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The sleepless hell that is opiate withdrawal.

TwoThirtySeven

TwoThirtySeven

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 1, 2015
Messages
1
So let me start by saying, I am currently on day 3 of opiate withdrawal. You see... I can handle most of the symptoms fairly well, but.. There's this one symptom that sets me back, and it's called restless leg syndrome. Any time I try to relax, and especially when I try to sleep, I get this feeling in my legs and sometimes other parts of my body that is almost impossible to describe. It's downright hell. It's just this wiggly, wormy feeling and I just have to move.

I'm no stranger to opiate withdrawal. I've been here before and got through it.. And didn't touch a damn thing aside from cannabis for about two years. Then I don't even know how it happened, but I figured I could just take a couple pills, and have some fun, and just not become dependant again. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up having to go through withdrawal again. The first time I didn't sleep for almost two weeks... I know that sounds like an impossible, straight up exaggeration, although it's the absolutely honest truth. My second run in was easier. Probably due to a lesser time span of use.. And once again after a week or so of being sleepless, I told myself I'd never use again... HAH...

Now here I am once again.. On my third round of cold turkey withdrawal, at home, with no help from anyone to get me through this. I'll make it.... Because my will power is amazing.. And like I said.. I can handle most of the symptoms of opiate withdrawal.. It's just this sleepless bullshit that is killing me. It's so hard not to just grab something and say fuck it.. I wanna sleep.. But other than that I'm fine.

I guess I'm here to just vent... And I'm curious if any other share this restless leg shit symptom, and what they do to ease it, and get through it. If your reading, I want to thank you for taking the time, whether you've experienced opiate withdrawal, or not.. Just, thank you. It means a lot that you would take the time to read this..

I'm looking forward to any responses at all. It'll help immensely just to have someone to talk to.

Sincerely,

TwoThirtySeven
 
I am in the same situation as you are man, and I despise RLS, it is one of the worst symptoms. I have found a few things that will help you deal with that shit. First load up on bananas or a potassium supplement, as that will help RLS tremendously. I would also avoid caffeine, it exacerbates it quite a bit, but if you must (I need some form of caffeine in the morning), limit it to only in the morning, nothing after 2pm.

The strangest thing I have found is putting a bar or bars of soap under the bottom sheet of your bed. I read up on this, and while there is no medical explanation to why this works (it doesnt work for everyone, naturally, but it did for me). Placebo or not, it is powerful. I went and bought a few different brands, im not sure if i can name them, but i dont see why not...its just soap. I bought irish spring, dove, and....shit one more but i forget. The first night I tried this, I slid under my covers, and it felt like a fucking wave of relief going through me. I could feel this strange calming buzz on my legs. I dont have an explanation for it, but it continues to happen to this day (its been a month and a half or so). Try this out man! Its a godsend!

I hope you can get some relief with the couple things I mentioned. All that stuff is inexpensive and readily available. I am going through hell with you man, and I am sending positive vibes your way. Stay strong and this shit will pass, hopefully quickly. Pm me if you have any questions! Take care.


Chapter
 
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Yeah hang in there man, you've beaten this before so you know you can beat it again.

Good luck and i hope the withdrawal's are over sooner rather than later. Props on doing it cold turkey
 
I used to have RLS and what I did that helped (but did not completely eliminate it) was to do lots of intense stretching before bed. Of course you can do this throughout the day--even better! Look up calf stretches on the internet. Keeping hydrated is one of the other basics. Drinks lots and lots of water. This also helps with constipation. Some people like to go back and forth between hot compresses (or heating pad) and ice packs like you would for any sore muscle. Try calming teas like valerian and camomile as well as the potassium supplement Chapter mentioned. (I've also read that folic acid is useful.)
 
This is going to sound weird but it actually helps when you have overwhelming RLS-dance. I mean it. No one will see you and it actually loosens the muscle groups.
 
Restless leg syndrome and restless fucking body is actually extremely common in opioid withdrawal. Uggggh that shit is terrrrrible *shiver.

Non-opioid drugs that help- gabapentin, lyrica, muscle relaxers, benzodiazepines, cannabis
Other things that help- low impact exercise (stuff that doesn't make your legs sore cause that might make it worse), stretching, yoga, meditation, hot tubs, saunas/steam rooms

I cannot even begin to describe my loathing of RLS and insomnia when I used to do opioids. The good thing though is that it should resolve itself after 1-2 weeks max unless your habit is gargantuan. Time heals all. Just think back on this madness the next time you think of dabbling in opioids for recreation. Good luck <3
 
Yep, I know what you're talking about, and it's my most hated symptom of opiate withdrawal too. Theres just no describing what its like but anyone who's gone through it knows it's hellish. Makes it nearly impossible to sleep. People have already given good advice. Hot baths and trying to keep yourself distracted helps a little.
 
Ive been through it quite a few times....and pray I never go through it again. I tried the same thing as you yeah I can get high a couple of times.

The best advice I could give you is take some Neurontin or Lyrica, and try not to let it get the best of you. Yeah, I know, easier said than done. If your're able to, find a good movie that you will get engrossed in-this may sound weird but it there's a rocking chair in your house use it or a recliner that you can make move. I have sat up a lot of nights in a rocking recliner.

All the best to you.
 
I feel your pain I was just there. I'm 6 days clean at the moment. I found this stuff called restful legs, you put them under your tongue they really can work wonders! Good luck! You'll get through it, thankfully as you know, it does get better and doesn't last forever!
EXjunkiegirl23...
 
I have been tapering off of 90mg oxycontin prescribed by my doctor. In the last two months, I have gone down to 40mg. My symptoms are aching muscles, depression and total lack of motivation. I will stay at this dose another couple of weeks, then go down a little more until I become stable. My doctor wants me to repeat this until I am either down to a low dose (20 or 30 mg) or go off completely. I would like to go all of the way. If I take a few more months and taper down all the way to nothing, will I still have acute withdrawal? This will be a 6 month taper, but I am 52 and have been on these meds for 10 years. Any support, comments would be greatly appreciated. I know this is death by a thousand cuts, but because of my age my doctor does not think I will make it CT. I have not seen any threads where someone goes down this slowly. Anyone know what to expect?
 
Hey lil congrats on getting down to 40 that's awesome. Don't b worried about not seeing a bunch of ppl slowly tapering. Slow n steady wins the race. I've been on suboxone for my opiate dependecy almost 4 yrs now n whenever I tapered based on my docs recommendations I would get sick. Muscles bones depression anxiety restless legs puking every 5 minutes. I had to taper at the rate that made me feel comfortable, which was pretty much @ half the rate my doc recommended. When I do it my way I don't experience any kind of w/ds except for maybe nightmares. it is a lot more effective this way I.m.o/e. Any questions just ask. I like to help out people in our situations. All too often there isn't enough help.
 
Thanks for responding poloblue. It is great to meet someone who is attempting, no succeeding, in a slow taper. I guess I am experiencing these withdrawal symptoms (i forgot to mention sleeplessness) because my body just needs to adjust to the last cut. I will wait for as long as it takes until withdrawal symptoms at this dose subcide. I am just discouraged because I have been at the 40mg dose for 6 weeks. Actually, 6 weeks ago I went down to 40mg oxycontin then two weeks ago to 30mg oxcontin plus two doses of 5 mg oxycodone. The taper was fairly uneventful until I went from 50mg to 40mg. I have read that the real work starts when you go below 50mg. I will wait it out at this 40mg (total) until my withdrawal symptoms go away. It just seems like I am stuck here and not making any progress. I can see why people just jump off as the time you spend in moderate withdrawal is so longggg. I am hoping that by tapering this slowly though, the PAWS will be less painful. I am reading a book called The Willpower Instinct, which was recommended on the “Success Stories” thread. Unfortunately, the person who suggested it relapsed and there is not one real success story on the thread. Again, thanks for responding and I would love to hear from you again. ;)
 
I've been through WD 20 something times in the past 3 months. I'm tired. It gets worse every time. Some new fucked up symptom pops up with every withdrawal. I've never made it past 4 days. I'm a single father of a 3 year old angel and have a stressful job where I am in charge of over 30 employees. Same old bullshit.. Always a reason as to why I can't be sick. Anyway, I finally decided to do the Imodium detox. Holy shit! I'm on day 3 and have had ZERO physical symptoms. It's been talked about a bunch here but I was skeptical. IT WORKS! I can even take Dramamine without the crazy RLS! I've slept 6 hours a night!

6 tablets in the morning and 4 at night and I have been withdrawal free for the past 3 days. Crazy!

120-210mg roxy a day for about 2 years
 
Congrats! Three days with no WD’s? I have been tapering for months and I am only down to 40% of my dose with pretty bad depression and anxiety. You are doing the right thing for your little angel . . . Keep me posted!
Lily
 
RLS and insomnia (and they're very closely connected) are my worst feared w/d symptoms.

I always use a bupe rapid taper (and recommend it highly), but if you are committed to go cold turkey I'd say get gabapentin. It's commonly prescribed off-label for regular RLS and REALLY helps opioid w/d, more than clonidine or even cannabis IMHO.

It's quite safe, too (compared to, say, benzos). Just don't dose too much (some ppl eat grams of it, I wouldn't). I found 300mg gabapentin twice a day just fine for me coming off a sizable habit of long duration.
 
Just sharing my experience with Loperamide (Imodium); it completely relieved my RLS and most other WD symptoms. This was the only thing that truly helped me kick opiates. (Side note: I agree with the above poster; if you can get your hands on Gabapentin, that works wonders. But beware as it has its own set of withdrawal symptoms, as does Loperamide. I was taking up to 900mg/day of Gabapentin and would compare that to a slight alcohol buzz.)

Here is what I did:

- Buy Magnesium Sulfate immediately, or you won't have a bowel movement for a week. Use this whenever you're feeling backed up.
- Make sure the Loperamide pills are 2mg and NOT the gel caps as you'll end up with a terrible stomach ache.
- 15-20 2mg Loperamide pills when you wake up the day after you finish your supply of your DOC (scale up or down based on tolerance; I've heard of people taking as many as 40, but I'd advise against that). Be sure that you take them in the AM as soon as you wake up, before WD sets in. For some reason it doesn't seem to be as effective if you take them mid-WD, but they'll still work).
- Use for roughly 1-2 weeks, once a day (unless more is needed) gently tapering down dosage as much as possible until you're feeling reasonable, then jump off altogether.
- Drink a ridiculous amount of water throughout the process. I was up to roughly 3 liters-gallon/day.

I used it this way, and was able to effectively "skip" acute withdrawal. No RLS, chills, sweats, etc. It also had an effect on my mood and enabled me to function normally. It reminded me of when I was on Suboxone, minus feeling slightly high. That being said, PAWS will still play a major factor in staying clean, if you are one of the unfortunate ones that ends up with it. I did, but exercise and eating right helped tremendously. It has to be said that although this method is effective, it's tempting to jump back on your DOC as you feel you can effectively "skip" withdrawal anytime you feel like it. Be careful with this line of thought as there is no way that taking fistfuls of anti-diarrhea medication (or any medication, for that matter) is doing any favors for your body after years of drug abuse. Trust me, I did it.

Best of luck.
 
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