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Heroin Big Habit Detox

Mr.Scagnattie

Mr.Scagnattie

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
Messages
12,849
Location
NYC, the heroin hall of fame.
So, I recently just got out of detox (an official one).. I was coming off of a very large heroin habit.. i mean very large, and it was a habit I had straight everyday for about 6-8 months. Money wasn't an issue so that allowed it to get pretty massive. Anyway, I made the mistake of not weening down before I checked into detox.. *big fucking mistake*. Worst kick of my life.. still puking my guts out by day 7, had a seizure on day 8, and all the rest of those super fun symptoms.. Even the nurses in the wing told me I shouldn't have come in on a 4 bundle a day habit. One of them, after my seizure, actually went as far as to say that I should go back out.. get re-hooked on a much smaller habit, then come BACK to detox and kick THAT. 8(

So, now I'm on day 11 back at home, I was in detox for 2 weeks.. and this was the first day I didn't puke.. but I still have bad cold sweats, no appetite, and that just icy cold feeling under my skin at all times.. It hasn't gotten any better in 3 days, no change whatsoever. So basically, I'm just wondering when the fuck I'm going to wake up and be normal again.. It's really discouraging me that it's lasting so long.. I mean, I'm in my mid 20's for christ's sake.. I should be able to bounce back from this no problem but.. I guess 9 years of H abuse takes it toll. Anyone else ever get through a super huge habit and make it out the other side? How long did it take?
 
Dude that detox sounds very incompetent I would be pissed. They should have put you on a methadone taper. Or at least at least knocked you out with IV benzos. I mean I got chills just reading your description. I have never kicked a habit that large so I don't know when you will feel better but major props for toughing it out.
 
i've never detoxed off that big of a habit either. i did come off a fairly big oxy binge that lasted for almost 8 years. in those 8 years i did not really detox once, so i was really surprised by how painful the detox was. PAWS lasted forever it seemed. over a year. not to discourage you bro... it was a medical detox as well, they moved me out the detox room way too soon so i packed my shit and just left in the middle of the night by like day 12, i was still very ill.... i went home and since i was already 12 days clean i was like fuck it might as well stay clean, and i did. i definitely started getting noticeably better at the 3 month mark. also i would like to mention that after the PAWS started to fade i felt better than i EVER did in my life and i was one of the dudes that genuinely believed that i would never be normal or happy again. good luck bro, you can get thru this.
 
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i c/t a serious morphine habit..
i was @ a pretty high dose-
and i was younger than you.
i detoxed at home.
i was throwing up every 15 min. on the dot.
seriously, you could time it to 15 min. exactly.
it was 22 days before i could keep water down.
i was really trying to figure it out..
if i hadn't eaten anything in forever..
how could i still be throwing up or going to the bathroom?
i felt completely empty and spent.
it still makes no sense to me.
anyway..
no sleep. freezing & sweating. i hallucinated.
it was awful.

but-once the nausea subsided (after about 3 weeks)it was steady improvement.
when you're finally able to drink plenty of fluids..
and even get a little food in your belly-
it really will make a huge difference.
then you're able to get rid of that empty feeling!
then you get to sleep again!
that's when it'll turn around. :)
potassium & a multi-vitamin are super important now.
i don't think i've really felt like i've been back to 'normal' since then.
a w/d like that is something you don't forget.
although you'd probably like to.
you'll definitely be stronger!

good luck. remember..you've put 2 weeks in already..
which means you're tougher than you feel right now.

hope it lets up soon.
<3
 
Dude, I kicked a 4 year 2-3 gram daily H habit 15 months ago....They used a suboxone taper that just sucked! I got no sleep for 11 days. Cold sweats, aching, could barely move, and the detox was a rehab too, so I had to go to groups dying, wrapped in 2 layers of sweaty blankets, people assigning me chores and shit(?!), it sucked!

Having seizures from opiates alone is rare, especially in your twenties. Are you kicking benzos too? Also, puking your guts out on day 11 is rare? Is your liver okay? Is your urine dark colored? IDK, I'm not a doctor, but I've kicked heroin several times and that does sound kind of severe. At this point, you should be having good hours and bad hours, good days and bad days. and I've known plenty of people with 4 bundle and beyond habits, so.... I'm basing what I say on that, too..

In my opinion, the acute symptoms should really be dramatically reduced pretty soon. Meaning, the chills nausea etc., should gradually go away and you'll still feel shaky for awhile, but within a month kicking heroin, if not sooner, you should really start to have periods of feeling completely normal. Of course, you don't have the drug anymore so you're gonna have anxiety and over-sensitivity and shit....but, you gotta be at the end of the the really shitty part, IMO. I've been at this a long time and have known a lot of junkies worse than me, and I'm pretty fucking bad! So, for what it's worth, hang in there, the worst is over!
 
OP, I'm really sorry to hear all this buddy, I wish you the very best of luck.

How big was your habit? Your detox clinic sounds like they didn't do a good job, I'm sure they could have pumped enough drugs into your veins with a more liberal prescribing doctor. I really hope that you stop shooting up soon man, you've been at this game so long, you need to let your body recover. Quit needles for good man, if you can...
 
I was actually at two detoxes. The first one, I was at for 4 days and they put me on a methadone taper.. the problem was that they give the same doses to everyone regardless of your habit and level of withdrawal. They started at 20mg's.. 20 measly mg's. Then 15,10,5.. There were other kids in the first detox literally nodding out in the corner from their dose and I'm puking my guts out, yet they still wouldn't give me anymore. Some doctor reads in a book that a standard methadone taper starts at 20mg so that's just what he does for everyone... it's fucking ridiculous. So after I was discharged, I was still incredibly sick so I had to check into another detox. Except the other one I went to didn't even use methadone at all. They used Ultram and Tramadol, as well as some valium and clonidine. It was at that place that I had my seizure, which was from a combination of sleep deprivation and my blood pressure being through the roof. They kept calling my insurance company and asking for more days because my blood pressure and pulse was still so high, they thought I might be at risk for a stroke if I left. Thank goodness that the real worst of it is over, but these remaining symptoms are still very hard to deal with.. my body just feels so weak and spent. My mind too. But I just want to make it so bad.. I haven't been fully clean, off of every drug, in seven years. Its always been bupe, heroin, or methadone. I just want to be normal again.

I should have weened way down from 4 bundles, but I just wasn't thinking. To get the dose of methadone I would have actually needed, I would have had to go to a clinic to get it because detoxes just give you the bare fucking minimum.. giving everyone basically the same shit despite their habit. I'm considering doing a 1 week suboxone taper to help with the remaining symptoms.. being sick like this for so long, and knowing how long it could still last, is making me loose my mind.


tricomb said:
OP, I'm really sorry to hear all this buddy, I wish you the very best of luck.

How big was your habit? Your detox clinic sounds like they didn't do a good job, I'm sure they could have pumped enough drugs into your veins with a more liberal prescribing doctor. I really hope that you stop shooting up soon man, you've been at this game so long, you need to let your body recover. Quit needles for good man, if you can...
Click to expand...


Thanks for the post Tri, been a while since we've talked. I started off just doing a few bags a day of this shit, but being able to afford to keep building made it bad.. to the point where I was doing 4-5 bundles everyday. And this wasn't even shitty dope, the people in town doing the same shit were getting trashed on 3 bag shots when I was shooting 8 at a time multiple times a day and never even falling into a nod. Quitting the needle just could never work for me.. I'm almost as addicted to that as I am the H itself. Although, my veins have become so fucked that I may not have a choice soon.
 
I'm sorry you had to go through this :(. A lot of detoxes suck and do not give individualized treatment. You really have to do a lot of research on them first, but some of them won't even tell you their protocol over the phone.

Ultram is tramadol. Tramadol lowers the seizure threshhold and can cause seizures by itself, I wouldn't be surprised if that had something to do with your seizure.

The Suboxone taper sounds like it might be a good idea. What are your symptoms right now?

Don't give up!

You also have to get treatment for the reasons you were using heroin to begin with and to help with PAWS, and learn to cope with cravings without acting on them.

Also there are a bunch of supplements, herbs and OTC meds that can help with withdrawal symptoms. Check out the Opioid Withdrawal Megathread.
 
mr.scagnattie said:
They used Ultram and Tramadol,

Thanks for the post Tri, been a while since we've talked. I started off just doing a few bags a day of this shit, but being able to afford to keep building made it bad.. to the point where I was doing 4-5 bundles everyday. And this wasn't even shitty dope, the people in town doing the same shit were getting trashed on 3 bag shots when I was shooting 8 at a time multiple times a day and never even falling into a nod. Quitting the needle just could never work for me.. I'm almost as addicted to that as I am the H itself. Although, my veins have become so fucked that I may not have a choice soon.
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Ultram and tramadol are the same drug.

Dude, I know that you are stronger than the needle fixation, you are so much stronger. Don't ever forget that. It is possible to quit shooting up. While you work on quitting, at least do something to improve your injection technique, like giving micron filtration a shot and never running out of fresh needles.

You can totally do this when your ready.
 
I know it's the same drug, but for whatever reason they only gave out the generic at night. Either way.. hah, it didn't do much. And, there's no way I'd be able to still use heroin and not shoot up. Either I quit, or I'm IV'ing. There's no other option there. I'm hoping that the suboxone taper will get me past the remaining withdrawal and then I'll just be done. I'm over being strung out and I have acknowledged the fact it is highly impractical for me to think I can ever go back to chipping and only use on weekends or something. So either I quit.. or I'm going to die. That's that.
 
Oh man dude, this is fucking insane... I'm so glad you're okay though. I'd been thinking of you as I hadn't seen any of your posts in a while and had been meaning to send you a PM.

I just can't get over this.. Fucking twenty milligrams!? Granted that would be sufficient for your average dope habit, and I remember it would hold me (almost for 24 hours) on 10 bags/day, but I can't imagine it doing jack shit for four bundles! And what the fuck is up with using Tramadol for detox!? I've heard of this before in the past but it seems ludicrous and dangerous in that situation... I gotta know, we're these places in the city (I'll make sure to avoid them if so).

I definitely feel you with the IV addiction. I've been trying to stop as well (and luckily my habit is pretty fucking small, if you don't consider the fact that I'm on methadone as well..) it's dumb as I don't even get high except for the rare occasion, I'm just obsessed with the ritual. Honestly if your down for it, plugging helped me a lot, at least to get over my IV stimulant problem (used rectal amphetamine), but seeing as you've kicked I would try to stay away from opiates in general. Since you're still sick doing another quick taper with buprenorphine might be a good idea. Glad your okay man.
 
did all this happen in a private detox/rehab?

i'm very disappointed in the american health care system altogether and how they constantly fail to treat patients individually. i think it's ridiculous to have to be put on a waiting list to go to a detox. it makes no sense to me. it's like they don't even want people to get better. sorry for the little rant
 
wow sounds like a horry story! sorry bro, i had a 8-10bag a day habbit(sniffed) and the detox i went to start me on 16mg of subutex taper. See if you can get into a better rehab brother, goodluck.
 
Dude if you make it through this you'll make it through anything. If you pick back up after this you'll regret it because it will be hard to get high and impossible to avoid getting hooked. Good luck and consider daily Suboxone/methadone (don't push your dose upwards!) before relapsing. Just remember that WD and hopefully you'll be one of the survivors, otherwise at 4 bundles a day +/- other meds is a death sentence.
 
Yeah, just make sure you use those micron filters! 90% of the problems associated with heroin use stem from people not using them! Most of drug addicts I know won't even use without them....
 
I wouldn't bother with suboxone at this point since it might set you back a little bit. Ultimately it wouldn't be that big of a problem but the longer you go without any opiates/opioids the sooner you will get better.
 
Znegative said:
Oh man dude, this is fucking insane... I'm so glad you're okay though. I'd been thinking of you as I hadn't seen any of your posts in a while and had been meaning to send you a PM.

I just can't get over this.. Fucking twenty milligrams!? Granted that would be sufficient for your average dope habit, and I remember it would hold me (almost for 24 hours) on 10 bags/day, but I can't imagine it doing jack shit for four bundles! And what the fuck is up with using Tramadol for detox!? I've heard of this before in the past but it seems ludicrous and dangerous in that situation... I gotta know, we're these places in the city (I'll make sure to avoid them if so).

I definitely feel you with the IV addiction. I've been trying to stop as well (and luckily my habit is pretty fucking small, if you don't consider the fact that I'm on methadone as well..) it's dumb as I don't even get high except for the rare occasion, I'm just obsessed with the ritual. Honestly if your down for it, plugging helped me a lot, at least to get over my IV stimulant problem (used rectal amphetamine), but seeing as you've kicked I would try to stay away from opiates in general. Since you're still sick doing another quick taper with buprenorphine might be a good idea. Glad your okay man.
Click to expand...

Thank dude. Nah these places weren't in the city. One was up in northern NY about an hour from manhattan and another was in Danbury, CT. Both places were a super disappointment and really put a bad taste in my mouth for detoxes.. Though from talking to the other patients I wouldn't have faired any better somewhere else. I mean, I've been to plenty in the past (never on such a big habit).. but a lot of places don't even have detoxes anymore. I called A few of the places I'd been to in the past and found out the detox units had since closed.. seriously man, the feelings and attitude towards addicts, particularly opiate addicts is definitely changing to the "nobody gives a fuck anymore".
 
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