Opioids Do opioids make you soft?

I'm not talking about what happens when a person is under the immediate influence of an opioid drug or in acute withdrawal. Obviously in the former case he would feel anything but weak. What I'm talking about is people who are daily users or who were daily users but got clean (I belong to the latter group).

I find, since getting clean, that I'm just generally weak, soft and pathetic. It's like my energy and willingness to engage is just gone. This manifests in obvious ways like, say, being seriously indisposed to physical exertion, or unable to handle large amounts of stress. But it affects me in virtually everything I do - I often cannot bear to wash my hands under cold water, I dislike showering because the getting in/getting out makes me really cold and uncomfortable, I'm bad at keeping my room clean and at doing things which simply must be done (like administrative shit: phone calls, university enrolments, etc.). It always just feels too hard. It's like being massively and constantly a pussy, like my ability to deal with the things that arise in ordinary life has just evaporated.

My doctor once told me about studies that had been conducted involving opiate-addicted patients. It was found, he said, that their 'pain-threshhold' was significantly lower than that of ordinary people. This seemed bizarre to me at the time but now I totally get it. I think that a person who spends a large amount of time using and thinking in terms of opiates - drugs which are really about immediate and controlled pleasure - somewhere loses his ability to deal with stress and discomfort. Not in any physiological way but more pervasively, or psychologically. I dunno. Tbh I'm a bit wasted but I hope you guys get the gist.

suessmayr said:

I'm not talking about what happens when a person is under the immediate influence of an opioid drug or in acute withdrawal. Obviously in the former case he would feel anything but weak. What I'm talking about is people who are daily users or who were daily users but got clean (I belong to the latter group).

I find, since getting clean, that I'm just generally weak, soft and pathetic. It's like my energy and willingness to engage is just gone. This manifests in obvious ways like, say, being seriously indisposed to physical exertion, or unable to handle large amounts of stress. But it affects me in virtually everything I do - I often cannot bear to wash my hands under cold water, I dislike showering because the getting in/getting out makes me really cold and uncomfortable, I'm bad at keeping my room clean and at doing things which simply must be done (like administrative shit: phone calls, university enrolments, etc.). It always just feels too hard. It's like being massively and constantly a pussy, like my ability to deal with the things that arise in ordinary life has just evaporated.

My doctor once told me about studies that had been conducted involving opiate-addicted patients. It was found, he said, that their 'pain-threshhold' was significantly lower than that of ordinary people. This seemed bizarre to me at the time but now I totally get it. I think that a person who spends a large amount of time using and thinking in terms of opiates - drugs which are really about immediate and controlled pleasure - somewhere loses his ability to deal with stress and discomfort. Not in any physiological way but more pervasively, or psychologically. I dunno. Tbh I'm a bit wasted but I hope you guys get the gist.

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That is almost word for word exactly how I am. To be fair, I have been this way to a small degree my whole life -- but now that I am a daily user, it has completely gotten out of control. I was hospitalized in May and now owe $100k to the hospital, but I haven't called them back even though they leave me messages to do so. I procrastinate on my homework and projects more than ever, sometimes just flat out not doing them knowing that I can pass the class with the bare minimum amount of effort. Sometimes I'll stay on bed for hours after I wake up because the thought of getting up simply is the most unappealing thing in the world.

Having said that...I'm not beating myself up for being like this. I know I will have to change at some point, but for now I am too lazy to even care.

Man, that's where I'm at. I don't know that it's laziness per se because laziness involves an unwillingness to do ordinary things. The symptoms I'm describing are more about an actual inability to to ordinary things because they're not, for me, 'ordinary' things - they're emotionally so much more exhausting and repugnant. In other words, I don't think it's properly lazy to have difficulties doing things which, for you, are much much much more difficult than they would be for ordinary people.

It's like, having accustomed myself for so long to expecting to be able to just have pleasure on tap, as it were, I now can't hack the fact that it's not really like that. I'm just struggling intensely with the work involved in staying alive.

As for me, my opiate use doesn't make me soft, and it even tends to get me happily awake when I've just taken some. As for the rest of the day, I don't feel quite anything special, apart for the times when I get worried about not being able to take an opiate in the evening. Then I can get a bit nervous (even though I am not physically addict), and someway agressive toward my boyfriend (apologies...). So, active and joyful when I'm under effect, sometimes nervous when I am upset about the stuff, but "soft", never.

I'm like that without opiates man. Drugs in general do it but I have pretty severe depression too.

Its hard to say IMO. I have noticed that most people after they quit heroin or whatever are a little soft. Me for example.

But then again I know this one guy who is an amateur boxer who use to be addicted to oxy and he can take beatings that would knock out/ kill lesser men.

I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. Such simple things seem like a burden (i.e. making a phone call to a credit card company to clear things up, enrolling for classes). I know I have to do it but I dread it so much and often feel anxious about simple tasks that should really be nothing but it stresses me out so much. I honestly thought it was because of my amphetamine abuse in the past (don't use it anymore), but use opiates and benzos very often. When I'm on opiates tho, I don't even have to think twice about getting those extremely simple tasks done.... I thought I was the only one that felt like this. Always thought I was just being a lazy mother fucker, but I think it's more than just simply being lazy as you mentioned.

Are you sure you are not suffering from depression. I know when I am depressed that I have a general feeling of apathy.
I have no interest in anything at all, nothing excites me and I just can't be bothered to do anything at all. Even doing the most menial tasks seems like such a massive effort.
I think that when you first come off opiates that it can leave you feeling depressed.This may be why you feel the way you do but I am no doctor.
Hope things get better for you soon.

Opoid use has made me a stronger person I think. When I've used for a very long period, I become soft yes but after I quit and make it through withdrawal, I become cocky. I think it has something to do with making it through a challenging time and the testosterone rebound. I think I became soft for a while when I was using bc I didn't ever have to deal with any challenge. There was no emotional difficulties and physical exertion was a breeze so I became used to that but ultimately I think opoid changed me for the better. I'm far more social now and I have the experiences of multiple WD's and the perspective that comes with that.

i know exactly where your coming from too point for point and ive just been lazy to find out if anybody felt the same way..ive been on suboxone for like 2 yrs plus but it doesnt really help ive been thinking about trying methadone but i dont have a car and i dont want to drive and hr there and back everyday...ive really ran outta options but i feel better knowing i aint the only one going through it..and ive been through cold turkey alot but the last time i went through i decided to be clean for a year and that whole yr sucked, no quality of life what so ever but before i was on opiates i was on pretty much everything else hard as can be and for along time...

When I first read this, i thought the initial post was going to relate opioids and erectile problems... lol. Any opiate that I've ever taken in a prolonged period has this effect on me. I let people walk all over me more when i'm dope sick, or I just don't have it in me to say no. Which is why I've been up for days now... bad idea... need smack now.. lol jk.. kind of.

I think that opiates severely mess with motivation. They give an incredible boost when you begin taking them, but after awhile, your body becomes dependent on them, and without them you have a serious lack of motivation. It does come back eventually, though, so push yourself to do stuff for now.

This sounds similar to my experience of benzo withdrawl, as well as the opiate side of things. Its as if you've become so physically and psychologically accustomed to instant pleasure and gratification that everything feels hopelessly futile and uninteresting the you no longer can push through and get things done. I never feel 'soft' in the my physical strength is gone, but mentally and emotional i do succomb to sloth-like behavior. Ive kicked and had to deal with wd many times but im still an active user so take what i say with a grain of salt.

How long have you been clean? WHen I got off heroin, I had no energy to do anything. For example, I am an avid cook but in withdrawal, cooking and cleaning the kitchen just took more energy than I had. I was hoping that would go away with time though. I was only clean 9 days before relapsing. I am getting clean again now though.

entheo said:

This sounds similar to my experience of benzo withdrawl, as well as the opiate side of things. Its as if you've become so physically and psychologically accustomed to instant pleasure and gratification that everything feels hopelessly futile and uninteresting the you no longer can push through and get things done. I never feel 'soft' in the my physical strength is gone, but mentally and emotional i do succomb to sloth-like behavior. Ive kicked and had to deal with wd many times but im still an active user so take what i say with a grain of salt.

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For me benzo withdrawal made every day life so painful that of course I couldn't get things done. I mean, I didn't blame myself. I'd have bills that would go unpaid for months, not because I didn't have the money but because the physical act of paying the bill was just too much for me. Benzo wd affected my physical strength as well but I would say that benzo wd was MUCH more mental than physical. Opiate withdrawal on the other hand, I would describe as much more physical. It completely sapped my energy.

I was speaking from my combined experience. Ive had to kick morphine, oxycodone, as well as hydrocodone. In my experience benzo wd is much worse physically and mentallh. Having a wd seizure along with the flu-like symptoms is no fun. At any rate kicking opiates is very difficult. OP, are you wondering why you feel so unmotivated and out of condition because of being physically taxed? Or are you just having a tough time coming to grips with the stresses of daily life? It may be psychosomatic pain and fatique

I wasn't questioning your experience or disagreeing with you in any way. I was just adding my experience. I also think that benzo wd is much worse than opiate withdrawal. It lasts way longer too. For my, by the 5th day of heroin withdrawal i was already noticing improvments. With benzo withdrawal on other hand, it was 15 months before I began to notice improvements. Imagine being in incredible pain for that long! I considered suicide on an hourly bases. The hope that I someday might get better was the only thing that kept me going, along with the fear that I would go to hell if I committed suicide.

But anyway, the focus of the symptoms was much more physical with opiates for me compared to benzos it was much more mental.

Check my user name!

I'm totally with you on this it's not that I don't want to do ordinary things but is so mentally and physically draining. Weed made me like this but to a much lesser extent. I don't know if I'm more lazy for being depressed or being an opiate user/abuser but they pretty much go hand in hand.

I have had a direct debit for a phone contract that I no rarely use, I need to cancel it but have just let it run for months! Same goes for pretty much everything else...cleaning up, needing to get up etc I know I need to do them most of the time but procrastinate or fuck it off.

It got brought up today at a shrink type meeting...I'm like doc I can't function and lead an ordinary life, work is out the question when I cannot get out of bed half the time. He was saying that I need to push myself just to do them and it was irritating the fuck out of me that he assumed I have not tried to lead an ordinary life and help myself, I'm strong minded..cold turkied a heavy benzo habit, GBL withdrawals etc. He was unaware of my drug use because I knew if I mentioned drugs he would blame all the symptoms on them instead of trying to help address the underlying issues of why I turned to drugs such as anxiety, depression and whatever other screws loose upstairs.

I was simply trying to get the help I needed so that I no longer fell back on drugs...I'm pretty confident that once these are addressed then I can stop or limit my drug intake as I have already managed to with my short comings but simply relapse due to the stress.

When asked I hinted that I may drink or use drugs and sure as hell got pigeon holed, I don't want drug addiction on my records or to be fobbed of with the reasons I'm unwell is all down to evil DRUUUUUUGS. I accept I have a problem with them but what do they fucking expect when I have been living in hell for years and they cant do nothing but tell me to pull my socks up.

suessmayr said:

Man, that's where I'm at. I don't know that it's laziness per se because laziness involves an unwillingness to do ordinary things. The symptoms I'm describing are more about an actual inability to to ordinary things because they're not, for me, 'ordinary' things - they're emotionally so much more exhausting and repugnant. In other words, I don't think it's properly lazy to have difficulties doing things which, for you, are much much much more difficult than they would be for ordinary people.

It's like, having accustomed myself for so long to expecting to be able to just have pleasure on tap, as it were, I now can't hack the fact that it's not really like that. I'm just struggling intensely with the work involved in staying alive.

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It is a medically accepted fact that people who quit using opiates after an extended period of use will be more sensitive to pain than they normally would be (for some time after acute w/d). I forget if there is a specific term for it. It would happen to everyone to some degree but will be more pronounced in certain people, obviously because everyone is different.

I thought this was going to be about penises.