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Opioids how long after withdrawal until it's "safe" to use?

DustnRoses

DustnRoses

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
468
I'm not sure this question can even be answered, but does anyone know if there is time window after your physical withdrawals subside that you can safely use again, without withdrawing again? Say you use opiates/opioids for a few months, go through the physical withdrawal for a week or so, then want to use again right after that week. Will your body withdrawal, even after that one use? I would imagine that once your opiate receptors have been "cleansed", and you finish the withdrawal period, that you could use for a day or two without having to fear being thrown right back into another physical withdrawal.
 
Sorry, but I actually don't really understand. Can you explain, why would you want to go through all the pain and agony of wds only to use again? Why stop using in the first place and just avoid the wds?

Does going through wds and starting again decrease your tolerance or something like that? Sorry, I'm just curious as to why someone would want to do this?
 
Vaderis, my take on this is that he wants to quit but use on occasion as soon as possible with out going back to withdrawals. i would say after a week you should be fine. takes about 3-4 days for your body to be completely clear with dope.
 
Tho everytime you use dude your going to want to use again and again. The feeling of the needle (If you do that) is a unforgettable one for sure.
 
Oh ok, that makes sense, thanks rob! But I'd imagine it'd be hard to go from daily use to occasional use without cravings, even after wds...if you don't go through a proper taper (tho sometimes tapers aren't garunteed to work) but then again I dunno, I've never tried to quit altogether.
 
Oh, no, I've never used needles, I know I'd be one of those people to never look back. And I know what you're saying, about wanting to continue to use. The question was just about the physical part, not psychological. Rob got it. I basically used for a while, was afraid it was getting out of hand, so I stopped for 4 days, realized I wasn't going to have full blown WD's (had very minor discomfort for a few days) and want to continue to "chip". I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going all the way back to square one by using right after the WD's wore off (although nothing is definite...no matter how many people say it's one way or the other, there's still a lot of things about opiates/opioids that we don't understand).

Although Rob I just realized you said dope. The drug in question was Suboxone, and I know it has a long half life. But still, after 4 days, and no real WD's to speak of, it would still be the same, right?
 
You can probably dose a small amount of suboxone (.5mg) and get quite high off of it, but you're pretty much guaranteed to enjoy it more if you wait longer, if only to not risk screwing up you're tolerance. The first time I was tapered off suboxone at a rehab (very rapidly, 8,4,2,0) I stayed clean for two weeks and got over the withdrawals. I then shot heroin for two days, and it didn't give me any withdrawals when I stopped doing that. But everyone's brain chemistry is different, and if you can hold on for at least a few more days, you'd pretty much be in the clear...so much easier said than done.
 
So long as you are completely free of physical withdrawal symptoms you should be able to use for no more than a day without kick starting them back up. Basically by that point your body is producing sufficient endorphins to keep you symptom free all by itself, and a days use should not change that over much. Even so, I would wait till a good few days past the end of withdrawal just to be on the safe side. Bear in mind that it will only take a few days use for the body to come to depend on the opiates again once you've had a habit because that's what it has learned to do with an excess of opiates. Three days use will almost certainly be enough to put you back into major withdrawal. Having said that I would strongly advise you do not try to chip now you've done the detox. You will find that even infrequent use keeps the psychological craving going making management very difficult, if not impossible.
 
Yeah, I know some people that even after being detoxed and clean for a few weeks, will kick start the withdrawals again with one use. I imagine with a long acting drug like suboxone, there would be more of a chance of something like this happening, as it takes something like 11 days for it to completely clear out of your system, so even four days in, you still got some sub left in you, and taking more would prolong the withdrawal. But since the OP has gone four days without facing withdrawal, I doubt that one dose four days later is somehow going to kick it in to full gear. I wouldn't though make it a habit of continually dosing suboxone every four days as you very well could develope a dependency that way
 
just be aware that the longer you use the worse the withdrawals will be even at the same dosage. also like somebody else mentioned four days isnt long enough to get off sub. The few friends i have that take sub everyday say that the kick doesnt really get going until 3-5 days after the last dose.
 
ech0s85 said:
just be aware that the longer you use the worse the withdrawals will be even at the same dosage. also like somebody else mentioned four days isnt long enough to get off sub. The few friends i have that take sub everyday say that the kick doesnt really get going until 3-5 days after the last dose.
Click to expand...

See, I've heard that too, and I don't doubt that it's true, but I have to believe that it can be attributed to both the amount of time they've been on it, and how high their dose is....
I knew that most of the replies would be something along the lines of "take this as a get out of jail free card, eventually you'll not be able to avoid WD's like that" and I couldn't agree more. I guess it's just an addict's nature to question everything when the ultimate question is when can I get high again.
 
I understand where you're coming from DustnRoses,
It's very easy to tell people on these boards to "stop now while you have the chance!" but honestly hearing that never made a difference for me. I mean I would respect people that had gone through some crazy shit with drugs, but I felt like the only way I'd be able to ever stop, would be if I actually experienced it myself. Now that doesn't have to be true, but for me it did.

It's been what, five days now? If you're not experiencing withdrawal by now, you're not hooked. You can go ahead and take the suboxone, and I guarantee you will get really high off a super small dosage, a mg or less. But I would take a weeks break after this. In a way, you have less of a chance of getting addicted to heroin using once a week, than you do with buprenorphine or methadone.

It's
 
DustnRoses said:
I basically used for a while, was afraid it was getting out of hand, so I stopped for 4 days, realized I wasn't going to have full blown WD's (had very minor discomfort for a few days) and want to continue to "chip". I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going all the way back to square one by using right after the WD's wore off (although nothing is definite...no matter how many people say it's one way or the other, there's still a lot of things about opiates/opioids that we don't understand).

Although Rob I just realized you said dope. The drug in question was Suboxone, and I know it has a long half life. But still, after 4 days, and no real WD's to speak of, it would still be the same, right?
Click to expand...

The first time I experienced withdrawals they took 4 days to start, and that was with using oxycodone and heroin. Also, I wasn't using that often at the time. I had gotten clean for probation, and then figured that since I was being tested every Friday, I could use right after my test, up until Sunday, and that would allow me enough time to pass the test. Each week I would start getting pretty sick by Thursday, and really sick on Friday, then would use right after the test, and repeat. This went on for like 2 months, and my use between Friday and Sunday wasn't that much. I must have a slow metabolism though between withdrawals taking so long to start, and me failing the drug test after 5 days of not using, which ended my charade.

As for going back to chipping, all I will say is that withdrawals come on quicker each time, even at lower doses than the previous kick.
Personally, I wouldn't "chip" with Suboxone. Due to it's long half-life, you can be using only 2 days of the week, and it will basically be in your system the whole time, barely giving your receptors a break. The other problem with chipping with bupe is that since it takes a while for withdrawals to start, you can become very dependent without even knowing it since the few times you use would be enough to keep the withdrawals away.

You need to take long breaks between your uses so that your body can get used to functioning without any opiates in it. Most people continue to use because their bodies are so used to having the drug, that it's basically re-wired to operate normally with opiates in the system. The more time your body runs without opiates in the system, the better the highs will be when you indulge. When your body is used to the drug, a part of the dose is going to just making you feel normal, and the rest of the dose goes to getting you high. Taking a longer break so that your body is no longer used to the drug will allow all or most of the dose to go to getting you high. That's basically tolerance I just described, although that wasn't my intention at first.
 
You Have To Wait At Least Another Week After "The Cleanse" I went through a 7 day detox and was feeeling better after day 5 By day 8 i was fine and dandy all over again. I used on day 9 and 2 days later i started to feel shitty again. The next time around i waited 2 weeks after i got clean, and used, and 2 days later i was still fine, then 3 days then 4 and ect... So be sure you wait. Nothing like going through detox and Using then having to do it all over again!!
 
Its good harm reduction though. Actually as far as drugs are concerned, it's harm elimination. Maybe make him a mod on here?
 
I've always wondered this myself. During my first and only stay at rehab I asked my buddy and refrained from letting anyone else hear such a junkie question. He told me that when he was completely opiate free for 2 months, no dope, no crutches like suboxone, he was able to snort oxys and opanas for like a week or two without having withdrawals. I don't know about this though, but I believe everybody is different.

Personally, i don't think it's smart to do if you want to stay clean, but this thought comes through my head every time I get clean. "Maybe I can use just once if I get real stressed out"

I can't personally answer your question because i'm always using and never clean. BUT just before I leave i also thought I'd share that my friend went to jail for a year and a half. He said the day he got back he did just 10cc's of his girlfriends shot. Got really high (small amount) and 24 hours later every bone in his body ached. Yikes.
 
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