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Harm Reduction Progress Mega Thread

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Oh don't worry i do. High quality cannabis and hash have been keeping me sane through this "withdrawal" With quality L and shroomies on the side of course, I honestly don't even want to be doing opiates. I'm happy to be free of them, but not at this expense..

I don't see how i still could be withdrawing though it's been so fuckin' long. It's like a psychosomatic response to the lack of opiates in my system or something, my body isn't ready to be free of them which is lame because IM ready to be opiate free. I'm actually glad the tar was so shitty compared to powder because i was discouraged from getting more rather than tempted. I just wish it had done more to help, though at least it didn't make anything worse. I don't know i just don't understand how i can still feel like this 8-9 weeks since getting off bupe.
 
I was under the impression that feeling hot and skin crawling/mild restlessness was traditional acute not post-acute. It's mild enough now that it almost entirely only effects me when im trying to sleep. And it's only ever hot, not cold. It's weird. Usually when im withdrawing it's up in the air whether I'll feel cold or hot. But with this i ONLY feel hot, mostly my arms actually not even my whole body - and cold temperatures help but only if it's too cold for comfort, so of course being comfortable is impossible.
 
^I'm not sure what to call these prolonged temperature issues. I'm coming off of Suboxone myself now because even while on Suboxone, the temperature control problems are becoming too much. The sensations of hot and cold have become brutal.

Last time I quit, I had this issue last well beyond the rest of the withdrawal, and it seems like this time it is going to be worse. This is a strange issue that seems to be tied to bupe, and I'm not sure what exactly the cause is. It is definitely something I'd like to understand better.
 
Well it's day three of no methadone, I went and purchased a small-ish supply of a shorter acting opiate to take for the next few days before I start dosing suboxone. Feeling ok so far, still feeling confident I am going to get through all this as long as I stick to my plan, stick to my bupe taper schedule, and utilize my prescription/otc comfort meds. I also plan on making sure to eat as well as possible, and exercise when I can (if I feel up to it).

I am staying optimistic, so hoping for the best.

I hope everyone else is doing alright, and remember, things can get better. Keep yer heads up everybody. :)
 
Good luck Palace, and thanks for your input by the way Threat. I'm staying optimistic too because IMO this feeling > taking a pill everyday to feel normal. As long as i don't forget how sick of being dependent i was I'll be fine.

Pegasus - I think it is something specific to bupe because i never had this issue with heroin, but i've had this temp. regulation/skin crawling feeling since i started tapering literally 6 months ago or so. I always figured it would go away when i got off bupe...



Not to mention i still haven't passed solid stool since i stopped taking bupe, how long should bowel issues take to go away?
 
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Well it's day three of no methadone, I went and purchased a small-ish supply of a shorter acting opiate to take for the next few days before I start dosing suboxone. Feeling ok so far, still feeling confident I am going to get through all this as long as I stick to my plan, stick to my bupe taper schedule, and utilize my prescription/otc comfort meds. I also plan on making sure to eat as well as possible, and exercise when I can (if I feel up to it).

I am staying optimistic, so hoping for the best.

I hope everyone else is doing alright, and remember, things can get better. Keep yer heads up everybody. :)

That's great news man!

I remember reading that you were getting tired of being on the 'done...and I've read all the stories of how hard it is to get off it. I've always been on the Suboxone side of that debate, but I'm glad you're moving over to Suboxone and then you can start that taper that much easier. :)

Good luck man!
 
I've been reading more on seroquel mainly because my 1st subs dr scripted it for sleep [50mg] I was transferred to another dr and he stopped the seroquel and replaced with Trazodone [50mg] which made sleep problem return... so eventually he prescribed 1mg K-pins to go with Traz which works fine. Now every once in awhile I take the seroquel [still have plentty] instead of traz and sleep like a baby for about 10 hrs but am groggy for a couple of hrs until I get 3-4 coffees down.

Seroquel is apparently a popular drug in jails and prisons and some methadone clients mix it to get a good buzz... which I'd never heard of before. Surprised no other meth friends said anything about this while on MMT for quite a few yrs. Depending on dose, seems more dangerous to me than benzo/meth??

Found this on Wiki:

Recreational use- Quetiapine is not classified as a controlled substance, "abusive self-administration seems to be driven by quetiapine’s sedative and anxiolytic effects (to help with sleep or to 'calm down') rather than by its antipsychotic properties."[51] Reports of quetiapine abuse have emerged in the medical literature, however, while the drug is usually abused through the crushing and snorting of tablets (insufflation), there have also been reports of intravenous abuse and intravenous co-administration with cocaine.[52] This is commonly referred to as a "Q-Ball".[52] A 2004 letter to the editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry provided an anecdotal estimate that up to 30% of inmates who were seen for psychiatric services in the Los Angeles County Jail were faking psychotic symptoms in an attempt to obtain quetiapine.[53] Also known as "quell", "Snoozeberries", or "Susie-Q", the drug may be more commonly abused in prisons due to its capacity to be regularly prescribed as a sedative and the unavailability in prison of more commonly abused substances. A letter to the editor which appeared in the January 2007 American Journal of Psychiatry has proposed a “need for additional studies to explore the addiction-potential of quetiapine”. The letter reports that its authors are physicians who work in the Ohio correctional system. They report that “prisoners ... have threatened legal action and even suicide when presented with discontinuation of quetiapine” and that they have “not seen similar drug-seeking behavior with other second-generation antipsychotics of comparable efficacy”. It has also been reported that when Seroquel is used with methadone it causes the user to experience a buzz, or opioid euphoria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seroquel

Anyway, I tried to 50mg seroquel/k-pins which didn't help at all with last attempt to quit subs. Think I'll ask for clonodine and maybe use that with k-pins for sleep and RLS next time. These are the only 2 symptoms I can't handle with WD's I guess it could due to other health issues. Maybe I didn't use enough of the two??

Good luck to you guys who recently dropped of subs and meth... will be following closely.
 
^Just a note regarding RLS, you should give Neurontin (Gabapentin) a try. For me, it helps immensely with the RLS, which is one of the worst symptoms for me during withdrawal. Its main purpose is for nerve pain and neuropathy, and it really does wonders in calming those jumpy nerves that won't stop jumping around during w/d. Neurontin (for me anyways) is really a wonderfully effective medication during w/d, and in combination with klonopin, soma, seroquel, and loperamide, I can effectively minimize most of the withdrawal symptoms.

Neurontin is not a controlled med, so it shouldn't be difficult to get it prescribed. I have never used clonidine(except in rehab I think for a few days) so I don't have much anecdotal opinions on it, except I hear it is quite effective in reducing the high blood pressure/heart rate attributed to withdrawal.

Also, in regards to seroquel+methadone, last summer the psychiatrist at the methadone clinic prescribed me seroquel for my sleep problems, and also had me taking it three times a day for some reason, which just made me a zombie. In combination with the methadone, though, I never noticed any increase in euphoria or "high" of any sort. At best it increased the sedation created from the methadone, which during the day when one is trying to be productive, is not a positive effect.

And finally, thanks for the kind words everyone, I will keep y'all updated on how I am doing. Good luck to the rest of you guys who are tapering/quitting/maintaining sobriety.
 
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^Seroquel is all over Bluelight these days, hmm.

Brokedown, I'm with you on this man, my Suboxone dosages are still in the 200-300 microgram range, but I took even less yesterday and took Ativan with some hash and a bit of alcohol to even it out and it wasn't a problem, of course the other drugs were most likely potentiating the hell out of the buprenorphine.

Today I took a few drops of 80x extract kratom and 15mg Adderall and I feel really damn good, which is a pleasant surprise. I'm quite proud of myself for getting my opiate tolerance down to a level that I feel like I could jump off of if I needed to at any time.

I'm glad to hear that everybody is doing well :)
 
^Awesome, man. Good job getting your dose down so low. Im confident you will succeed in this endeavor as well. Keep us updated. Doing it with no meds is nearly impossible, having some comfort meds really does make it easier.
 
I used to mix seroquel with benadryl and would get a euphoric opiate like high, at least I'm 99% sure it was seroquel - though it may have been trazodone since i was prescribed both a number of times between doctors i can't remember.

Just thought i'd throw that out there since similar topics were brought up.

Just got back from jogging for the first time since getting off bupe and i feel great. :) (for the first time in 3 years to be honest...)
Definitely planning on making this a morning routine. Should help my endorphins regenerate faster and hopefully "re-regulate" my temperature regulation system. Until now i haven't done any aerobic exercise, just pulls ups and sit ups mostly, neither of which compares to running... Which i knew would be the case i just didn't feel up to it until this morning for some reason.
 
@BrokedownPalace, I'm glad to hear you're with me on this, my goal is to reduce my dose down to a point where I can jump off if/when I need to. After finally seeing a doctor who wasn't hell-bent on prescribing SSRIs for anxiety I got a benzo script and come to the realization that I've probably been self-medicating with various drugs for years now and that, even though the DEA/medical science don't agree with me, opiates are better long-term anxiolytics than some benzos (that being said, I'll reach for my Ativan during a panic attack before I reach for a Vicodin).

So I'm okay with using opiates for that purpose, buprenorphine does quite a good job, at those low doses I'm talking about. Exercise helps massively, as does actually taking vitamin supplements (something I had gotten bad about doing until recently).

If you ask me, self-medication is purely natural. We're just cursed with using a medication that people consider to be an illegal vice.

@caseface99, exercise makes a world of a difference (like I just mentioned), I'm actually on my way outside right now to go for a bike ride, but wanted to chime in on this thread before I logged off Bluelight :)
 
@Neighborhood - I'm with you buddy, we can do this. I feel that bluelight helps so much, just being able to talk to other people who are going through similar things, and are knowledgeable about what is going on. At the methadone clinic I had been attending, the other patients, while nice people, don't get me wrong, just didn't seem to have very much knowledge about opiates or addiction or anything.

And also, an unfortunate fact is that the counselors/doctor/nurses don't seem to know as much as they should, and certainly don't go out of their way to try and educate the patients. It seems like their main goal is to keep you in the dark, keep feeding you the poison juice, and keep you there as a patient forever. If seems like the percentage of people who tapered down and stayed sober from my clinic was very low. The methadone clinic, while it certainly got me off of dope and going to Newark everyday and stealing and shit, it just got me handcuffed to the clinic.

Copping dope is a full time job, and well going to the clinic daily and the useless counselor appointments and waiting there in line and random bottle checks, is also practically a full time job. Going by their schedule, I would still be there 1.5 years from today tapering down. I'm done, man. I'm doing this on my own, armed with the knowledge, power, and medications I need to get it done.

I also have a good support system, which is key. Bluelight is fucking fantastic, my Mom is helping me immensely, I gave her all my benzos and soma and have her deal them out to me. She is fully on board with my plan. I'm also starting at a new psychiatric facility for counseling in mid april, which should hopefully coincide with right around the point where I will be done with m short bupe taper.

On paper my plan is as sound as can be. I just need to keep up my confidence and stay positive, and deal with the days that are going to be shitty. It will get better, and I want my old life back.

I beat stage IV cancer last year, so I can certainly handle a bupe taper, if it means getting my life back.

Neighborhood, feel free to PM me if you want to chat or anything, or if you're feeling shitty or down and just need someone to talk to. I'll be right along with ya, and we're gonna do this man. No question. We're stronger than some people think, and we definitely can do this. :)
 
Bluelight is an amazing support network, and its pretty funny in The Lounge and various social threads and all that as well.

It also removes the guilt aspect of doing drugs, a lot of people seem to judge black or white, you're either doing drugs or not doing drugs. There's no you're doing drugs but trying to do less drugs, but at Bluelight there is.

I'm also starting at a new psychiatric facility for counseling in mid april, which should hopefully coincide with right around the point where I will be done with m short bupe taper.

That's awesome, so you're planning on tapering completely down with bupe?

Neighborhood, feel free to PM me if you want to chat or anything, or if you're feeling shitty or down and just need someone to talk to. I'll be right along with ya, and we're gonna do this man. No question. We're stronger than some people think, and we definitely can do this.

Absolutely man, I dunno if you've been following the BDD social/mod wanting thread but I may end up being a mod over there so we'll have that in common as well (assuming Cane waves his mod-wand in the right direction....)

I'm happy this thread is around, it's a great record of everybody's progress which I enjoy reading through. :)
 
^Awesome man, i think you'd be a good mod. BDD used to be my old stomping ground, but I don't have as much time to read it as I used to. Definitely needs some fixin' up though, that's for sure. I am very grateful I got chosen to mod OD, I have loved every minute of it. I wonder if it'd be a good thing to put on a resume. Hah !
 
^Awesome man, i think you'd be a good mod. BDD used to be my old stomping ground, but I don't have as much time to read it as I used to. Definitely needs some fixin' up though, that's for sure. I am very grateful I got chosen to mod OD, I have loved every minute of it. I wonder if it'd be a good thing to put on a resume. Hah !

I'd say it depends on where you're sending the resume but I've always wanted to put "amateur drug expert" or "armchair pharmacist" on my resume when I'm talking about my hobbies but I know that probably wouldn't go over too well. =D You and amapola have done great jobs modding OD up as well, by the way. I know BDD has some work to be done on it but its a very important forum on BL, and combined with OD is one of the places where most newcomers show up (as far as I can tell) so I'm hoping to make a difference and help BL grow in the spirit of harm reduction and helping others out with their adventures in psychotropics!
 
Luckily I got out of the dope game pretty early on, I think Haha. I had been addicted to heroin for about a year and a half. Though some months of that time were spent using suboxone with little H every now and then. The last four months were spent using an H (IV) daily, not too much, about a .2 to .3 a day. It was about 7 weeks ago when i hit rock bottom and I absolutely haaaad to quit, meaning....my parents found out ha. That's myyy rock bkttom. So after my last day of dope, I took 8mg of sub, then again a week later, then again a week later. I know it messed up my wds a bit but, It was about 6 weeks after my last dope shot and about 2 weeks after my last sub when I fiiiiinally felt like i was completely free of wds. A little longer than i expected but it was chill. Now, I truly believe that I do not want to use again. Buut, I always said that after im clean I would want to get "high" for the first time on sub. And 7 weeks later after h, I did. I got high as shit. A couple of days after i started to kick a bit. That was unexpected. I thought I was done, especially after getting high from sub. So, I took another sub, didn't vet high, but felt fine. That was 2 days ago and I'm starting to kick again. I'm sure it won't last but a few days right? If someone gets addicted after using about 4 mg of sub 3 times every other day, the wd won't be bad at all, I'm thinking. Wrong? anywyas, I'm not going to take sub again because i know how easily you can get dependant on it. But even with the few mess ups on sub, I still am very happy that I got off dope, early in the game I say. 4 of my closest friends got off dope the same time I did, so I'm pretty happy i got that support system too. So I'm going to deal with this last slight kick and be on my way....sticking only to the phsychadelics like I should've in the first place!
 
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^ im in the same boat (kinda) i kicked subs after being on them 4 years and only w/d'd for a week.. then a month later i had another thing i needed to go through w/d's to get off- klonopin, after tapering a little over a year i had finally stopped, well while in k-pin w/ds i needed *something* to fuck me up, so i said to myself that since i've been clean on subs for a month i can take some for a few days and it will help with the shitty feeling of benzo w/d.. so with benzo w/d's pretty much over i stopped the subs.. just using those 3-4 days got me re-addicted to them although not as bad.. so i am on day 3 of that kick and feel like tomorrow i will feel 100% normal and be clean of dependence of opiates & benzos all within a month or twos time. with a few bumps in the road there but i didn't give up.. and everyone reading. IT IS WORTH IT to go through all the w/d's.. you come out of it feeling like a champ because you beat your addictions.


EDIT: that's why i haven't been posting much.. i felt so shitty i didn't have the energy to post, and only read a few threads.. but im feeling a lot better so hopefully i'll be back to posting info/experiences like i used to, only difference is that im clean now.

EDIT2: Happy St. Patty's Day!
 
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^Happy St. Patty's Day to you! It is a great feeling to have that realization that you are not addicted to anything! I will be there (again) in less than a month, I hope!
 
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