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Heroin Heroin Relapse after 1 year of sobriety

Bluestar2012

Greenlighter
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
5
Hello everyone,

So I was a Heroin IV user for approximately 2 years and stopped using heroin at around april of 2011 and went on methadone maintenance -finally finished the program in august of 2011. All of the sudden 3 weeks ago, I start using again...not Iving but snorting...and now I am still snorting about 3 bags a day -but I am NOT PLANNING TO DO ANY MORE whatsoever after this! I thought that I could just do like a bundle and leave it alone and not touch it for about another month or so. But this did not turn out to be the case..instead- I am on my 3rd week of doing about 3 bags a day...my question is ...after one year of sobriety and 6 months without methadone...I have done so far 5 bundles in 3 weeks so my question is...how bad are the withdrawals going to be? should I go on methadone maintenance again or would I be able to handle cold turkey? What do you guys think?

Any kind of advice would be much appreciated !

Thanks!
 
I'd suggest cold turkey then get on methadone or suboxone maintenance. In my opinion, if you're really trying to get off the dope, suboxone is MUCH more effective, but this depends on you. Having to suffer w/d can be a very therapeutic experience, although if you take care of yourself the suffering should be quite minimal.

the W/d is gonna be w/d... you can only do so much. With the right aids (benzo for sleep, anxiety and RLS; gaba/lyrica for same; aleve/naproxen or ibuprofen for aches and pains; loperamide for the shits; dxm if you can tolerate it for it NMDA antagonist effects), most of which are OTC, detoxing yourself shouldn't be too painful.

GOOD LUCK OP!

You might want to say high to the nice people over in TDS. They're really good at helping folks through this sorta thing.
 
I think you should be okay, I struggle with addiction too. You know how bad withdraws can be, and the thought of having to deal with them is scary.

Truth is the only way to find out how bad they will be is to actually go through them, I think you won't have too many issues at all. If anything, maybe find a Benzo because the psychological part and the anxiety might get the best of you. Have some Loperamide in case you get the shits. I don't suggest going on methadone, 3 weeks @ 3 bags a day should be very tolerable in terms of severity of withdraw.

The mind is so powerful, as hard as it is going to be - find something to occupy yourself with. I wish you the best of luck and we're here to help support you.

Peace

*edit: In terms of maintenance, if you do decide to go with that route, I agree with toothpastedog in that Suboxone is generally better than Methadone. Nobody knows yourself like you do, do what you feel is best homie.
 
The mind is so powerful, as hard as it is going to be - find something to occupy yourself with. I wish you the best of luck and we're here to help support you.

This is great advice. So so so true.

BTW OP - loperamide, if you take 100mg, will not only kill your heroin w/d but also get you buzzed. Do this for three days and then taper off (a fast taper) and you'll be golden. a nice way to more of less avoid all the serious pain involved with w/d. And no, you won't stop shitting for weeks... You'll shit normally within 24-36hrs of your first dose.

Also, if you can tolerate DXM, doses between 230-690mg will also totally alleviate all symptoms of your w/d. But some people don't like the trippy feeling while they're in w/d, so it's really only suggestible if you've enjoyed dxm on its own before.

Then again, I really would suggest going through the w/d being as sober as possible, just so you remember what they're like and what not. I don't mean torturing yourself, you should use the aids mentioned above. But it should be just bad enough to keep you from going right on back to the opioids. Fear of w/d certainly is a healthy thing.
 
Yeah I agree, you should man up and face the WD. I know opiate W/D's suck, but at least it's not as bad a W/D as opana, or methadone, bupe, etc. Heroin's short half life will actually help you when you're withdrawing cold turkey.
 
Would you consider getting on Suboxone? Maybe a short taper would help.
I would agree with the post up there, The Dark Side is a great place for this topic!

Hey, give yourself some credit; one year is a massive accomplishment!
Since you've quit with success once, I think you can do it again. I wish you luck!
 
After rereading you post OP, I think you'll be able to handle cold turkey just fine. As had been mentioned, you w/d shouldn't be to sever, given the frequency/amount of your recent use. Keep your head up and kick this little bugger's ass! Good luck :)
 
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