I have been a opiate addict for 6yrs. Pretty much whatever I can get. Thw withdrawals I have are terrible with rls being the worst. I want and need to stop. My liver hates me as do my kidneys. Detox is not an option and I don't have a methadone clinic close. I do have about 7 hydro ES. So to my ?. How would I go about using them to taper? Is it even possible with so little pills? Would me taking one in the worst of my withdrawal set me back any? My tolerance is about 40mg to give me a buzz. Not nodding but I feel it. Any thoughts would be great and maybe even other experience with doing what I will be attempting. Please let me know..
I am going to b coming off hydro oxycodone and oxycontin ops. My only worry was if I take a pill to help wd is that gonna put me back right where I started? Someone told me that if I take a pill in wd I defeat the purpose and prolong it. I seriously cannot do cold turkey. I have a heart issue. Does wd put strain on your heart?
As others said, you should
really be seeing a doctor or going to to detox. Especially if you have a diagnosed heart condition. If you are unwilling to get help from a doctor then doing a taper with the pills you have and taking the Klonipin will definitely be better than quitting cold turkey. Taking the hydrocodone will temporarily relieve the withdrawal symptoms and you will still get withdrawals if you suddenly stop taking it, so technically you could say that it will "prolong" the withdrawals, but it will also make them much less severe if used properly. What would "put you right back to where you started" is if you go a day or 2 without taking anything, then take your usual amount of hydrocodone to get high, then go back to not taking anything. But you
can use the hydrocodone in a way that will help gradually ease you off the opioids,
if you have the willpower. It can be very difficult to do a self-taper because it's so easy to tell yourself "I'll start my taper tomorrow", or "I'm going to get high just one last time", or "I still feel some withdrawals so I need to take more hydro" etc.
If you want to use the hydrocodone to taper off, it's hard for me to suggest a plan because you didn't say the quantities of opioids you normally take or the quantity of the hydrocodone in the pills you have - are they Vicodin ES containing 750mg acetaminophen and 7.5mg hydrocodone? How much do you normally take in a day? How much do you have to take at one time to relieve withdrawal symptoms (not "feel it" or get a buzz)? How long does it take before you start feeling withdrawal symptoms?
Basically what you should do is take less hydrocodone each day
and try to go longer and longer without taking it. The taking less each day part is the most important.
Only take just enough to make your withdrawal symptoms
bearable, then reduce the amount of hydrocodone the next dose and so on. If you do this properly and take your klonipin then you should be able to make your withdrawal symptoms a
lot more bearable.
ETA: Do you
just have an irregular heartbeat? Irregular heartbeats often occur in otherwise healthy normal hearts. I have one. Have you spoken to a doctor about this? Opioid withdrawal can make arrhythmia more noticeable, but arrythmia in and of itself is not usually dangerous, the problem comes from when it is a symptom of a more serious problem. You should still get it checked out by a doctor if you haven't already. Withdrawal from most opioids is
very rarely lethal, it only
feels like you're going to die. The only known cases of death from opioid withdrawal have been from high doses of methadone and from rapid naloxone detox procedures for methadone or heroin (which were found to be caused by complications of this detox procedure). A person is much more likely to die of dehydration or choking on vomit during withdrawal than of a heart problem during withdrawal. However, I would still highly recommend checking in with a physician and/or conducting opiate withdrawal in a controlled setting.
