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Opioids Is it better to cold turkey or taper

Branggen

Branggen

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
798
Is it better to cold turkey or taper and I would assume the length of use would be a factor so lets say for a 3month period of daily "abuse" (getting high) and how do the methods differ. A good taper rate for OC would also be appreciated.
 
Well what's better is subjective. Someone might prefer going through two weeks of hell instead of a long and drawn out taper regiment. The length of use is correlated to the amount of tolerance. High tolerance means intense withdrawel, low tolerance means relatively minor withdrawel. What's the main difference between the cold turkey and taper method is the length it takes.

If i had to come up with a taper regiment for oxy it would look something like this;

If regular dose is 50mg/day. Reduce to 45mg/day for week one. Reduce to 40mg/day for week two and so on. If withdrawels are too intense after jumping down 10mg in total return to previous dosage(+5mg) and repeat.
 
wel for a taper its usually a little more drastic then doin 5mg less every week.... prob be better to try 50, 40, 25, 10 and as you taper try and take a day off in between uses... also if you got see a doctor you can request a clonodine patch, that shit took away 90% of WD sysmptoms for me
 
pill_billy said:
wel for a taper its usually a little more drastic then doin 5mg less every week.... prob be better to try 50, 40, 25, 10 and as you taper try and take a day off in between uses... also if you got see a doctor you can request a clonodine patch, that shit took away 90% of WD sysmptoms for me
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Sure but if i were to taper oxy on my own, i'd make it as comfortable as possible, so that would be a reduction of 5mg a week. Clonidine patch is an excellent idea though.
 
yea but 5mg isnt shit and IMO you would become more addicted stretching out longer then taking bigger steps... and yea the patch works wonders
 
pill_billy said:
yea but 5mg isnt shit and IMO you would become more addicted stretching out longer then taking bigger steps... and yea the patch works wonders
Click to expand...

More addicted while reducing dose..? That doesn't even make sense. If you've been taking 50mg a day for a month your tolerance will have balanced out the effects from the oxy so unless you escalate your dose your tolerance is most likely going to stay exactly the way it is should you continue using 50mg/day. It only stands to reason then that your tolerance will slowly but surely reduce when you decrease your intake by 5mg a week.
 
Euphorogenesis said:
More addicted while reducing dose..? That doesn't even make sense. If you've been taking 50mg a day for a month your tolerance will have balanced out the effects from the oxy so unless you escalate your dose your tolerance is most likely going to stay exactly the way it is should you continue using 50mg/day. It only stands to reason then that your tolerance will slowly but surely reduce when you decrease your intake by 5mg a week.
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no not exzactlly... just because you are using the same amount or slightly reducing it doesnt mean that your brain isnt becomming more and more use to having that chemical and the longer you are putting that chemical in there it will be harder to take it away... and yes you would be reducing it but the taper i suggested would take about a month the one you suggested would 4 or 5... it might go against conventional wisdom but i had to go to a court ordered drug therapy group and the guy running it told me to taper down and i pretty much said the same thing you did only in reguards to H and i told you what he told me...
 
Did the guy running it study neuroscience and pharmacology? If not i wouldn't take his word for it. The entire purpose of tolerance is to balance out the effects of opiates, returning the brain to the state it was in without the opiates clinging to the receptors otherwise known as homeostasis. Tolerance does not develop further than homeostasis or less. I am not talking conventional wisdom i am talking biology.
 
well he is an addiction specalist so im assuming he had a class that delt with weening people off of their drug of choice... and how exzactly does it not make sense that the longer you put a chemical into your body the more dependant your body becomes on it??? if you take a drug for a year and a month it will be easier to stop then if you take it for a year and 5 months... dragging out the step down process isnt going to make it easier if you drag it out... you could always go to a doctor and talk to them like i did and mabe yours will tell you something different... but ive been there and thats what they told me... and it worked, is the most important thing...
 
pill_billy said:
well he is an addiction specalist so im assuming he had a class that delt with weening people off of their drug of choice... and how exzactly does it not make sense that the longer you put a chemical into your body the more dependant your body becomes on it??? if you take a drug for a year and a month it will be easier to stop then if you take it for a year and 5 months... dragging out the step down process isnt going to make it easier if you drag it out... you could always go to a doctor and talk to them like i did and mabe yours will tell you something different... but ive been there and thats what they told me... and it worked, is the most important thing...
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I wish there was a full taper chart, for every drug, dose, and length of use.

On topic, obviously a taper is going to be subjectively easier like a poster above be said, but alot of people in NA/treatment centers etc. are against tapers and stress for cold turkey with maybe the use of benzos and sleeping pill and what not.
 
pill_billy said:
well he is an addiction specalist so im assuming he had a class that delt with weening people off of their drug of choice... and how exzactly does it not make sense that the longer you put a chemical into your body the more dependant your body becomes on it??? if you take a drug for a year and a month it will be easier to stop then if you take it for a year and 5 months... dragging out the step down process isnt going to make it easier if you drag it out... you could always go to a doctor and talk to them like i did and mabe yours will tell you something different... but ive been there and thats what they told me... and it worked, is the most important thing...
Click to expand...

You know my arguments i'm going to keep the thread ontopic from now on.
 
OP, what opiate(s) are you using, and what kind of doses? Bc that makes a huge difference in how long withdrawals last and whether cold turkey or tapering would be easier. If coming off dilaudid I would maybe do cold turkey, for methadone a taper for sure.
 
Depends on the person, their daily activities, etc.

Personally, I have to taper. I can't do withdrawals with my job, as I'm working with the public, and a lot of $ daily. I can't make mistakes, work related, or I'm fired.

I can't stand the leg cramps above all, so I have to taper.

Maybe if you're at home all day without dealing with people, cold turkey would work well.
 
It also depends on how much the OP is taking daily. If it's not too out of control, I'd just go cold turkey and deal with a bit of discomfort to have it all done with. I too don't have too much self control, so unless the OP is taking something like 200mg of Oxy a day, I'd just quit. Tapers definitely do work with the right individual, so OP, decide what you are and "make the call".
 
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