Misc Average Life expectancy of a heavy user?

[soundsystem00]

Just a random question. I was curious as to how long I have to live. I guess I could consider myself a heavy user. But I am a light heavy user. That meaning I do hard stuff but not daily. Or if I do it daily I then take a break lasting from months to years. I went to the doctor 2 years ago and he said I was healthy as a horse. Good heart, good lungs, no diseases or diabetes.

I searched online and of course just found a bunch of propaghanda. There never is a lot of good drug information out there, weird huh? Well I found one thing that said for an opiate addict, 40 years old is the average. Then it said cocaine is the least harmful but still is close to that number.

Isn't it the opposite? Isn't cocaine more dangerous because of the strain it puts on the heart, along with other complications?

As for Heroin, other than doing too much or mixing it with something harmful like xanax, Isn't it one of the safest things and least harmful things for the body? Literally, I feel like physically and mentally, Heroin ( and opiates in general ) has been the least harmful substance in my life. What do you guys think? Can you provide some links or resources? The search function on bluelight hasn't been very effective for me so far but I will keep trying, and feel free to redirect my post if needed, Thank you so much.

 

[Tubbs]

Long term cocaine use will destroy your heart over time.... not to mention what some of the cuts do to your sinuses.... i used to see old junkies all the time, old meth heads also oddly enough.... never really any old coke heads that have been actively using....

 

[4meSM]

You're talking about 2 different things.

A lot of people overdose on opioids because of the black market situation, they can't measure their doses accurately. Plus when you buy heroin in North America you're actually buying an unknown amount of fentanyl (most of the time), so it's relatively easy to overdose, but that has nothing to do with the chronic toxicity of opioids (which is very low). Other people overdose because of a lack of information, some are unaware of the true dangers of mixing high doses of sedatives (like opioids+benzos+alcohol), etc...

Whereas cocaine is actually a pretty toxic drug even if it's 100% pure. It's true that less people die directly as a result of cocaine (compared to opioids) but it does send a pretty significant amount of people to the hospital every year. It can cause serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems, including sudden cardiac death.
But noone will be able tell you your life expectancy on the internet, there are a lot of factors involved.

By the way sometimes a routine EKG won't be able to detect some heart problems (including the ones caused by heavy and chronic use). Getting an echocardiogram might be a good idea.
But it's also possible that your heart is completely fine despite of your cocaine use, that can happen too if you got good genetics.

Edit: I forgot to mention the complications from IV use which also kill many people. I think there's more IV opioid users than IV cocaine users and many opioid addicts use cocaine as well. So the lifestyle plays a big role as well.
A heroin addict living in the streets will have s significantly lower life expectancy than a college professor who is addicted to prescription opioids (just a random example, also cause a higher education is generally correlated with a higher life expectancy).

 

[JackARoe]

I know concentrated cocaine over time is not good for the heart. I wonder how it is with coca leaf chewing, must be safer.

 

[Shady's Fox]

That's fucked up, cuz. Don't think that way man.. no good for shit. OD or mental harm, these two will blow off ur candle but let's hope not. It's your life after all, you're your own arhitect

 

[Joey]

By the way sometimes a routine EKG won't be able to detect some heart problems (including the ones caused by heavy and chronic use). Getting an echocardiogram might be a good idea.

Quote for truth. I presented in ER several times with angina when I was 20/21 years old and had EKGs run each time to negative results. Nothing wrong whatsoever.

When I was 23 I was found to have a heart murmur in a routine checkup. I was sent to a cardiologist for an echocardiogram, and it was found that I have a congenital heart valce defect. Bicuspid aortic valve. Normally the valve is supposed to be tricuspid (3 flaps which open and close as my heart beats not 2). The flaps also dont completely close between beats, so the valve is regurgitating also. Oxidized blood rushes back into my heart between beats and that is slowly causing damage. The valve is thickening.

I will need an artifical valve replacement. Somewhere in my 40s I was told most likely, and that was presuming I stay healthy. Im not supposed to smoke or anything but I do. Every two years Im supposed to get another ecbocardiogram done and I do. My next appointment is after 6 months however to follow up quicker since Ice used so much meth this year.

If you want a true evaluation of your hearts condition, echocardiogram is the way to go.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I was thinking about this myself with respect to how many years IV meth is knocking of my life. While I feel pretty healthy after 6 months heavy use, I know I’m basically injecting battery acid judging by the inflammation and hardening of my veins and how much that shit stings when it misses. They say every cigarette is 7 minutes off your life and I’m willing to bet every shot of meth is worth a couple of hours thanks to vascular and cardio damage, the accumulation of micro pieces of cut in the lungs and the fact that neurotoxicity is likely to lead to an early death through Parkinson’s disease.

Weirdly though my doctor gives me a clean bill of health and my heart checks out A-OK.

 

[wudbutcher]

Find what you love, and let it kill you.
I dont want to know the extent of damage I've done. The knowledge,and accompanied stress from knowing would shorten life,or at least diminish quality. Ignorance is bliss!
Besides, I'm a lot of things; AVERAGE
isn't one of them. Nearly 50, outwork, outrun and out think youngsters STILL.

 

[wudbutcher]

I was thinking about this myself with respect to how many years IV meth is knocking of my life. While I feel pretty healthy after 6 months heavy use, I know I’m basically injecting battery acid judging by the inflammation and hardening of my veins and how much that shit stings when it misses. They say every cigarette is 7 minutes off your life and I’m willing to bet every shot of meth is worth a couple of hours thanks to vascular and cardio damage, the accumulation of micro pieces of cut in the lungs and the fact that neurotoxicity is likely to lead to an early death through Parkinson’s disease.

Weirdly though my doctor gives me a clean bill of health and my heart checks out A-OK.

Oh, bro just imagine the heartbeats per year over normal. My heart is 100+ yrs.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Oh, bro just imagine the heartbeats per year over normal. My heart is 100+ yrs.

It’s funny, I’ve never measured BPM but I always feel like my heart just beats stronger rather than much faster when on meth. Might be my imagination but I’ve never felt ‘racy’ at all - except when fapping too hard.

 

[d896629]

I'm not saying this because my drug of choice is opiates, and Lord knows, about 100 grams of cocaine has gone through my body over the years...but my impression is that depressants are safer than stimulants. People are prescribed opiates for years - for decades even. The issue is not toxicity. Percocet is, of course, hepatotoxic [damaging to the liver], but that's only because that moronic formulation contains acetaminophen. The oxycodone itself is not toxic to the organs. Opiates are, in general, not toxic to the organs.

I'm not rationalizing here. Opiates are both the best and the worst drug to have as your favourite drug - they are the best due to the relative non-toxicity, and the fact that an antidote exists to reverse overdose. If you use opiates in moderation, as I did between 2007 to 2016, I doubt any drug on the planet would have been safer and "healthier" for me to use in moderation. It was also nice knowing that the substance I was consuming was produced by a pharmacy. That gave me a lot of peace of mine. Contrast that with the some of the "MDMA" that is floating around my neck of the woods in Canada right now. My friend ordered some from the Dark Web, tested it, and it ended up being methylone [MDMC?]. Meanwhile, his 12-point chemical reagent test showed it was MDMA - which means that this derivative was intended to trick the drug tests.

I know there has been at least one case of improperly produced drugs coming out of China, but hey - there was a Belgian woman in February who drank a glass of wine and died, because the wine either contained MDMA, or WAS purely MDMA. A news article like that should be found pretty easily if you do a search online.

But addiction to opiates - that's another matter.

I am NOT condoning or encouraging opiate addiction here - I'm just saying that, in general, depressants are less cardio-toxic [damaging to the heart] than stimulants, and that there are other benefits, such as the existence of an overdose antidote for opiates [Narcan/naloxone], and that it is easier to find opiates that come from an actual pharmacy [most I have seen have been real, straight from the pharmacy], and that opiates are generally much less toxic than other drugs. And cocaine. Ugh. Cocaine? Whatever is circulating on the streets in Canada is far from cocaine.

Again, I'm not rationalizing my favourite drug here. Please don't think it's ok to use opiates daily, because in a few days or so you can be addicted, and in for a lifetime of misery. Treat opiates well, if you are going to use them at all. Moderation and harm-reduction is the name of the game, right?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'm not saying this because my drug of choice is opiates, and Lord knows, about 100 grams of cocaine has gone through my body over the years...but my impression is that depressants are safer than stimulants. People are prescribed opiates for years - for decades even. The issue is not toxicity. Percocet is, of course, hepatotoxic [damaging to the liver], but that's only because that moronic formulation contains acetaminophen. The oxycodone itself is not toxic to the organs. Opiates are, in general, not toxic to the organs.

I'm not rationalizing here. Opiates are both the best and the worst drug to have as your favourite drug - they are the best due to the relative non-toxicity, and the fact that an antidote exists to reverse overdose. If you use opiates in moderation, as I did between 2007 to 2016, I doubt any drug on the planet would have been safer and "healthier" for me to use in moderation. It was also nice knowing that the substance I was consuming was produced by a pharmacy. That gave me a lot of peace of mine. Contrast that with the some of the "MDMA" that is floating around my neck of the woods in Canada right now. My friend ordered some from the Dark Web, tested it, and it ended up being methylone [MDMC?]. Meanwhile, his 12-point chemical reagent test showed it was MDMA - which means that this derivative was intended to trick the drug tests.

I know there has been at least one case of improperly produced drugs coming out of China, but hey - there was a Belgian woman in February who drank a glass of wine and died, because the wine either contained MDMA, or WAS purely MDMA. A news article like that should be found pretty easily if you do a search online.

But addiction to opiates - that's another matter.

I am NOT condoning or encouraging opiate addiction here - I'm just saying that, in general, depressants are less cardio-toxic [damaging to the heart] than stimulants, and that there are other benefits, such as the existence of an overdose antidote for opiates [Narcan/naloxone], and that it is easier to find opiates that come from an actual pharmacy [most I have seen have been real, straight from the pharmacy], and that opiates are generally much less toxic than other drugs. And cocaine. Ugh. Cocaine? Whatever is circulating on the streets in Canada is far from cocaine.

Again, I'm not rationalizing my favourite drug here. Please don't think it's ok to use opiates daily, because in a few days or so you can be addicted, and in for a lifetime of misery. Treat opiates well, if you are going to use them at all. Moderation and harm-reduction is the name of the game, right?

You make some good points but we shouldn’t underestimate the downsides of opiates. They carry significant risks if used IV, they are possibly nearly as neurotoxic as stimulants in terms of cognitive skill damage and the dependency leads to no shortage of crime as people seek the means to get them out of desperation. Stims have all those same problems which are probably worse in some opiate users than in some stim users and vice versa. I reckon the damage done in total is probably on a par for the two categories. Although for outright number of deaths I reckon opiates has it in the bag.