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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

I quit opiates but when I drink I feel something like opiate withdrawal when it wears off

Branggen

Branggen

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
798
Anyone else experience this?

I was addicted to methadone/fentanyl for 7 years and got off 3 months ago

This might have something to do with it
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Endogenous opioid systems and alcohol addiction - PubMed

Alcohol exerts numerous pharmacological effects through its interaction with various neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Among the latter, the endogenous opioids play a key role in the rewarding (addictive) properties of ethanol. Three types of opioid receptors (mu, delta and kappa) represent...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
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Absolutely I thought I was the only one who experienced this.
I used to drink like a fish between the ages of 15-20 then I got my first intro to Percocet around 20 and I recall the most intense euphoric feeling ever! I also stopped going out clubbing altogether which naturally haulted my drinking almost altogether just like that. So I began seeking these pills which wasn’t super hard back in the mid-late 90s. But my close friend was an influential role as he had access and fed my curiosity and newfound love on occasion. Then more often. Fast forward a few years and once I got ahold of my own supply (times were more lenient and docs more inclined to easily write any script for pain, anxiety, whatever with little qualms about it and they did so continuously) so that began my epic life changing journey and love affair with opiates.
Long Story short; whenever I occasionally went to accept a drink I noticed an instant shitty feeling which was equivalent to withdrawals despite me having an adequate amount of opioid meds in my system. If I rarely took a hit of weed which I never cared for, but in the few instances someone passed a joint well that brought on the same nasty withdrawal feeling even but even worse more. So yes alcohol and weed instantly effects me so much differently than I first experienced after becoming addicted to opioids. They trigger opiate withdrawal in me!
The only other drugs which are ok WITH my opioid drugs are coke and uppers. Or benzos. But alcohol and weed - my mortal enemies now and I never could quite understand it although I understood they were somehow causing my brain and body to go into some sort of opioid withdrawal.
 
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Igotdablues said:
Absolutely I thought I was the only one who experienced this.
I used to drink like a fish between the ages of 15-20 then I got my first intro to Percocet around 20 and I recall the most intense euphoric feeling ever! I also stopped going out clubbing altogether which naturally haulted my drinking almost altogether just like that. So I began seeking these pills which wasn’t super hard back in the mid-late 90s. But my close friend was an influential role as he had access and fed my curiosity and newfound love on occasion. Then more often. Fast forward a few years and once I got ahold of my own supply (times were more lenient and docs more inclined to easily write any script for pain, anxiety, whatever with little qualms about it and they did so continuously) so that began my epic life changing journey and love affair with opiates.
Long Story short; whenever I occasionally went to accept a drink I noticed an instant shitty feeling which was equivalent to withdrawals despite me having an adequate amount of opioid meds in my system. If I rarely took a hit of weed which I never cared for, but in the few instances someone passed a joint well that brought on the same nasty withdrawal feeling even but even worse more. So yes alcohol and weed instantly effects me so much differently than I first experienced after becoming addicted to opioids. They trigger opiate withdrawal in me!
The only other drugs which are ok WITH my opioid drugs are coke and uppers. Or benzos. But alcohol and weed - my mortal enemies now and I never could quite understand it although I understood they were somehow causing my brain and body to go into some sort of opioid withdrawal.
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Hmm that's interesting so you feel that way even when you are currently taking opiates if you mix them with weed or alcohol? When I first drink I feel great but there comes a point in time when I realize its wearing off and its like I get hit with a brick of anxiety and just general shitty body feeling, that's usually like an hour after the last drink
 
Yup. My experience with Alcohol matches your respective conditions to the T.

I used to be able to kill a pint of rum and wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day if not a little shaky.

Then, I was on IV dope for about 10 years and during that time, Alcohol was never something I actively pursued. Now, I've been off heroin for a few years, Alcohol utterly destroys me.

Even when I am physically drinking, it doesn't feel good or anything like I remember Alcohol did. When the booze wears off, I experience a hangover with added symptoms of Opioid withdrawal.

This seems like a clear case of cause and effect. I am so excited that others experience this. Maybe together we can figure out the intricacies of this condition.

Such a cool thread Brangggen!
 
Keif' Richards said:
Yup. My experience with Alcohol matches your respective conditions to the T.

I used to be able to kill a pint of rum and wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day if not a little shaky.

Then, I was on IV dope for about 10 years and during that time, Alcohol was never something I actively pursued. Now, I've been off heroin for a few years, Alcohol utterly destroys me.

Even when I am physically drinking, it doesn't feel good or anything like I remember Alcohol did. When the booze wears off, I experience a hangover with added symptoms of Opioid withdrawal.

This seems like a clear case of cause and effect. I am so excited that others experience this. Maybe together we can figure out the intricacies of this condition.

Such a cool thread Brangggen!
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Yea its really great to hear im not the only one, makes me think its not just in my head. Im wondering if maybe I ought to not drink at all for a while, let my brain heal some more.. Do you still take any opiates these days, kinda sucks to hear you stopped years ago and still have issues with it. For me though I do get a nice drunk feeling its just when it wears off its pretty rough, especially most recently I drank like 10+ drinks, usually 2 will do me...Anyway ive been feeling kinda messed up for a few days now since then, I cant stop sweating and my stomach is acting weird as hell I havent been hungry the past 2 days really and have lost like 7 pounds
 
there are overlapping portions of the GABA, endocannabinoid and opioid systems. They each affect each other. Good example of this - naltrexone says clearly on bottle not to take tapering/coming on and off of alcohol. I was using it for opioids during a valium taper. o m g. worst experience of my life. Something in the inhibition of the naltrexone completely alters your brains GABA processing. not good.
 
Could it just be a classic hangover? Fortunately, I don’t know anything about opiate withdrawals. Unfortunately, I’m all too familiar with a good ole fashion hangover.

Runny nose, hot and cold sweats, anxiety, upset stomach, etc....

That seems similar to opiate withdrawal from what I’ve read, but again, I’ve never been through that, so it’s highly likely that I’m entirely wrong. Alcohol is a really shitty drug, I do know that.
 
I'm only speaking for myself, but what I noticed was a complete and total difference in the way Alcohol effects me following years of Opiod dependence.

The "hangover" will certainly be worse, but I begin experiencing these symptoms while still drinking. I get nauseous, uneasy and just dont feel good shortly after drinking.

They symptoms I get are reminiscent of Opioid withdrawal like Akathisia and stuff like that.
 
Getting older could also be a factor. Hangovers definitely don’t get better with age and I certainly can’t drink as much as I used to. But maybe there is a direct correlation to being a former opiate addict. I have no clue.
 
Igotdablues said:
I used to drink like a fish between the ages of 15-20 then I got my first intro to Percocet around 20 and I recall the most intense euphoric feeling ever! I also stopped going out clubbing altogether which naturally haulted my drinking almost altogether just like that.
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Yea I personally do not understand why alcohol is so popular. It is a shitty drug imo. The high is not that great and it ruins your entire body from functioning. Hangovers are harsh and you have to consume a lot of it to get any thing out of it. Where as you only need milligrams of opioids to get the best feeling in the world for hours.
 
Keif' Richards said:
I'm only speaking for myself, but what I noticed was a complete and total difference in the way Alcohol effects me following years of Opiod dependence.

The "hangover" will certainly be worse, but I begin experiencing these symptoms while still drinking. I get nauseous, uneasy and just dont feel good shortly after drinking.

They symptoms I get are reminiscent of Opioid withdrawal like Akathisia and stuff like that.
Click to expand...

I can wholeheartedly relate to this. The same thing happened to me after being addicted to Oxycodone and then heroin. Drinking really has never been the same since, it lacks much of any euphoria I remember and like you said the side effects are more prominent,

I wonder if it’s the opiates or something else causing this. It kinda sucks to be fair alcohol used to be a lot of fun.
 
hauntedparadise said:
Yea I personally do not understand why alcohol is so popular. It is a shitty drug imo. The high is not that great and it ruins your entire body from functioning. Hangovers are harsh and you have to consume a lot of it to get any thing out of it. Where as you only need milligrams of opioids to get the best feeling in the world for hours.
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It's the only drug I know of who'd synthesis can be competed successfully inside of a jail cell with just a pillowcase, ziploc bag, fruit and bread (yeast).

This will blow your mind I'm sure, but when the federal government decided to Ban Alcohol as a drug 100 years ago, they didnt take the time to do literal 2+2 logic in regard to the fact that Ethanol can be made so easily it sometimes happens by accident.

Its my belief that Harm Reduction philosophy could move in no other practical direction but to give the Alcoholics a drug more desirable to them with less known harm. When you take away the Cocaine, the fiends will inject Bupropion (Wellbutrin) until their arms literally rot off. We live in a system defined by morality with a small amount of science mixed in.

You can make a strong argument, like I often do, that Alcohol is the worst drug of all drugs out there. The costs to the individual and to society are great. If you take a walk through just about any urban area in this country you'll typically see drunks en masse who are "a little slow". This is a nice way of saying, it's probably too late for them, the irreversible neurological and pathological damage has been done and the only step left is a medical diagnosis of Wernicke-Korsakoff, Terminal Cirrhosis or both.

We simply have to accept it though. Even the chromosomally-challenged folks who run our government wont try banning it again and they'll ban anything fun short of sex and the only reason that's allowed is because we need more people.
 
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Kief are you still on methadone or any other opiates? Im wondering whether it’s active opiate use that ruins the alcohol or if it’s something more like a permanent change
 
ChickenScratch said:
Could it just be a classic hangover? Fortunately, I don’t know anything about opiate withdrawals. Unfortunately, I’m all too familiar with a good ole fashion hangover.
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When I first read this thread I thought that too. There are similarities. And I have been on and off opiates for years and would drink when I was clean and nothing changed. So this thread is an eye opener for me. I dont drink anymore. I may have had 2 beers in 15 years. But I admit I never experienced this phenomenon of alcohol causeing an opiate withdrawal feeling after it wore off. Interesting.
 
hangover probably turned into alcohol withdrawal which opiates mask very well for the first 12 hrs or so. take the drugs out of the equation and your left feeling the onset of alcohol wds. that's what happened to me anyway.
 
I know this thread is old.
But I like it.
The only input I can offer here is to say that you’ll never know for sure. I know for myself that anytime I start to feel the slightest bit of anxiety, or sweats, or goose flesh, my mind instantly resorts to it must be dope sickness.
I’m convinced when you’ve experienced the trauma left from dope withdrawal- nothing will ever let you forget it. Ever. No amount of time will ever heal that.
So whether you’re actually experience some sort of alcohol WD, or PAWS- there’s a lot of people that can relate to this I’m sure.
 
When I'm addicted to opiates I hate alcohol, I get what you describe, when the alcohol wears off it feels like light opiate withdrawal, mostly in the RLS, that's the main effect I notice. Note that I do not mean drinking a lot, I mean like even if I would have 1 or 2 drinks without having had any in a long time, I would get the same thing, so it definitely has nothing to do with alcohol withdrawal, it was related to the opiates. However when I quit opiates for 5 years, after an adjustment period, I didn't get that anymore. I was drinking quite often and quite a lot for some of those years, too, because I started liking it again.
 
can confirm, same effect here. I used to be ALL IN for opes and beer, and used them together religiously... after 10+ years of opes and bzd withdrawal, any amount of alcohol triggers not only the opioid wd feelings, but also alcohol dt feelings. lot of receptor damage :( don't play too hard - you learn the hard way if you do.
 
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