Opioids NOW I get it, casual opiate user - NO such thing.

[SkagKush]

^ that could be quite dangerous if that happens.. i thought about that logic and it would ultimately eventually lead to an OD if that kept happening.
Because if the person keeps upping their dose because they require it mentally because they "get used" to the feeling, but are not physically dependent or build a tolerance physically.. they raise their dose too high once and it can lead to an OD.
I think the "getting used" to the feeling mentally would eventually turn into a physical tolerance as the user ups the dose.
I am not sure what i am getting at here, but i just figured i would share my thoughts i got when i read that.

EDIT: and i don't mean the poster you were answering because they have a controlled amount they can get, but just drug users in general that can get as much as they want and think they can control it.

o man i totally agree. my post was just a description of the very begining.....and infact that would lead to physical addiction, thats basicly how it happened for me now that i think about it...

 

[kakti]

I have enough opiates available to OD on, yet I only use them once a week, on a weekend day. Some weeks I skip it without even thinking about it.

My sister is a heroin junky through and through; she pawned almost everything I owned and everything she owned for it.

My dad absolutely hates opiates and specifically asks for painkillers that don't contain opiates (Neurontin and the like)

AFAIK all of my friends would take an opiate if it was around but none actively search it out.

Everyone is different. Some people have self control, some people don't. Some people can go cop a bundle by walking down the street, others wouldn't take it if it were free. It's all about using it sparingly, and not letting your life revolve around it. If you know you don't have the control, don't get a script for 120 Percocets and then complain that your doctor got you addicted. Also, I'd bet $100 that your doctor had a rather unfriendly audit by the DEA and that's why he cut you off.

 

[NeighborMike]

I have enough opiates available to OD on, yet I only use them once a week, on a weekend day. Some weeks I skip it without even thinking about it.

My sister is a heroin junky through and through; she pawned almost everything I owned and everything she owned for it.

My dad absolutely hates opiates and specifically asks for painkillers that don't contain opiates (Neurontin and the like)

AFAIK all of my friends would take an opiate if it was around but none actively search it out.

Everyone is different. Some people have self control, some people don't. Some people can go cop a bundle by walking down the street, others wouldn't take it if it were free. It's all about using it sparingly, and not letting your life revolve around it. If you know you don't have the control, don't get a script for 120 Percocets and then complain that your doctor got you addicted. Also, I'd bet $100 that your doctor had a rather unfriendly audit by the DEA and that's why he cut you off.

good post

 

[katharsis]

I'm quite convinced that "control" is not the major influence in the getting addicted or not.
Genetic disposition and your brain biochemistry have more to do with it.

 

['medicine cabinet']

In about the decade or so i have actively been doing opiates, i only knew one person that I could really say was a casual user. This dude could snort a little raw every few days and not get sick, WD, fiend out ect it was weird. Like one day he had some dope and i was broke and feeling shitty and he just gave it to me like, here you go, you need it more than i do. I mean i was friends with this guy but really, how many ppl do you know that would give you their stash for free and opt not to do it themself. I was extremely thankful for the hookup, esp considering the circumstances.

Last i heard the guy is married and has a house and shit and is living a totally normal life. I dont know if he still uses, but when he was using it was 3-4 times a week. He had a steady job too and dope never got in the way of it, which is more than i can say for myself and just about every other dope user i know that has actually had a serious habit. My friend went on like this for a few years, using a few times a week. If he couldnt get any he was just kinda like ah well, i guess ill get some next time. I never could figure it out...he must have had insane self control or something. I can honestly say i could never be a casual user of opiates....i AM an addict, and i know the urge would be too strong to just chip, it would go into every day, multiple times a day, in no time.

It seems like once you get a habit, esp when you are young and your brain is still forming, it reprograms your brain to not be able to control it almost or something. Pretty much everyone i know that uses or used would take a free dose of their opiate of choice if it were offered, and to this day even after all the terrible consequences from my abuse of opiates, i still would take it in a heartbeat. And for that fact alone i know i could never be a casual user.

 

[verso]

In about the decade or so i have actively been doing opiates, i only knew one person that I could really say was a casual user. This dude could snort a little raw every few days and not get sick, WD, fiend out ect it was weird. Like one day he had some dope and i was broke and feeling shitty and he just gave it to me like, here you go, you need it more than i do. I mean i was friends with this guy but really, how many ppl do you know that would give you their stash for free and opt not to do it themself. I was extremely thankful for the hookup, esp considering the circumstances.

That's crazy! I wouldn't even do something like that unless it were for my girlfriend or something. I have done something like this for my girlfriend before, and it's not too big a deal, but yeah... wow... that's really interesting.

 

[TheLostBoys]

Yeah, I think you're wrong there man. Alcohol and opiates are both addicting substances, but they are on different levels. It's like comparing having sex with kim kardashin and Kirstie Alley or something. Sure, they're both fun and you will still get your nut, but the experience is on a whole other level.

I don't think it's appriopriate to compare alcoholics to junkies.

Oh, and to the OP, I think everyone or most people are casual opiate users....AT FIRST. That creeps up, and before you know it you're addicted. I don't feel like a lot of people get "hooked after their first hit."

Another think is, with alcohol...you have to drink a LOT, and for a LONG TIME to become addicted. Whereas with opiates, it's usually like 2-3 weeks and you're in withdrawal if you stop.

I can agree with something you've stated. I know a few alcoholics & they can not function when under the influence of alcohol & they seem to have lost their intelligence as the years pass. Where opiate addicts can function normally under the influence & can have intelligent conversations.

Yes, it can take a bit longer for alcoholics to get started on their road to destruction compared to opiate addicts but if I had to choose, I would choose opiates every time to be my addiction.

Also, alcoholics can go into convulsions & seizures if they try to quit cold turkey & can die where as the opiate addict doesnt have life threatening situations when trying to quit cold turkey.

 

[TheLostBoys]

It seems like once you get a habit, esp when you are young and your brain is still forming, it reprograms your brain to not be able to control it almost or something.

This is a major point on how we as adults can control an opiate addiction, or I should say, we may have a bit more control than your average teenager hooked on opiates. I too believe that when you are a teenager & getting started with opiates, your brain is still forming & if the opiate is the only thing it knows, it will constantly go back to that. It does seem that the earlier in life someone starts drugs, the harder it is for them to quit on the future

 

[Timland]

I started off with using Vicodin 5/500s in 2008, then poppy seed "tea" which is what clenched the addiction for me, then there were poppy pods. Intermingled with oxycodone scripts for various surgeries.

I knew exactly that the chances of avoiding both dependency and addiction were slim, but I tried to keep a schedule anyway. Well, there isn't really a schedule anymore. However, my habit is now managed to where I don't spend even a quarter of my income on my habit, it doesnt interfere with normal functions of my life (except being able to drive).

There is an exception to every rule so I do believe there are casual opi* users.

Oh and I have no regrets or shame for my addiction. It is what it is. I still enjoy them after all this time. I sometimes do planned withdrawals to lower my tolerance and get some of the "magic" back when I start drifting out of honeymoon phase. Planned withdrawals and planned relapses

 

[andrikos1977]

i was hooked on for 15 years in a row.
now im clean but to be honest if i ever make millions i will probably get a huge stash of subutex,a personal doctor and ima use heroin the rest of my life.so yes i agree.opiates man,either u dont either u do.and if u do its just a matter of time to start using alot again.

 

[avcpl]

Casual user here. Once a week max with no desire to do more than that (13 years and counting). Literally have over a thousand pills stockpiled but they don't call to me at all. Wife is the same way, we have very similar personalities.

So yes, there is such thing as a casual opiate user.

 

[wcote]

Some people like using opiates and some people LOVE opiates, I fall into the latter.

If you gave me some gear, I would break within about a minute. I could never stockpile anything, apart a little bit of gear to have when I wake up.

I dunno how you stockpile hundreds even thousands of pills. I mean even if they were codeine of DHC I'd still much them like skittles.... Jealous of all you casual users, you get a nod on every time... dont wake up needing opiates... and for example it doesnt matter to you that there is a drought, but for me it meant hopping on to subutex... fucking clucking.

 

[avcpl]

yeah, I don't mean to sound flippant or anything. I truly feel for people that have addictions, it sounds terrible. But it is a bit insulting to be told it can't be done when that just is not true.

And I do LOVE opiates, but I HATE feeling disappointed in myself and guilty and that's how I would feel if I used them more often; I wouldn't even enjoy the physical high.

I know I've said it here before, but to me it's like having a big juicy steak. I absolutely LOVE it, but have no desire to have it every day (but obviously there are people that do and that is their addiction).

 

[I NUK3D U]

Anybody with a void to fill; avoid opiates. There's been times in my life when I've mainted a recreational opiate habbit with success. If I indulged now, for example, I'd sink because of how I feel about things.

Very much situation dependent.

 

[limonov]

Opiates are a drug that demand dedication. If you are taking them, you have to have a habit- you must schedule how often you get high and how much you take so you don't get a real habit/tolerance, you give yourself breaks so that you can continue to enjoy your beloved, you learn to potentiate your doses and make the most of them and if you do get a habit opiates demand that you work out how to take them every day, or you work out how to weather the withdrawals and start the whole process again.

You can take opiates without being physiologically addicted to them, many people do so for years and years- but you may well be psychologically addicted to them all the same, even if you don't get cold sweats and the shits in between doses.

 

[TheLostBoys]

Opiates are a drug that demand dedication. If you are taking them, you have to have a habit- you must schedule how often you get high and how much you take so you don't get a real habit/tolerance, you give yourself breaks so that you can continue to enjoy your beloved, you learn to potentiate your doses and make the most of them and if you do get a habit opiates demand that you work out how to take them every day, or you work out how to weather the withdrawals and start the whole process again.

You can take opiates without being physiologically addicted to them, many people do so for years and years- but you may well be psychologically addicted to them all the same, even if you don't get cold sweats and the shits in between doses.

How do you take breaks from opiates if you need them for chronic pain?

 

[TheLostBoys]

Anybody with a void to fill; avoid opiates. There's been times in my life when I've mainted a recreational opiate habbit with success. If I indulged now, for example, I'd sink because of how I feel about things.

Very much situation dependent.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

100% correct! I see that in my friends. Opiates can fill any emotional void & what a way to fill that void with something that makes you feel so awesome.

 

[limonov]

If you need them for chronic pain then you shouldn't abuse them to keep your tolerance low. But as I said, if you are dependent on opiates then you tend to your habit, you learn how to cop a few extra pills, how to cut down your dose one day and still make it so that you can have an easy day down the track, squirrelling away the odd pill for when you really need it...

I know legitimate chronic-pain patients here, they are prescribed morphine, beyond that there is only really oxycodone (rare) or methadone (tablets). I don't hear a lot of complaints, I think the US pain management system is fucked due to the dominance of pharmacutical companies who want to peddle their patented synthetic narcotic formulations. Why the fuck do people get prescribed percocet as the first line of moderate pain? That's fucking ridiculous. Vicodin for toothache? I fucking wish...A friend of mine had major surjury on his hand recently (general anesthesia), he was prescribed 5 20mg IR morphine, 10 10mg IR morphine and 30 30mg Codeine (could have taken 30 50mg tramadol, but hates it). He abuses opiates occasionally, but pain-wise was fine.

Maybe pain is bigger in the USA.

 

[TheLostBoys]

If you need them for chronic pain then you shouldn't abuse them to keep your tolerance low. But as I said, if you are dependent on opiates then you tend to your habit, you learn how to cop a few extra pills, how to cut down your dose one day and still make it so that you can have an easy day down the track, squirrelling away the odd pill for when you really need it...

I know legitimate chronic-pain patients here, they are prescribed morphine, beyond that there is only really oxycodone (rare) or methadone (tablets). I don't hear a lot of complaints, I think the US pain management system is fucked due to the dominance of pharmacutical companies who want to peddle their patented synthetic narcotic formulations. Why the fuck do people get prescribed percocet as the first line of moderate pain? That's fucking ridiculous. Vicodin for toothache? I fucking wish...A friend of mine had major surjury on his hand recently (general anesthesia), he was prescribed 5 20mg IR morphine, 10 10mg IR morphine and 30 30mg Codeine (could have taken 30 50mg tramadol, but hates it). He abuses opiates occasionally, but pain-wise was fine.

Maybe pain is bigger in the USA.

Is Tramadol stronger than Codeine?

 

[runner17]

I don't knw if it's stronger, but i have always liked tramadol over codeine.. to me their about the same. i dont think either one is stronger then the other..
just tramadol misses with other stuff in your brain then codeine does..
sorry that i cant go in depth right now. im on my way to work.