Cold turkey withdrawal can kill

[P0kemama]

I was reminded again this evening, while watching the local news, that it is important to take good care of ourselves if we choose to go cold turkey off of opiates. (I have included a link at the end of this post to an article with the details).

Because BL is a harm reduction site, I would like this post to serve as a reminder to those who are planning to use the cold turkey method of quitting opiates to use the resources available here, and to ask any questions they may have so that they get through the process as safely as possible.

Earlier this year in the state of Colorado, a woman and a man, in two different facilities, both died of dehydration while jailed. The woman's family is filing a lawsuit, which brought the story back to relevancy on this evening's newscast.

I find that lack of adequate care in these two cases appalling, and can't imagine having to go through withdrawals without the comforts of home and all the ideas for remedies and self care that I have found posted here on Bluelight. I had the experience of going cold turkey in 2013 before finding Bluelight, and did have to seek medical care to treat my skyrocketing blood pressure. I had the insurance, the funds for my co-pay, and my car for transportation so that I was able to seek treatment for my issue, which could have led to a stroke, if gone untreated.

When I read Bluelight posts of people's experience of going through withdrawal while incarcerated, my heart goes out to them, and I am so grateful they made it through what sounds like a horrific experience, in most cases.

http://www.9news.com/story/news/investigations/2015/09/09/dehydration-deaths-jails/71976320/

 

[Jabberwocky]

Cool idea OP. It's worse than appalling how addicts, let alone everyone else, is treated in America's prisons. It's way worse than the average person can imagine, and, while a lot of people do end up making it through cold turkey withdrawal behind bars, it's not unusual either for people to die in prison or jail while going through withdrawal due to secondary complication (dehydration, an underlying condition that isn't being treated, etc). Well it's not to unusual for anyone to die in some prisons, like the fucking sheriff Joe or whatever in Arizona or New Mexico.

I do want to point out that cold turkey opioid/opiate withdrawal is almost never lethal when one is able to normally care for one's self. When it does lead to death there is always an underlying condition. Or, much more commonly, the person was also using or cold turkeying other drugs, particularly alcohol and/or benzos. And cold turkey from alcohol or benzo addiction can absolutely kill, and is much more dangerous than opioid withdrawal. Rarely does an opioid addict really need medical attention, outside of what one can do taking care of one's self, by professionals at a hospital or something. I'm not denying it doesn't happen a lot, but the majority of people using opioids won't need to worry about dying during withdrawal, just that if fucking sucks. In fact, that's almost never lethal when it's just opioids being used and withdrawing from.

I'm not sure why, but I felt it was important to point that out. Interesting thread, and I really like it OP cool idea!

 

[P0kemama]

Hi Toothpaste, I appreciate you posting additional, detailed and clarifying information in your post. I am going to venture a guess that I think you needed to point out that almost all opiate addicts don't need to worry about dying during withdrawal if they are contemplating this method of getting clean. They don't need to shy away from going cold turkey because most circumstances are within their control, i.e. they probably have all the water they need, and can probably afford Gatorade so that the chance of dying at home from dehydration ( which was the cause of death for both people who died while incarcerated) during w/d's is negligible.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Precisely! I was having a hard time expressing what your just said for some reason (pregabalin making me sleepy....), but you hit the nail on the head very clearly. Thanks!

 

[neversickanymore]

SL --> DitM

 

[Jabberwocky]

Sneaky Sneaky NSA

 

[P0kemama]

isnt that interesting... I started out by posting over here on the Drugs in the Media forum, and over thought it....

Thanks, NSA, for placing this post in the most appropriate forum!

 

[neversickanymore]

NP.. very important topic indeed.