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Advice on Treatment for Heroin

josie

josie

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Messages
58
Location
New Orleans / Dallas
I've tried the whole AA/NA thing, methadone, suboxone, rehab.. has anyone had any type of success with staying off heroin using a different treatment plan besides a 12 step or a replacement drug?
 
Heh, no. They were suggesting that this topic would be better suited to The Dark Side. This is the section of the site where we deal with addiction, mental health and general support.

I'd recommend checking out our Heroin/Opioid Megathread for starters.
 
Just means wherever you posted this topic was not the correct forum so he moved it to The Dark Side.

If you don't want to use anything else to taper and you don't want to go to any meetings then the way I see it, you have one of two options. Cold turkey, which I'm sure you don't want to do, or taper down your dose of heroin then jump off, which I'm sure you'll have trouble with as it takes exceptional will power.

Why didn't Suboxone work for you if I might ask?
 
If you are sick of opiates and they have ruined your life over and over and you reach *that point* it won't matter how you come off them but you WILL find a way to stop using them.

From what you wrote it just sounds like you aren't fully ready to stop. I mean really you either accept that you're not at that point yet and drop the fantasy of quitting or you push yourself over the edge and just go with it.

The reality is getting off opiates all you have to do is get off opiates. The vessel that takes you there doesn't matter as much as the desire or reasons you have for wanting to quit. If the reasons are "oh I'd just like to quit I think life would be a lot more merry" thats usually not enough. And this is something a lot of people including myself bounce back and forth with. Whats likely to happen is you will try quitting a number of times in various different ways and if things get better in your life you may lose the desire to want to stop. If thinks get worse and worse eventually I think its likely you'll stop.

What I'm trying to do now is drop the excuses, accept the fact that opiates really have nothing left to offer me, and end this sick fucking cycle for once. You really just have to do it or not. Either lower your dose everyday slowly untill your off, or just stop cold turkey. You can use meds to assist you or not. But if you keep relapsing and fucking it up which is normal it usually just means opiates haven't fucked with your life quite enough yet. Everyone has a different threshold or breaking point, you're just figuring out what yours is.
 
I have been an opiate addict most of my teenage years, all of my 20's and into my 30's. I tried everything to get off. Nothing ever worked and did want to be clean but it just never clicked. In a couple months it will be 2 yrs off opiates, massive accomplishment. I used NA/AA in the beginning to mainly occupy my time with positive mindsets but than stopped going. Things are pretty good now but what has been spinning around in my head today is trying to move past the fact all I have really ever done is drugs. Doesn't feel to good, oh well.
 
^ Congrats on getting clean, that's fantastic! I know it's hard looking back and having regrets about time misspent and the choices we made, but that has been and gone and there is nothing that can ever change it - what you can do is turn things around, which you did - you should be incredibly proud that you kicked it, and stayed clean for 2 years :) <3

Now is the time to start doing the things you wish you had done before :) and reflect on what drug addiction and kicking it has taught you.. I am sure you are a far stronger and more self-aware person than you were beforehand.

Josie, could you tell us a bit more about why the methods have failed? That way we might be able to see a little more clearly what the problem is :)
 
NA is full of people who insist you are diseased and that higher powers help. /rant

You don't want to quit cause someone/something is enabling you. Ill be called the god damn narcane warrior I sware. You know what you need? Locked in a room and given antagonist injections till you stop with your fail streak attitude. Handcuffed to a bed

Someone needs to take your car and insurance cards and cut you off.
D
 
Regulator, I gave up on AA for similar reasons. This idea they promote that I am not responsible for my addiction, and will not be responsible for my recovery is bullshit. I got myself there, I will get myself out. How are you meant to recover unless you take ownership of your own recovery, instead of crediting it to some imagined higher power outside of yourself?

Josie, I have to agree with Bojangles to a large extent. I could never stay off so long as I was only stopping cos I was sick of the lifestyle, or couldn't afford my habit anymore, or had been forced off in jail. I always relapsed. It was only when I decided I was sick of the gear itself and wanted rid of it for good that I was able to stop. Soon as I made that decision, it was like flicking a switch and a little light going on, and I never looked back once I'd done the detox and got somewhere feeling kinda normal. Never really craved after a time, and was never really tempted to go back or try for recreational use again cos I knew I couldn't do recreational with it. I'm struggling with alcohol at the minute, and it's the exact same thing. I'm struggling cos I haven't yet got to that same point of being sick enough of drinking yet, and a part of me still wants to be able to drink, or at least know I'll be able to drink in the future. Sooner I accept I'll most likely never be able to drink socially and recreationally again the better.

You mentioned maintenance / detoxes with Heroin substitutes Josie. Have you tried Naltrexone once you've detoxed, to help you stay off long enough to get somewhere stable?
 
NA gives alot of people a firm spring board on the latter to.recovery. a routine is what every fiend needs.

OP you need to be patient and talk to us im a prick but im here for.you I have been down some dark places myself
 
It did but I dont want to use a substitution, I dont want to sit around recalling everyhting about doing dope... I decided to stop last week, used subs to help moderate the sickness, and have been clean 6 days. It got to the point where it wasn't even fun anymore i couldn't find a vein it literally took me 45 min to shoot up. How sick is that? Wish me luck yall.
 
Excellent news on the detox Josie. I wish you the very best of luck with it. :)

How you feeling? Pain all gone, sleeping any? I know it's early days but what's your plans for the immediate future as far as trying to move forward and stay off goes?
 
Detox sucks , we all know that, but what a lot of addicts don't realize is a huge portion of it is mental. For example, you're gonna detox a hell of a lot worse somewhere where getting dope is super easy to do as opposed to detoxing in, say, a totally new city where you have no idea where to get it. The more you think about being sick the sicker you're gonna think you are. And i know, from personal experience, after 72 hours the worst is over and its tolerable after that. I've met users who claim to still be full-blown sick 9 days later and I try and explain to them its mental but we all know there is no telling us. The worst part for me is the, i don't know what to call it, ghost twitches? Uncontrollable clenching of my legs and arms like spasms. And the insomnia. But some immodium, xanax, and weed and three days on the couch with no work and a good friend that understands makes it a lot easier. Thanks for asking.

How am I going to stay off? Thats a good question. Stay busy?

**EDIT: now i know the sickness off methadone like drugs DOES take longer than 72 hours**
 
josie said:
Detox sucks , we all know that, but what a lot of addicts don't realize is a huge portion of it is mental. For example, you're gonna detox a hell of a lot worse somewhere where getting dope is super easy to do as opposed to detoxing in, say, a totally new city where you have no idea where to get it. The more you think about being sick the sicker you're gonna think you are.
Click to expand...

Exactly ^this^. I learned just how much is mental doing my rip in prison. It was a piece of piss compared to rips I'd done on the out because I knew there was nothing I could do about it so no point stressing. I think it's a proper physical mechanism though, not something entirely subjective. The fear of getting really sick and the constant battle we have with ourselves about whether to stick with it or bail ramps up the anxiety levels massively, and I'm quite sure that pumps something ( possibly noradrenaline? ) into our system that adds to the physical symptoms.
 
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^Definitely. When I was addicted and really really craving a hit, I'd be all shakey legs and nauseous, stomach and bowels cramping, sweating, etc. but when I finally got some dope, most of those symptoms would subside before I actually injected it. It was only when I was totally prepared and about to stick it in that I'd become really shakey and anxious again. A lot (not all, but a lot) of withdrawal is panic and uncertainty.

I had more success with ibogaine and ayahuasca then with substitution. I tried methadone and bupe and suboxone, but the treatment never worked "properly". I ended up going to detox for 10 days, getting over the worst of the acute phase, and then into a small property on the edge of the desert where I took ayahuasca for a week and then ibogaine (only a small amount though). I've been probably 4 months clean now. For me, drugs are completely bound to my soul, mainly psychedelics, so the idea of using psychedelics to quit was both logical and 'fun'. Its worth looking into. It helped me at least...
 
josie said:
How am I going to stay off? Thats a good question. Stay busy?
Click to expand...

Congratulations on coming off the heroin josie! It is only one part of it and you're right, the mental aspect is so important, but it's still an unpleasant experience and it's brilliant you've made it to 6 days clean :)

I think keeping busy is definitely the best idea - exercise is great, if you can do it, as it makes you feel good about yourself and it's something that is actively good for you, as well as passing the time and boosting your mood. Do you have a good support structure around you? Spending time with others makes time pass a lot quicker than sitting around on your own..

Let us know if you find anything that especially helps you :) <3
 
Suboxone or Cold turkey.

I wouldn't recommend methadone because it is even more addictive than heroin and very expensive, and hard to come off.

Suboxone is really easy to taper off. I was on it for over a year.
 
I used Lyrica/pregabalin to come off a hefty morphine habit. it doesn't ameliorate withdrawal, but it makes it a helluva lot less brutal..... and when utilized correctly, does a lot for the crippling depression.
Been clean now for well over two years, and I stopped the lyrica as soon as I felt the acute withdrawals subside.
 
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