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Heroin I finally started to quit...needing a bit of help.

Delarm323

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 26, 2012
Messages
27
So for many years I did many kinds of Opiates. Heroin just was no doubt a favorite, I did it on and off for over a year without much withdrawal when I stopped for weeks at a time. But the last 3 Months I got into it really hard. I was doing about 10-20 Bags Daily depending on how much money I wanted to waste.

Ok to the point. This past sunday morning I did my last 4 Bag shot felt amazing for a while but decided this has to be it. I knew I really wanted to stop. I only did that one shot all day and at night I started to feel sorta crappy. Slept for a bit sunday night waking up covered in sweat so bad I had to keep getting new bed sheets. I woke up monday morning tried getting ready for work but felt so bad that I caved and used 4 cottons I had laying around for a cotton shot. I tried that and it made some of the withdrawals go away but not all, this was 9am Monday morning I consider that my last shot of dope. Its now Wensday Night and I havent done any heroin or opiate since Monday morning which was a crappy cotton shot anyways.

Soon it will be 3 days should I start to feel any ease? Should I try taking anything over the counter to help with any of the withdrawals?

Thanks, Im just posting here for some help and to keep my mind of wanting to shake my legs...
 
good for you man.
yea the legs are the worst.
after 3 days, the WDs should subside
what you can do is take some immodium to help.
 
The cravings for it are so intense and knowing I could easily get 20 Bags right now sucks. But I had my girlfriend take my cellphone and most of my cash so I wouldnt get any. But I know people who would throw me some till I could pay but I really dont want to since its already been 3 days of pain why put that to waste.

Right now I may try taking a high dose of DXM to help. I hear that helps some people. I really just want my legs to rest...

I know I am one of those people that are considered to have "Addictive Personalities" im really hoping if I make it through this I could straighten out my life and be back to normal. Which I almost forgot what it is like to feel Normal and drug free.
 
While I can't give heroin-specific advice, I can offer this:

I worked my way up to 250mg/day of Hydrocodone after a back injury and a lot of tolerance (and yes, that was with 10/500s... between 10-12.5g/day of APAP. It's a miracle I have no liver damage. I think the milk thistle and other supplements saved my ass.) and stayed there for quite a while...

I quit cold-turkey; no weaning, no more doses after I decided to stop.



I will not tell you that you will magically feel better in 3 days, or even a week, but I can tell you this:

You WILL feel better and it WILL be the best and most important decision you have ever made (and likely will ever make) in your life. Hell, it may SAVE your life.


That said, you SHOULD start to feel the symptoms letting up (again, this is based solely on my experience) within 3-5 days. Mine took about 7 days to let up substantially, but that is by no means typical... I was dosing 6x per day, and I'm sure that played into how long it took mine to let up for some reason. After a month or so, I felt 100% normal, but I firmly believe it was MYSELF causing me to not get over it.


The main thing you need to keep in mind is that, as I said, it WILL get better and that you are doing this for a reason. If you give up, you've put yourself through needless suffering. You've made it this far, and you can make it the rest of the way if you just stay committed.

ALLOWING the WDs to be intolerable will make them intolerable. Mind over matter is a huge thing for you right now... If you convince yourself that things aren't getting better, then they won't. If you have a positive outlook, you'll be feeling great in no time flat, and will be forever thankful that you committed to this and saw it through.




You're doing this for yourself, and you're the only one that can let yourself down, just as you are the only one that can see to it that you succeed. Make your choice RIGHT NOW and don't dare let a negative thought or doubt enter your mind.

The initial decision to quit on your own accord takes more willpower than the decision to stay committed. If you can tell yourself to stop, you can tell yourself not to start again.


It's no easy process, and anyone who has done it knows this. You'll hurt, you'll suffer, but you're doing it for a reason.

The positives of a PERMANENT outcome far outweigh the negatives of TEMPORARY suffering.



If it is within your means, I would recommend the following:
- Try to get some sunlight. Don't be reclusive... Go for a walk, get some exercise. I find a long walk helps a ton with the restless leg issue.
- Do ANYTHING to keep your mind off of your discomfort. Idle thinking will make you miserable.
- If you can get some benzos, and not have an abuse issue with them, DO IT. I find Klonopin to be godsends for opiate WDs.
- Therapeutic doses of Adderall helps me with Opiate WDs also, but be careful. This could make them worse for some.
- Because mine were from pain meds I was prescribed for a legitimate problem, the pain exacerbation was BY FAR the most miserable part... I found weed helped a ton with this, and also helped with the other WD symptoms.
- Get sleep whenever you can, but if you start to feel the sleep is depressing you, cut it back just enough to balance the depression and other effects out. Depression / negative mindframe is the worst damn thing ever for WDs as far as I'm concerned.
- LONG (4+ hour) hot baths helped me SO much with the restless legs as well as other symptoms... Myself and my bathtub developed a huge fondness for each other during that time. I'd soak in the bath for 10-12 hours total some days.


One final suggestion:
FORCE yourself to do things you don't feel up to. I felt like I was having W/Ds for a month plus after stopping, but I'm 99% sure it was all related to depression and laying on the couch all day. Once I started attempting to live again, I felt great.




However you go about it, I wish you the best of luck. You already did the hardest part (deciding to stop); now just see to it that you follow through. Logically, if you can get past that first huge hurdle, then why can't you get past a couple smaller ones? You have it in you, or you wouldn't be off of it right now.
 
Dude, if you've made it 3 days, do not, absolutely DO NOT use again, at least for a while (if you plan on continuing). You're without a doubt at the peak, or the beginning of the downward slope. I think of WD's like a pyramid: Day 1, going up the side, Day 2, near the top, day 3, you hit the top and start to make your way down, day 4, half way down, day 5, near the bottom.
 
Thanks a ton for the responses. I do know I need to stop and never use anything again. I'm not just quitting H I want to quit it all. I just want the good life back.
 
Thanks a ton for the responses. I do know I need to stop and never use anything again. I'm not just quitting H I want to quit it all. I just want the good life back.

Well, you're on the right track and your head seems to be in the right place.

One reason I was stressing the "I can't say it will be 3 days" thing is because if you specifically sit there and wait for Day #X, then that day comes and you still feel shitty, it can be EXTREMELY disheartening.

Just go with the flow, try to keep a positive outlook, and you WILL feel better soon.

I find not obsessing over days to be the best option for myself, but that may not hold true for all.
 
The fact that you made it this far without any benzos, suboxone or methadone is great, and I think you should just keep it up. You could use loperamide, as it seems to work for a lot of people, and gets them to a point where they can sleep, but in the end it's just another opiate, so you'd be prolonging you're withdrawals if you used it now I bet.
 
best way to ease WD is to take a tiny bit of suboxone every couple of days, then every third day then stop/
 
^ For a taper from the beginning, yes, that is a good method. Since the OP is already at day 3 of withdrawals though, they should just ride the rest of it out. I'm always a lot better by day 4, so no need to prolong the withdrawals by taking subs this late into it.
 
^ For a taper from the beginning, yes, that is a good method. Since the OP is already at day 3 of withdrawals though, they should just ride the rest of it out. I'm always a lot better by day 4, so no need to prolong the withdrawals by taking subs this late into it.

^This. Congrats on getting this far fella, you should be proud of yourself! :) Day 3 is typically when symptoms peak, so you should not feel any worse than you do now from this point on at least. You have done the hardest part getting there. By this time tomorrow you should be feeling much better, more than bearable. The symptoms will subside very rapidly over days 4 and 5, and fingers crossed by worst case scenario day 6 you will be as good as free of all symptoms. It will take a good while longer before you start sleeping properly most likely, perhaps a couple of weeks before you're able to get a full 8 hours in every night but again so long as you resist the temptation to use just to give yourself a break and a goodnight's sleep you'll find that you're feeling pretty damn good and bursting with energy by week 2. Best of luck fella with it.
 
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arent you suppose to wait as long as you can before taking subs? like 2 days or so? so youre deep in anyway and not get the precipitated shit? I know where youre coming from though, I should have just done the same instead of jumping on methadone... which could be why im having no problem tapering off of it only 4 months later. i think its time anyways as everyone says stay on a year or two till you feel ready... well i do... you know if i every use again especially H, I know i wont binge with it and use daily or even weekly... I know at the most one time every two weekends at the worst... I don't want any withdrawals again, any dependency, and I'm sick of the dependency, and all that shit.... I want off a daily regime of narcotics... Like I said blowing it once a month, like one bag, or whatever UNLESS I notice a risk of relapse and consistent dosing then hell no... i also lost all dealers but one that I don't want to drive all the way to more than once every now and then Since its not a good area... I deleted all the other dealers numbers and want to murder (jk) one of them because he is a fucking piece of shit... everything i had or have that fucking piece of shit wants like even my methadone so HE can get off... its like listen you fuck, get it yourself and hope you use on it and OD like the fuck you are... seriously... pure hatred toward him. I called crimestoppers and police on him too but maintained a daily "phone calling" friendship so he would not know it was me.... yeah he had a warrant anyways.... wow im not on uppers for once while writing this (hence the killing mad anger lol) but its gonna be long,

i dont plan on using dope... seriously, that was a just if i did situation when i know i am doing better and think i can do so at a limited rate or something, if not i dont want to fuck with it... i have no desire to use at the moment... methadone or no methadone... seriously.

went from 110-100 then on day 5 to 95, then 7 days later down to 90, and same thing with the rest to 80 except faster and only 5 days.... it holds me in every single way that 110 did even at 48 hours if i miss a day at the clinic since my license is suspended... i notice NO difference yet. I'm sure I will eventually... you gotta remember too the methadone was getting me high after the 70mg mark at first. like considerably So i could have stopped around that or 80 a couple months back.

It holds me still with no cravings or sign of withdrawal or even shitting at the 48 hour mark. I don't know how long it will hold for, but should I try to just go until I feel sick so i know how bad and how long it takes? I don't want to do that really because i dont want my blood pressure to rise and i dont really want to eliminate the constant level of the medicine after 72 hour mark... and have to get reinstated too. now i could miss 2 days if i want to see what im up against but really i dont think even another day will make a huge difference, it probably takes 4-5 days to get sick since heroin (i snorted) held me from withdrawal for 18-24 hours. then even day one was not bad, it was always day two. so maybe methadone for me is like 5-7 days in for me... thing is my metabolism is high and im not large or at all fat.

should i just continue to do it right or just take a peek in and see what im dealing with here? I may be able to drop down like fucking 20 and then skip to the lowest dose that would be effective before withdrawal, and then adjust to that and then go for the 10% weekly taper or slower if needed...
 
I have a question: would you stop doing opiates if you had an unlimited amount of money or should I say, unlimited amount of opiates?

Also, good for you for quitting.............I myself never have done heroin so I dont know what you're going through, good luck!


Also wanted to add, if you can get some benzos like ativan or some valium, these should help you sleep at night. Dont over do it with benzos because they can become a really bad habit as well.
 
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I have a question: would you stop doing opiates if you had an unlimited amount of money or should I say, unlimited amount of opiates?

I think most Heroin addicts would chose to stay on forever if a lifetime supply was available to them at no cost. It's not the H that does the damge, it's the stupid shit you find you have to do to keep the bugger fed. If you could just keep on dosing enough to keep one step ahead of your tolerance retaining some pleasure in it without that impacting negatively on your life-style then sure, that's would you'd probably chose to do. It's when the consequences of your habit outweigh the pleasures of the drug giving only temporary respite from withdrawal that eventually persuades you enough is enough and time to bite the bullet.
 
Yeah, I just read on Wikipedia that the first heroin maintenance trial for north America Is currently being run in Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec. I say it's time for a road trip.

If I could have an unlimited supply of pharmaceutical grade heroin that was given legally to me, I really do not think I would ever stop using. When I've had the money to support a habit, I can function really well. Its more like when I run into problems with my health, run out of money, or get arrested that the shit hits the fan,
 
The Cravings are so terrible. Its so hard to find something to keep my mind off of it, also the anxiety sucks but cant get any Benzo's. Trying to avoid Benzo's anyways.
 
My Advice. After 3 days, Find A sub and take a quarter of it. It will help just enough but since its a Half-Opiate Anyway Your body will still keep healing itself. So you will have a little bit of uncomfortable feelings, but you will be able to sleep at least. When you wake up the first 15 minutes after waking up you will feel like complete shit. Once you wake up and move around(even though you dont want to) the total complete SHITTY W/D effects will go away, but you will still be w/ding of course. If you take the whole thing though it will make you w/ding longer. A little piece of day will help you out, and keep your body from stopping the repair process. When i get clean this is what i do, once your opiate tolerance is to high it doesnt matter the first and second day the subs wont even help you feel any better. Trust me i know! When i get to deep into my habit, doing 5 tickets a day for months...The first day I could take 5 subs(which i have) and it still dont even hit ya. Don't make you feel better, Nothing. The first day will always suck theres nothing that can help cept using a real opiate, but that defeats the purpose. I look at it like this, we got ourselves into it, and of course you have to accept the fact that your going to feel a little or ALOT shitty. When there is a high there is always a LOW, that is for everything in life, INCLUDING opiates. You should be able to find subs, anyone you know that uses opiates knows where to find subs. Seriously you dont have to listen to me, but don't think taking a piece of sub is going to ruin everything. 99% of all In Patient rehabs give you a 8mg a day for the first 4 or 5 days of Detoxing. Then they taper you down from there. As long as you don't keep taking the subs you will be fine. Then its just the mental use of wanting to use. You don't need NA but you are going to need to pick up a hobby to keep yourself from thinking, "Damn it would be nice to use right now" or "this situation would be great, it would be even better if i was high" ect... but if you need someone to talk to for more info or to keep your mind off the W/ding hit me up on AIM - RanSitToxic i find talking to people even about nothing, helps. Not a lot because you will still have flashes where you gotta stretch and shit...
 
I feel this is bad advice ransittoxic. The withdrawal's almost complete. Probably another 24 hours or so left before the symptoms subside completely, or enough as to be barely troublesome relative to the peak on day 3. Why would you take an opiate that's barely gonna do anything for you except drag out the remainder of the withdrawal. It's pointless and self-defeating when not taking an opiate means you'll be done with it soon enough anyways. If you've got to day 4, just ride it out. Job done.
 
Yeah, and buprenorphine is not really a half opiate,it's a super potent partial agonist, and I agree with sepher, taking suboxone when you're almost through the worst of it seems counter productive. Suboxone is usefull for detox, but when you've already made it three days CT, it would probably be more detrimental than helpfull
 
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