Opioids Long term effects of low dosages?

[emailfun1234]

you will probably feel some minor withdrawl effects if you decide to quit. Diarrhea, goose bumps, runny nose, sneezing, pupil dilation, etc. But most likely you won't get the extreme sickness such as tremors, profuse sweating, vomiting, etc. it would be a good idea not to increase your dosage, for considering you are a regular user, it would most likely result in physical dependence if you are not dependent already.

Are you really suggesting that I could have even minor physical addiction and thus withdrawal from this low dose? I certainly don't want THAT (duh). I was under the impression that 20mg hydro per week couldn't possibly be enough to develop physical dependence.

 

[emailfun1234]

That is quite amazing that after 1 year of use you are still only using 10mg to achieve a nice feeling, even if only twice a week.

Don't get me wrong ... it's a nice, but very mild feeling. I'm sure I could handle and ENJOY much more, but, you know, I'm afraid to increase the dose or frequency. That could lead down a very dark path.

My main reason for this thread was to "justify" to myself that if I could keep it this low and infrequent, that there is "nothing wrong with it" and I could keep it up indefinitely.

 

[macbrown21]

I have tried ultracet, 50mg. This has no apap so that's a good thing, right? I think 50mg is roughly as potent as 5 or 7.5 mg of hydro? My dose of ultracet is 1 and a half pills ... they're tiny little pills to break in half. The 75 mg is roughly equivalent to 10mg or less of hydrocodone. I felt about the same "buzz" as hydro and got about the same good night sleep. As you probably know, ultracet seems to be easier to acquire, hence my question about it. Given the aquisition issues, I think that this 75mg ultracet dose is going to replace my 10mg hydro dose. My goal is to still stick to just twice a week.

Ultracet has APAP in it. Thats what the "acet" is at the end. Acetaminophen aka APAP aka Tylenol. Ultram has no APAP if thats what you're talking about. And if your in a good deal of pain 75mg of this will not replace 10mg of hydrocodone. For me if just taking for a buzz 75mg won't compare at all to 10mg of hydrocodone. It will last much longer though.

I've taken many a tramadol (Ultram) and many a hydrocodone. For me 150-200mg will feel more like 10mg of hydrocodone. The "buzz" is totally different though. Tramadol definitely enhances my mood though, not really much in the way of euphoria. Tramadol tolerance builds really quickly and after a bit you won't get that nice buzz you got at first. Though only using twice a week should keep that it in check somewhat.

And I doubt you'll experience any WDs from hydrocodone use at this point. Maybe light mental ones. But since you only use twice a week, so your taking at minimum 3 days off in between doses. You would feel any WDs during this 3 days. If you don't feel WDs during your off days, your not going to feel them at all.

 

[Depressicaa]

At your dosage you have nothing to worry about. There is going to be no withdrawal (20mg per week, you aren't even using it daily!), and even heroin users don't suffer long term effects most of the time, except for the effects of impurities in the heroin. Opiates are very benign except when taken in excess, which you are not doing. Once you need it to maintain your body like other daily opiate users, you are going to have withdrawals. You may have poor judgment since you are high, but you're probably not going to have that happen if it didn't already.

 

[emailfun1234]

Update: My supply of hydro ran out, but Tramadol is relatively easy to get and so I have "switched" to Tramadol. They are more like a capsule - impossible to break in half, so my dose is 2 x 50 = 100mg. Still twice a week (occasionally 3 times a week depending on how the days fall). I have not felt my tolerance change at all. 100mg still does the trick. Mild, pleasant, great sleep. Still nothing to worry about, right? Thanks again.

 

[docs - docs]

Tramadol is not as safe as the other opiates, but I don't know any more than that about it.

There is evidence that protracted opiate use causes a decrease in testosterone levels, to the point where some chronic pain sufferers are prescribed testosterone. I'm lucky enough to have plenty of testosterone to spare, but blood tests over the course of my treatment for chronic pain have shown a steady (though slight) decrease with more pronounced troughs during periods of.... 'over medication'

Paradox

 

[TheLostBoys]

^ ya, not even just that tho....he has some great self control, i only lasted a week or so after i first tried OC to be smoking dope everyday....

and lady codone covered this thread......this is what you need to know....

although, i might stop while your ahead.....opiate addiction can ruin so many aspects of your life.....even tho there may not be a problem now, doesn't mean there wont be one in the future......

Just because you have never been in a car accident while driving for over 20 years doesnt mean you wont ever get in an accident. You just hope it doesnt happen.

 

[docs - docs]

Just because you have never been in a car accident while driving for over 20 years doesnt mean you wont ever get in an accident. You just hope it doesnt happen.

Well said. I was responsibly medicated for chronic pain for a LONG time. I enjoyed the stuff, but never fell victim to it... until I did. It was a sudden spiral into a very expensive and shitty time in my life. Thankfully I'm back to proper management, but I'm now very aware of how little it takes and how quickly you can fall into the little cracks in the side walk.

Given enough time, it can and does happen to everyone.

 

[SeekerOfEuphoria]

Tramadol is something I wouldn't mess with. Hydrocodone is much safer to do. The reason being is Tramadol is an opiate, but its also an antidepressant similar to SSRI's (or maybe it is an SSRI, nodding to much to look). If you get addicted to the Tramadol the withdrawals will last much longer and will be worse (All the symptoms of Opiate Withdrawal with the added benefit of Antidepressant withdrawals) and anything over 300mg's of Tramadol a day gives you a risk of seizures. Although your risk of physical addiction is little to none at your current dosages and frequency, but if it gets up there switch back to Hydrocodone or Codeine.

 

[emailfun1234]

Thanks for the advice. I try to be extrmely careful and aware of the danger here. I have NEVER taken more than 100mg in a day and never more than 300 in a week. I don't feel any difference between the effect of tram vs hydro. The problem is that hydro is hard to get. Again, thanks for the advice!

 

[Alex000]

I couldn't imagine there being any damage done with hydrocodone only twice a week at 10 mg for just a year. Opiates are pretty gentle on the body, though there are some synthetic opioids that could do some damage I'd think if dosed continuously, but not hydrocodone. Just don't eat tons of APAP. Now, beware of tolerance and addiction. Opiates are very addictive. It bears repeating. Opiates are very addictive, and twice a week is kind of frequent. Just something to consider.

 

[dokomo]

The biggest dangers are overdose and addiction. Aside from that, opiates mainly cause constipation, erectile problems and other minor side effects. No chronic organ damage like alcohol or cocaine.

However, taking opiate pills with acetaminophen in them can be dangerous in high doses or when mixed with other potential liver toxins (alcohol, kava, more acetaminophen). Monitor your daily acetaminophen intake and all should be fine.

QFT.

The only other problem (and others have mentioned this here) is a lowering of testosterone levels, but at such a low dosage I would not expect to see this.

 

[PossibleOne]

Yea if you didn't feel anything after transitioning over then you are golden. Kind of odd to me though, the last time I had Trams I didnt like them. I actually felt pretty weird and Ive been an opiate user for 10 years so I couldnt even compare them to a hydro. Even though I dislike hydros as well lol. But cheers, keep at it.