Opioids I just can't seem to taper...this is too hard

[crasspaddy82]

I bought four oxys to taper with, all the money I had. Its Saturday night...I just have no control to taper. I know I'm going to end up taking my usual dose tonight (50 mg).

 

[allegator]

Perhaps ask a friend to withhold them from you "no matter what you say"? Some people though find the cold turkey method better than tapering. Others find maintenance meds, going to jail, and dying of liver failure as preferable. Not trying to be mean just saying it isn't going to be easy and it will be that much harder doing it alone. Reaching out on BL is a step but one with little accountability if you fail. I personally detest the "higher power" aspect of 12 step programs, but the sponsor part makes more sense than any other treatment option I have ever heard.

 

[HdoubleODeezy]

cold turkey sounds like your best option.. it's how i have always got off anything (save benzos, that can be deadly)

 

[kokaino]

Well it's all up to you. If you really want to taper that bad than you should have the willpower to not use all your opioids at once. Otherwise it means that you really aren't ready to quit yet. You have to really, really want it.

 

[Benzopiates]

taper means lowering your dose or just riding the withdrawals and trying to reduce them?

 

[80mg]

If you have to taper in VERY small doses. 5mg's at a time. Assuming you take idk 80mg's a day. Even less, 2.5mg. Once you get to half...try suboxones. Wait till your feeling sick (a little bit...no need to wait till your dieing) and take a suboxone. Youll feel a little weird since its a partial agonist, take a quater of your oxy dose. Then taper that oxy dose down till your oxys are gone. Then taper off your suboxones...and your good to go. I can help you out WAY more if you told us what ammount your taking.

 

[woamotive]

I wouldn't recommend suboxone if you take 50 mg of oxy as a 'regular dose'. I'd do as suggested above (if you have someone)- and let someone hold em for you, giving you 'x' amount a day or at a time no matter how much you beg... assuming you REALLY do want to taper down or off. Suboxone is way too potent and will only drive your tolerance up.

If you substitute anything (to taper-not an addiction substitute), I'd use kratom and lopermide as needed.:

 

[Znegative]

I agree about the suboxone, though if you were using very small dosages it would be okay (for instance, 1mg SL buprenorphine with 30% BioAvailability= .3mg IV buprenorphine = IV 10 mg Morphine = 20mg IV oxycodone-or about 16mg oral oxycodone).. You also would have to keep in mind that one dosage would last way longer than one dose of oxy, so 2mg would be the maximum I would take, starting off with one mg to test the waters. Taking any more bupe will just skyrocket your tolerance..

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well, if done properly (i.e. not by starting out taking 16mg of suboxone ) I think a suboxone detox-taper might be very useful to the OP, as it's notoriously difficult for 99.99% of people out there to taper with full agonist opioids.

Then again, assuming you can take some time off just to focus on your w/d, cold turkey is probably my favorite way to detox. I find it to be a very therapeutic experience, given that the connection between opioid abuse/addiction/dependency and suffering is highlighted to an extreme. Not only that, with the right tools and meds, a c/t detox can be relatively painless.

Don't forget how powerful the mind is OP. If you tell yourself you can't do it or you're not strong enough, and believe you won't be able to succeed, there is very little chance you will end up succeeding. Conversely, if you tell yourself you CAN do it and that you ARE strong enough (both true statement), there is a very good chance you will be successful. Don't ever forget this.

 

[opiatekrzy]

im sorry to say this, but no matter how slowly you taper off of an opiate, you always will STILL FEEL DISCOMFORT or some sort of withdrawl, even if you do it very slowly, your changing what ur brain is not used to, and also taking less of ur daily intake as usual. you will always feel like shit tapering off of drugs physically addicting, no matter how slow or nice u do it. fact of life

 

[Jabberwocky]

yes, but not necessarily so. I've tapered off opioids and was able to mitigate any truly significant disphoria through changes in my behavior and perspective, as well as using other drugs to minimize discomfort (i.e. sleep aids and naproxen or gaba). Yea, I certainly noticed the fact that I was having symptoms of acute withdrawal, but they didn't really bother me at all. In fact, it was cool noticing them with a level head, as I was able to recognize them for what they were - an unnecessary result of an unnecessary, not to mention harmful, drug addiction.

Doesn't have to be hell on earth, although true enough, it's generally not gonna be the most fun you've ever had either

Feeling symptoms of w/d doesn't necessarily mean one must suffer from them. Unfortunately most detoxes make their clients suffer the symptoms of acute w/d much, much more than is necessary (I always imagined this was to scare them from having to go through the process again, but I don't find that allowing people to be so uncomfortable during acute withdrawal is necessary to accomplish such).

 

[opiatekrzy]

^even after the physical withdrawl, you will go thru "post acute withdrawl" basically having anxiety, muscle tension, having trouble just being without

 

[Jabberwocky]

Totally, PAWS is a really bitch sometimes. But what I am saying is that with certain techniques you can minimize it to a point where it becomes at worst a minor inconviences. Of course certain people with insane habits will have a harder time being able to use such tools to help them, as their PAWS will be more severe than someone who had a smaller habit. But even in their case, there are still a LOT of tools that can provide someone with a huge habit going through PAWS with significant relief.

Furthermore, not every opioid (ab)user suffers PAWS at the same intensity or length. For some it's minor problems sleeping and feeling irritable but which goes away after two months, while for others it can be a soul crippling depression at lingers and linger. Still, in both cases there are a lot of tools and techniques that can mitigate their suffering.

 

[tricomb]

@OP, your answer lies with someone you trust dosing you. If you can't handle dosing yourself on OC, don't think you can taper easily with suboxone or any other opiate.

My advice (if you absolutely cannot taper), go cold turkey. It's not fun but it's much better than substituting one addiction for another. Speaking from experience as one who gets off full agonists CT if tapering is not an option.

 

[Titus]

I bought four oxys to taper with, all the money I had. Its Saturday night...I just have no control to taper. I know I'm going to end up taking my usual dose tonight (50 mg).

I failed at trying to taper off of heroin bro. Suboxone/Subutex was/is the answer for me. Struggle the first few weeks but no withdrawls.

 

[tricomb]

Yes suboxone is a great choice, but I mean this guys doing 50mg oxycodone. I think it's really silly for people with such small habits to jump straight into Opioid Replacement Therapy without even trying to detox on their own, especially since 90% of suboxone doctors overprescribe it, making tapering down hell for most patients, and a much longer process.

People shouldn't enter ORT without thinking about whether it's right for them, and if you're doing a little oxy, you shouldn't be on suboxone. Like it's crazy how you hear people who took a few vicodin a day end up on suboxone, or worse, methadone!!! Absolutely crazy.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^!!!!! very true!!! It would be a shame for the OP to get hooks on an even strong drug...

That being said, a rapid taper w/d bupe might be more effective than trying to taper with oxy... But even then, CT is still a viable option.

 

[tricomb]

Yes, I want to clarify that I'm saying suboxone MAINTENANCE is not the way to go for the OP, not that a rapid detox wouldn't be easier with suboxone. I completely agree, that's a viable option.

 

[Jabberwocky]

duly noted