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Opioids What can opiate withdrawal be compared to?

I haven't read through the thread but I'm sure a lot of people have described what withdrawals feel like, so what I'm about to say probably sounds similar to what others have said.

First off, you can compare withdrawals to the flu. Your nose runs, you sneeze a lot, and your body and head aches. If withdrawals are particularly bad, imagine having the flu and food poisoning at the same time as you'll be throwing up a lot and have diarrhea. Those are just the most basic physical aspects.

In addition to what I described, there is also a profound feeling of anxiety and 'nervous stomach'. When going through WD's, I feel jittery, like I want to jump out of my skin. Sometimes I'll convulse slightly with involuntary muscle movements; usually my legs will kick or my shoulders will tense up. Sleeping is impossible, and it is typical to experience restless leg syndrome when lying down. Taking benadryl to try to sleep only increases restless leg in my experience. Virtually nothing will help you sleep except for more opiates or a good dose of benzo's. It is impossible to get comfortable when lying down - I've found that the most endurable position is just lying flat on your back. I feel like I have virtually zero energy, and the simplest chore, such as walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water, is like dragging a ball and chain behind you. Just the thought of actually doing anything is exhausting. Going to work while withdrawing, to me, is unthinkable. Riding in a car for a long distance is like torture as you don't have room to move around at all. For some reason this is almost unendurable for me.

One very strange aspect of withdrawal is that you get hornier than a motherfucker. I've never had sex when going through withdrawals, but I hear that it helps. However, getting yourself off eases things up for about one minute afterwards, then the WD's come back full force.

Depression is a strong aspect of going through withdrawals, both during the physical part and after. During one particularly bad withdrawal period, I was on the constant verge of breaking into tears. I felt just as bad mentally as I did physically. I wanted to die.

Even after explaining it in detail like that, it still doesn't really come close to making it clear what it's really like. All I can say is you don't want to have to deal with a severe case of withdrawals. It is hell on earth, and that's coming from a person who hasn't even had REALLY bad withdrawals... like some of the people here who have gone cold turkey off of a really hard core heroin habit. I can only imagine that those kind of withdrawals are about 10 times as bad as the worst ones I've ever gone through, and I really wouldn't wish my worst experience on anyone. It's just cruel.
 
there is no way to really describe opiate withdrawals. You kinda gotta experience them to really know it feels like and let me tell you there is nothin on earth that can compare to the pain and horrific feelings of opiate withdrawal.. If you can make it threw a withdrawal cold turkey then u basically just went threw the most painful experience in your lifetime, both physically and mentally.. If you can conquer an opiate addiction you can conquer anything...no other drug has such an addictive nature and such horrible withdrawals then opiates... In my book the only TRULY addictive substance on this earth is the opiates...:\
 
Wow, I've been lucky. I got bupe the two times I've quit dope, and it was easy as pie. The bupe just made you feel normal, not high or anything. To sleep I took lots of benzos or zopiclone. I can't understand how the fuck bupe is not given away for free to people who want to quit, that would increase the success rate tenfolds imo. Only withdrawal I ever felt was a bit cold/hot and restless leg. The cold/hot aint no thing, but if anyone knows something for the restless legs that would be great. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to see if he can give me anything for it. It's been 5 days since my last dose of dope and I feel totally fine, except for the legs. Thank god for bupe is all I have to say.
 
AtxBigBallin said:
You wimpy girl..Hydrocodone...you cant ask for a more pathetic opiate than those cat testicles. If you are going to have withdrawls from practicly over the counter pain killers then i suggest you try something for real and experience real pleasure and suffer the consequences. its probably worth it and you wont regret it.

good grief. what a turdknocker. 8) i don't think i even have to comment on why that was a retarded post.

JahRed24x said:
no other drug has such an addictive nature and such horrible withdrawals then opiates...

I dunno, I've heard that benzo withdrawals are a lot worse.
 
Opiate withdrawal is like nails being sticked under your fingernail, only you don't know which finger.
 
Hrmmmmm, I go through it fairly regularly so I guess I'll throw my 2 cents in.

You always feel either hot or cold, or both at the same time, like your body cannot regulate itself. You are constantly shitting, sometimes throwing up. You feel nauseous for weeks, and the insomnia can be really bad. For me the worst is always the restless legs syndrome. If you have experienced it you know what I'm talking about. If not then be thankful.
 
I_Stay_Dead said:
crying repeatedly,

Haha it sounds funny, but this is dead on. Someone said something about getting emotional watching law'n'order...I'm the same way. I'll be watching some corny drama, and have to hold back the tears when I would normally NEVER get that into the whole deal. Anyone know what triggers this sensitivity function in the brain while withdrawaling? Or why this happens etc?

EDIT: I guess it has something to do with the depression, but any other suggestions?
 
KStoner6tb said:
Haha it sounds funny, but this is dead on. Someone said something about getting emotional watching law'n'order...I'm the same way. I'll be watching some corny drama, and have to hold back the tears when I would normally NEVER get that into the whole deal. Anyone know what triggers this sensitivity function in the brain while withdrawaling? Or why this happens etc?

EDIT: I guess it has something to do with the depression, but any other suggestions?


This is totally true. I started tearing up at some life insurance commercial one time. I felt like such a tool.
 
ive never had a really bad withdrawl. my worst is probably like 14 days of 80-120mgs oxycontin or morphine pills snorted. it was pretty terrible and i prolonged it by continuing to take opiates like every day or 2 when i was getting sick. it was basically what everyone else described. i didnt projectile vomit but i did feel nauseous and throw up.

id compare mild withdrawls with coming down from ecstasy though. from both i feel completely weak and have no energy, but im also very anxious and depressed and cannot get to sleep. also muscle tension and headaches. i definitely think it is a good comparison. WDing causes sweating and chills though that i dont get coming down from rolls.

i dont get how people can drink alcohol when they are WDing. when i am sick just the thought of having that nasty alcohol taste makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. also being hung over and WDing would kill me. it would make it 10 times worse.
 
i guess ill give my input.

opiate withdrawal is probably one of the worst experiences of my life at its worst. imagine feeling like you can move, even know you know it hurts so much, but you dont have the energy to do anything. every joint in your body aches like hell at all times. you sweat so much, but still have the chills like you were freezing cold. you're stomach is killing you, dont even think about eating, you vomit all the time. you're eyes are constantly watering up, and you're sneezing 24/7. oh yeah, and everytime you sneeze, you shit yourself. sitting on the toilet for hours at a time, shitting out everything in you, like pissing out your asshole, and puking in the tub next to you. your legs just cant stay still, you just cant get comfortable. sleep? so tired and lethargic, but you cant sleep because you can never get your legs in the right posistion. this isnt even getting into the mental aspect. you feel like you will never feel normal again, even after the physical systems are gone.

it goes on and on... there are so many things that are part of it. for anyone out there who is considering using opiates that hasnt started already, consider what it can turn into so easily in what seems like the blink of an eye. opiate addiction is not something that you wan't to try and see what its like.




as far as the horniness, im with you. its such a contrast, from no sexual interest, to out of no where needing sex/masturbation. to be honest, ive jerked it in the bathroom at work, lol.

im on suboxone now, 4mg a day, gonna try and drop to 2mg soon. but im still tempted to use occasionally now, and have slipped up twice. hopefully someday it wont be like this. but for the time being, it is. and i cant really complain about my life overall
 
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KStoner6tb said:
NEVER get that into the whole deal. Anyone know what triggers this sensitivity function in the brain while withdrawaling? Or why this happens etc?

It's because when you're withdrawling, your body is craving a release of endorphins.

The "rush" from opiates is a rush of endorphins flooding your system making you feel...well...incredible. Since endorphins also act to kill pain, it can only be expected that if you were to stop regularly stimulating your endorphins, you're going to feel pain. Hence opiate withdrawal.

That said, alot of other things in life aside from drugs trigger endorphin release. A good workout, sex, love, good music, good movies...anything that makes you happy really. So when you're withdrawing and your body is craving those endorphins, you become ultra-sensitive those aforementioned things. I would always feel the need to call my mother or my girlfriend while I was withdrawing just to hear from someone that I knew cared about me...weird, but it makes sense. I was also able to have sex once with my g/f while in withdrawal and the subsequent orgasm provided complete relief of my symptoms for a mere 5-10 seconds :(

On a related note I craved chocolate HARDCORE when I was withdrawing in rehab. I was at the candy machine buying M&M's at least a few times a day (as soon as I was able to hold down food).
 
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I agree with eon blue, try to get your endorphins going. I feel like shit right now and have all weekend. I know that when I listen to my favorite music, watch a funny movie and the other things that were suggested I do feel better for awhile. It may not be for an extended period of time but it is better than not felling good at all. You know when you are having withdrawls every minute seems like an hour and every hour seems like a day. Not fun!

Jessi
 
I suppose Im glad I am not one of the contributors to www.atwatchdog.org 's "Methadone Withdrawal while in Prison" project.
That whole board is just about a bunch of MMT lifers. They kicked me off when I came clean off methadone. A-holes.

W/D's? The worst part for me is the leg pain. The constant restless legs that wont ever stop moving, or hurting, or bugging. The whole leg thing is enough to keep me away from opes.
 
I thought I had read that the RLS is due to methadones action on the NMDA receptors, not it's mu agonist properties...
 
Opiate withdrawal is easy to compare... its the exact opposite of the high from opiates... take the effects and reverse them
 
I've experienced withdrawal from kratom and from poppy pods.

Kratom withdrawal was a joke, like feeling slightly off for a day or 2 at max, I didn't even get any yanwing or tearing really.

Poppy pods seem to be withdrawal of an entirely different intensity. After a day of abstaining, usually that night I start yawning and tearing. Next comes a feeling of mild anxiousness, and a desire not to eat, usually hits the second day. 3rd day start to get restless, feeling true pain in my arms and legs, feel like I have to keep moving them. Start to get intestinal pain at this point. 4th day is usually feeling quite hellish, with the shits starting and very little interest in food, also feeling quite like shit. Want to jump outta your skin.

To summarize - it's awful. I'm going through it right now, haven't had pod tea in 3 days, I feel somewhat uncomfortable and can feel pain in my arms and legs.
 
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