Opioids What can opiate withdrawal be compared to?

[thelastclubkid]

. I hated the rls though

worst... symptom... ever....

i could deal with literally everything else but the RLS just annoys the f*ck out of me...

 

[macd610]

Along with all the physical pain that is almost indescribable comes the emotional turmoil. I cannot call it depression because depression does not do it justice. It's much deeper than that, it's almost like my soul is vomiting up every horrible memory, everything I'm ashamed of, every mistake I've ever made and every horrible feeling I've ever felt times 10.... repeating over and over and over again until I feel paralyzed.
Also the isolation and extreme fear of being around people during withdrawals is horrible. I feel like I'm completely alienated from the entire human race.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Getting kicked in the balls repeatedly for a week would be preferable..

 

[belfort]

yes, depression doesnt fit the mindset that withdrawals give you..id call it 'waking nightmares' basically all day long, simple thoughts just bother the hell out of you..your every thought has a nightmarish element to it when withdrawing...

 

[neversickanymore]

If I ever start to fiend for opiates again I will read these posts until I see the light.. I really got that radiating, clay skin, goose bump, pins and needles, frozen solid sunburn feeling near my spine when i read some of these.

 

[carniegirl818]

You are exhausted and lay down, only to want to kick around in your bed because you're so uncomfortable. Whenever you find a slightly comfortable position, some other part of your body starts to ache and just NEEDS to move, like restless leg syndrome but with your whole body.

I've never gone more than 24 hours into withdrawls, but this is the worst part for me. I just make it a point not to run out. In 2 years it's only happened twice and not for longer than a day. One day I'm gonna pay the price. But not today.8(

 

[Thomas29]

Best creative metaphor I got is um falling to your death from an airplane with no parachute just imagine surviving YET STILL FEEELING the pain of the impact as you smack into the concrete that is withdrawal. Oh and I can not say exactly from personally experiences in falling but I am guessing withdrawal is probably even way worse and longer than the impossible surviving that situation and scenario and all.

 

[punkboi26]

Being that I have withdrawn from so many different kinds of opiates I can tell you that Hydrocodone, codeine and propoxyphene withdrawals are the mildest. As you go up the ladder to more powerful opiates like oxycodone (my DOC), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), oxymorphone (Opana), fentanyl (Duragesic), diacetylmorphine (Heroin) and so on til you get to Methadone, of which I consider the most horrible of withdrawals. The quicker acting, short lived opiates are generally a breeze to come off of as the WD only lasts for about 3 days. Granted those 3 days are really, really intense. I'm quite seasoned at the whole opiate withdrawal thing and honestly believe there is no greater hell than Methadone withdrawals. I have had limbs broken and I have been shot and still would prefer those things to opiate WD. That first feeling of panic that you know the hell is coming has manifest itself into a real fear of mine. Then the anxiety and and general feeling of being trapt even though you know going anywhere won't do you anygood. Your nose starts to run and your eyes water. After that you get the hot and cold sweats and then maybe the jimmy legs and cotton joints (feels like you have something like cotton or little ants in your joints). During one of those many other symptoms you will get the yawns. If you're like me you will get the yawns so bad it induces TMJ. TMJ feels like you're temporarily dislocating your jaw because your mouth opens too far after yawning too much. Stomach cramps and nausea set in and so does that smell. It's a smell everything gets. Nothing smells or tastes right and if you smoke it will make you not want to for having to smell it. By now there is only one thing that will stop any of this and it's all you are thinking about. Laying down makes everything worse.....especially the spasms and the jerking. I don't know how many times I laid on my back kicking my legs in the air like I was riding a bike. Ultra hot, very long showers help but once you step out you will want to die. Your pain receptor sites go haywire and everything hurts including toweling off from that refreshing shower. There is a word that describes one of the symptoms you feel during your entire bout of WD and that's Akathisia. I always ending thinking of putting a bullet in my head after too long of WD'ing. I have always ended up with PAWS when I WD so that is no help. The mention of Methadone was because the WD last forever it seems. weeks and weeks of it. Where you will be over a hydro withdrawal in 3 days you will still be in WD on week 3 on Methadone. It takes upwards of a year to get right from getting off Methadone. I regret the day I ever got on it. Then again, Methadone is also an NMDA antagonist so you are suffering that WD too when coming off Methadone. That is assuming you are in the US as the only Methadone we get here is the racemic version which contains the NMDA antagonist component. I know I'm all over the place with this but just thinking about withdrawal makes me feel sick. All I can say is the physical part of the withdrawals eventually end.......eventually. The mental part will always be there forever. It changes you once you become dependent/addicted. You are not the same person you were before. Your body never forgets.....it always remembers that feeling. The good and the bad.

 

[sarahjean]

Runny nose, watery eyes, chills, restless legs, constant need to stretch. Bupe helps but you are prolonging the inevitable. I've found that copious amounts of DXM and seroquil work the best after three days of bupe- each day tapered.

 

[killshot]

opiate withdrawals are the worse shit ever for me if im lucky i get 2 to 4 hours of sleep then i wake up sneezing like a motherfucker eyes tearings like crazy like literally my pillow gets wet from my eyes tearing so much an then the rls is so horrible u jus keep rolling around trying to find a comfy position and it is impossible its feel comfy for maybe 30 seconds an u jus keep trying to keep your mind off of it but it is horrible u cant u jus keep rolling around i adventually just get out of bed cause ill start sweating and going crazy jus laying there. then of course comes the diarrea an all that bullshit its so horrible an i forgot to mention the dreams i get crazy ass dreams where i got a shitload of money and im going to cop dope an ill wake up an check my pockets just hoping its true an of course it aint. then i get the crazy anxiety like my chest literally feels like its all hyper and burning jus thinking about dope like literally i jus cant stop thinking of mixing up that awesome brown liquid drawing it up in the needle an pulling back blood and shooting its so god dam good when the rush hits you like seriously withdrawal is so fucked up like seriously if i ever knew it was gonna be like this my dumbass would of never started. i jus wish i never started shooting it i mean i still got decently bad withdrawals from snorting it but i was always able to take suboxone an still be able to function anwork once i started shooting not even suboxone did me justice sometimes it would just piss me off an make withdrawal worse an i always waited long enuff to take it i aint a dumbass an possible go thru precip cuz i did it one time an omg it was hell. to anyone out there not addicted to opiates dont ever do this shit it will ruin your life especially heroine cuz it ruined mine. just keep in mind it is hell on earth jus all the symptoms r so fucked up i jus hate how u get all smelly so quick from withdrawal from sweating an sneezing an ur eyes tearing an shit god dam i hate it

 

[BananasAndOranges]

Whoever says it's like a flu doesn't know what he/she is talking about. A flu feels totally different. Opioid withdrawal is horrible in its own way. And every opioid is different. That's what most people don't get, and that's one of the biggest mistakes that "medicine" commits. OPIOIDS can't be switched (for example switch from morphine to oxycodone) for every person, just by calculating the potency. People are unique, and so are substances. Each opioid has its own characteristics, and this fact is proven by withdrawal symptoms of different opioids. Oxycodone was PURE HELL. Worse than everything before (heroin, morphine...). Oxycodone was the worst for me. For other people, it might be heroin, or fentanyl, or even buprenorphine.

Sorry but it kinda is like having the flu except a longer dragged one and one where the vomit can't really be stopped by much. Its like having a flu while standing in 100 degrees of sunlight. The chills are some of the worse. Psping the the back of your head. I get a feeling as I get RMS so bad that I just feel my whole body could jolt out of its own skin. Sorry I'm ranting. its not like having a flu but the symptoms of WD are very similar to a Really Nasty flu.

 

[Permanent Jones]

I had major surgery two weeks after enduring oxymorphone withdrawal CT, and I have to say I would much rather have ten surgeries, in a row even, than go through one more withdrawal of that magnitude. No joke, I mean it. I believe that the RLS exacerbates the insomnia, which in turn makes the RLS even worse, and it is a vicious cycle of agony. That's without even mentioning the intensely painful sensation of one' s spine rotting through one' s back, the joint and bone agony, sweats and cold chills, shivering, nausea and vomiting, the intense physical drain on the body. More than once I've entertained thoughts of somehow finding a way to score heroin. Or maybe begging the pharmacist, whom I've known for ten years, for just a few more pills to help me curb the withdrawal. What a nightmare! I have made it a point to never run out (or even run low) again. Ever. Lesson learned. And for now, I've been steadily lowering my dosage, so that I will have an easier time once I do make the decision to quit. I'm also amassing a collection of various remedies, rx and otc, for preparation against the day when, inevitably, I will make the decision to get off this horrible merry go round once and for all. Because I will. One day, I will...

 

[thelastclubkid]

opiate WD's are the only thing where you start thinking "man if im lucky one of these horrible symptoms might kill me and the misery will stop.." except you know thats not gonna happen...

 

[OEandricearoni]

You are either burning hot or freezing cold all the time. There is no inbetween. Get freezing cold, throw 3-4 blankets on yourself, start getting burning hot, take the blankets off and within 30 seconds you are freezing cold again.

One thing that annoys me that i don't see mentioned too often is how it can effect your eyesight. When I'm in bad opiate withdrawals, at times I can't even see straight. I would try to get on the comp and surf the web, but i can't see the screen. Also I've had this many times while i was trying to prep a fix. It can be incredibly aggravating to have your sweet relief right in your hands, but to be physically unable to ready the shot quickly, let alone hit a vein easily.

The restless leg syndrome is by far my most hated symptom, and I always get it terribly bad. For me this is one of the main causes of the insomnia. Your body aches what seems like its down to the bone. Your appetite is non-existent and getting food down is a chore. I'm lucky if i can down 3-4 bites of anything while in severe w/d. The fact that you are becoming malnourished due to having no appetite doesn't help things either. Diarrhea is very irritating but is one of the few symptoms that can be at least brought under control with OTC meds like loperamide.

Honestly there is nothing you can do about the other symptoms except continue to suffer until your w/d has passed.I would often get bad headaches as well, and with the body pains added to it you feel like you have the worst case of the flu ever and then some.

I can't tell you how many times I've suffered through 2 days of grueling withdrawal symptoms only to shoot up at 48 hours or so to simply start the cycle again..Honestly I'd rather have my fuckin legs broken than suffer all the way through a heroin detox, even with a relatively mild habit (.2-.3G/day) the withdrawals are STILL a bitch. And once you are trying to detox from a habit that exceeds half a gram a day or so, you are in for some real disgusting torture.

Opiate withdrawal is by far the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I can't even imagine being in worse pain than that. The only thing i think would be worse than it is literally being brutally tortured by someone. I've heard people say that they would rather pass kidney stones than do another opiate detox..

To anyone reading this thread who is experimenting with opiates and taking them on a semi-regular basis...watch yourself...seriously. Look at the posts in this thread. These are not people exaggerating their symptoms. It is actually that painful....I wouldn't wish it even on my worst of enemies..

Do yourself a favor and keep your opiate use to once a week, if possible less than that. Trust me once you get hooked you regret it for the rest of your life. I've spend the last 5 years on edge, constantly needing to maintain some sort of opiate habit in order to just function normally and it seriously starts to fuck you up both emotionally and physically. I have mad respect for people who have accumulated years and years of sobriety without ever relapsing. I'll tell you right now, 90% of opiate addicts want that more than anything else, I know that i do.

 

[macd610]

Someone mentioned feeling the need to stretch all the time ...I'd forgotten about that part. the worst part is when I stretch so hard that I get cramps in the opposing muscles, if that makes sense. I end up feeling as though my whole body has endured charlie horses literally from head to toe

 

[toolegit_toquit]

Im sure a ton of people have said this but theres this non stop restless legs. Even as Ive been tapering off, I still feel it as I lower each dose. Its incredibly irritating and you feel like everything is tense no matter what you do. Its a terrifying thing. I have even developed muscle spasms which can really interfere with being comfortable while sitting or laying down. I cant stress how important it is not to get addicted to some of these substances because you're body and mind basically go through hell when you jump off from using. Its not worth it.

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

To me the worst feelings is definitely the hot/cold flashes (because they happen so fast i lose track of how i feel) and the skin crawling and heh, cold turkey like skin. then the tachycardia in second. I don't get much else but holy shit is it terrible. At least I know i'll have my fix everyday, fuckin 'done, heh.

 

[Rob27shred]

hell, your legs just feel like they need to keep movina and hot and cold flashes hardcore. Insomnia, diarreha, basicaly like you want to kill yourself or get high.

peace

That's why they call it "kicking" the habit. Or my favorite, doing the junkie boogie!

 

[Serotonin101]

feels like dying a slow and painful death, but just can't die. hot/cold constantly, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, upset stomach, no appetite (smell of food sickened me), restless body especially arms and legs, sweating, dilated pupils, aches and pains all over, racing thoughts, tachycardia, major hypertension for me, intense depression, craving so so bad... watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, diarrhea, vomitting... more cravings... suicidal thoughts. ugh thank god I'm clean.

 

[starfish90]

Constant sneezing, like 10 in a row. Yawning. Eyes watering. Leg cramps and then your legs and arms start to flop around (kick) and you can't control it. Stomach cramps. Diarrhea. Exorcist like vomiting. You're dripping in sweat, but you have goosebumps and you're freezing - it could be 95 degrees out, but you've got four layers on and you're still shivering. You can't sleep - this is literally the worst... and once you do fall into sweet slumber, you're jerked awake by nightmares of using drugs. You get depressed, you want to literally end your life, end this hell that you're going through. Anxiety ridden doesn't even begin to cover it. You're contemplating robbing a bank so that you can rid yourself of this feeling, yet you don't even have the energy to get up and change the channel on the TV, nevermind pull off a bank heist. Imagine the worst flu you've ever had, multiply it by 20, and add in some charlie horses for good measure... and you're still not at opiate withdrawal. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. The worst part is, the only thing that will take you out of your misery is the one thing that caused it in the first place.