Few Questions for Long-Term Daily Users

[UnderFaz]

Wasn't sure if I should post this in Dark Side or Other Drugs, but it's somewhat relevant to my life/recovery, so I thought this was more appropriate. But feel free to move it. Thanks

Anyway, I have some general questions for people who have been using drugs long-term and daily. Addicts, basically.

First - and this goes for any type of drug really - for those of you who snort everyday, have you had negative effects on your nose from doing so? I've snorted a good amount throughout my years, but I've never been a daily snorter. What kind of drug did/do you snort (pharmaceutical pills or street drugs like coke, ket, etc)? Have you developed a deviated septum or similar issue to your nostrils? How many months/years of daily use did it take to cause the issue?

Second - this is really for opiate addicts - what is your experience with constipation? I'm currently on bupe and I've found that the constipation with oxy/vic/opana/etc (I never used heroin) was better in some ways than the constipation from bupe but also worse in some ways. With bupe, I have "harder" shits that are a bit more painful, but there is much more regularity and I don't have as much stomach/intestinal pain from the build up. On the other hand, when I was on oxy and other full agonists, I had "softer" shits that were less painful, but it was much harder to start a BM, much less regularity, and I had a lot of "soreness"/pain in my abdominal/side/back area because I was so backed up.

So, whether you're on bupe or full agonists, how bad is it? and how do you deal with the constipation? I used to think it only really happened to me or a relatively small number of people, but I've recently realized that it happens to pretty much everyone. I currently take fiber gummies daily, but that's about it. Of course I try to do things like drink a lot of water and eat veggies but I could admittedly be better at that. I avoid milk of magnesia or stimulant laxatives unless absolutely necessary. Any other tips you've found that are helpful, other than the usual "drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies"?

Third and final - has anyone experienced difficulty urinating on opiates or bupe (mainly had males in mind for this question but female replies are welcome of course)? I've experienced it on both bupe and full agonists, but truth be told, it's much worse on bupe. Basically it just takes a bit of time to initiate urination. With full agonists, it would maybe take 10-20 seconds more than when "sober," but with bupe, it can sometimes be 1-5 minutes longer than when sober. Sometimes it's not though, sometimes it's normal. I know some of the science behind it, but I don't really understand it. I'm looking for first-hand personal experience here. I think that what we know about our own bodies can sometimes be more valuable than the research papers, because I've had this problem on bupe since like 2010, and I remember that back then, it was unheard of. There was no medical lit about it and doctors had never heard of it either. Now, it's still not well known but doctors are familiar with it and there has been a little bit of research about it. My point is, sometimes the people who are actually taking these drugs understand things that the researchers won't understand for a few years.

Of course, I've noticed that other factors effect how long it takes - public bathroom vs being at home, hot vs cold environment, what other drugs I'm on. I think I've found that being on benzos makes it more difficult, whereas stimulants make it a bit easier. I'm not really sure though.

Any input, tips, experiences, thoughts or anything else is helpful. Thank you!

 

[thelung]

I'm currently on methadone maintenance and i can definitely say that I am extremely constipated. My daily dose is 50mg and I've been on it this time for about 6 years. Every time I have a bowel movement it is painful, and there is blood often. Needless to say my BMs are HUGE and will tend to clog most toilets, so there's that. Its just something that I deal with. Laxatives have never really worked for me. They say "drink plenty of water" but that's not gonna cure the problem. I'll go weeks between shits sometimes....ew. Moving on, Yes I have experienced difficulty urinating because of my methadone. For me its worse when I'm in a public restroom versus when I'm in the privacy of my own bathroom....again, just something I deal with. I hope this helps!

 

[Burnt Offerings]

I'll keep this brief:

1) yes, I've damaged my nose from snorting. The most common things I've snorted are Adderall, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. It was the (more or less every day) meth use that really did a number on my nose, though...deviated septum, two sinus infections, yup. I don't really snort anything anymore, however. This took place over a 6 month period of snorting drugs.

2) never had a problem with opiate constipation, personally.

3) never had a problem with urination, either.

 

[JessFR]

Long term daily heroin user. Hopefully not much longer.

Yes ive had difficulty with both constipation, I take a mild laxative. I also don't eat all that much. As for urination (female), it's difficult, but not too big a problem, I mainly deal with it by keeping hydrated, seems to work.

 

[stillkickin]

1) I've had really dried out nasal cavities as well as drying so much that it will cause scabs that can bleed (oxy, some H, some C). I've never had a legit nosebleed ever though other than one scab related.

2) Oh man, most definitely and I suffer from IBS-D too. If I'm hitting it hard on the opies, I try to drink TONs of h20 and I take a dulcolax stool softener 2x/day to avoid serious blockage issues which can be so difficult to deal with. Anxiety from it, having to go buy an enema or something, and the bleeding .... oh such a horrible subject but oh so very real for us opie addies. I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital twice as a result of this particular side effect of the addict lifestyle but it worked itself out although took up to 3-4 weeks for everything to heal up after finally passing that. This marks the only time I've ever spoken to this topic in my entire life.

3) I've definitely noticed the urination issues as well. I normally have no issue whippin it out and just letting it go whether public/private rest room. But if I'm on heavy opies, I can stand there for sometimes 90 seconds before I can get a stream going. I'll notice I'll have broken streams as well if I'm having a lot of trouble with my op intake. Staying hydrated seems to help this out as well as far as being able to go but doesn't help so much with the relaxed stream.

 

[UnderFaz]

thank you all for the replies!

follow up question: does anybody take meds like milk of magnesia, stimulant laxatives, or stool softeners on a daily, chronic basis? or even like a few times a week or once a week or something like that (but still chronically)?

what I'm trying to figure out is, first of all, is it safe to take these meds chronically? i'm aware of all the warnings they have about why you can't take them chronically without (keyword) talking to your doctor, but i'm not sure if that's because they're worried you'll mask a more serious condition from yourself by using laxatives or if it's because they actually cause changes to the body (similar to drugs like opiates - tolerance, withdrawal/rebound, etc).

so has anyone ever been instructed by a doctor to take laxatives, softeners, or milk of magnesia chronically? or have you just gone ahead and done it by yourself?

and secondly - if you do or have done it, does it work? or did you build a tolerance to the meds causing them to leave you worse off than you already were?



I don't plan to do this by the way, I'm just interested. Although the info could be useful in the future. My situation (on bupe) is handled more or less fine with fiber gummies. But when I was on oxy....damn, no lie it was one of the reasons I wanted off.

 

[Moreaux]

Regarding your constipation issue, you may want to lay off the fiber gummies as fiber is just adding more bulk to the problem. Two decent daily laxatives are magnesium citrate and Miralax. I personally magnesium citrate vitamins, and take those twice daily with calcium each time. I try to drink 16oz of water when I take them. They draw water into the colon, which will help soften the stool and make it easier to pass. If it's been a while since I've gone (3 days) I will mix a cup of Miralax in 16oz of water, drink it, and then drink another 16oz of water within 30 minutes. If I still haven't gone within 8 hours, I repeat the process. I no longer wait longer than 3 days because it's just going to get worse the longer I wait. Both of those laxatives are non-stimulant, and are osmotic - drawing water into the colon. I find Miralax nauseates me sometimes, so I try to control the issue with daily magnesium citrates do save the Miralax for emergency situations. If you find that you are having issues initiating a BM, try drinking a fresh hot cup of coffee - it seems to "wake" the muscles up and get things moving. At any rate, you best long term solution is to stay hydrated and to not wait to long to take action as it will just get worse and you may injure yourself with impact ion, obstruction, etc.

 

[UnderFaz]

Yeah I'm talking about long term solutions here, and not ones that I'm likely to try. I'm just interested to see what works or has worked for others. Fiber helps move things along (that's why they say to eat fruits and veggies - they have a lot of fiber in them).

Basically I want to get a sense of if people can regularly take milk of magnesia, laxatives, softeners for... the rest of their life I guess. Or maybe "indefinitely" is a better way to put it.

Magnesium is basically another form of milk of magnesia from what I understand, and it sounds like you take that daily/chronically? I'm pretty sure the warnings on the label will warn against that, but I think those warnings are "wrong" in a way, meaning (this is just my theory) that the warnings are written so that people seek out the underlying cause of the constipation instead of just treating the symptom, but if the underlying cause is opiate addiction, I wonder (and this is pretty much the point of this thread) if regular and indefinite use of magnesium or laxatives or softeners is medically indicated (and not inherently harmful), and if doctors will advise patients to do this.

 

[Moreaux]

Yeah I'm talking about long term solutions here, and not ones that I'm likely to try. I'm just interested to see what works or has worked for others. Fiber helps move things along (that's why they say to eat fruits and veggies - they have a lot of fiber in them).

Basically I want to get a sense of if people can regularly take milk of magnesia, laxatives, softeners for... the rest of their life I guess. Or maybe "indefinitely" is a better way to put it.

Magnesium is basically another form of milk of magnesia from what I understand, and it sounds like you take that daily/chronically? I'm pretty sure the warnings on the label will warn against that, but I think those warnings are "wrong" in a way, meaning (this is just my theory) that the warnings are written so that people seek out the underlying cause of the constipation instead of just treating the symptom, but if the underlying cause is opiate addiction, I wonder (and this is pretty much the point of this thread) if regular and indefinite use of magnesium or laxatives or softeners is medically indicated (and not inherently harmful), and if doctors will advise patients to do this.

Magnesium citrate is not the same as milk of magnesia. As far as long term daily use, the Miralax and Magnesium Citrate capsules were recommended by my gastroenterologist. He said they were safe. He also said if you're already severely constipated, adding a lot of fiber is only going to make it worse, adding to the bulk that is already not moving. Opiate users are frequently constipated because the opiates slow the digestive process way down by decreasing the number of muscle contractions in the tract. In order for stool to pass, it has to be hydrated. However, when stool doesn't move through the tract at an adequate pace the water is re-absorbed by the body, making it hard and dry, and causes a further decrease in the rate it is traveling through. That is why an osmotic laxative is a good choice for this scenario, and they also happen to be relatively safe for daily use. The only other thing I can think of that would be safe for daily use would be enemas, for which I don't know a recipe off the top of my head.

However, there are several types of laxatives that are not good for daily use and can actually permanently damage your digestive tract. Stimulant laxatives will cause damage with long term use, as will natural stimulant laxative such as senna.

Personally, I take the magnesium citrate supplement daily instead of Miralax because it also helps with my anxiety, it helps stop my facial ticks, and it's also necessary for muscle function, which is why I take it with calcium.