Beginner heroin user

[curiouswonderingso]

I've been taking heroin for the past couple of months, I wouldn't say im addicted i actually feel completely in control of it. i shoot up once a week or once every two weeks. I don't get sick or any kind of calm down I don't evan have any urgers to have it the next day or on the same day. it's like once I do it, that's it i feel good , I use it like at the end of a hard working week like a reward system. personally I think its my character, I wouldn't let myself go into deep of heroin abuse/addiction. it's just sometimes I feel baffled, because i was told that iff you do it once your fucked you will get sweats and cravings like no other. Will i eventually become addicted? I don't want to be addicted but again I feel conpletely in control doing it only on a once a week or evan once every two week term. what are people's thoughts on this? are there more people out there that are like me?

 

[debearded]

I would say eventually yes, you will build tolerance gradually and you will require more frequent/higher doses. Circumstances change occasionally, so if you are anything like me one bad week could be the turning point. Happened to me, I was clean for almost 5 years and then a lot of bad things happene at once and I relapsed. I've since gotten out of it again but you know what I'm getting at. Just be careful. If you notice cravings or it dominating your thoughts or making excuses to do it more often maybe try and distance yourself. You're def plaing with fire on that one. Best of luck.

 

[curiouswonderingso]

appreciate the response dabearded, today was a day I used but I'm going to just go clean for a couple of months and see how I go. life is bizzare, I do sometimes use the fact that alcahol and ciggies can be just as damaging so it makes me feel not guilty for doing heroin evan tho it has contributed to many deaths world wide. plus my veins are being damaged in the process which sucks. anyways thanks for the response. stay cool.

 

[mostly-human]

When I first started using heroin "regularly" - being most weekends, eventually I started getting sick for a few days after the weekend, even after only a single use. So even once a week use will eventually lead to addiction (physical dependence).

Also - how you are starting is literally how every addict starts. No one starts taking heroin and says
"- I'm not in control, I think I'll become addicted, so I'll keep taking it." Everyone assumes they got it under control, until one day you wake up sick, instead of feeling normal - so you get some more so you can get on with your day... and from there, things just get peachy.

 

[coolbuzz]

That's exactly how I started with H... Went along fine for years until life dealt a few blows and knowing the power of gear to eliminate anxiety, stress, depression etc started using it daily... 25years later I still use 7-10grams per fortnight

 

[chugs]

I've been taking heroin for the past couple of months, I wouldn't say im addicted i actually feel completely in control of it. i shoot up once a week or once every two weeks. I don't get sick or any kind of calm down I don't evan have any urgers to have it the next day or on the same day. it's like once I do it, that's it i feel good , I use it like at the end of a hard working week like a reward system. personally I think its my character, I wouldn't let myself go into deep of heroin abuse/addiction. it's just sometimes I feel baffled, because i was told that iff you do it once your fucked you will get sweats and cravings like no other. Will i eventually become addicted? I don't want to be addicted but again I feel conpletely in control doing it only on a once a week or evan once every two week term. what are people's thoughts on this? are there more people out there that are like me?

I've used heroin for over twenty years now, with several breaks in between using. More dope sickness then roast dinners.

I can say without a doubt you'll be in major addiction in the next 24 months. I was exactly like you were three years ago. If you can stop, and i doubt you can, i would strongly recommend that you do. If you can be assessed have a read of my comment history and my theory on opiate addiction.

 

[Halif2]

When I first started using heroin "regularly" - being most weekends, eventually I started getting sick for a few days after the weekend, even after only a single use. So even once a week use will eventually lead to addiction (physical dependence).

Also - how you are starting is literally how every addict starts. No one starts taking heroin and says
"- I'm not in control, I think I'll become addicted, so I'll keep taking it." Everyone assumes they got it under control, until one day you wake up sick, instead of feeling normal - so you get some more so you can get on with your day... and from there, things just get peachy.

Absolutely. The addiction creeps up on you bit by bit. Whichever propaganda mill came up with the stupid notion of "if you use it once, you'll be hooked" did a real disservice to people who found themselves trying heroin and thinking "hey, this isn't like they said - I used it a couple of times and am not instantly addicted. I'm probably OK to just use it now and then."

 

[BehindtheShadow]

You might think you have control and before you blink you are addicted, stop using now!

 

[motiv311]

its a progressive disorder, i started sort of like you... couldn't maintain it.

 

[JessFR]

You won't get dependent and thus have to face withdrawal from shooting it once. The idea that using it once will instantly make you dependent or physically addicted is total horseshit.

That said, yes, you probably will wind up addicted and dependent for real if you keep using. This is playing with fire the likes of which you probably can't imagine. I strongly recommend you listen to me and every other heroin addict here who's told you that this is very much like how we started and we all wound up addicted and in an unbelievable world of pain and loss.

It took a long time before my opiate use resulted in dependency. I don't know exactly how long, just realized one day that I'd get sick without it. I'm not sure exactly where that line was crossed. Which is part of why this is so dangerous.

Again, I highly recommend you stop. You can't imagine how much a heroin addiction can cost you unless you've experienced it. It's not worth it. Just about anyone who's experienced it first hand would tell you that.

 

[Halif2]

It took a long time before my opiate use resulted in dependency. I don't know exactly how long, just realized one day that I'd get sick without it. I'm not sure exactly where that line was crossed. Which is part of why this is so dangerous.

It's a blurry line. I might be in a minority of people who can recall actually making a conscious decision to go "full time" with opiate use. It was around three years from first use to daily use and the progression was like this:

-use on occasion. Although I loved it the side effects (nausea during use, low mood post use ) were enough to make me want to keep it as a now and then thing.

-use every Friday as reward for making it through another week of general work grind

-use Friday and Saturday because it got to the point where I was experiencing a hangover on Saturdays which kind of ruined the day.

-use on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays because I found out that at this point I didn't seem to suffer more of a hangover whether I used once or three days in a row. I just figured Sundays were going to be a write off anyway, so might as well cram in a bit more enjoyment.

And here was the turning point: The hangover was lasting longer and longer and I was basically spending half the week feeling great (when I was using) and half feeling awful (the rest of the time). The on/off, good/bad, night/day thing was getting exhausting and a choice needed to be made. I knew I couldn't give up something that was actually becoming the best thing in my life, so I decided to use daily and just make it work somehow.

TO be honest, the next year or year and a half was a great time which I still look back fondly upon. Having a "thing" provided a counter balance against everything that bothered me in life. ANy time I was frustrated or angry or whatever, I could think "well, I won't care about this later and I'll feel fine". All eggs into one basket. The rest of the story is predictable. Tolerance grows. Constant increasing use is not sustainable. Positive effects are diminished. Mental state weakens. Issues in life (work problems, friendship problems, family problems) just seem to mount up and up. Decide I need to get off. Try and fail. Try and fail. Try and fail. Try and fail.

And on it goes.

 

[Death&moan]

Took about 2-3 years of joy banging for me, it's a different chemical composition now to what it was back then, i get this sneaking suspicion that much of it is chemically engineered to give a much worse detoxification/withdrawal process then the old days,
this is a purely subjective opinion however.

I hope you break free now, the roller coaster to hell is possibly the hardest ride to get off, and the longer you ride, the harder it becomes, there aren't many old junkies still living,
and only 3% of those who form addictions will ever remain clean so i believe, terrible odds to gamble with!!

 

[JessFR]

I didn't have much of a period of intermittent use. While obviously the idea of being addicted from the first use is crap, for me it was pretty close to accurate. Took a long time before I was dependent, but from when I first used opiates, from pretty much right then onward I used them whenever I had them as much as I could. I knew I'd get dependent, but the kind of mindset I was in at the time with depression, etc, I really wasn't thinking at all about future consequences. So I didn't even really try and moderate my use to avoid dependence as long as I could.

So while you can't get truly dependent on the first use, you can feel very strongly psychologically compelled to keep using from the first use. Depending on the person.

-use on occasion. Although I loved it the side effects (nausea during use, low mood post use ) were enough to make me want to keep it as a now and then thing.

Oddly enough I never actually experienced either of these. Even when I first started using, never had nausea, or low mood after coming down.

I do experience both of those, ESPECIALLY nausea with meth though.