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Best drugs to take during opiate withdrawal.

poppyplanet

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
Messages
383
I've used the search engine but feel I should offer what worked for me during these past days. I'm currently on day 9 without taking my suboxone and these drugs helped me get through the worst of it, especially the 1st 4 days.

1. Benzos (the xanax helped keep me calm, significantly stopped the chills, and stopped alot of the anxiety)
2. Ambien (I'm sure any of the prescription Z-drugs would help since they work on similar receptors as the benzos, sleeping is a problem for me during wd's)
3. Tramadol (I had to take at least 200mg of it, but it helped, especially with my motivation and mood level, this would also potentially become an addiction because of it's activity at opioid receptors, so it's not harmless by any means)
4. Ibuprofen/Motrin (surprisingly this helped with my aches and pains)
5. Men's one a day multi-vitamin
6. Constant food and drink consumption
7. Clonidine (helps the chills, but caused pretty bad RLS)
8. Immodium AD (the shits, nausea)
9. Anti-depressants (Helps with the mental aspect; I like Trazodone because it not only acts as an anti-depressant, but induces sleep)
9. More opiates (Other than the Tramadol, I wouldn't consider using again but if you happen to get more opiates during withdrawal, I would definetly use them as a weaning tool because they will inevitably put you back at square one all over again, and at best, prolong the current situation)


*After a year and a half of suboxone usage, these drugs helped me tremendously while bearing the longevity of it's withdrawal. Of course if you have problems obtaining the prescription meds, like me on some occasions, the hospital should give you some clonodine or a similar blood pressure medication. My main symptom is usually the severe chills that accompany withdrawal. I jumped off at 2mg and found that even though this is a high dose to jump off at, the worst of it was over after about 5 days. Lastly, I feel taking a hot bath or shower during withdrawal only adds to the skin irritation. You feel good while you're in the tub, but once you step out and dry off, you slowly feel the chills creeping back up your spine and it's a bummer, for me at least. Hoped this helped, and thank you for reading this, if you've made it this far.
 
Good to know ^ ..The best thing i have used was Doxepin ..it took away the aches and pains (the shits, nausea) better than Immodium AD .I used 50mg twice to three times a day. I did not have any benzos or Tramadol. I lucked out getting the Doxepin cause it is A prescription drug ...and i did not know at the time it would help with withdrawals. ..just thought i would give it a try and Bam it worked like a Charm..!!
 
i think a low dose of DXM is helpful.
this helps with the coughing that will often lead to vomiting during w/d.
it also helps the mind a bit too believe it or not
 
did you taper to 2mg or was that your steady dose ? if you tapered how long at 2mg ?

and when did the withdrawals "peak" ie like the worst day of withdrawals ?( i know you say 4 days, but more, how long until they hit you hard, if you know what i mean)
 
When going through some pretty hairy withdrawals off of Fioricet a couple years ago, I pretty much thought I was a gonner until my doc gave me Tramadol. I normally hate the stuff, but it helped SOOO much with the anxiety/depression/physical agony I was going through. Ativan did nothing, and Clonidine was pretty helpful as far as my blood pressure was concerned. Also, I remember at one point after the initial withdrawal, I wasn't able to sleep for like, 5 DAYS, and they gave me Seroquel. I was skeptical at first, but that stuff MAKES you sleep. I still keep some around in case of severe insomnia or panic attacks.
 
Good job bro i got to say i'm now on day 15 or 16 on no pain meds. I believe in suboxone so much. But i had to which to subutex today bc i ran out of the orange 8mgs now i'm on the generic 8mgs. I don't have any cravings thats the good thing and no shitting. Feeling pretty damn good and i'm only taking 2 mg myself.

Peace to all.
 
I am incredibly surprised that you used the search engine on this topic - what to take for opiate withdrawl - and came up empty handed. This is probably the #1-most-discussed topic on OtherDrugs. That being said, your list that you made covers pretty much everything that would be usefull for kicking opiates. Good luck if you are trying to kick yourself.
 
Clonidine is awesome. I have mentioned this before so I will not go on gushing about it. But it was more helpful for W/D than any reasonable benzo dosage albeit it is not as recreational. WD's for me always overpowers benzos big time so I always feel like taking them while WDing is a waste. I'd rather take while on a low maintenance dose of suboxone and actually ENJOY the things!!

But yea clonidine works wonders for the physical symptoms of anxiety, notably blood pressure and some of that "crawling out of your skin" feeling. Immodium as everyone knows is key for the runs.
 
Nice, thorough post, pplanet. You wrote: "the hospital should give you some clonodine or a similar blood pressure medication." Do you have any suggestions for a second-best blood pressure medication? Clonidine seems to be the only one ever mentioned in w/d med lists. I've been wondering if there's another option.

And congratulations on kicking! Nice work.
 
IMO the key to a successfull stoppage of bupe is a very slow taper... and benzos
 
Nice, thorough post, pplanet. You wrote: "the hospital should give you some clonodine or a similar blood pressure medication." Do you have any suggestions for a second-best blood pressure medication? Clonidine seems to be the only one ever mentioned in w/d med lists. I've been wondering if there's another option.

And congratulations on kicking! Nice work.


Well as far as "just" lowering the blood pressure spike while in withdrawal... I'm pretty sure you could take a number of BP medications and they will lower your blood pressure. But it is a fact that clonidine's mechanism of action is the best for countering some of the actual physiological causes of the blood pressure spike during WD.

Clonidine doesn't just lower blood pressure; it directly lowers the body's output of stress hormones that go crazy during WD, as well as mitigating the effect of these stress hormones on the cardiovascular system. It does this by tricking the brain into thinking that there are more stress hormones circulating in the blood than their really is, thus minimizing output.

For those insistent on using a different blood pressure medication, I am nearly 100% sure that beta blockers like propanolol (Inderal) or Bystolic would be your best bet. They help with the physical symptoms of anxiety as well, but for opiate WD I can tell you from experience (I've tried both) that clonidine is still superior.

Clonidine also helps with the chills and some other physical symptoms not related to blood pressure. Beta blockers do not. Remember there is a reason that clonidine is commonly used in opiate detox facilities all over the world... it's good stuff.
 
How does one go about getting a script for clonidine ? When the day comes that I"m ready to quit, it sounds like that would be something I'd need. Obviously, I mean other than going into the doctor's office and saying "I want clonidine for w/d".
 
Thank you for reading my post. 'Boodha', to answer your questions. I tapered down to 2mg from around 4mg initially. I jumped off at 2mg after about a month and the "peak" of the withdrawal was definetly on day 2 for me. Overall, the physical symptoms lasted about a week.
 
I found that as well as lofexidine/clonidine and benzos, quinine worked really well for the "jimmy legs/midnight breakdancing".
 
MARIJUANA... a lot of the above drugs mentioned are addicting. this isnt. its so obvious people!!!!

it stops pain, sweating, aching, nausea, depression, cravings, restlessness, insomnia, and everything. seriously how dont people do this more often?

its really blindingly obvious.
 
I just took clonodine id say about 4 hours ago and just woke up now lol. I must say that the medication does its job by putting the demons at bay. As far as the sedation effect, I feel as though putting you asleep is a luxurious gift from the medication to sleep through the worst of it all.
 
i agree on the GABAPENTIN....its a wonder drug for all sorts of withdrawals whether it be stimulants, opiates, benzos....
 
MARIJUANA... a lot of the above drugs mentioned are addicting. this isnt. its so obvious people!!!!

it stops pain, sweating, aching, nausea, depression, cravings, restlessness, insomnia, and everything. seriously how dont people do this more often?

its really blindingly obvious.

i agree almost fully. i couldn't have kicked oxy a few months ago without weed.

it didn't help very much with the depression or restless legs, however.

i did get into a healthy smoking habit out of it too, which is best of all:)
 
I've noticed that if I smoke marijuana in WD that my blood pressure drops dramatically and with the lethargy that normally comes with WDing that I am lightheaded and nearly faint every time I get up. If you do decide to use pot, definately avoid any blood-pressure medicines.

As far as anti-depressants go, I can't say enough positive things about Lamictal. I'm on it for treatment-resistant depression and both times that I've gone through a week or more of withdrawl on it, things have gone significantly easier than imaginable. Less night sweats, less anxiety, overall quicker recovery. It's also great for stabalizing energy (clean, using, or WDing) so you can be appropriately rested or alert.
 
Marijuana can help with withdrawal, a few members above have mentioned this aswell.
 
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