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Poppy Seed Tea Withdrawal Is Hell

Also, in my previous reply, iamgollum I meant to add something to a problem you had early on in your recovery...the swallowing issue.

This is also something I have an issue with during recovery, especially in the first week. It's like, as soon as something solid hits my tongue, my throat closes up. I can usually sit and kind of force myself to relax and be able to take down a little food, but it's quite uncomfortable and one of my dreaded wd symptoms. I can usually smoke enough pot to get my appetite somewhat working during recovery, but once I can't swallow, it makes eating a horrid experience. This doesn't happen every single time I quit opiates, but it happens a lot. I've done some research on it, and it doesn't seem to be something common...so if you figure out what it is, please let me know. I think you may be onto something with the thinking that your body is only used to eating after its nice and relaxed from opiates, and being off of them causes the throat muscles to spaz out a bit. Might be exactly whats going on. Anyone else ever had a similar problem?
 
Happy Friday my dear friend IAG!!

Thinking of you and so very proud of you, I hope you have the best weekend!!!

Here for you always,
your friend,
Ashley.
 
Wow , what a read . I'm never gonna touch poppy seed tea after reading the hell you went thru .How the heck is this even legal . You suffered more than I'm suffering now from methadone withdrawal. I have comfort meds though . Cheers on the recovery.
 
Wow. I'm at a loss for words. I read this entire thread and have the utmost respect for you iag. Your resolve is remarkable. I could never have not used something I had right outside in the garage that I knew would end the utter torture of detoxing.

My detoxes - 2 to the bitter end, were very traumatic. I hallucinated, had seizures (and that was from just opiates) and all the rest of it. But I was naked on the floor of cell. I had no choice. I would've crawled over glass... naked, to get something to ease the withdrawal.

Thank you for taking the time to document your experience and while feeling so shitty. You really are amazing.

If you don't mind my asking, did your sister go to the Burzinsky clinic in Texas?
 
Just gone thru this thread congrats mate.In the Punjabi community ground poppy pods are made into tea or swallow powder and wash down with water.I have seen two men detox from it and it is brutal.Their detox lasts along time.I used g3ound poppy pods once a week as a boost to raw opium Indian version of black tar.I know one person now who in day 5 and he still in pain.ITs a nic3 long buzz but a brutal wd stay away.
 
It's brutal. I was using something like 2lbs a day of very dirty seeds for a few years. Did a 10 day methadone taper that worked, but it was too painless as I ended up using after about a month. A year later I went on Suboxone when they started washing my main brand of seeds. Tapered off the Suboxone in six months but residual anxiety meant I started using kratom and eventually seeds again just to feel relief.

Haven't used it in about 7 months now. The withdrawals last for fucking ever. Never caused me to throw up or get as acutely sick as I've seen heroin withdrawals do but they seem to last 3x as long and possibly cause more fatigue: I could not walk across the room for a few days, just a crazy sense of dysphoria.

Because of the narcotine alkaloids in tea, not even 8-12mg of suboxone took away the moderately severe leg pain during the first few weeks. During this last time I was able to stop simply by dosing weak seeds twice a week without any assistance, but usually this isn't possible due to the unpredictable strength even if you use the same brand.

Poppy tea was more satisfying to me than heroin or oxycodone (yeah I know). It feels more complete than anything else, more deeply relaxing, cheaper, lasts all day into the next, no legal risk. I'm so done with it though. It made me feel soulless eventually. And I don't miss having seeds scattered around my house.
 
My suboxone taper was like a dream compared to my many failed attempts at a pod tea taper back in the day.
How are you supposed to know how to titrate a slow gradual taper?
There too many variables involved when you get a three pound cardboard box full of different sized, shape, colour, pods?
If you make a monster batch to at least attempt a uniform "dose" of tea, it goes off even when frozen. For me any way.


The good thing for me was once I poked out the other side of a 10 weeklong CT WD, I would want to vomit when a craving hit. Same thing ten years later though I know friends who went back again and again. 15 years a go they were, cheap, and amazon would deliver in a day. Don't know today's scene but I wish I had this knowledge then.
It's insidiously creepy, and you'll blow two electric coffee grinders a week. Then you'll invest in a burr grinder.
Not for the faint of heart.
 
Hi everyone, I'm back with an update. I'd like to say that I am still clean, but unfortunately that story does not have a happy ending. I managed to stay away from the PST for about 5 months and in that time dropped 37 pounds, got my business back on track, started my woodworking hobby again, and took 2 vacations with my wife. I cut out all caffeine/alcohol/sugar and went completely low carb/high protein diet. My sleep patterns returned for the most part. Probably in the best shape I have been in the past 25 years. And then...in early October as I am walking through my local grocery store I notice they are carrying poppy seeds in bulk packages instead of the little spice jars (I used to get my supply from a bulk wholesale food store). So I thought, what the hell--I've been good, one dose won't hurt (how many of you have told yourself that!).

Well, one dose did hurt--fast forward 3 months and I am back to 2.5 lbs of seeds a day. Damn it. How is this even possible? I have read my thread on here a dozen times in the past months and know the 7 levels of hell I went through to get clean and yet I still went back to my old life. Well, not completely, I guess. The new seeds are not as strong as the ones I used to use and I have still maintained my healthy lifestyle, but addiction is still addiction and I am hooked again. Obviously, going violent cold turkey was not enough to keep me clean, so I don't know what the answer is. Do I just tell my wife what's going on? Do I join an support group? As we usually do when we relapse, I have kicked myself in the ass for being so stupid. I am more shocked than anything, I think--I really thought I had the inner strength to beat this insidious little seed. Guess not. But after reading some other stories on Bluelight, it almost seems like relapse is a part of getting clean. Not sure if that makes any sense or not. Just need to regroup, and start again--as long as I keep fighting to be sober, it feels like I haven't given up.

Even though I am in better shape than when I went CT before, I just don't think I can do it again. I can deal with most of it, but the racing heart/palpitations scared the crap out of me. And, even though it is actually the flu season this time and it would be more believable, I don't want to lie to anyone anymore. So, rather than just rip the bandage off again, my latest plan is try and taper down my usage before jumping off. I don't have any trips or commitments I need to be clean for so I have some time this time. I have read that some people have more success staying clean after tapering so I think I will give it a go. Going through CT sure as hell did not work. I think I have the discipline to stay on a plan although the difference in strength between containers is going to be a challenge, I think.

My first step is to figure out just how low a dose I can do to keep WD at bay. Last Saturday @ 5:00pm I dropped to 2 lbs and WD symptoms started to hit around 3:00 the next day. I managed to wait until 5:00 and then only did 8o8 oz of seeds which made me feel better, but not high. I went to bed around 11:30 and woke up about 4:00am with cold sweats, twitchy legs, congestion, some anxiety building. I managed to hold on until 11:00am and did another 8 o8o8oz of seeds which allowed me to function through the day. I did another 8o8o8 oz at 7:15pm last night and managed to sleep until about 6:00am before waking up in a cold sweat. I have not had any yet today but feel crappy--not full WD yet, but can feel it building. I did manage my daily workout which helped. It appears that 8o8 oz of the tea keeps WD at bay for about 8-10 hours without getting me high. So 1 lb a day in two doses is my starting point. I plan to drop 25% per week for 4 weeks and then jump off.

I will try to keep a log of how I do for anyone who is looking for answers on tapering from PST since there doesn't seem to be a lot of good info on it online.
 
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Good to hear from you my friend!!

There is absolutely no reason to feel embarrassed about this, you know you will get no judgment here from us.

As long as you keep trying that's what matters IAG, and you're doing that, I'm proud of you.

I think it is a great idea to taper down this time. You know we're all here for you and if you want you can feel free to pm me anytime.

Hang in there IAG, you've got this!!

Hugs,
your friend,
Ash.
 
@EPL1: Thanks so much--good to hear from you as well. Yes, definitely feel embarrassed about falling off the the wagon since I thought I was smarter/stronger than that, but I am past beating myself up over it. Just need to start again and lean into it a little harder. I read a post somewhere that said "Once you're a pickle, you can never be a cucumber again" which seems especially true right now. It's both funny and sad at the same time. I think the only bright spot I have this time is that I am not as far down the rabbit hole as I was last time. I still expect it to still be uncomfortable but hopefully not as hellish as the last kick. I did another 8 oz at 11:30 and actually felt a bit of a buzz which is probably due to the differences in strength between seed packs. I think I may need to mix the tea up in a large container and take measured doses from it. That may make the batches more consistent. I've never done a taper before so it's kind of a science fair project.
 
It will be an interesting journey, you know I'll be here standing beside you again.

You got this, here for you anytime.

Your friend,

Ash.


iamgollum said:
@EPL1: I've never done a taper before so it's kind of a science fair project.
Click to expand...
 
I guess this is the end of Day 3 of my taper. I did 8 oz at 11:30am today as noted above and felt a slight buzz. So, I mixed up 32 oz of seeds and split it into 4 portions which theoretically is 8 oz worth of seeds each. This should help average out the strength between seed packages. It is still possible to get all strong packs or all weak packs, but I have no other way to determine that. Just have to hope the law of averages works in my favor. I was starting to feel WD creeping up so I took an 8 oz dose at 7:30. I probably could have made it another couple of hours, but if I drink the tea too late, I have trouble getting to sleep. The first few hours of the high is a relaxing/euphoric feeling but you don't feel sleepy, then later you begin to nod off. Not sure if that would be the case with the reduced doses, but I am hoping I can keep my sleep patterns semi-normal through this. Probably wishful thinking as I am sure the crippling insomnia will return at some point.

So far though, the WD symptoms have been manageable at only 1 lb/day compared to the 2.5lbs I was doing. The one difference is the timing of the doses. Previously, I would do 1.5 lbs of seeds around 5:00pm and then do another 1 lb around 8:00pm. This would usually last 24 hours and I would not have any withdrawal symptoms between doses. Now, I am only doing maintenance doses to keep the WD symptoms down and taking it in the late morning and early evening. I am not sure if that will effect the taper plan or not. My concern is that the large doses I was taking at night really only lasted about 8-10 hours but produced a big high. The next day there was enough in my system to last until the next big dose. I wonder now if all I am doing is spreading out lower doses over greater time spans and conditioning my body/brain for that which might actually make WD worse when I jump off. Perhaps I should have just kept up the once a day dose and started tapering it at a slower rate. My gut feeling is that it is better to get to the lowest dose needed to not have WD and start reducing from there. That is kind of how suboxone therapy works doesn't it? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
Quick update. The 7:30 dose kicked in and I am not feeling any WD symptoms aside from a dull headache. I am not feeling any type of buzz or high which is good (or bad depending on your point of view...) but do have a slight relaxed feeling. That may be a placebo effect just knowing that I am not going into full withdrawal. As ashamed as I feel about using again, I definitely do remember the nightmare of the CT withdrawal. I'll take my punishment and deal with whatever awaits me when I do quit, but I really don't want to go through what I did last time if I can avoid it. Maybe I am just delaying the inevitable, though...
 
iamgollum said:
Hi everyone, I'm back with an update. I'd like to say that I am still clean, but unfortunately that story does not have a happy ending. I managed to stay away from the PST for about 5 months and in that time dropped 37 pounds, got my business back on track, started my woodworking hobby again, and took 2 vacations with my wife. I cut out all caffeine/alcohol/sugar and went completely low carb/high protein diet. My sleep patterns returned for the most part. Probably in the best shape I have been in the past 25 years. And then...in early October as I am walking through my local grocery store I notice they are carrying poppy seeds in bulk packages instead of the little spice jars (I used to get my supply from a bulk wholesale food store). So I thought, what the hell--I've been good, one dose won't hurt (how many of you have told yourself that!).

Well, one dose did hurt--fast forward 3 months and I am back to 2.5 lbs of seeds a day. Damn it. How is this even possible? I have read my thread on here a dozen times in the past months and know the 7 levels of hell I went through to get clean and yet I still went back to my old life. Well, not completely, I guess. The new seeds are not as strong as the ones I used to use and I have still maintained my healthy lifestyle, but addiction is still addiction and I am hooked again. Obviously, going violent cold turkey was not enough to keep me clean, so I don't know what the answer is. Do I just tell my wife what's going on? Do I join an support group? As we usually do when we relapse, I have kicked myself in the ass for being so stupid. I am more shocked than anything, I think--I really thought I had the inner strength to beat this insidious little seed. Guess not. But after reading some other stories on Bluelight, it almost seems like relapse is a part of getting clean. Not sure if that makes any sense or not. Just need to regroup, and start again--as long as I keep fighting to be sober, it feels like I haven't given up.

Even though I am in better shape than when I went CT before, I just don't think I can do it again. I can deal with most of it, but the racing heart/palpitations scared the crap out of me. And, even though it is actually the flu season this time and it would be more believable, I don't want to lie to anyone anymore. So, rather than just rip the bandage off again, my latest plan is try and taper down my usage before jumping off. I don't have any trips or commitments I need to be clean for so I have some time this time. I have read that some people have more success staying clean after tapering so I think I will give it a go. Going through CT sure as hell did not work. I think I have the discipline to stay on a plan although the difference in strength between containers is going to be a challenge, I think.

My first step is to figure out just how low a dose I can do to keep WD at bay. Last Saturday @ 5:00pm I dropped to 2 lbs and WD symptoms started to hit around 3:00 the next day. I managed to wait until 5:00 and then only did 8o8 oz of seeds which made me feel better, but not high. I went to bed around 11:30 and woke up about 4:00am with cold sweats, twitchy legs, congestion, some anxiety building. I managed to hold on until 11:00am and did another 8 o8o8oz of seeds which allowed me to function through the day. I did another 8o8o8 oz at 7:15pm last night and managed to sleep until about 6:00am before waking up in a cold sweat. I have not had any yet today but feel crappy--not full WD yet, but can feel it building. I did manage my daily workout which helped. It appears that 8o8 oz of the tea keeps WD at bay for about 8-10 hours without getting me high. So 1 lb a day in two doses is my starting point. I plan to drop 25% per week for 4 weeks and then jump off.

I will try to keep a log of how I do for anyone who is looking for answers on tapering from PST since there doesn't seem to be a lot of good info on it online.
Click to expand...
I'm from the Punjabi community and poppy pods are a huge problem in the older generation.I got a friend of ground poppy pods and Indian raw opium with lyrica he had nearly a pain free wd.Try it mate it will take away the anxiety back and leg aches.
 
It also let's you sleep.I detox in Feb and have had many relapses.Every relapse I thought I been good to myself have a great we are addicts that never goes well.Go again but get some meds to help if not lyrica which I think a wonder drug for opiate wd.Try benzos whatever works best for you I read your thread and you have amazing will power you can do it again.
 
Forgot to add use meds during worse of wd don't end up just swapping addiction.I can't give advice on tapering because I'm a greedy addict and once get a slight buzz would want more
 
Withdrawing from Poppy Pods was one of the worst I've gone through. This is coming from a person who shot Heroin for 17 years. When i was getting the pods in the mail i would consume 10 a day towards the end of my run. I used them daily for one year.

Nodding off all day, in a fuzzy fog. Then came the day that i got arrested and was forced to kick the habit when i was away. It took an entire month for it to go away completely. The first two weeks we're horrible, then it eased up.

Actually towards the end of that month i ate some LSD when i was back home, it was WoW blotter and this was in '08. After i kicked i stayed off opiates for awhile and just tripped. The acid helped me to heal myself.

L<3Ve & Lite
 
CosM1c Charlie said:
Withdrawing from Poppy Pods was one of the worst I've gone through. This is coming from a person who shot Heroin for 17 years. When i was getting the pods in the mail i would consume 10 a day towards the end of my run. I used them daily for one year.

Nodding off all day, in a fuzzy fog. Then came the day that i got arrested and was forced to kick the habit when i was away. It took an entire month for it to go away completely. The first two weeks we're horrible, then it eased up.

Actually towards the end of that month i ate some LSD when i was back home, it was WoW blotter and this was in '08. After i kicked i stayed off opiates for awhile and just tripped. The acid helped me to heal myself.

L<3Ve & Lite
Click to expand...

Great post, Cosmic Charlie. A a fellow deadhead here... My handle is a subtle nod to Crazy Kat peaking through a lace bandana. I have tried to trip my way to sobriety or a healthier life but keep falling short. Everytime I am tripping, I see everything so clearly, that I want and deserve and need a like free of addiction. It's so clear. And then I just pick up again once it's worn off it seems.

And wishing the OP all the best this time around. Maybe try kratom to help transition to CT? Only advice I have. I read with interest and dread the long, hell of a WD you went through last year. You got this.
 
CosM1c Charlie said:
Withdrawing from Poppy Pods was one of the worst I've gone through. This is coming from a person who shot Heroin for 17 years. When i was getting the pods in the mail i would consume 10 a day towards the end of my run. I used them daily for one year.

Nodding off all day, in a fuzzy fog. Then came the day that i got arrested and was forced to kick the habit when i was away. It took an entire month for it to go away completely. The first two weeks we're horrible, then it eased up.

Actually towards the end of that month i ate some LSD when i was back home, it was WoW blotter and this was in '08. After i kicked i stayed off opiates for awhile and just tripped. The acid helped me to heal myself.

L
Click to expand...
 
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