Methamphetamine for Opiate Withdrawal - Opinions Please !

[NeedHelp44]

Hey all, long long time lurker but I rarely post, and used to post on my old username which I can no longer log in on.
To give a little backround and history about myself... I have been using illicit substances daily (whether marijuana or heroin) for 99% of my days since the age of 13 and I am now a month shy of 27. Over the past 10 years, those daily DOCs have been what we would call hard drugs, ie everything but weed. Over the last 7-8 years I Have been in and out of active opiate addiction with the last 6 years it being Heroin (IV for the last 4 of those years) Within those last 7-8 years I have had 2 stints of complete sobriety, 1 lasting just shy of 2 years and the most recent 1 year and a month. I began using again 5 months ago going straight to IV Heroin and methamphetamine.
Now thanks for bearing with me if you lasted this long. Now either late Jan. or early Feb. I stopped using all hard drugs, did a quick suboxone taper of about a week and was completely clean from all substances for roughly ten days. I am now using again and have been (if I counted the past days correctly) for the past ~25 days. (Gosh it doesn't seem that long but we know how that goes) I started slow using a 0.2 once every couple days, then a 0.2 a day, and now for the last ~15 days I've been using 0.5-0.7g each day. BEFORE this past 15 days I had been completely clean for 5 days straight (no suboxone) (This is BTH by the way, I live on the West Coast, I have good quality connects, one very high quality so it is not rubbish tar I'm IVing here either.)

Those of you still with me, I need to quit the H like right this second. I have about 18mg of Suboxone total. 15 or so 350mg Somas, a bottle full of 300mg Gabapentin and a bottle of 0.1mg Clonidine. I have access to marijuana but I can not smoke because I have a new job starting soon (at a correctional facility) and I am still waiting for my urine to not pop for THC (its been just shy of a month and I am still + for THC). Now, my best thinking (because I am a bad dopefiend) is to use IV Methamphetamine for the first day or two or three to fend off the pain of the Opiate Withdrawal, while still allowing me to please that fiend inside me with some good IV narcotics, and supplement after with Gabapentin / Clonidine / Soma.

My questions for you guys is... Is this a horrible plan? I feel as if I stop the H ( I have not been using meth regularly) and go straight to the subs, I'm going to pick up on day 1 or 2 because the shitty mental depression and physical pain, therefore switching to using the crystal will help stop me from picking up the dope.

Last question... Am I just being a huge baby here? I have never been able to handle opiate withdrawal well, and I know this. Also after im completely free of the opiates and the acute physical dependance I plan on stopping all drugs and returning to AA / NA as I know how good my life is sober and I know it is possible.

Thank all, and I look forward to hearing from ya'll.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

It's a great thing that you want to quit opiates, as a lot of people don't even make it this far. Don't start taking meth for opiate withdrawal, that's trading one addiction and drug for another, and it's a horrible idea.

Can you get on subs, or check into a detox/rehab run by medical professionals?

 

[Burnt Offerings]

It seems to me like you have more than enough buprenorphine and gabapentin to taper off...

 

[zebedee79]

I did what you're suggesting but with crack instead of meth. I gotta be honest it did help me kick a high dose heroin habit, but within six months I started using again. Only difference was that this time I was using crack and heroin as I found the crack hard to put down once I started. So while it can be done, I think there's a good chance you're gonna end up in a worse situation than what you're already in. If you're totally honest with yourself do you really think you'll be able to quit all drugs. As I'm sure you're aware, the depression and general fucked up head can last a long time after heroin withdrawal. And I know when I did it I justified my continued crack use as I'd just 'quit' a massive heroin habit. If you do go ahead with this be careful mate.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Use of strong stimulants during acute opiate withdrawal is definitely helpful. The mechanism through which this occurs is the release of dopamine induced by strong stimulant drugs (dopamine being a neurotransmitter which helps regulate pain in the body, lessening the discomfort of withdrawal).

Obviously using drugs like meth or crack or whatever does absolutely nothing to address why someone uses heroin in the first place, though, and without a suitable long-term strategy for dealing with the user's drug problem, there's a near-certainty that the individual will just go back to using eventually...

 

[gleroy]

Yes, this is a horrible plan. While it will help with some of the symptoms (like RLS, depression and anxiety), it won't help you stop in the long run. Also I would be suspicious about your blood pressure under withdrawal. That is already high, I think a strong stimulant won't make it better. And don't they also test on methamphetamine? It can cost you your job! And nobody handles opiate withdrawal 'well', therefore so many people choose to taper to spread the pain and discomfort as much as possible.

Better sit it through, it won't be easy. But with the clonidine and gabapentin, you should be without too much pain. Perhaps start exercising a bit, go do kickboxing or something. It also gives quite a kick. And if you really can't bear it and that is not a weird thing, then take the bupe. They don't test for that, do they? You can then choose to taper slowly from there. It won't get you high, but it will keep the big problems away.

 

[NiceEnough]

Please don't follow that plan, methamphetamine will only make it worse in the end, I am pretty much totally sure of that. Good and sensible advice from gleroy above. If it does help in certain ways a powerful strong stimulant like meth will bring with it all of its own problems, the dreadful lows and terribly low mood and so on. It doesn't sound like a good idea at all to me.

 

[seahawks168]

Hello!
First of all, glad you want to quit. Opiates are a dangerous path, with the majority of people failing to be able quit. Im trying right now... anyway...

I wouldnt reccomend taking the meth. Any uppers for me during withdrawal would usually cause panic attacks or worse rls.

If I were you, and if i had the willpower, id start 4mg suboxone and taper it down to below 2mg for a week. Save the soma.

After a week stop the subs, and start popping those soma (mainly at night if you can wait). If at all possible, attempt to save the soma after 5 days of stopping the subs, as I feel the worst part of withdrawal is the insomnia AFTER the initial withdrawals.

Best of luck to you friend

 

[NiceEnough]

First of all, glad you want to quit.

Apologies, that is exactly how i should have started my post. Thanks seahawks for reminding me. Also, (hopefully) for the benefit of both of you, I just want to say that I successfully quit my main (as in multiple year long) stint under the thumb of heroin, quite a while ago now. And i do know plenty of others who have done the same or similar. It wasn't easy but it also wasn't as difficult as I thought it might have been. I moved onto methadone then quickly onto buprenorphine and came down quite rapidly to not the recommended dose to drop off but still a generally fairly well tolerated point. The most difficult thing to cope with after I came off was the lack of sleep, which lasted about 2 weeks. Of course, I could drop off now and then but in general I just couldn't rest. I think it improved over the course of those two weeks. I think perhaps the main thing that got me through it successfullywas that at that point I was totally fed up with heroin, I had had enough and wanted to stop desperately. I really believed that life would be better on the other side and I was right, although it is a long process that extends beyond the initial short gritty withdrawal and different obstacles present themselves at different times.

At the time I didn't have any benzos, but looking back they would be the perfect tool for short term relief, if used sparingly and responsibly and for the shortest possible amount of time, at that point.

So I am living proof that it is definitely possible and not as hard as it might seem to you. The very best of luck for you both, stay strong and before you know it you will be off opiates. And if you fall at any point, don't beat yourself up, just strengthen your resolve and get ready to try again.

Since giving up heroin I managed to get mildly but still addicted over the course of two weeks or so and still had to go through withdrawals for about a week, if not as severely as before. But I managed it. I have also found myself using too many tramadol over a fair bit of time and have had to withdraw from those 2 or 3 times, with all the same cluster of symptoms if different again in their severity. For all these subsequent withdrawals I decide just to bite the bullet and cold turkey being honest with myself that it would be hard but also ultimately temporary and in the grand scheme of things over very soon.

I think once you have been addicted to opiates physically dependence creeps back a lot quicker, that's my experience, so that's something to look out.

 

[smallengine01]

you seem to have lots of experience getting clean, going thru wd etc. In my experience anything outside of the normal comfort meds will help in the very short term, but youll have to pay. i used to drink when i was kicking, dopesick+ hangover would be the end result. best way to quit in my experience is cold turkey w some comfort meds, no other opiates or subs. about 4/5 days of hell and then youre physically out of the woods, throw in another month or two of mindfuck aftéwards or paws.

 

[Keif' Richards]

I'm speaking only for myself, but there are a few things that I do not do when withdrawing from Opioids. I don't drink Alcohol, first of all. It can give you a brief buzz and make you feel a little bit better, but this is typically followed immediately by a powerful hangover and worsening of sickness. Stimulants are more of the same. It's nice to have a little boost of energy, but the crash that follows is pretty shitty. Considering that I'm already malnourished, dehydrated and unhealthy from being sick, the stimulants only exacerbate things.

I just don't think that throwing powerful stimulants into the mix is conducive to ultimate success. I think it will only set you back.

You have so much good medication at your disposal. Take advantage of it and don't dig yourself a deeper hole. I've made it through some pretty heavy detoxes from Methadone, Heroin and other Opioids with Gabapentin (Neurontin), Clonidine (Catapres) and Cannabis covering 80%-90% of my symptoms. I would really, really consider giving these medications a fair shake before taking the leap with Methamphetamine. I can say with confidence that it will only fuck you up worse.

 

[Knucks4nothin]

Now, normally I would never tell someone they should use meth, especially not as a stepping stone drug to recovery (since I started using it to keep me from relapsing on crack cocaine. Let's all laugh at that ridiculously stupid decision together and move tf on lol ) because even for as much as I love it's shardy little face, I know how destructive it can be in a short amount of time. I wouldn't want anyone to learn that the way I had to. However, I have seen meth use completely erase an opioid addiction without even intending to use it for that purpose. It was like a surprise sobriety. Unfortunately, it was handled as you would expect of an addict, with reckless abandon and a "fuck it" attitude.
To explain, my cousin had developed an addiction to Suboxone after using pain pills pretty exclusively for 8 years. She dove head first and common sense last because well, that's our nature as addicts. Everyone knows Opioid W/D is one hell of a fuckin ordeal and she's quite the pussy when it comes to pain. So going through it was never going be an option for her. Besides, it was legal right?
We started doing meth together because we're gluttons for self inflicted dumb-assery. We basically waved as our self-control melted away with our shards. About a month or so in, we realized it had been over a week since she did any sub and hadn't had a single W/D symptom. She was pretty excited about it because she felt free. She also felt more grateful for meth as it was her "savior".
Now, meth W/D pretty much involves being sleepy, super bitchy and hungry as fuck for about three days. Depression and suicidal thoughts and feelings become an issue later on as it's hard to feel happiness the way you did pre-meth. In all honesty tho, that is a veritable spa weekend in the south of France compared to the physical pain of opioid W/D. However, at the end of the day, a drug is a drug is a drug. They destroy you before you even realize you done fucked up.
So had we just been able to see it all clearly, that meth was not a miracle cure and just as dangerous and all-consuming as any other addiction, maybe we could have gotten away from it when we still had something to lose.
So the point of this post, that I'm writing while obviously tweaked out of my mind, is this. There are definite advantages to utilising meth to fight a heroin addiction and it's certainly the most effective and painless way I have seen. However, If you decide to do this, you absolutely need to have unwavering self-discipline and control. Those things are a necessity, not a suggestion or something you hope to achieve after the fact. If you doubt for even one second that you could walk away clean and focused on your sobriety, DO NOT PUT THE METH IN YOUR FACE!!! Or any other part of yourself. Just bite the bullet, man the fuck up and face the agonizing consequences of your bad decisions head on. That way you can begin your sobriety truly free and you will be more grateful for it because of how hard you had to fight to get it.
But what tf do I know? I mean, look at me... Still hopelessly clinging to something that slowly destroys everything around me but tricks me into thinking it's just part of who I will always be and have always been. That it would be pointless to keep trying to fight the devil with a nerf gun lol So yea... Don't take advice from me lol make that your first positive step towards recovery lol
I pray you find all the strength, peace of mind and willpower you need to walk away from the bullshit that is addiction and that you thrive like you never imagined possible.