Managing triggers during opiate dependence therapy/maintenance

[xburtonchic]

Either for Suboxone or methadone users, or people who have been clean. Doesn't matter. Just wondering if anyone has any special tricks they use to control themselves around triggers.

I'm only asking because I'm on 2 mg Suboxone maintenance daily for opioid dependence. My brother just got his wisdom teeth out and keeps walking around shaking his Percocet/Vicodin bottles and bragging about how good he feels and how high he is. Basically, my drug of choice and how amazing it feels is being thrown in my face every two seconds (I don't know whether he's doing it deliberately or not, but it wouldn't surprise me knowing him... either way, some respect would be nice). So far I've been dealing with the wicked cravings by taking more Subs. I'd prefer to, like, not do that.. because I'll run out quickly obviously, although I'm sure my addiction specialist would understand in this case. But still, I only have two left and I don't see him for another week.

Who do/would you guys do when you're exposed to triggers and you get cravings? Honestly, I feel like Suboxone is only good for cravings for so long anyways. IME, they come back eventually full force; you just don't take them because you know it would be a waste of time.

What I just typed hardly made sense even to me, I'm not asking about withdrawals... only cravings... just to make that clear. Specifically for opiates, but I suppose any type of addiction or dependence works too!

Me, normally I would leave the house, go drive somewhere or whatever. I have a concussion though lol so that's not an option right now. So yeah, just wondering... somewhat out of curiosity and somewhat for personal reasons, can't hurt to try other ideas.

 

[sekio]

This is TDS material

 

[redsweater]

when i get mad cravings i go for a surf (or if theres no waves, just a swim)
the ocean just calms me down and makes me forget other shit...
other good things include xanax, video games, read a book etc... its good to just get out of the house or wherever you use opis cos you will just keep fiendin there

also ur bros a dick

 

[xburtonchic]

when i get mad cravings i go for a surf (or if theres no waves, just a swim)
the ocean just calms me down and makes me forget other shit...
other good things include xanax, video games, read a book etc... its good to just get out of the house or wherever you use opis cos you will just keep fiendin there

also ur bros a dick

I love the ocean. I wish I was allowed to drive right now because I'd totally be down there haha. And yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing but I didn't want to say it since he just had his wisdom teeth out. But it was hard watching him down Percocet all day like every two hours as he got more and more fucked up and started nodding off... he was taking more than he needed to for his pain and it was pissing me off, plus he was mixing Vicodin in there every once in a while AND drinking... and he also wouldn't shut up, every two seconds: "I feel goooooooooddd." I finally couldn't help myself and told him to stop talking about that shit in front of me. Didn't work of course, an hour later he goes: "I've never done Percocet before. You're the one who knows about all of this stuff, what is it? What does it do? Is it supposed to feel this good?" Really. You're asking me, a recovering opiate addict, to remember and describe what a Percocet high is supposed to feel like as I watch you down them? No. Shut up. Pretty inconsiderate if you ask me... but that is my brother for you.

Ughh and I'm in for even more of it tomorrow. Oh well. I'm going to try your methods though for sure (minus the ocean, since I can't drive lol) because I like all of those other things too. Going for a walk would probably be good as far as exercise and getting out of the house goes.

@Sekio - thanks, it's kind of hard to tell with all of the drug forums where these kinds of things belong sometimes, my bad!

 

[shady4091]

Dude, I feel for you, that's so rough. I can't believe someone could be so inconsiderate. Really the best and only real thing you could do is just try and avoid him. Or teach him a lesson, next time he's shaking that bottle in front of you just grab it and flush them. Then offer him some ibuprofen. That's probably what I would have done by now...

 

[Missykins]

Yes, you will still experience cravings while on Suboxone, especially early into your treatment, because addiction is a learned behaviour that is
highly ritualized.

First, I would talk with your doctor about your cravings. Your doctor will likely choose to temporarily increase your dose. Don't do this on your own
because you will run out of Suboxone early and then you will really have cravings.

Second, you have to "unlearn" the behavioural part of your addiction. Think of a craving as a wave, that has a beginning, a crest or peak, and an end.
Teach yourself to "ride out" the wave. When I have a craving, I do something that may sound silly but it really works: I keep ten pennies in my
pocket, and if I feel a craving coming on, I take one penny from my pocket and put it into the other pocket, and by the time I've counted all ten
pennies, the craving has passed.

Also remind yourself that if you take opiates while on Suboxone you won't feel anything, so why bother?

 

[xburtonchic]

Dude, I feel for you, that's so rough. I can't believe someone could be so inconsiderate. Really the best and only real thing you could do is just try and avoid him. Or teach him a lesson, next time he's shaking that bottle in front of you just grab it and flush them. Then offer him some ibuprofen. That's probably what I would have done by now...

hahaha this made me LOL... if only. But he would then take my Xanax & Subs and do the same thing. You don't know my brother, he really is selfish and inconsiderate. I remember once a long time ago, when I came back from the military, he was jealous/pissed off over something REALLY small. I can't even remember what it was, but it was outrageous enough to get him kicked out because of how much he overreacted. He took all of my dress uniforms, put them in a duffel bag, and then ran the shower over them. And then he took the rest of my luggage and put it on the roof. So I try not to fuck with him, because he can be pretty ruthless when he wants to be. Like the other day, he was trying to tell me to just stop taking the Subs and Xanax if I hated it so much. I told him, "I can't. Like, literally. Stopping Xanax without tapering can cause seizures." His response? "So what? Just make sure you're with people so that if you do have a seizure, they can take you to the hospital." No regard toward the fact that seizures can be fatal... no regard toward the fact that I already HAVE a concussion, and seizures can make them worse in and of themselves... not to mention the fact that you're completely blacked out during a seizure and there's a huge risk of falling and hitting your head on something. I've never had one, but I saw it happen to a person once and it scared the shit out of me. I saw it on Celebrity Rehab once too, and the chick fell and busted her head open. So yeah, no thanks. I'd rather AVOID having a seizure to begin with, I'm not trying to die kthnx.

And he's 22, almost 23. He should know better. He's just... idk. But luckily he ran out of all of his pills in the first day (told you he was downing them like there was no tomorrow), and bought a bottle of tequila instead. Pretty dumb of him after he just overloaded his body with APAP, but he thinks he knows everything and won't listen to me, despite the fact that I *do* know more about that stuff than anyone else he knows. But whatever, this thread is not about my brother. Point is, I don't have to deal with my DOC being thrown in my face anymore

Missykins: I've been on Subs for well over a year now, and ironically, I didn't have any cravings at all when I first started. Mine hit me hard about a year into it, lasted about a month, and I haven't had any since. Well, until that shit was right in front of me anyway lol. I'm on the smallest dose I can be on now, so I'm about to jump off... finally nearing the end of my treatment, thank God. I can't wait to get it over with. I like your idea though, with the pennies. Gonna use it for when I actually DO jump off and no longer have Subs to distract me. Thanks for the tip!

Your post reminded me of a quote I saw earlier today. It was, "You can't stop the waves from coming, but you can learn to surf." I think it was by someone named Jack Kornfield, a UCLA professor. I liked it though, pretty inspiring - I wrote it on a piece of paper and put it on my wall. Now I can look at it for motivation whenever I want!

 

[herbavore]

Your post reminded me of a quote I saw earlier today. It was, "You can't stop the waves from coming, but you can learn to surf." I think it was by someone named Jack Kornfield, a UCLA professor. I liked it though, pretty inspiring - I wrote it on a piece of paper and put it on my wall. Now I can look at it for motivation whenever I want!

Pretty good reminder for wherever you find yourself in life! Thanks for posting it

 

[xburtonchic]

Pretty good reminder for wherever you find yourself in life! Thanks for posting it

Indeed it is! You're quite welcome

 

[effie]

How are things going now, xburtonchic?

 

[Larson0]

man i would have beat the living piss out of your brother, probably crushed them all and made him snort the whole pile of nose burning shit tasting stuff and then laugh when he is puking.

 

[unsettled]

I just got back on suboxone after finally getting off of it and being opiate free for a month, it was the depression that finally got me, and I happily took a small amount of suboxone and figured the trade off was worth it (oh yeah, I actually relapsed on Heroin first for a couple weeks, then decided that just staying on a small amount of sub wasn't so bad after all!)

As far as dealing with triggers, for me suboxone by itself gets my mind off of opiates. These days when I see a Vicodin I don't think of touching it since I know it won't do anything if I took it.

Try to keep your mind occupied, I read constantly now, always have a book I'm into. I'm very involved in my work and enjoy helping other people, the payoff of living a life free of having to worry about where I'm going to get my next fix is very liberating. Unfortunately I still need the suboxone, now that I've quit once for a month I feel that when I'm ready I'll be better prepared to succeed when the PAWS linger on and on and on....

If all else fails remember that if you do indeed succumb to temptation you probably won't feel it all that much unless you do a huge amount of opiates after abstaining from the subs for a while.

I probably shouldn't write this next part so mods feel free to erase it, but when you're on subs and take other opiates even after abstaining from subs a few days you just don't feel them the way you normally would. After being off subs and all other opiates for a month heroin felt like a brand new drug, better than the first time I tried it.

So I think if you're feeling tempted STAY on the subs and tell your doctor that you may need a higher dose. All things considered I think it's much safer to stay on the subs until doing opiates again is the furthest thing from your mind. That in and of itself is my advice, other than that just stay busy and stay away from people you used to use with. Find something healthy to get obsessed with, there are other ways to get your endorphins flowing again!