About to withdraw willfully need help and suggestions

HHHHburger

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Sep 9, 2013
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Over the course of the last 7 months I have been exposed to every pharmaceutical opiate on the market. I have recently obtained employment as a pharmacist and the availability of all medications is ridiculous. I had a massive score that has lasted me for months, a treasure chest of methadone, hydromorphone, morphine, oxycontin and fentanyl. My most recent habit has been for fentanyl after exhausting all my other analgesics I was left with about 10 durogesic 100mcg patches. I found that cutting portions of the fentanyl patch and putting it against my cheek could give me a really great high but this habit is interfering with all other aspects of my life I am not the person I used to be, even when pleasantly neither high/withdrawing and in that 'limbo' state my emotions and personality were a mess.

I have decided to get clean I have 5 days off work and can probably afford to call in a sick day or two. It gives me about 7 days to get clean.

My habit has been successfully reduced as of late I was taking 50mg of methadone and then other opiates on top to give me a high by night, I wouldn't be able to testify to my current daily usage as the dosing of the fentanyl patch is so inaccurate but there would be little to no methadone in my system it has only been fentanyl for about 2 weeks now.

I have
1 x ounce of weed,
15 x flunitrazepam 1mg tablets (Rohypnol in the US or Hypnodorm in AUS),
5 x endone 5mg tabs ( I dont plan on touching these ),

What can I expect from fentanyl withdrawal?
I plan on sleeping as much as I can with heavy sedation. Is this the best approach?
Emotional Support is appreciated I am going to feel like shit for a while but it will be worth it.
If my fentanyl dosage was equated to a 40mg/d oxycontin usage what would I expect from withdrawal?
 
I couldn't quantify exactly what you're going to expect from that particular drug, but obviously the drugs half-life will come into play here regarding the length of your withdrawal. Perhaps taking a bit more time off work may be a good idea; do you really want to be surrounded by all those drugs during a detox? The temptation would kill me!

There is one universal truth: opiate withdrawals can be hell on earth, or they can be very-unpleasant-but-tolerable. This all depends on

1: Your Mindset. The biggest battle is in your head; your mind can magnify unpleasant withdrawal symptoms into unbearable ones, leading you straight to your DOC. It's very important to keep a positive mindset during this painful process. Being around positive people you trust can help enormously. I won't lie to you: you will need a lot of willpower, particularly as drugs are freely available to you. Attending NA meetings could help here; you'd be around people who've been through what you're going through, and could give you valuable advice.

2: Your Enviroment. I can't stress the importance of this enough; you want to be in a safe, neutral place you do not associate with drug use, and where there are no drugs available. Perhaps you could arrange to stay with relatives or friends for a while? A remote place would be ideal, but this may not be possible. At the very least, you should consider asking somebody you trust to be a "sitter" for you; somebody to talk you down if you feel an overwhelming urge to use, as well as provide you with much-needed emotional support.

3: Medication. This is probably a critical factor for an opiate detox; you'll need comfort drugs to help alleviate some or if not all of your symptoms. Heavily sedating yourself is one approach, but it could be a risky one; you don't want to risk overdosing on powerful sedatives. I'm really not sure rohypnol is a good idea. Using weed can't hurt; it may serve to relax your nerves, and possibly help with the pain, if you pick a strain with high CBD. It would be a very good idea to get some loperamide (active ingredient of Immodium). It's a powerful opiate that can't cross the blood brain barrier (it won't get you high). There is strong anecdotal evidence it can reduce a great many opiate withdrawal symptoms, including RLS. Be warned: I've heard of people becoming dependent on loperamide following detox. A benzo used for a short-term durtion could be a good way to sooth the terrible depression of opiate withdrawal; also highly addictive. Kratom has been used in opiate detoxes; it's a thai leaf that in high doses acts as an opiate agonist.Anecdotal evidence suggests this is also addictive. Clonidine could be an enormous help to you; it (if I'm not mistaken) inhibits the excess of noradrenaline caused by discontinuation of opiate drugs; it's what gives you that horrible restless feeling and sense of anxiety. (These are suggestions only).

4: Planning and Preparation. This is the most crucial part of any detox! Your chances of failure are multiplied by jumping into a detox you're not ready for. Take the time to secure a safe place to detox, obtain your medication, and contact a recovery focused support network. You're not alone, mate; I've been where you are. It's not gonna be nice, but it's been done by many, and it doesn't have to be painful. I wish you all the best.
 
You can do this=D.. and since your a pharmacist it should be no problem for you to explore the value of these..

The medications I would explore the use of fror detox would be:

>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..

one of either
>NEURONTIN< >HERE< >HERE<
OR >Lyrica<


>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol


Acute withdrawal and physical dependence are what everybody focusses on but that in reality is the easy part.. PAWS and the addiction come really fast after the acutes start to pass.. usually with in less than three days.. I would set up a support system.. I can imagine going back to work in a pharmacy during this period so If i were you I would put an opiat blocker on board.. like this >here< as it would be pretty much a mirical if you would be able to resist all those drugs all the time.

Addiction Guide

SMART Recovery (Support Group information and discussion)

Twelve-Step Addiction Recovery Support Groups

Varied Approaches to Addiction Recovery
 
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I think the sure fire way for this to fail is by going back to work. You'll be anxious, depressed, and generally uncomfortable for weeks - maybe months - after acute withdrawal. With all those drugs super easy to get, I wouldn't be surprised if you relapse within days. At the very, very least you gotta move these 5 days off to take up the whole work week and try and get 9 days total (5 weekdays, 2 weekends). Like I said though, I think that working in a pharmacy for the foreseeable future might be pretty bad.

Can you transfer to a pharamcy that has much stricter inventory control, or can you move to a different but similar job in your field? One where you can't get drugs?
 
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