Opioids Advice needed on how to best quit oxy and Tramadol

[The_Selecter]

Hi.

I need to get off oxy and Tramadol and thought doing it by using pregabalin or benzos to help me do it. But I use both as boosters and now I'm not sure if using them to quit the opiates is such a good idea. Because of work I can't risk to withdraw cold.
Would tapering the opiates without taking the boosters be the better way, or would it be better to take just the boosters?

 

[Opana313]

Tapering is the best way to go. But sometimes just ripping the band aid off and going cold turkey is best because it's sheer hell...I try to do a little bit of both..taper, then go thru hell but have something in case "I'm not ready" and need to dose/continue with the taper.

Benzos will help but only by a little..once the tramadol and oxy are completely out of your system, you will become extra sleepy/lethargic(only at work though, our withdrawals will never let us SLEEP at night) and benzos usually make that work day a fuc*ing bitch sometimes..

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

Tapering is the best way to go. But sometimes just ripping the band aid off and going cold turkey is best because it's sheer hell...I try to do a little bit of both..taper, then go thru hell but have something in case "I'm not ready" and need to dose/continue with the taper.

Benzos will help but only by a little..once the tramadol and oxy are completely out of your system, you will become extra sleepy/lethargic(only at work though, our withdrawals will never let us SLEEP at night) and benzos usually make that work day a fuc*ing bitch sometimes..

I agree. Benzos made me fail at work more than opioids ever could

 

[The_Selecter]

I tried to taper but felt so bad at some point t that I had to leave work. Now I feel everyone knows what's going on which is stupid, I know. So im back to where I was.

 

[Opana313]

Don't beat youself up man. This is is a process sometimes. Try to get your hands on vicodin and codeine, these will be much easier to kick than oxy and especially trams.

But seriously all you can do is keep going man. I used to go thru withdrawal at least once a week(no money, waiting for next check) and then a drought will hit and I'd be fucked for a few weeks.

It sucks chasing I would look into all viable options and select best for you..maybe introduce some kratom to help taper and get through work?

But no I would fail same way all the time to the point I would fuck up good jobs.

It's much better to accept the fact that you either can't have any at all or to keep it disciplined to where you are taking legit doses to get by an hopefully ultimate goal quit and to not be over stepping boundaries(blowing your rent money, stealing etc.)

 

[Opana313]

I agree. Benzos made me fail at work more than opioids ever could

True that. Don't get me wrong..if I'm on my usual fun opioid shit and then throw in a therapeutic dose or two, how wonderful the day may be. But goddamn blacking out or falling asleep way long on a 30min break ain't too cool. Idk you would think it would make time fly but instead, at least if your are also in a bit of a WD funk to begin with, the time just drags and even slower with each yawn.

 

[Smyth2]

I have some loperamide here that is seen as a drug of last resort:

Stanciu CN, Gnanasegaram SA. Loperamide, the "Poor Man's Methadone": Brief Review. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2017 Jan-Mar;49(1):18-21. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2016.1260188. Epub 2016 Dec 5. PMID: 27918873.

Malinky, C. A., Lindsley, C. W., & Han, C. (2021). DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Loperamide. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 12(16), 2964–2973. doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00382

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

True that. Don't get me wrong..if I'm on my usual fun opioid shit and then throw in a therapeutic dose or two, how wonderful the day may be. But goddamn blacking out or falling asleep way long on a 30min break ain't too cool. Idk you would think it would make time fly but instead, at least if your are also in a bit of a WD funk to begin with, the time just drags and even slower with each yawn.

I fell asleep/blacked out for a few seconds while talking, then suddenly came to not knowing what I just said.. Absolutely not cool

 

[Opana313]

I have some loperamide here that is seen as a drug of last resort:

Stanciu CN, Gnanasegaram SA. Loperamide, the "Poor Man's Methadone": Brief Review. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2017 Jan-Mar;49(1):18-21. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2016.1260188. Epub 2016 Dec 5. PMID: 27918873.

Malinky, C. A., Lindsley, C. W., & Han, C. (2021). DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Loperamide. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 12(16), 2964–2973. doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00382

Yes this used to be my main staple. I hated them, as they made you way more dehydrated and dysphoric BUT if it can plug me up and eliminate most of the cold sweats, I was happy, for lack of a better word.

It truly does help, I used to take about 3 or 4 imodium's first thing in the morning, followed by 2-3 later in the afternoon. But yeah it's bad for the heart and won't get you high, some ppl would take insane amounts and probably didn't shit for months lol.

These are all tools you can use to help aid thru the 3-14days of bullshit(I say 14 because tramadol withdrawal is a special sort of hell thanks to the SNRI).

My kick list usually or used to consist of the following:
Imodium

Kratom

400-800mg Ibuprofen/tylenol(excedren for that caffeine).

Any benzo I can get hands on..for most reasons I would prefer 2mg klonopin and 2mg Xanax and hopefully a couple handfuls.

An upper, (no meth for me, but adderall always helped a lot especially with benzos to balance things out). If I can't find any IR or ER Addy then I am reaching for psuedophedrine.

And of course your mindset plays a huge role, if you taper correctly and just LET GO of this never ending battle inside your mind, you will find that your body can get through alot of this physical BS because overthinking the way you may "feel" is just exhausting and eventually becomes overwhelming.

I don't know how long you have been using oxy or tramadol but after the kick and some clean time under you, you will have to ask yourself many things, and re-organize life choices. If this is the beginning for you, trust me and shake this shit off.

If you feel you need help then try detox centers I guess or if you think you need maintenance then go for methadone or suboxone but these fucking suck too if not worse but does help with addiction in its own ways.

 

[The_Selecter]

Yes this used to be my main staple. I hated them, as they made you way more dehydrated and dysphoric BUT if it can plug me up and eliminate most of the cold sweats, I was happy, for lack of a better word.

It truly does help, I used to take about 3 or 4 imodium's first thing in the morning, followed by 2-3 later in the afternoon. But yeah it's bad for the heart and won't get you high, some ppl would take insane amounts and probably didn't shit for months lol.

These are all tools you can use to help aid thru the 3-14days of bullshit(I say 14 because tramadol withdrawal is a special sort of hell thanks to the SNRI).

My kick list usually or used to consist of the following:
Imodium

Kratom

400-800mg Ibuprofen/tylenol(excedren for that caffeine).

Any benzo I can get hands on..for most reasons I would prefer 2mg klonopin and 2mg Xanax and hopefully a couple handfuls.

An upper, (no meth for me, but adderall always helped a lot especially with benzos to balance things out). If I can't find any IR or ER Addy then I am reaching for psuedophedrine.

And of course your mindset plays a huge role, if you taper correctly and just LET GO of this never ending battle inside your mind, you will find that your body can get through alot of this physical BS because overthinking the way you may "feel" is just exhausting and eventually becomes overwhelming.

I don't know how long you have been using oxy or tramadol but after the kick and some clean time under you, you will have to ask yourself many things, and re-organize life choices. If this is the beginning for you, trust me and shake this shit off.

If you feel you need help then try detox centers I guess or if you think you need maintenance then go for methadone or suboxone but these fucking suck too if not worse but does help with addiction in its own ways.

Detox centers and the sub/methadone route are not a real option for me
I will have to do this myself. Fortunately I'm not a heavy user compared to many of the users here or some people I knew a while ago

It doesn't make it easier and it's very true what you write about the mindset and the battle inside. Resolving the issues that led me into using drugs is something I know I have to do but I also feel that I'm not ready yet

 

[crisler]

Hey man question and my experience. How do you take both of them in the same day? I’ve taken tramadol for years at the same dose of 250mg sometimes bumping at 50mg 3 hours later. Rarely. But whenever I took tramadol any other substance like kratom, oxy anything it was the weirdest most unpleasant reaction tramadol made it impossible for me to take a second substance how did it feel for you? Was it an interaction or two separate effects.

Also my success in quitting. If you follow my post history since 2015 you’ll see I was a huge addict of tramadol I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stop though I needed to because my supply was expensive. I decided to tape beginning in July and over months tapered 10% of my current dose because I’m afraid of withdrawals. You may not have months though I understand that’s long. But it was seamless.

I quit in December 2021 never touched it again but tapering it worked so well man I tapered 10% per week from 250mg to 2mg measured with a jewelry scale I have. Only paws I had for about a month was a weird mental state where life felt fake but I was just playing along so I didn’t feel like I was crazy but that wore off fast like 4-5 weeks after quitting.

 

[Subsrgood]

subutex...its the only thing ive come across that lets you work and not detox. i would wait 12 hours from last dose and i would be good.

 

[4DQSAR]

https://sci-hub.st/10.1111/1556-4029.14115

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but loparamide can readily pass the BBB. But the brain's (ATP)-binding cassette transporters actively pump it out of the brain. So essentially one has to overcome that transport by producing such high plasma concentrations that it overwhelms those transporters.

That means loperamide has a really nasty two-phase dose-response curve. It will help with certain AWS symptoms but a person will still feel just as awful until that overwhelming takes place. From reports people seemed to have been taking something like 200mg of the stuff and then upped it to 240mg (for example) only to die or suffer severe health emergencies.

I know people who developed compartment syndrome, arrhythmia leading to syncope and of course, dying. That the above link is from a forensic journal gives some idea of this.

But as a comfort medication, it MAY have a little bit of value. I mean, you aren't rushing to the loo every 10 minutes. But that 2-phase dose/response curve isn't at some specific dose. It seems to vary. Throwing in inhibitors to lower that phase change is, frankly, madness.

Do ANYTHING else. Get on a methadone programme, obtain codeine, buy poppy pods. I'm not making a moral judgement. Loperamide ITSELF is supposed to have an AWS not unlike methafone, so you are simply putting off the inevitable. In fact, you are making your habit LONGER so the eventual AWS will be even worse.