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Energy during opiate withdrawal

flyhigh146

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Oct 25, 2015
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I am in day one of opiate withdrawal. I have been down this road numerous times before and am trying to get clean this time. During withdrawal, I am extremely tired. Right now, I do not have the funds to go purchase supplements. How can I get some energy? I've been taking Gabapentin today which seems to help with w/d but it makes me so sleepy. The worst is yet to come, day 2 is typically worse and I have to work tomorrow.
 
Honestly for me as well its extremely hard to function on opiate withdrawal, something that helped me quite a bit was a VERY small dose of oral methamphetamine ( a lot of people will say this worsens the WD cause of anxiety but I found taking a small oral dosage actually helped me with energy and I took pure CBD orally as well and it definitely helped with any anxiety I was having along with a small amount of edible marijuana. Phenibut also definitely helped me and it is cheap and super affordable IMO. Has muscle relaxant properties as well and definitely helped with my body aches I was having, helped IMMENSELY with anxiety, though benzos work too. I also had to go to work while withdrawal of heroin and these helped me If you're able to sleep it off though while you don't have work I definitely recommend that though, your body needs rest right now and the more you rest in my opinion it will help you feel better + have energy. Just my 2 cents. Hope that helped you somewhat at least bro and good luck.
 
Something like Adderall? I have heard stimulants have been able to help with withdrawal. I took another 600mg Gabapentin and 60mg DXM. Other then stomach discomfort and fatigue, I feel somewhat OK. I've slept on and off all day. But tomorrow I must go to work. I'm coming off a OC habit of 60-135mg per day. I have been considering Suboxone, but heard those withdrawals are hell! So if I can do this without, I may as well.
 
Stims help opiate WD in the very short term but the crash will make you consider suicide. Especially if your not a regular stim user used to nasty crashes. Frankly I get the opposite feeling as your describing when I am in withdrawals, I become overstimulated and too awake. But your right about gabapentin causing drowsiness I have a script for it and anything over 300mg knocks me right out.

Withdrawal from long term suboxone use is extremely nasty but it is a miracle drug if used for a short taper. I always tell people not too let the fear of future withdrawal scare them away from getting on opiate replacement therapy as the pain from being addicted to short acting opiates is just as real. It just tends to happen more gradually than withdrawal from long term maintenance. I tell my friends IRL if you have failed to quit opiates after 3 real trys that include professional help (inpatient rehab, IOP) then it is time to consider maintenance.
 
At one point, I took Adderall for my ADHD. But I cannot say I've been on it recently. OC became my best friend because it gave me energy for hours then curbed my insomnia at night. As far as my attempts, I have tried more than three times on my own. Using Kratom, Gabapentin, and cold turkey. If I even make it to day three, the depression, anxiety, and wanting to crawl out of skin makes me want to use again. And the mental cravings drive me mad. Inpatient is not an option as I am a mother of two and just started a new job. I actually made some calls today regarding Suboxone. I have an appointment this week for an initial intake. Sadly, I couldn't take this attempt at semi cold turkey using only Gaba. I am starting to think Sub may be my only answer.
 
Also have tried DXM. My thoughts at this point are giving Sub a try. When I am ready to taper off, I should have some vacation time accumulated and may be able to take off if it gets too bad.
 
I took gabapentin for withdrawals and it eliminated most of the worst parts for me
 
Nothing wrong with getting on maintenance. As long as you use your time on suboxone to address the underlying issues causing your addiction.
 
If I chose maintenance, I plan on going to individual counseling weekly and a recovery group weekly at my church. I just want my life back. Gabapentin works for me, as mentioned though it makes me sleep around the clock and I must work and take care of my family. I'm also afraid it won't battle the mental cravings long term.
 
You should not use other drugs for stimulation while in opiate withdrawal, particularly those that are habit forming. This is because you need to be able to cope with emotions and life situations while in withdrawal. You cannot numb out the pain of withdrawal forever with other drugs.

I think it's OK to have caffeine though, that goes without saying.

Other people's ideas and input are welcome, but please keep in mind we are a recovery-oriented sub-forum.
 
I have opted to try Suboxone maintenance. As soon as the prior authorization goes through with my insurance, I can pick it up. I know I cannot take it until all the OC is out of my system. I also intend to go to a weekly recovery meeting at my church and weekly individual counseling. After a few months, I intend to taper off the Sub.
 
I have opted to try Suboxone maintenance. As soon as the prior authorization goes through with my insurance, I can pick it up. I know I cannot take it until all the OC is out of my system. I also intend to go to a weekly recovery meeting at my church and weekly individual counseling. After a few months, I intend to taper off the Sub.

Congrats on the decision man. :)

Keep us posted. Best of luck <3
 
I have opted to try Suboxone maintenance. As soon as the prior authorization goes through with my insurance, I can pick it up. I know I cannot take it until all the OC is out of my system. I also intend to go to a weekly recovery meeting at my church and weekly individual counseling. After a few months, I intend to taper off the Sub.

You just have to wait until you are in withdrawal from OC to take the sub. 24 hours after your last OC dose is usually a good rule of thumb to use but everyone is a little different. Congrats on your decision as well! Especially the decision to get into counseling figuring out what drove you to abuse drugs will be key for your recovery.
 
Please keep fingers crossed. To the best of my knowledge, my insurance can deny me the Suboxone. I won't know for sure until Monday or Tuesday. I have followed the proper protocol. I really hope this works out. I feel as if this is what I need in order to keep my job, my family, and to get clean.
 
I am very discouraged. Getting prior authorization for Suboxone is a nightmare. I needed an intake from a licensed D&A counselor before Sub Dr. I did that. Needed urine screening from Sub Dr. Did that. Still hasn't been approved. I have started using again. The D&A counselor doesn't want a treatment plan until I am clean. I am struggling staying clean without Suboxone. Sub Dr prescribed Clonodine and Lomotril. Trying that tomorrow. I will continue to try to get the Suboxone. I have a good job and two kids. I don't want to lose either thus why I didn't want rehab. I thought my plan to get clean was a good approach. Guess it isn't what God has planned for me.
 
Can you take a week off and say you have the flu? I am 8 days sober right now and the nightmare is finally over. When I was on suboxone I had to go into intake to get off of them. It took me about 5 weeks to feel normal again after using suboxone. That drug is the biggest double edged sword.
 
Right now I cannot take off. I have only been there 8 weeks and we are short staffed. My game plan was to combine Suboxone and counseling for a few months, taper off, all while accumulating time off so if I suffered Sub withdrawal, I'd be able to take some time off. Clonodine/Lomotil combination makes me extremely sleepy and dizzy. Although it does help with some of the withdrawal symptoms. Not sure I can take the combination and function at work.
 
It's very rare for someone to experience significant withdrawal from buprenorphine after taking Suboxone for 2-3 months. Especially if they don't take higher doses than needed and stay below 8mg for the majority of the time. And if they taper off of it it makes any nasty withdrawal side effects even less likely.

I keep forgetting to mention this, but first have you ever used gabapentin (Neurontin) during acute withdrawal? For many people it reduces the majority of daytime symptoms to a very bearable experience, although some people who've never used it before and don't have any tolerance to gabaergic drugs get really drowsy from it.

Baclofen is even better than gabapentin (or in my experience pregabalin, which is superior to gabapentin), when taken at moderate-high doses for opioid withdrawal. It's also fairly easy to access through a doctor, especially if they're sympathetic. If you take too much and mix it with alcohol or benzos it can end up really knocking you out and not a fun experience at all, but when used by itself it is fairly safe.

I'd really consider at least a moderate dose of gabapentin/pregabalin or better yet baclofen when you're ready to come off Suboxone or if you want to use it to get off Suboxone sooner. It works really well. While you're on Suboxone you can take small-moderate doses of it infrequently in the evening for instance to make sure it's okay for you and to get used to it, plus it will help with sleep and all that, and make it easier to function on Suboxone (especially when you first transition onto bupe).

Even with a nasty heroin habit or methadone dependency, 80-100mg of baclofen will keep me very functional, certainly enough to work and be around family. I may need to redose later in the day, but generally no more than 2x a day. I understand that a minority get side effects that make it impractical and some with certain preexisting conditions like bad major depression can also rarely be exacerbated, but the stuff works really, really well to stay functional while kicking during the day at work.

Only caveat of course is that, especially with baclofen and pregabalin, if taken in high doses every day for like six or more months it can lead to its own gabaergic type withdrawal when you stop taking it, but IME there's no reason to uses such doses every day once the acute withdrawal has worn off, and that's well, well under six months.
 
no one mentioned kratom?? Helps tremendously, especially combined with some good ol cannabis. Taper with the kratom using a little less each day until you feel you don't need it. It doesn't effect the duration of withdrawal like subs or methadone does.
 
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