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January 2017 Getting/Staying Clean/Sober Thread v. Goodbye Holidaze, Hello 2017!

I so easily almost forget (but how could I ever really forget, really?): January is six+ months off methadone and February is 3 years off heroin for me. I think I'm actually going to be going to a Refuge meeting and having them bang the gong three times for me. Just for the sake of novelty ;)
 
toothpastedog said:
I so easily almost forget (but how could I ever really forget, really?): January is six+ months off methadone and February is 3 years off heroin for me. I think I'm actually going to be going to a Refuge meeting and having them bang the gong three times for me. Just for the sake of novelty ;)
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Yeah, man. You should definitely not pass up a chance to have a gong rung on your behalf. That's some badass kubla khan shit!
 
toothpastedog said:
I so easily almost forget (but how could I ever really forget, really?): January is six+ months off methadone and February is 3 years off heroin for me. I think I'm actually going to be going to a Refuge meeting and having them bang the gong three times for me. Just for the sake of novelty ;)
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congrats man! :)

you seem really happy and well adjusted off methadone, how are you feeling?

6 months off buprenorphine and I was still miserable. I guess I couldn't taper well enough, or was on it for too long.
 
Thanks CH! I am soooo much happier not to have to put up with the clinic rigamarole bullshit. Methadone was great for me, but I'm glad I got off when I did. It was time. I'm sure you know what that kind of urge is like :)
 
Not much in the way of PAWS, I think that is most due to my use of DXM and iboga during the first few months and my mindfulness/medication practices that I really started cultivating (until they basically had become a part of my procedural memory, like a mental automatic reflex when I was presented with stressful stimuli) that I began cultivating in true earnest shortly after getting on methadone.

There was about 10 or 14 days of acute withdrawal. I managed the first few days after I jumped off about 10mg of methadone (after tapering down from 90mg over about a 20 month period of time) by switching to codeine. Then after three days of just codeine and a bit of diphenhydramine (I definitely enjoyed the albeit somewhat mild high from the codeine during this time) to 2mg buprenorphine, 0.2mg clonidine, 10mg diazepam and 800mg gabapentin twice a day for seven days. Thanks to three days on codeine transitioning from methadone to codeine to buprenorphine was super easy, no issues with precipitated withdrawal. After that just gabapentin, a small bit of clonidine and some trazadone for about a week. Nearly all the symptoms resolved by the end of week two off methadone.

I attribute my ease transition off methadone to my staying away from other opioids during my time on methadone and my very careful taper off of it. It is amazing what a proper taper and detox using proper comfort meds can accomplish. Keep in mind for about 2 years I was taking between 90mg and 60mg, yet when time came to come off I had slowly tapered down to about 10mg over the course of six months and had next to no issues that could be easily managed by relatively small amounts of comfort meds.
 
toothpastedog said:
Not much in the way of PAWS, I think that is most due to my use of DXM and iboga during the first few months and my mindfulness/medication practices that I really started cultivating (until they basically had become a part of my procedural memory, like a mental automatic reflex when I was presented with stressful stimuli) that I began cultivating in true earnest shortly after getting on methadone.

There was about 10 or 14 days of acute withdrawal. I managed the first few days after I jumped off about 10mg of methadone (after tapering down from 90mg over about a 20 month period of time) by switching to codeine. Then after three days of just codeine and a bit of diphenhydramine (I definitely enjoyed the albeit somewhat mild high from the codeine during this time) to 2mg buprenorphine, 0.2mg clonidine, 10mg diazepam and 800mg gabapentin twice a day for seven days. Thanks to three days on codeine transitioning from methadone to codeine to buprenorphine was super easy, no issues with precipitated withdrawal. After that just gabapentin, a small bit of clonidine and some trazadone for about a week. Nearly all the symptoms resolved by the end of week two off methadone.

I attribute my ease transition off methadone to my staying away from other opioids during my time on methadone and my very careful taper off of it. It is amazing what a proper taper and detox using proper comfort meds can accomplish. Keep in mind for about 2 years I was taking between 90mg and 60mg, yet when time came to come off I had slowly tapered down to about 10mg over the course of six months and had next to no issues that could be easily managed by relatively small amounts of comfort meds.
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That's pretty awesome man :)
 
Captain.Heroin said:
I'm guessing opiates?

I always felt extreme boredom, anhedonia, apathy, depression, etc. when coming off heroin without ORT. That's why I kept relapsing, and realizing the odds of me ever getting off heroin without ORT were slim to none, then I tried ORT.

Buprenorphine withdrawal was hellish, and all those things are there with it (depression, ahedonia, boredom, apathy, etc.) but it was to a degree I could "live with" for the long time it lasted.

I can really understand the desire to resume using when you're feeling all sorts of awful without drugs.

I wish you the best of luck tomorrow man, stay strong.
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No not opioids, I've dabbled with them in the past, but never was addicted to any besides kratom.(probably more due to lack of steady supply, which I'm thankful for) I've been a poly drug abuser/addict since I started with alcohol at 15. I instantly fell in love with it. By 16 I was doing cocaine quite regularly with a friend who had connections. At 17 I ended up in rehab after getting arrested for stealing freon out of people's air conditioners to huff. I had been getting away with it for a couple months and I should probably have died from that shit with the hundreds of huge hits I did and the crazy number of times I passed out from it only to wake up and do some more.

Since then it's been on and off alot of different chemicals. Alcohol has been a big one and screwed up alot of things in my life. I'm doing good with that right now, but stimulants(cocaine, propylhexedrine) are hard to stay away from right now. Especially with a source for cocaine who I wish I didn't meet who is also a coworker so he's always right there. Makes it hard to stay away when it's so easy to get. Thanks for the support Captain.Heroin and also toothpastedog and simco. It means alot.(sorry for the long post)
 
RDP89 said:
No not opioids, I've dabbled with them in the past, but never was addicted to any besides kratom.(probably more due to lack of steady supply, which I'm thankful for) I've been a poly drug abuser/addict since I started with alcohol at 15. I instantly fell in love with it. By 16 I was doing cocaine quite regularly with a friend who had connections. At 17 I ended up in rehab after getting arrested for stealing freon out of people's air conditioners to huff. I had been getting away with it for a couple months and I should probably have died from that shit with the hundreds of huge hits I did and the crazy number of times I passed out from it only to wake up and do some more.

Since then it's been on and off alot of different chemicals. Alcohol has been a big one and screwed up alot of things in my life. I'm doing good with that right now, but stimulants(cocaine, propylhexedrine) are hard to stay away from right now. Especially with a source for cocaine who I wish I didn't meet who is also a coworker so he's always right there. Makes it hard to stay away when it's so easy to get. Thanks for the support Captain.Heroin and also toothpastedog and simco. It means alot.(sorry for the long post)
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Wishing you the best! Thanks for sharing your story. It sounds like a pretty intense one.
 
You know my issue has been my surroundings. I am speaking of cigarettes right now - I've planned to quit months ago, for a goal of March 2017. This would give me time to complete my goal - and I knew it's the right time to do it.

However, I find myself wanting to do something when I don't smoke and I have no idea what to fill my time with.

I've tried writing - I used an application to exercise my thoughts every day, I did this for the first 2-3~ months whilst having made the decision to stop - it does help and maybe one day I'll share what I wrote (was planning on trying to make something from it for others, because addiction sucks but cigarettes are a whole other world of feeling trapped).

I've achieved some success in doing things like "OK I wont smoke a cigarette, and I'm going to take the dog on a longer walk." But how many times can I do this you know? I used to use walking the dog sometimes as a means to make sure I smoked outside, albeit I don't think smoking around anyone including animals is OK. More so animals & children - those who can't make their decisions or cannot show them efficiently.

Anyway - anyone have any ideas on what I can do to get rid of that 'smokers free time' ? I'd like to one day not even think about it - I mean the mentality that smoking creates & takes is sad and ridiculous looking at it now - I have a chunk of my life that is competing against my better judgement let alone health, why was I ever questioning it? <-- that is truly why I was able to make the decision to stop - who can ask such a thing of their body? Ugh... anyway opinions are helpful!

-dp

PS. - Good to see you around Capt. :)
 
kickitnow said:
That's epic man. I'll trade you my 10 days off weed for your 2 years off opis if you like? wattayasay
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hahaha funny! I was actually pretty dam happy to trade my 22 years ops addiction for weed!! finally i can smoke weed whenever i want and not worry about a monthly fucking urine test that they would kick my ass out the door if weed showed up in my piss. Im glad that shit is over with i'll deal with my pain with a occasional beer in my hand and a joint in the other. BTW day 47 for me
 
day 3 for me....sigh...*again*... I should be grateful, however, I have little to no physical symptoms anymore. I just can't sleep :(
 
BeatTheSickness said:
day 3 for me....sigh...*again*... I should be grateful, however, I have little to no physical symptoms anymore. I just can't sleep :(
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I know it sucks, feeling like you're starting over. But it's not really starting from scratch when we come back after slipping. Do you have any sense of what got in your way this time?
 
simco said:
I know it sucks, feeling like you're starting over. But it's not really starting from scratch when we come back after slipping. Do you have any sense of what got in your way this time?
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me. I did. I wasn't ready to try to go to work clean and give a genuine attempt at life again. today I am feeling depression, not so much the intense anxiety that led me to buy a 30g pack of Kratom yesterday. I want to buy more, but I won't because I know where that will get me. Today I am scheduled to work, and I know that I should just be thankful that I feel well enough to go.
 
BeatTheSickness said:
me. I did. I wasn't ready to try to go to work clean and give a genuine attempt at life again. today I am feeling depression, not so much the intense anxiety that led me to buy a 30g pack of Kratom yesterday. I want to buy more, but I won't because I know where that will get me. Today I am scheduled to work, and I know that I should just be thankful that I feel well enough to go.
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I had kratom around the last month before i wd i would skip a dose and use kratom you have to have your dose pretty low like 15mgs oxy dose equaled like 6 grams of bali to me. But i never touched it during wds i really hated toss and wash and all other methods too really my biggest help was lyrica it was a godsend for me i would not have traded kratom in wds even for lyrica. good luck
 
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