugs like Barbiturates, Alcohol and Benzodiazepines.

This effect implies that when a person becomes tolerant to say, Alcohol, then that person goes through withdrawal, the next time they start drinking, tolerance comes on faster, withdrawal hits harder and and you find yourself in the same situation that had taken you weeks, months or years to reach previously. It's really a bitch. Naturally, wider society is unaware of this. It creates some confusion. This leads to implications that a person has more or less decided to get back on drugs, when really, it's one seemingly insignificant mistake, that quickly becomes a runaway train.

I'm talking about the Kindling Effect as I feel it not only applies to sedative/hypnotics, but also to many other substances. We in fact know that the phenomenon translates to Opioids. I didn't get really dope sick for the first time until I had bee using for a few months. Now, like I said, if I were to use for 3 days or more, I could easily end up in a serious withdrawal.

An important question, are you experiencing withdrawal symptoms in between your Fentanyl usage? This would be a pretty good indicator of what you're facing. The experience of withdrawal is highly subjective. What some people might call a "nightmare flu" isn't the end of the world for me, as I've done it so many times, the fear and uncertainty aren't there, not to mention I have all of the coping skills I've learned throughout my addiction.

TL/DR I would hope for the best, but absolutely plan for the worst. I believe you will likely experience withdrawal for 3 days at a level at or slightly above your 0.25g Heroin withdrawal.

If you have questions regarding medications that help we can definitely give you some ideas. @negrogesic gave some really great advice as well.
 
My experience with different meds and substances is limited. I think Clonidine is great for withdrawals if you can get a script, my Dr. easily prescribed it when I told her I wanted it for withdrawal symptoms. I even asked for another refill just so I can stash it away in case I need it again at a later time. I think Kratom is great, I used the 0.5g capsules powder, ill take 1.5-2g at a time and see how I feel after awhile, take another dose if needed. I'm afraid of withdrawals from Kratom so I try to keep it as low as possible.

Loperamide was mentioned above, which actually is great for easing withdrawals or even taking it all away. I used it years ago for Dilaudid withdrawals and I felt great taking it, but that lead to daily use and I never stopped. I was always telling myself ill stop tomorrow because I have something important to do today and need to feel normal.

Withdrawaling or tapering I cant sleep at all having insomnia/restless feeling. Ive had trazadone for it but its another prescribed med.
 
@OceansState if you are not familiar with Gabapentin, I would seriously recommend trying to get some from your prescriber. If you think Clonidine (Catapres) is helpful for withdrawal, Gabapentin will be a game-changer. It's the best-kept secret in junky-dom. If you need information, I would advise you to comb through the forums, as the information is there in spades. If you want me to explain it to you though, that's also totally fine.
 
@OceansState if you are not familiar with Gabapentin, I would seriously recommend trying to get some from your prescriber. If you think Clonidine (Catapres) is helpful for withdrawal, Gabapentin will be a game-changer. It's the best-kept secret in junky-dom. If you need information, I would advise you to comb through the forums, as the information is there in spades. If you want me to explain it to you though, that's also totally fine.

I was lucky enough to have my Dr. recommend it when I told her I was having rls while tapering a few weeks ago. I was honest with her as to what I was doing, stopping high dose Loperamide, and shes like you need Clonidine, told her I was having rls and she's like you need gabapentin, told her I was feeling sad/depressed and she's like lets get you on Wellbutrin.
 
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