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Opioids How bad is opiate withdrawal ?

n his final section on potential solutions to the problem of opiate addiction, the author has strong opinions against the legalization of opiates as a crime-reduction strategy.(pg 110) He further proposes "closure of all clinics claiming to treat drug addicts" and writes: "This would put an end to the harmful pretense that addicts are ill and in need of treatment." He further proposes that "doctors should treat addicts only for the serious physical complications of drug addiction. " Other than these 2 opinions, Dr. Dalrymple offers no other practical solutions to the problem.


---quote from a review of Dr. Death's book
 
DoseYouAll said:
n his final section on potential solutions to the problem of opiate addiction, the author has strong opinions against the legalization of opiates as a crime-reduction strategy.(pg 110) He further proposes "closure of all clinics claiming to treat drug addicts" and writes: "This would put an end to the harmful pretense that addicts are ill and in need of treatment." He further proposes that "doctors should treat addicts only for the serious physical complications of drug addiction. " Other than these 2 opinions, Dr. Dalrymple offers no other practical solutions to the problem.


---quote from a review of Dr. Death's book
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This man is actually a doctor?

Like legally has a license to practice and uses it?

Like... how? He's clearly inept.
 
It wont kill you...but its not fun, period. The not sleeping and cold sweats and taking explosive shits every 5 mins is what gets me. I hate it. But Ill still stand by my "benzo's has harder wd's" only because they will make a person straight jacket crazy.
 
Cameo said:
It wont kill you...but its not fun, period. The not sleeping and cold sweats and taking explosive shits every 5 mins is what gets me. I hate it. But Ill still stand by my "benzo's has harder wd's" only because they will make a person straight jacket crazy.
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caseface99 said:
In certain situations, when left untreated heroin withdrawal can kill.

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=458614

Though that is very rare, and likely only happens when there is extenuating circumstances.
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I posted that earlier in this thread quoting someone else who said it can't kill you.
 
I know this is an old thread, but I stumbled across it doing a search & found a few of the comments interesting (pretty much correct though).

To those who say opiate withdrawal is cannot be rivaled or "is the worst feeling ever" I'd have to disagree.

Yeah, this Doc was wrong to say opiate withdrawal is only a "minor thing" because it's definitely more than "minor". However, I've been through both opiate & benzo withdrawal, and coming off benzos is a hell that opiate withdrawal can't even compete with.

I'm not saying coming off of opiates isn't brutal, because it surely can be. However, quitting benzos after becoming dependent on them is a physical/psychological nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. Benzo withdrawal is also way more dangerous to the body, which is proven scientifically.

So all I'm really saying is that IMO opiate withdrawal is pretty rough, but doesn't compare to benzo withdrawal.
 
Ancient_Hippy said:
I have just finished reading a book called Romancing Opiates by Dr Theodore Dalrymple in which he claims that withdrawal from opiates including heroin is no more than a minor discomfort.
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Yeah, there's a book called The Natural Mind by Andrew Weil, and he makes that same argument.

Honestly, I've never experienced opiate withdrawal, but I imagine that it's pretty terrible. It's bad enough to scare some pretty good people into doing some pretty bad things.
 
Opiate withdrawl really sucks and is really uncomfortable but if you have a strong mind set you can do it without seeking help.

Alcohol or benzos on the other hand are far worse withdrawls, only because you can suffer a seizure and die, and must require medical attention if you cold turkey either of those.
 
It is, quite literally, hell on earth. This dude is a fucking idiot to write a book on something he clearly doesnt know much about.
 
It REALLY sucks!!! The only time in my life that I ever thought about killing myself was during the hell on Earth called a two week withdrawal after 4 years of heavy Opium usage. For a few days during the withdrawal I thought the alternative (death) was an easier way out.

I could only wish Osama Bin Laden suffered heavy opiate withdrawals before he was killed. That's how bad it is.
 
Oh, the love / hate relationship.

To be honest sometimes late at night I can kind of appreciate or embrace a good opioid withdrawal.
But at the same time I know that I would do anything not to be in that predicament if I was..

Its a funny feeling.
 
This is just my opinion, but I personally feel that motive has a lot to do with how tolerable withdrawals are. When I was with my ex, withdrawals were a lot more bearable (and I was using a lot more at the time). I didn't notice at the time, they still sucked terribly, but in retrospect, compared to when I detoxed while single, it was a breeze. I had something to look forward to -- something to greet me on the other side. When single and alone, I had no reason to detox other than lack of money and inability to score. And, as stated before, my habit when single was maybe 1/3 that of when with my ex. Regardless of the means or motivation, though, withdrawal is not to be taken lightly. Unless you've been through it, you have no right to judge. I'd liken it to a blind person trying to describe sight.
 
It's pretty bad, but it won't kill you. It's a lot better than benzo or alcohol withdrawal. I'm not sure about methadone withdrawal though. I've heard Methadone withdrawal is one of the worst.
 
OP...I am shocked that anybody could be so bold as to make such ridiculous claims about a medically recognized condition.

Let me tell you something, I've been through opiate withdrawal a fair few times, and I WISH I had simply been faking it or exaggerating.
 
I stumbled across this particular book while browsing in a bookstore about a year ago. The cover and title immediately intrigued me. As someone interested in pharmacology and a medical user of opioids I was intrigued with this psychologists views and after a quick glance decided to purchase and read the book. While there was some interesting portions after reading a few chapters I had to stop. The overall theme is of unsubstantiated, unscientific, misguided, biased, opinion. From what I can remember of my "issues" I will make some comments (below). I wish I could recall more of the specifics but I read it a while ago. And I also returned it to the bookstore.

A huge limitation with Dalrymple's entire "hypotheshit" (for lack of a better term) is that it, like much of the "drug abuse" research, suffers from selective sampling. All his "sources" are male criminals in prison. First off, even if we assume honest responses, this is not an unbiased sample population. Secondly these individuals may have had certain social incentives to give answers which satisfied the interviewer. Many of these individuals likely suffer from numerous social and psychological shortcomings not to mention are now be locked in a cage and may be facing serious criminal charges.

How long were the prisoners using before incarceration? How much? How frequently? And do we even know "the prisoners" were not secretly using opioids or other drugs ? No urine testing was mentioned? Drugs are available in jail and the prisoners are almost certain to lie about the use to a member of the staff.

He than has the audacity to make claims that individuals like Boroughs and De Quincey being writers had motive to exaggerate and romanticize the experience. Yet he than assumes that prisoners being interviewed by a prison psychologist is an honest channel of information. Wow? Really? Biases anyone?

Also as I recall there was nothing quantitative in his methodology (rather his lack of methodology) like a questionnaire or even a consistent set questions. This all was based on undocumented "interviews" ie "conversations" and "observations" between the author and male prisoners. Again, many of who likely have a variety of issues both social and psychological and were in a completely unnatural setting. Maybe when your facing 10 years in prison WDs don't seem so bad ? Especially if your celly has a few methadone pills stashed in his ass. I don't know.

Even assuming an honest prison population without anything quantitative we don't know if the questioning was leading and/or to what degree his own biases may have influenced his interpretation of the responses.

Lacking anything quantitative a real scientist would have at the least under went a self-experiment before making such claims. It is quite obvious by his claims that he has never underwent opioid WD. From personal experience I would compare WD to having the worst flu of your life x 2 while having your head held under water by a body builder. And I know many who would agree. Certainly not a slight cold as "Theo" seems to think. I would love to see what "Theo" would have to say after he went cold turkey after a 6 month treatment with morphine.

It is horrible that one can make such a ridiculous claim which goes against a significant body of scientific and popular literature without any quantitative, controlled, and unbiased studies or first hand accounts and it is passed off as a good source of information. Essentially this book belongs in the fiction section or better yet the trash.
 
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Opiate withdrawal is terrible although methadone has to be one of the worst as it lasts so much longer due to the fact its a long acting opiate.

Check out my blog documenting my heroin addiction
 
helpwithhabit said:
Opiate withdrawal is terrible although methadone has to be one of the worst as it lasts so much longer due to the fact its a long acting opiate.

Check out my blog documenting my heroin addiction
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Well duration and intensity of withdrawal are two very different things. Short half-life (t 1/2) opioids have more severe withdrawals that only last a few days to a week (the major symptoms) whereas longer t 1/2 agents like bupenorphine and methadone are not as severe in intensity (assuming dose equivalent, of course) but tend to last significantly longer in duration. This is true not only of opioid drugs but other drugs which induce physical dependence including benzodiazepines. This is one of the reasons they treat dependence with long t 1/2 drugs.
 
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withdraw is the worst thing i have ever experienced. i need these oxy for my back, but i have withdrawled cold turkey twice once because i wanted to be done, and obnce cuz i ran out kike two weeks early. i can honestly say its the closest ive ever been to hell. sometimes i thought i was in it. but it is do able. whats even harder is to be in pain all the time and know that this wonderful drug will get u out of pain, but it will also make dependent on them. sometimes i feel like oxy is worse than my injury itself.
 
The Doctor who wrote that information is an asshole who doesn't have a clue. Opiate withdrawal is herendous. It feels like the flu times 100. I don't wish it on anyone.
 
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