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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

Help - advice regarding tapering off heroin

I thank you guys for the support and words of encouragement but I have been on this shit for almost 20yrs on and off. I have tried programs before and honestly my opinion is that the programs is just a substitute. I remember back when I was in high school, i said to myself that I would never ever end up like the older guys I used to hang with, at their age and still doing drugs. Well I guess that didn't happened.

Anyway, the tapering method didnt work so far this wk, but i have reduced the amount of times we play. Now it's Thursday night and I am hoping to go without for as long as i can tomo at work. Then from sat to sun I plan to go thru w/d,

Do you guys think I will be ok to go to work on Monday? (if I stick with the plan) or will I be still going thru w/ds?
Advice and thoughts are welcomed.
 
2 days withdrawal is not going to be enough and you will be sick at work on Monday. To be serious about this your going to need 1-2 weeks, if it's heroin your using exclusively then they say the first 3-4 days are the worst.

If you have been doing it for 20 years on and off, does this imply you have had periods of abstinence over those 20 years. Can I ask what the rush is to get clean now? and yes of course methadone and bupe are just heroin substitutes, they are powerful opiates in their own right. But injecting street heroin every day comes with the risk of OD and is pretty bad for your health, destroys your veins, puts you at risk of fatal heart disease etc, not to mention the financial cost. Really, if you are serious about getting off you could just switch to codeine (providing you know how to CWE) and do a rapid detox over a few weeks and then kick cold turkey. That's the kind of cold turkey where you could be at work after two days...but you'l feel like shit :)
 
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Yeah honestly mate it doesn't sound like cold turkey is viable for you at this stage unless you're willing to take at least a week or two off work to recover. If that's not an option then I'd go with either codeine taper, if that works for you, or buy some suboxone or methadone (preferably the former) on the street and taper using that. Even after 3 or 4 days off it you're going to feel like shit, depressed, low energy, sleep problems, all that fun stuff.
 
If it was as easy as taking a weekend off work, everyone would do it and there would be no reason for opiod replacement therapy.
 
20 years is a long time although it can be done. I cant say I had an addiction anywhere near urs im sure but the addiction I had was pretty bad each to there own. Hydromorphone and Heroin. 2 worst shit opiates to come off. Tbh I would slowly taper down. Id start reducing the dosages day by day over a longer period of time just to be safe then replacement therapy can be done, without subs or methadone. I used weed to battle my addiction, You really need to take up a fight and be prepared to fight everything that gets in ur way.

Best to take a lot of time off, perfect time for using up some annual leave, gotta make sure you have the right medications for all the withdrawals and have a helping hand when u need it the most. Support is everything when it comes down to quitting. Buds helped me to sleep, eat and take away the "boredom" when I felt liek using opies. Codeine is also another good taper although after that long im sure ur tolerance is through the roof and u will bearly feel anything but it may keep the WDs at bay. The key is to think that u will become better day by day, it will be a very hard journey but the reward will be so much more worth it. I know its one of the hardest substances to come off but it can be done if you have the will power and are strong enough. I always thought about which is more important to me?

Life or heroin? Because life with heroin is possible (although it eventually consumes you whole) but without life there is no heroin. I say start your own thread here in Bluelight like a progress thread (im sure mods wont mind) and we will support you 100% through your journey and help u with whatever we can, we know how evil the shit is, it steals your soul, beats you up and leaves u in the most brutal place know to man and eventually comes for your life. I really hope that itll all work out for u man, just remember to be strong.
 
When I say I have been using for 20yrs, it's not straight 20yrs. I did get clean and would be clean for a few good years.
I may have to request some annual leave from work or even take some unpaid leave if need by. Heroin usually last for 12hrs or is it 24hrs before a person begins to hang, so I may have a bit of smack tonight before bed.....say around 11pm. Then maybe I can go without til after work, I will need to see exactly how long it takes before I hang.

Obviously the weekend cold turkey didn't work! My mate fk me up!
 
Go out to the forest, and jam a blotter of 25c-nbome up your nose.

Case closed.

naww enough of the cocky comment -

I was on a 5yr habit when I went cold turkey last november - haven't looked back since.

Honestly no matter how much you try to bring down the dose you'll find a few things;

a) you use a dose of heroin, after titrating a bit - and it won't quell the w/d or hit the spot.

b) you get tempted to go bigger, and do on occasion. Which only makes the next day that much worse.

If you really want off you need to change the behaviors which trigger use, people you hang with, reasons you use heroin. You need to think long and deep about how all these factors play a role in your addictive behaviors.

I struggled with programs and dropping the dose slowly etc etc. In the end i was still at least using weekly to fortnightly just because I didn't know what else to do. And so the whole w/d period just turns into 2 week cycles of getting on, getting clean then getting on again.

Psychedelics - honestly take a 2 week break, or more if possible - cold turkey, keep yourself fed, and hydrated as well as possible. make your room comfy, let someone close to you who doesn't use know about your situation. A few weeks after cessation try a psychedelic trip with some friends who don't use. Admittedly in my case my last uses of heroin were, a day before I took the trip, and the day after i got back from the doof. When I tried smack again for the first time after this trip - the drug felt totally disgusting, I legit felt sick as opposed to the normal relaxed feeling I get from heroin, and just disoriented. This is the last time I used heroin, which would have been somewhere around the 28th/29th of November last year.
 
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i feel what you're saying mr ibis, but psychedelics and cold turkey simply don't work for everyone. a dmt trip brought the best and worst out of me and i haven't been able to kick the lingering guilt association if it weren't for staying on the gear this far along. i am trying to work things as best as possible. day by day.

us "lifers" don't find it that simple and have the need for long term maintenance and tapering.

if it weren't for the great program and rapport i've built with my doctor and support network around me i would have been 6ft under a long time ago or in a prison cell. i'm lucky to have got off by only being section 13'd a few times.

keep working it polo.
 
It's a hard life... I guess I was lucky eh...

I know what you're going through, I was worried for a long time i'd be in the same boat with my dilemmas... Good Luck anyway mate, i'm sure you'll find the answer
 
Any news Polo79? I've had my fingers crossed for you. Are you making progress mate? Keep us posted. We're all here for you chief.

Hope you're getting there mate, I'm sure in the end you will prevail. ;)

Ash. <3
 
Polo79 said:
I have been through wd before but I can't rembr how long it was to get thru it. I hav both Val's n a couple of xannies and also panadine forte. So my plan.. Starting tomorrow is to have abit of gear with some ice and see how long I can be not sick for, my aim is to go at least til 10pm at night and have a little bit of gear before bed. Then next day the same thing but with less gear n same amount of ice.
Click to expand...

Little bit of meth for mild-moderate short term withdrawal has always worked pretty good for me. Always would want benzos for the comedown though. Timing and dose are important...coming off heroin while unable to sleep on the tail end of a meth session would be horrible.

Wouldn't suggest regular ice usage while tapering. One small dose to get you over the 'bump' if the withdrawal isn't too severe could be helpful, but it could have a wise range of effects depending.
 
I'm yet to try the Nbombe... I'll wait till I'm off subs.
I'm sure there are some similarities with it and ibogaine. ( from a neurological perspective)
I hope ... For my sake it has the same effect as it did on Mr Ibis.
Peace.
 
Sorry for not updating the situation. Well now it's time to go through wd, I have til after the new year to get clean and that is it. No more chances now... Basically do or die, my job is on the line and my relationship with my parents. I have stocked up on xannies and valiums to pop through. Just wondering if the time I have is enough to get clean.
 
Good luck man! You will get through it. Get soup and easy prep meals. You will need it when you can keep food down. Also lots of powerade and maxalon.
All the best:)
 
Wow there is some hopeless advice in this thread, particularly that of which is telling you to try amphetamines to beat your cravings, don't do this. You'll only regret it hours later when you start hanging out 3x worse.

Secondly, half a gram a day is a pretty small habit, though i don't hazard any doubt that obviously given financial ease this would be much higher?

fwiw i'm the resident member around here who has successfully come off an 8ball a day heroin habit - i've not relapsed in the 12 months since.

I tried, pharmaco-therapy (bupe/methadone) and tapering down. Personally, tapering wasn't even an option until well, a few mates died, and eventually i could no longer afford to sustain such an addiction. Slowly over the course of about 9 months it weened down really to using 1-3 times a fortnight, or whenever i could afford it.

But if you want my advice, Psychedelics.

Ween yourself down to a decent level, then go out - and take a shitload of psychedelics with some good company - I can almost guarantee you'll come back feeling like you don't wanna do heroin again and actually feeling like you did about junkies when you were ignorant.
 
The way I quit hydromorphone (extremely addictive more so than heroin for me) is that I smoked / vaped a shit load of buds / hash and some codeine if the WD's were getting bad. Its very easy to stop using weed after a while especially for someone who has managed to stop opiates. Id avoid benzos at all cost and would only use subs if I had no other option not methadone (for lots of bad reasons).

The problem is u will still have to come off it at a later stage. Like mentioned above the best way imo would be to taper ur dose down, find out how much opiates u need to keep the withdrawals at bay and work from there finding the absolute minimal dosage required then gradually reducing it down. Ive never really tried using psychs during quitting although it may indeed work well as most of them tend to last quite a long duration which will keep u occupied for a while and will distract u from thinking of ur next opiate fix.

Psychedelics and also buds (I still call it a psychedelic as to me it sure does cause OEV's along with CEV's). Most psychedelics allow u to see the world in a different perspective, gets u thinking about things u wouldnt normally and so forth. After it wears off it actually makes u feel like u did a long time ago. Refreshed, at peace with urself and a lot of times finding a solution to your problem/s. It can be a life saver if used correctly imo.
 
Do you think its possible to be clean by tues? I have to return to work by then, my aim was to have ice but now maybe having buds instead to relax myself I am staying at a friends place but will def need to return home on Tuesday night
 
Well if u dont use any til Tuesday then yes u can:) I know how hard it is to resist though :S Have the buds instead if can or u worried about being tested at work?
 
No there is no drug testing at my work. I am just sick of this running my life
 
Have u thought about opiate maintenance? Or going cold turkey? Warm turkey perhaps? (Although I dont really suggest this). Its really hard as you have not stated what opiates u have been using, the duration and at what doses. Its a catch 22 situation I know. U need incredible will power but it can be done.

Which state are u? There are a few hotlines u can call to get some advice even counselling. U just keep going in circles around and around if u just leave it the way it is. Just remember that itll only get worse if u dont do anything about it now. I know its possible, anyone can do it. I have managed to quit a bad oxy and hydromorphone habit before so it is possible. I have a number of mates who have managed to kick the habit. Is there anyone u can talk to regarding ur problems?
 
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