RedbirdCran
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2013
- Messages
- 22
I apologize in advance for the long post, but I'm going to give all the info I can here in hopes of getting the best advise possible.
This is my first time attempting a proper opiate kick, some help or guidance would be very much appreciated. I am doing this 100% on my own (aside from doctor help), and I am not particularly experienced in either opiate use or kicking opiates. I know how experienced some people on this board are, and I trust your suggestions/guidance even more than some doctors (GP) who I know are not very trained/experienced in detoxing or opiate maintenance. But I digress.
History: dabbled in opiates over the years (lightly), 8 months or so ago started evey day usage. Began with no tolerance (3-5 percs over a day would keep me very high). At this point 8 months later I am now at minimum 160-240mg of oxy a day and that just holds me out. I would need upwards of 300mg to get high like i used to get from a few Percocet. I also use (when available) Fentanyl (lately) Heroin (lately) hydrocodone (lately). None seem to do as good of a job getting me where I want to be as Oxy. I have never used needles, only oral or in the case of the H I insufflate. Another interesting thing is that heroin doesn't "work" for me. Unless it has just been bad stuff, snorting it or smoking it just keeps the sick away, besides that I only get sleepy and dizzy, no euphoria whatsoever.
I originally gravitated towards using methadone to get off opiates, as I am the type of person that likes "something" every day, and the fact that it is still an opiate yet a legal and controlled dosage one was attractive to me. However, after taking an appointment at an MMT clinic, they advised me that for someone with as "short" as a habit as myself, MMT might be overkill and I should think about Suboxone. Again, I am worried that once I do a "quick taper" or however I understand Suboxone is layed out that I would just replapse, or go back to alcohol (I was a daily heavy drinker before opiate addiction. In fact one of the reasons I started every day opiate use was because the alcohol was killing my liver, and I found that taking pills was the only way I could abstain from alcohol. It worked, and I don't drink even a little now, for the first time in 13 years or so. Yes I know how dumb that trade off was but it seemed to make sense in my head at the time).
So, I am thinking that I will start the suboxone treatment. I understand that I have to stop using and go into withdrawl before taking suboxone or I run the risk of precipitated withdrawl. I can't go more than a few hours without pills, so how long after my last pills dosage should I take the suboxone. The clinic said 2 days, but again I would rather hear it from someone who has actually done this. I wake up in the morning and must take at least 60-80 mg of oxy or I am completely non-functional. I have never gone more than maybe 6 hours tops without at least a few Percocet to keep me "alive" and even then all I can do is sit at home and rock back and forth in a chair. I am absolutely stumped on how I will be able to make it 2 days without anything. I suppose I have never experienced proper withdrawl as I had never had the shits or puking. I just get severe full body pain, disassociation, huge pupils, runny eyes/nose, yawning and I lose the ability to even put a sentence together sometimes. I have no idea what comes after that as I have always given in and taken something.
Regarding methadone, do you agree with the clinic that it's overkill for my habit? I understand that I haven't been dependant for as long as most others looking to kick, but as I understand it the severity of my dependence is right up there. Tolerance alone seems to be very high. Also there is the fact that I feel like I need "something" every day. Does methadone curb that urge? As I understand it it doesn't get you high like oxy, but does it still scratch the itch as in provide the sociability/motivation to get out there? The biggest thing for me is when I have nothing, I can barely bring myself to get out of bed.
Should I consider some sort of quick opiate taper before going on subs (if that's the route I take) in order to make the 2 days cold turkey more doeable?
Anyway I will leave it off here to get the ball rolling, I really appreciate you reading all this, and anything you can add would mean the world to me. I feel so alone in this, nobody not my longtime GF or any family have a clue. It's all me. I know this is gonna be hard but I can do it, I just need some guidance form people who have been here before.
As a side note, I am still using now and plan on starting either subs or methadone in 2 weeks or so. My money is gone and I can't keep this up any longer than that.
I will also add that I have done TONS of reading of this board and others for threads like mine, I am aware of The Thomas Recipe and mostly all suggestions that go with it. I am determined to use either subs or methadone but of course I am open to anything.
Thanks again.
This is my first time attempting a proper opiate kick, some help or guidance would be very much appreciated. I am doing this 100% on my own (aside from doctor help), and I am not particularly experienced in either opiate use or kicking opiates. I know how experienced some people on this board are, and I trust your suggestions/guidance even more than some doctors (GP) who I know are not very trained/experienced in detoxing or opiate maintenance. But I digress.
History: dabbled in opiates over the years (lightly), 8 months or so ago started evey day usage. Began with no tolerance (3-5 percs over a day would keep me very high). At this point 8 months later I am now at minimum 160-240mg of oxy a day and that just holds me out. I would need upwards of 300mg to get high like i used to get from a few Percocet. I also use (when available) Fentanyl (lately) Heroin (lately) hydrocodone (lately). None seem to do as good of a job getting me where I want to be as Oxy. I have never used needles, only oral or in the case of the H I insufflate. Another interesting thing is that heroin doesn't "work" for me. Unless it has just been bad stuff, snorting it or smoking it just keeps the sick away, besides that I only get sleepy and dizzy, no euphoria whatsoever.
I originally gravitated towards using methadone to get off opiates, as I am the type of person that likes "something" every day, and the fact that it is still an opiate yet a legal and controlled dosage one was attractive to me. However, after taking an appointment at an MMT clinic, they advised me that for someone with as "short" as a habit as myself, MMT might be overkill and I should think about Suboxone. Again, I am worried that once I do a "quick taper" or however I understand Suboxone is layed out that I would just replapse, or go back to alcohol (I was a daily heavy drinker before opiate addiction. In fact one of the reasons I started every day opiate use was because the alcohol was killing my liver, and I found that taking pills was the only way I could abstain from alcohol. It worked, and I don't drink even a little now, for the first time in 13 years or so. Yes I know how dumb that trade off was but it seemed to make sense in my head at the time).
So, I am thinking that I will start the suboxone treatment. I understand that I have to stop using and go into withdrawl before taking suboxone or I run the risk of precipitated withdrawl. I can't go more than a few hours without pills, so how long after my last pills dosage should I take the suboxone. The clinic said 2 days, but again I would rather hear it from someone who has actually done this. I wake up in the morning and must take at least 60-80 mg of oxy or I am completely non-functional. I have never gone more than maybe 6 hours tops without at least a few Percocet to keep me "alive" and even then all I can do is sit at home and rock back and forth in a chair. I am absolutely stumped on how I will be able to make it 2 days without anything. I suppose I have never experienced proper withdrawl as I had never had the shits or puking. I just get severe full body pain, disassociation, huge pupils, runny eyes/nose, yawning and I lose the ability to even put a sentence together sometimes. I have no idea what comes after that as I have always given in and taken something.
Regarding methadone, do you agree with the clinic that it's overkill for my habit? I understand that I haven't been dependant for as long as most others looking to kick, but as I understand it the severity of my dependence is right up there. Tolerance alone seems to be very high. Also there is the fact that I feel like I need "something" every day. Does methadone curb that urge? As I understand it it doesn't get you high like oxy, but does it still scratch the itch as in provide the sociability/motivation to get out there? The biggest thing for me is when I have nothing, I can barely bring myself to get out of bed.
Should I consider some sort of quick opiate taper before going on subs (if that's the route I take) in order to make the 2 days cold turkey more doeable?
Anyway I will leave it off here to get the ball rolling, I really appreciate you reading all this, and anything you can add would mean the world to me. I feel so alone in this, nobody not my longtime GF or any family have a clue. It's all me. I know this is gonna be hard but I can do it, I just need some guidance form people who have been here before.
As a side note, I am still using now and plan on starting either subs or methadone in 2 weeks or so. My money is gone and I can't keep this up any longer than that.
I will also add that I have done TONS of reading of this board and others for threads like mine, I am aware of The Thomas Recipe and mostly all suggestions that go with it. I am determined to use either subs or methadone but of course I am open to anything.
Thanks again.
