Maybe I can change someone's mind before they delve......

[Osoyboy]

I'd like to start out by saying that I've been lurking here for a few years and have found most of the information here to be incredible. You are an amazing group of people and you have saved me from a dozen or so really nasty CT withdrawals. Your knowledge is beyond what I get from my colleagues at work and you display a level of compassion that is rarely seen these days, even in an ER dept.
With that out o the way, I'll continue. I am a paramedic, I have a limited knowledge of pharmacology,(lots of you know much more LOL) I work with people on the street with all sorts of problems, but due to a nasty call I decided I'd try moving in-doors to dispatch for a while, whilst I attempted to get my mental health in check, what a mistake that was, dispatch is much much heavier mentally but that's a whole different story....
Here's the reason for my post this evening and I'll apologize if it's in the wrong spot, or if it's rambling. it's my first time.
I've been a short term opiate addict, started out as a weekender, then I had a PTSD incident at work and my issues really ramped up. Like so many of us I have poor coping skills and drugs became the only thing that were able to fill the gaping hole I desperately needed filled.
And I like the way they make me feel.
Currently I'm seeing three different professionals for my mental health, I'm off work and I'm sorting things out, I think. Last month I started IV'ing dillys. WOW..... There are few things I like more, there are some, but its a small amount thats for sure. During the hours I've spent in withdrawal I've been reading that the only thing comparable to the rush you get from IV dilly is IV cocaine, see now?

I gave er a shot this evening and have come to one conclusion.
PLEASE !!!! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
aside from it being terrible for your veins, general overall health and probably huge amounts of cut it gets on every stop from Peru to my vein, the so called "rush" part is pathetic. I pushed the shot in, I had some blurry vision, I got nauseous, there was no rush, in all honestly it was NOTHING special, and for all the extra damage it did or could have caused I would just advise that its not worth it, in ANY way shape or form.

SO If i can change just one person's mind about whether they should IV coke or not, I have been successful. Please don't, It sucks, it's not worth the money, your time, the effort or your health.

 

[dopamimetic]

Yeah, I've heard many times about that 'rush' or 'bellringer' (?) from IV cocaine - and that it isn't really the dopamine etc. but more the adverse effects, giving you kind of an adrenaline shock throughout the body.. don't know the truth about that though.

This really isn't exactly harm reduction (depends on how you look at it), but for anyone who's already into IV'ing and becoming desperate - go get some pure ketamine. If you're able to get a sealed vial, shoot it if you like- it's intended for that. Otherwise the nasal route is very effective too. Just read up about the dosages, and watch out for the opioid potentiation, don't do a full opioid dosage together with ketamine - it can kill you!

Rather wait until you begin to slightly feel / fear of the withdrawal, and then gradually taper into the ketamine. It might only work for some, but it has actually brought people off opioids without nasty prolonged withdrawal ... and dissociatives are much safer than opioids, as long as you don't mix them. Ketamine is actually under-dosed when used recreationally, an overdose will just lead to anesthesia but your body continues to breath etc. unless you're dosing reallllly high (this is a huge amount, but people even managed to die off ketamine.. don't do this. Start with 50mg or so.)

The dissociative effect can be very relieving. It's actually a strong, rapid-acting antidepressant currently in clinical trials (or better said, they try to develop a derivate that doesn't feel as nice, which might succeed, but somehow I think they'll have a hard time to achieve it) and there is downstream modulation of opioid receptors, potentially leading to lowered tolerance and less cravings etc.. last but not least, dissociatives are effective pain killers on their own over a different mechanism than opioids (they are anesthetics after all).

If the physical discomfort from the opioid w/d is too strong, adding low-dose loperamide might be worth a try.

 

[Speed King]

Osoyboy, good post. I see the HR part of the post, but you mention your upstanding job, PTSD, falling into shooting dillys, how great it is shooting dillys then you end with don't shoot, shootings bad. Like I said, I saw the HR, but, pick a direction. You know? That post can go like 5 different ways. I agree with dopamimetic. Not really HR. Ketamine is worth a try if your really interested in getting off the opiates. As someone who has gone to rehab and learned, you have to get that opiate thing in check. You need to open up to your therapists. They are there to help you and the good news is there are laws that keep what you say private. Open up and get the help you need. Sorry to go off topic. I'm glad that you want to help others.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Why even compare hydromorphone to cocaine? Why compare a depressant with a stimulant?

 

[pillman1224]

Osoyboy, good post. I see the HR part of the post, but you mention your upstanding job, PTSD, falling into shooting dillys, how great it is shooting dillys then you end with don't shoot, shootings bad. Like I said, I saw the HR, but, pick a direction. You know? That post can go like 5 different ways. I agree with dopamimetic. Not really HR. Ketamine is worth a try if your really interested in getting off the opiates. As someone who has gone to rehab and learned, you have to get that opiate thing in check. You need to open up to your therapists. They are there to help you and the good news is there are laws that keep what you say private. Open up and get the help you need. Sorry to go off topic. I'm glad that you want to help others.

those privacy laws mean fuck all. i have a friend who used to be in PM he told his shrink about abusing his oxys and surprise next PM appointment he was cut off. Honesty is not the best policy with your doctor anymore.