Brit in Sharm in Egypt

[SearchingForIt]

Hi Guys,

I am new to this forum although I have read it from time to time over the years.

I have been using Heroin on and off for 22 plus years now. I don't use much else apart from using Methadone on days I wasn't using Heroin. I came to Egypt (Sharm) to kind of get away from it all. I bought (what I thought was plenty of Methadone), but now thats almost running out. I got myself down to 20ml a day then did what I thought was a slow process of reducing by 5ml a week. But going down to 15ml, then 10ml was not nice. It almost felt like torture. So I gave in and went back up to 20ml a few days ago. I am too scared to ask around because I don't speak the language and I don't know whats available legal and illegal. And I know things may be available, but Cairo seems quite far away. I didn't have a script over there, I just used to buy from a guy I used to know.

So now I am kind of stuck. I am not sure about going back to the UK for now. At the same time I don't know if you can get Methadone or similar here? I know people are going to say I am screwed and I should have done my research.

If anyone knows Egypt or has lived here or lives here could advise me it would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[steewith2ees]

You need to bite the bullet and find an English speaking doctor, even our extremely occasional Egyptian contributors will probably have a different level of access to opioid replacement therapy than visitors to the country. I do not want to come across as being defeatist but this is not a situation anyone wants to be caught short in while abroad - many countries resent treating their own citizens for these issues never mind non - nationals.

I would get yourself back to the UK where you can sort this out properly - perhaps a better bet would be to come home, try and taper off your methadone completely before returning to Sharm if you think that it is a better environment for you to avoid heroin use. At the very least you could come home and arrange a proper handover of your treatment from you current drug provider to local services in Egypt. I am sorry if this is of no help but running out of methadone while abroad is not something that can usually be corrected in situ.

 

[SearchingForIt]

Hi Steeve, Thanks.

I had a feeling that going back to the UK was my main option. I am pretty screwed, because I rented my place out because I was desperate to get some time away. I thought since there is a hidden Heroin scene in Cairo there must also be medication around that can help counter it or help ease the pain. I tried the Egypt NA number and I think it either doesn't work or goes to voicemail. Thank you anyway.

 

[steewith2ees]

Of course we cannot help you to source heroin or any other drugs (even OTC medicines) but in this case I feel it would be best to directly advise against it - it is really dangerous to go looking for drugs on spec in any unfamiliar city and even if you were successful you do not want to end up strung out over there - it is bad enough at home in familiar surroundings.

 

[Tranced]

It's good to see that after all these years eadd has finally fulfilled its role as an African drug discussion forum. :D

Egypt seems like a pretty heavy place to go to "get away from it all" and come off heroin, especially if you don't know what is and isn't illegal, although obviously I understand different people, different circumstances, etc.

I think there is very little people can advise you on here, as I don't really know of anyone who has been in your situation over there, or who has probably even been, and then we need to keep things within the confines of the rules.

I guess your only option is to get more and taper, or go cold turkey. If you go cold turkey you may well end up hitting the streets anyway. My only advice is to not leave it until the last minute, whatever you do. And beware of the fact that getting caught with certain drugs in Egypt is probably not neccesarily going to be the slap on the wrist and you're out type experience that you get in the UK.

 

[SearchingForIt]

Guys I hear what you are saying. I kind of knew all of this and it’s one of the reasons why I chose the location. When you are planning on stopping or taking a break you ignore the rational side of you and tell yourself it won’t be “that hard”. So I got myself into this jam.

I know the basic gist of the rules so I get that.

 

[steewith2ees]

I've done it a few times myself buddy - before I ended up beholden to a methadone prescription I took myself off to Crete on a few occasions to do straight up rattles from periods of heroin dependency - a month of sunshine, amazing food and (back then anyway) access to OTC benzodiazepines made the process as comfortable as it could possibly get.

I did this on about 4 occasions, relapsing almost instantly upon returning to the UK on 3 of them.

 

[SearchingForIt]

Hi Steeve,

I hear you. I am in my 40's now. So as you can imagine I have done a number of cold turkeys over the years. However, my initial plan wasn't to go back before 6 months or year. Initially I was going to stay abroad for a few years, but not in Egypt. I was going to country hop for a while. This was a plan that had been in place for a long time, as I couldn't see any other way of stopping. My main issue is I am fairly straight laced compared to most junkies (I also call myself that so don't be offended). In the last 12 or so years I haven't touched anything but H, before that it was H and Crack. I wouldn't take pills or smoke a joint now. I last touched Cocaine/Crack at least 10 years ago. I have a real love hate relationship with H. But in the last year I started getting severe palpitations or heart related issues. I could never be sure if it was the stuff I was getting from one dealer or another or if I was getting old (older). It became such an issue that I had to seek medical assistance. My love hate relationship was made worse by the fact that I present a fairly normal image, and although I am very working class, I had the means. So it became a self created prison, even though I can't say I didn't enjoy taking it. I liked that world. And I had been to treatment centres in the UK and abroad, and nothing was working. And the fact that I have an extremely high tolerance (which is nothing to boast about when it comes to H), meant I stopped getting a high from it unless I started injecting. But my veins are very difficult to find, even medics have trouble with me. So as you can imagine, I got very desperate.

 

[BecomingJulie]

You have a whole set of adverse circumstances conspiring against you. Making the situation easier to deal with involves either (a) learning quickly about the drug scene in a foreign country, including who is or is not safe to ask about things; or (b) getting back to the UK, where there are way fewer unknown quantities.

Having rented out your own place is not necessarily a showstopper. You just have to ensure that the tenant can be rehoused in suitable alternative accommodation for the remainder of their tenancy agreement (usually 6 months or some multiple thereof) with no immediate rent increase. If you rented it out through an agency, they have to do that for you. Obviously the more you can do to make their move as smooth as possible, the better. Don't rush in offering goodwill gestures, though; you don't want to piss off anyone who knows where you live, but neither is it in your interest to look like someone who is easy to walk all over. Let them feel they have used their charm to get something out of you.

Sorry this probably is not what you really wanted to hear, but the romantic ideal of being an opiate addict in a foreign country really is just that for most people; only a tiny minority are strong enough to pull it off. For every success you hear of, there are thousands of failures you don't. But it's hard enough to manage a habit, without introducing complications of language and culture. Some of which are pretty much insurmountable anyway, if you don't look like a local or otherwise have a solid, credible local connection .....

 

[blondin]

Berbers and bedouin are the 'mafia' in egypt they transport hash, opium gear (big fields of poppies in the sinai penisula) I spent some time there and managed to get some bits n bobs but it was scary and had to go through a chain of people starting in a cab! Your better off seeing a doctor with excruitiating back pain.

 

[Shambles]

Sorry, misread the title, thought a very, very different thing indeed.



As you were.