opiate withdrawal overview and help
My personal experience with addiction to opiates and klonopin is fairly recent. I've also spent plenty of time researching all aspects of opiates and benzos. I'm also a certified pharmacy tech. Opiate withdrawal is mostly the same regardless of what which opiate you are addicted to. The only difference would be if your on tramadol which has much less physical hold on the receptors. I was taking tramadol for over a yeat, 1-2 50 mg a day. Once my supply ran out I had no choice but to stop. My withdrawal only took about 3 days and had minimal effects. Mostly psychological I do t recall any physical dependence and the entire detox was fairly easy. I felt some uncomfort but mostly it was a void feeling like something was missing.
Basically any other opiate is gonna be a rough couple of weeks yet everyone deals with detoxification differently based upon the brains make-up. The most common symptoms of withdrawal are muscle spasms especially I the arms and legs. This can make sleep very difficult since it usually becomes more intense when you attempt to relax. For me this was the worst withdrawal effect. Constant feeling of weakness and lack of motivation, depression, changes in breathing making small physical task feel like a strenuous chore and breathing becomes labored. Feeling of faint when standing is very common due to lowered blood pressure. Stand up slowly and don't begin to walk until you feel the sensation pass. Although symptoms from opiate withdrawal are basically universal with all opiates including heroin. The only difference would be the length of time that opiate I'd binding g to the receptors. Opiates such as morphine, dilaudid, oxy based pills such as Roxicets. Have a very short binding time. Giving you a stronger high and faster withdrawal symptoms. The first symptom will most likely be back pain. There's not too much to relieve the discomfort, there are a few things to lessen the intensity. Muscle spasms are makes sleeping extremely uncomfortable, feeling the need to constantly move your arms and legs or having involuntary muscle twitching. What had the most affect in easing the spasms was a muscle ache rub. I used a menthol gel. It has a warm and cold feeling at the same time. Although the strong sensation is a little annoying it did help a bit with the spasms. For the mental effects, you don't have too many options besides herbal OTC supplements. Anything with a calming effect will lessen the mental void. Kava Kava, St. Johns Wart, Valerian Root and Melatonin will have a calming effect and you will hopefully get some rest which is a godsend during withdrawal. If you can make it for at least 5 days you should begin to have less symptoms and with willpower you can beat it. If you can't stand the symptoms you may need to consider a rehab facility where they can manage your symptoms with stronger meds.
Meds such as Suboxone will immediately help you feel normal but that will come with another problem once you become addicted to the opiate properties it contains. Suboxone contains Naloxone which block the receptors from other opiates making you feel the withdrawal symptoms rapidly. Suboxone is synthetic and is much stronger than morphine yet there's no euphoria effects. It will bind to the receptors much longer making you feel normal for longer. You must be kept monitored when coming off the Suboxone as the withdrawal symptoms start within 36-48hrs the effects are equal to any other opiate. That's why detoxification without the bandaid opiates Like methadone or Suboxone is a better route because sooner or later you will have to go through the full withdrawal at some point. Its a hard experience to endure but those few weeks is a small time compared to the time and money spent as an addict. Just know you are far from alone. Having a trusted friend or family to help you get through and lessen the relapse potential which can be an overwhelming desire to feel normal.