Is opiate addiction really so bad?

[GetMeOutOfThisCRAP]

Been on and off a user for 3 years now. They overall make me a more happier, loving, and productive person. I don't have to worry about depression or anxiety which hit me like bricks at some points. I know how to live with and without them, but prefer the lifestyle.

Am I just at a point where it hasn't hit rock bottom yet? Or for some people does it never plateau or ruin their lives? The negative aspect of opiate addiction so far is that I have to live in perpetual fear of withdrawal when I'm using again. But otherwise, it's been a a good experience. I want to hear from more experienced or heavier users if the path I'm headed down will eventually ruin me, or if anyone has felt the same way at some points and never been negatively affected by their usage. Recently started using again after some long time off. Was generally anxious, more prone to depression, and less productive during my sober time period of only smoking weed and other occasonal softer drug use. I stuck to myself during that time period--being far less social. There's not too much pressure I'm placing upon myself to gain sobriety right now because I genuinely feel they improve the quality of life and I don't feel that I am in denial. According to everyone my life would improve greatly if I stopped using--but spoilers it was worse and I experienced alot of self pity and loathing. I even fell deeply in love during my addiction and was able to be a good partner. Never hurt a fly from my usage. I hope I don't look back on this post in 10 years and laugh at what a fool I am.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

I'm convinced one can lead a healthy and productive life and be a lifelong opioid addict; however, once you start down the rabbit hole of stronger, more potent ones, like fent or heroin or hydromorphone, things can get ugly. It's about balance, knowing yourself, and finding a way to to avoid spending all your time and money caught up in opioids. Like I bet someone could take bupe their whole life and never really have a worry as long as the doctor allows you to continue on it.

I used O-DSMT daily on and off for about three years and I can still quit for months on end (mostly due to supply issues) and I'm probably gonna continue to use it and others on and off indefinitely. Same with benzos. Neither are dangerous if you know your limits, practice safe use, and keep up a supply in case of emergency cut offs.

 

[Xorkoth]

If one is able to maintain steady, legal and affordable access to opiates with a decent half-life, one can live a peaceful life on opiates. The problem is the increase in tolerance over time which leads to it ruining people financially, and/or the law troubles, and/or the moving on to stronger opiates (and subsequent law troubles, or being tainted with fentanyl, etc).

There are a lot of societal factors. For me, I was on opiates for 10 years and althoiugh I briefly went the heroin route, I settled on poppy seed tea, after I started on kratom for many years (then moved to oxy, morphine, heroin, and poppy tea). Over the 10 years I ended up about $40k in debt because I could buy them with a credit card. I lied to my loved ones on a daily basis for years towards the end and I promised myself I would quit because I was ruined financially so many times and always failed. So I started to hate myself too. it was a viscious circle and it brought me lower than anything else ever has. I never injected, I kept my house and job, but it still made me feel like a piece of shit. But also in my natural state, when I have taken care of the stresses in my life, I am not anxious and depressed. I can imagine if I had lived a lifetime of anxiety, and opiates made me feel normal, that assuming I had a lifelong prescription to a dose that worked, and it didn't destroy my finances, and my loved ones were okay with it like it was an antidepressant, it might improve my life.

 

[Nicomorphinist]

Yes, people have lived peaceful and productive lives on morphine, whole opium and all the rest for up to a century or slightly more, which, being halfway there I expect to happen in my case as well. Chronic constipation getting away from one and the possibility of long-term endocrine changes which need to be monitored are the main issues aside from supply.

Of course the powers that be know all about narcotics at proper stable doses making people love everyone and not be as shitty and rapacious and trivial and silly in general, and every power structure which benefits from chopping away at solidarity and at making people fight with each other, this is the government, the private sector, the psychiatric profession and their retainers not to mention the rehab racket stands to lose from this scenario. Same as it ever was. I actually credit a good fraction of organised religions with apparently not going down the same path or at least thinking it through more completely at least according to public pronouncements and various activities. Not every one of them, of course. And the only US candidates for President I have heard ask why it is that so many people in the United States are willing to take such awful chances to narcotise themselves are Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang, not that any of the candidates seem to have escaped this blind alley and trap of scapegoating "Big Pharma" and hoping for the big payoff the bloodsucking lawyers and demon snake prosecutors are working on -- no, they saw the undermedication of pain in the 1990s just like now and the whole tine since 1914 and they did what they were established to do: make medicine. And in some cases Small and Mid-Sized Pharma, especially European firms, had at least partially altruistic to downright militant views about the situation and acted accordingly . . .

 

[JTemperance]

If you subtract the factors relating to illegality (purity fluctuations, adulterants, oppressive cost), you are left with the same downsides that existed in the 19th century, when there wasn't outright illegality in most places, but still a non-negligible expense in purchasing supplies (once a habit was built at least), as well as familiar issues of disappointing one's family/friends and keeping secret a pathology that, then as now, walked the borderlands between "disease" and "immorality."

Besides downsides specific to injecting or snorting, there is of course constipation for most everyone (which seems trivial until it suddenly isn't), vivid bad dreams and low-quality sleep for some, as well as a certain lack of motivation that can overtake you even on maintenance doses... I would never claim it affects every long-term addict in this way, but the contentment that opiates bring can kind of reconcile you to your current circumstances rather than motivate you to change them -- which is in itself one reason why opium has traditionally been seen as a balm for old age in various societies.

 

[GetMeOutOfThisCRAP]

I think it's also important to note that the physical toll it puts on your body is not nearly as comparable to other things (like meth, cocaine, alcohol), so perpetual use doesn't seem to cause nasty side effects like the others allowing users to hide their lifestyle for a long time. I've heard that the brain is altered, but returns to normal after quitting completely? Only in severe heroin addiction cases have I heard that the brain does not in fact return fully, but I don't know much about that subject.

Seed tea would be much harder of an addiction to maintain, as people literally avoid going on vacations or traveling because of the withdrawal being so crippling severe. I've decided to stay away from that stuff also because my tolerance isn't the largest and it could easily become dangerous for me to dabble in.

If one is able to maintain steady, legal and affordable access to opiates with a decent half-life, one can live a peaceful life on opiates. The problem is the increase in tolerance over time which leads to it ruining people financially, and/or the law troubles, and/or the moving on to stronger opiates (and subsequent law troubles, or being tainted with fentanyl, etc).

There are a lot of societal factors. For me, I was on opiates for 10 years and althoiugh I briefly went the heroin route, I settled on poppy seed tea, after I started on kratom for many years (then moved to oxy, morphine, heroin, and poppy tea). Over the 10 years I ended up about $40k in debt because I could buy them with a credit card. I lied to my loved ones on a daily basis for years towards the end and I promised myself I would quit because I was ruined financially so many times and always failed. So I started to hate myself too. it was a viscious circle and it brought me lower than anything else ever has. I never injected, I kept my house and job, but it still made me feel like a piece of shit. But also in my natural state, when I have taken care of the stresses in my life, I am not anxious and depressed. I can imagine if I had lived a lifetime of anxiety, and opiates made me feel normal, that assuming I had a lifelong prescription to a dose that worked, and it didn't destroy my finances, and my loved ones were okay with it like it was an antidepressant, it might improve my life.

I'm sorry to hear that. I totally understand how it can get out of hand on the stronger ones. Hope you're doing well these days. What is O-DSMT?

 

[FuckinAcidMan]

Could prob smoke natural opium latex or take hydrocodone or milder pharma opiods without issues similar to how people drink a few beers every day while functioning normally for the most part.

I think starting on like H, Opana, Fent or IVing morphine/hydromorphone etc chasing a rush would go downhill quick. Similar to how alcoholics who drink a bottle of liquor or more a day tend to keep pushing it further chasing the intensity of higher doses.

Though the toll taken on the organs and mind is much lower with opiates than booze, so not a perfect comparison.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Contrary to the answers you've already received, I would say that "Yes, opiate addiction is really so bad"

Unfortunately you have to experience it and then come out the other side before you can truly appreciate how bad it is.

Do you want to live your life in a twilight state of no emotion, no feeling and no personality? If your answer is "Yes" then you've no idea what that actually means.

 

[Olivia Nicole]

I’ve been IVing BTH on and off for 6 years and smoked a year before that. I make enough money to be able to afford what at times can be a very expensive habit (before I transitioned to needles I resorted to stealing from family, including my poor grandmother to maintain my habit). I’ve been using daily for years.

I agree with many of the points made by everyone in the thread and like the OP I feel that the quality of my life is better with opiates than without. The biggest challenge to leading a ‘relatively normal’ life is prohibition, as others have also said.

I’ve chatted with people in Europe who have prescriptions for heroin or live in countries such as Portugal where addicts are not prosecuted and at least in their cases regular use is not incompatible with a ‘relatively normal life’.

Again, maybe I should emphasize relatively normal. All of the handful of European addicts who’ve shared their stories with me are in some way involved in the Arts, musicians, writers, dancers etc. in other words a population which is in some ways marginalized by virtue of their vocation, never mind their heroin use.

But I wouldn't be surprised to hear of a trader in the City of London or a banker in Geneva who is living contentedly with a daily habit. I imagine there's a lot of secrecy around opiate addiction among the wealthy. I really enjoyed the glimpse Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose Novels give of that world.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Opiates tend to seduce you into thinking you're better off with them than without them. This is a lie. I was dependent on heroin and/or methadone for 20 years. I've now been clean for 5 years and I cant believe how stupid I was. As I said, you have to to come out of the other side before you can appreciate how much it drags you down.

 

[JessFR]

Not all opioids are equally destructive, and not all opioids have the same social issues that cause more harm.

Heroins as bad as it is because it's illegal, and has a short half life, training you to live under the constant threat of withdrawal.

IF you could get your opioid of choice, regularly, to the point that withdrawals not an issue. Then no, I don't think it has to be nearly as destructive as it can be.

IV has its own issues with blood borne diseases so you'll also need constant access to large numbers of clean needles, and I do mean constant. But no, provided you somehow have all that, it doesn't have to be as destructive as it is.

Even with all that though, unless you have that access everywhere, you're still going to be confined to wherever you have it.

For all those downsides though, I can't deny that opioids can have a profound effect at treating depression. And depressions no alternative either. So I can certainly understand choosing opioids for all their negatives over depression.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

What is O-DSMT?

Quoted the wrong person there for said question; O-DSMT is o-desmethyltramadol, a metabolite of tramadol that is only an NRI instead of an SNRI (making it safe and without seizure risk) which is significantly more active at pain killing. It's essentially everything that tramadol wishes it was. Your body creates it in order to get any pain killing effects from tramadol.

 

[Xorkoth]

I'm sorry to hear that. I totally understand how it can get out of hand on the stronger ones. Hope you're doing well these days. What is O-DSMT?

Thanks, yeah I quit opiates 6 years ago. As for O-DSMT, it's what CG (just above me) said. You can get O-DSMT in research chem,ical form. Your body also makes it from tramadol, but some people are bad at making it and don't get much from tramadol, and tramadol is also dangerous for various other reasons. Whereas pure O-DSMT does not have the same dangeroys (it is FAR more potent though).

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Yeah I've tried tramadol at 50mg and never felt shit but 10mg O-DSMT is enough to get me a good buzz for 6 hours with a bit of an itch.

I find it very easy to go on and off it. Just a bit of PAWS occasionally, aside from a sweaty nose for a few days and restless sleep. The NRI action leaves me awake at night if I take it too late. Interesting opioid to be sure. Very useful for depression.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

50mg O-DSMT orally is fuckin lush. But still not worth it in the grand scheme of things...

 

[Cream Gravy?]

50mg O-DSMT orally is fuckin lush. But still not worth it in the grand scheme of things...

That would make me puke/OD. I guess I'm lucky. Took 20mg the first time I tried it and laid curled up in a ball for four hours. I never dose higher than 15-17mg now within a 4 hour period, even with tolerance, because I metabolize it so well.

 

[Zonxx]

I'm convinced one can lead a healthy and productive life and be a lifelong opioid addict; however, once you start down the rabbit hole of stronger, more potent ones, like fent or heroin or hydromorphone, things can get ugly

Sir, i take 400mg /morphine daily, 12mg hydromorphone, and 40mg of oxy pretty much everysingle day and i'm as productive as can be. i've iv'd a few times but i'm not big on that route, i've used my fair share of dope too.. it depends on the person. there's plenty of people that can lead completely normal lives while being addicts and youd never be able to tell the difference unless they told you, while there's some where you see it destroying them, to each their own.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Sir, i take 400mg /morphine daily, 12mg hydromorphone, and 40mg of oxy pretty much everysingle day and i'm as productive as can be. i've iv'd a few times but i'm not big on that route, i've used my fair share of dope too.. it depends on the person. there's plenty of people that can lead completely normal lives while being addicts and youd never be able to tell the difference unless they told you, while there's some where you see it destroying them, to each their own.

I've honestly never used anything stronger than oxycodone, maybe I could be just as functional as you. I'm just saying the stronger ones tend to lead people to bad places. I have no issue with the idea of using opium or morphine or methadone or other long half-life opioids daily. Short half-life ones are given to issues though.

Like I said before, the only real issue with opioid use for life is supply, and constipation. If opioids were OTC and one could find a way to deal with any constipation there's no reason anyone would need to avoid them.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

It is perfectly possible to live a functional life as an opiate addict. But robots are also functional. To live life as an addict is to live life as a robot. No feeling, no love, no life...

 

[Cream Gravy?]

No feeling, no love, no life...

As you said yourself, some might prefer that. I know you view that as not living at all but life is pretty terrible for some who suffer from extreme depression.

O-DT honestly got me through the worst jobs I've ever had to work. Otherwise I would have quit week one from like 5 different jobs due to misery.