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Heroin Does heroin addiction last a lifetime no matter what??

The Straight Dope

The Straight Dope

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
326
Location
Chicago
I was reading the wikipedia article on morphine out of boredom, and it definitely states that once addicted, one will be addicted psychologically for a lifetime, even after getting past the physical effects.

Can someone please tell me this isn't true???
 
eh depends on the person. i think in the back of your mind you will never forget the bliss that that dope can bring you. but you can definalty feel normal and not obsess over opiates. id say some people will ultimatly lose any dependance psycological or physcial on opiods. then again tere are those who wont. that goes for pretty much any addictionj tho.
 
Every rehab center is going to tell you that you are an addict for life. But they say the intensity of your addiction is directly correspondent to the last time you were active in your addiction (i.e. the last time you got high).
 
If any person who was at one time addicted to opiates tries to tell you that they don't still think about opiates sometimes, they are lying.
 
Yes. It is a love affair that will last a life time unfortunately. Even though i am maintained on suboxone i still think about how amazing a big shot of raw dope would be. Once you feel that ultimate pleasure its hard to forget it. Its even harder when you were hooked for more than a few years because it becomes your everything. And its hard to forget about something that was always there for you.
 
Addiction is always hard to talk about. Obviously, these guys (the rehabilitators that say you are an addict for life) are just finding a system that they feel is best when dealing with drug problems. Things you can be nearly-religious about (absolutes) work better than saying "Yes, it's possible that you'll be a chipper." Acknowledging the possibility with an opi addict would be like telling a kid "Yeah, you could write a hit record when you grow up." People can very easily let themselves be talked into something they know is unlikely if it makes them feel good about some short term denial.

Don't let the lifetime label make you give up and think "Welp, I'm just gonna need opi's." But, don't let the possibility of casual use seduce you into something that catches up with you. Basically, yeah, the best advice I can give you is to also say "Don't do them," though I'll drop some painkillers myself.
 
weeell some addictions are born out of boredom/fun "just to get high". and then theres the addictions that stem from a deeper cause like depression lonliness escape whatever. so i would venture to say that the person that got hooked on for pyschological reasons wont be hooked as long as the person that got hooked on just for fun if the former addresses and solves the original problem. follow? forget it maybe everyone is screwed no matter what

just some thought however
 
sixpartseven said:
If any person who was at one time addicted to opiates tries to tell you that they don't still think about opiates sometimes, they are lying.
Click to expand...

This is not entirely true. I no longer think about using opioids, however occasionally, I will have dreams involving opioids. Despite having been addicted to morphine, heroin, fentanyl, methadone etc, the only drug that ever makes it into these dreams is oxycodone. I never went to rehab, NA or anything similar. Perhaps I simply am lucky.

Sometimes, I will get an ache in my hip or some joint, or will get a strange taste in my mouth and have an opioid withdrawal flashback, but I don't feel the need to take opioids.

All of this is coming from someone who abused opioids very heavily and with great intensity...
 
I'm not doubting you, but I am curious, you're saying you no longer even have a thought about them in passing, just a quick, "Oh yeah, I remember that, it was nice," or something like that?
 
^ Thats the case for me. Of course, it doesn't fully count since I'm on suboxone (although only 2mg), so having some sort of opioid inside of me helps.

Benzos probably help too. =D I guess my point was that after years of using heroin daily, I still don't think about it, not even in passing.
 
lol well yeah, being on Suboxone obviously precludes you from this. The whole point of being on Suboxone is to keep you from wanting to do other opiates, which at the heart of things, means it keeps you from thinking about other opiates.
 
this is why wiki isn't always right...

"once an addict, always an addict" thats just brainwashing to make you hopelessly addicted, if you don't convince yourself of it, then it won't happen. simple as that.
 
I don't know. I'm going to go against the grain and say yeah, once an addict, always an addict. Addiction changes your way of thinking, it alters brain chemistry. That's something you don't outgrow very easy. 20, 30, 40 years down the road, it will be just as easy for you to become re-addicted as it would be 2, 3, 4 days after quitting. I don't think it's as drastic as NA likes to make it seem, but I think that if 20 years later, you shot some dope for the first time in 20 years, yeah, there is a hell of a chance you'll fall right back in.
 
^^ok, i see your point, but brain chemistry can usually recover and go to normal levels, yes?
also, i see it more a "mind over matter" deal. you are only letting yourself get addicted, and you can think yourself out of it , too
 
Yeah, brain chemistry can recover. If it changed, it can change again. You're probably right, it is more mind of matter, so I guess what I'm saying is maybe once you have been an addict, you are much more likely to be one again. Does that sound better?
 
it does, because once you've shown that pattern of behaviors, you've already uncinsiously conditioned yourself to repeat them in the future with the help of a trigger.
 
Atlien3 said:
when you gonna drop the bupe johannes?
Click to expand...

Soon, thanks for asking. I'm on 1-2mg/day, so I could do it fast and easy. I have a good-sized stockpile too. I should do it within the next few months. The best thing is I have a very cool and compassionate doctor who is aware of my medical (pain) conditions and hasn't rushed me with bupe. He says he will put me on real pain meds (full agonists) when I'm off bupe, but I really don't want to take opiates so I'm trying to find an alternative (just no holistic shit).

I really do appreciate you asking. Its good to know there's a community of people who care about each others' well being around here. ;)
 
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