I have read every message on this thread and it pretty much just boils down to how YOUR body reacts to these drugs. People experience different symptoms different ways. The best replies that I read on this topic are from the people who have actually tried using some sort of amphetamine/speeder to try and relieve some of the horrible feelings and emotions that come with a strong opiate withdrawal. Before I go into detail about my experience, I first just want to say I am strong believer that the way a drug will effect you and make you feel differs from person to person. When telling a personal experience on a subject like this, I think giving some background information on previous drug use helps give the reader a more understanding of what he or she might expect. With that i'll start by saying I've been an on and off again opiate addict for the past 5 years, with only 6 months of time as my longest time of actually being able to stay away from the shit. After about 5 months of being clean I'm back to the opiates, more specifically banging heroin again. Been back at it for about 3 to 4 months now, and until today i had been able to go no more then 24 hours without shooting a decent dose of some very strong tar that's been going around. Opiate withdrawal is sadly something i'm fairly familiar with, so I pretty much know whats coming know. In my many attempts of getting off heroin, I have tried a lot ways to avoid the sickness completely or at least alleviate some of the symptoms. More opiates is for sure my favorite cure ha, but obviously I was without that option for today. Today was my first time ever trying an upper to help, and It came to this because I spent my last dollar on dope last night and now I can't get another fix untiil i get paid in 3 days. The paranoia and fear I feel when I know I will soon be in a nasty withdrawal kicked in. And in an anxiety fueled state, I desperately searched to find a way to score a dose or get my hands on something that will make the sickness not so bad. The absolute ONLY thing I was able to get my hands on were two 54mg Concerta. I have had plenty of experiences with Methylphenidate in the past. I'm not a super huge fan, but I do enjoy the peek and the way it makes me feel. but never have I taken it in an attempt to reduce the severity of an opiate withdrawal. I was nervous because there can be some pretty nasty side-effects when coming down from a Concerta/Ritilian high. The anxiety and insomnia is what i feared the most about it. But in the end I said fuck it, and after reading through the thread I decided I would give it a try. So my last dose of heroin was at 10:00 pm, to get me through my 3rd shift job from 11:00pm to 7am. Got home after work and made some calls and was able to get the 2 concerta pills at 10:00am just as i was starting to feel the onset of the withdrawal; nausea, cold sweats, chills, anxiety, extreme irritability. So by noon I decided to just go ahead and take them and see what happens. So roughly an hour later the Concerta is doin its thing. I get a decent rush of euphoria and i start becoming more and more optimistic about my decision. 2 hours after dosage and its seems that the Methylphenidate is really going to do the trick. The Euphoria is not as strong but still noticable. 3 hours in, and its starting to go down hill quickly. Anxiety suddenly gets worse, body aches are becoming more and more painful, the happy euphoric feeling is starting to go away faster than i anticipated. The Concerta is starting to quickly shift from being a huge help to not so much. 5 hours later i pretty much feel like shit, opiate withdrawal is really noticeable at this point. Yet i can still feel the Concerta giving me energy and motivation to actually be up and moving around getting stuff done. Normally I would be in the fetal position at this point hating my life, so I can for sure say I feel better then if i didnt take the pills. About 9 hours went by without much change, and out of blue I am able to get 2mg of a suboxone strip. I inject it as soon as i get it and finally I feel like a normal human being again. I am glad I didnt have to experience the full come down of the Concerta. How it was going, I knew that the comedown was going to be awful and I believe i lucked out by getting the sub. For the first 3 or 4 hours i was convinced that it was going to be a huge help, but just like that it started going down hill fast. In the end, I don't think I will use this drug for a means of helping withdrawal. This is how it affected me though.. I would say though, that someone who is not as sensitive to amphetamine like drugs as I am, I can really see how it can help. To each there own. I hope this sheds some light on the subject for a few people.
