The real problem with long term med use

[CrimpJiggler]

When I first started taking drugs, I was under the impression that (besides the damage they cause to the body and brain), the main problems was development or tolerance. I thought that when that happened, you just needed to withdraw and stay off them for a while. That isn't that big a problem in my opinion, that made me consider daily use of various meds to be a reasonable choice. The problem I encountered though is that meds just abruptly stop working for me. The medical term for this is tachyphylaxis, and its got nothing to do with linear tolerance. Its commonly associated with SSRIs, but I experienced it with trazodone, opioids, phenibut/GHB and antihistamines so far, and to a lesser extent, benzos. I have tried taking breaks of at least a month, and what happens is the drug will work as intended for about a day, then stop working again. Sometimes I get a horrible withdrawal that lasts up to 3 weeks, even though I wasn't actually physically dependent on the drug. Last time I tried opioids after a 5 week break, I ended up depressed for 2 weeks. Last time I tried phenibut, which was after a 3 week break, I had extreme anxiety which lasted a month. I also developed this long term akathisia which seems to get worse after I use any type of drug.

If I'd known this kind of weird stuff was going to happen, I would have never used any of these drugs daily, I would have made sure to never use them for more than 2 or 3 days in a row, and take significant breaks in between. Obviously this doesn't happen with everyone as there are plenty of people who remain addicted to drugs for many years (i.e. junkies who are on heroin for 20+ years), it seems to be more common with people who use antidepressants and benzos and various combos of these drugs.

Whats dones done, I learned my lesson. I'm gonna take a big break from it all (try and stay about a year off everything besides the healing drugs like ayahuasca). Luckily, I'm not physically dependent on anything so I don't have to deal with any acute withdrawals, just some amphetamine PAWs (mild akathisia and lack of motivation being the worse). I have great repsect for all drugs, and see them as tools that can enable us to do many things, but my experience has taught me that they are not for daily use, with the exception of cases in which the person has no alternative (i.e. schizophrenics, people with regular life threatening seizures etc.).

 

[mrflowers00]

i've never heard of someone not being able to get high off opiates if they took even a short break like you only 5 weeks after 5 weeks off oxy if i do it again i get good and high

 

[dopemegently]

I always called it "rock bottom" myself; it's the point I realise the drugs do nothing anymore but stop me getting sick. Very depressing when it happened in the past. Of course, everybody's "rock bottom" is different, but for me it's when I get no relief from the gear.

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

I always called it "rock bottom" myself; it's the point I realise the drugs do nothing anymore but stop me getting sick. Very depressing when it happened in the past. Of course, everybody's "rock bottom" is different, but for me it's when I get no relief from the gear.

That is called not being able to afford enough drugs...

Tolerance is a complete and utter bitch.

Opiates only take you as far as you can keep up... When you can't keep up, you can't get high. This is the ultimate epitome of opiate abuse. That fucking line.

I hate tolerance so much just like anyone. But, it is a price. An often shitty experience that signals us that our habit is getting that much more expensive...

 

[Flynnal]

Nicotine and heroin should be as cheap as fucking dirt. Nicotine is...eh, especially when used with e-cigs which is why Big Tobacco and the government are just oh so fucking desperate to ban e-cigs or at least regulate the living fuck out of them.

Heroin is cheap...but the black market just makes it oh so much more expensive. So addicts need to commit oh so much crime to get oh so much money just to remain sane.

The government's role in this is nothing short of complete and total EVIL. McMedicine, McHealth, McGovernment, McPharmaceuticals, McPsychiatry here's what I have to say to you: FUCK YOU!!!

 

[Tommyboy]

I always called it "rock bottom" myself; it's the point I realise the drugs do nothing anymore but stop me getting sick. Very depressing when it happened in the past. Of course, everybody's "rock bottom" is different, but for me it's when I get no relief from the gear.

That is called not being able to afford enough drugs...

Tolerance is a complete and utter bitch.

Opiates only take you as far as you can keep up... When you can't keep up, you can't get high. This is the ultimate epitome of opiate abuse. That fucking line.

I hate tolerance so much just like anyone. But, it is a price. An often shitty experience that signals us that our habit is getting that much more expensive...

I think the answer is somewhere in between these two. We can always get high if we get some decent sleep and then wait until we really feel sick. The problem with being strung out though is that sleep patterns are fucked so a lot of times we can't sleep if we're sick then need some opiates to feel better, and I know that if I'm on next to no sleep I can't really get high but will usually keep trying which is just a waste and keeps my tolerance high.

So we can get high, there's just a lot of times we can't. Another is with redosing. I have mixed results with this but usually if I get high I don't really get anything from taking more after it peaks, I really have to get it right the first try or very shortly after if I don't want to waste any.

I think that the only way to make sure you can use that often is to do your main dose in the morning or early afternoon, then just a tiny bit at night if you need it to keep you from getting sick and waking up from withdrawal. The other alternative is a little in the morning and the main dose at night but I don't know many people that can go all day if they have it with them.

 

[dopamine seeker]

Tolerance is such a mysterious problem with no right answer so far. I believe it happens more with downers, thats why benzos arent for long term use as stimulants are. You didnt say if you get tolerance from amphetamine, do you ?
If so, take a look on memantine