Opiate sober life is too difficult

[Morphine30mg]

So I have quit morphine for quite a while now(about 3months). To be honest sober life is too hard for me. I need to have something that somehow releases my stress and anxiety. I had pot but I hate the high. So I was wondering I were to have my morphine for my chronic pain (which 1 30mg tablet gets me high) for 3 days than for 1 or 2 days will I get hooked again and suffer withdrawal.
Thanks in advance.

 

[cj]

Once you have had a physical dependence it is very difficult to use opiates again and not end up dependent. Once I got addicted I was never able to chip successfully again. I found that I would get withdrawals after using for as little as 3 days in a row. So yeah I highly doubt you will be able to use morphine again and not end up with a habit.

what you are feeling is pretty normal for 3 months off opiates. Your probably depressed, anxious, and just getting zero joy out of life in general right? You are experiencing post acute withdrawal syndrome or PAWS for short. Google has tons of info on it but basically your brain is still trying to regain its balance. I really recommend that you get into some kind of counseling to help you get through the next few months. Studies have shown that if you can make it through the first year off opiates then you have a really good chance of making a full recovery.

So yeah if you use the morphine your probably going to end up addicted all over again.

 

[belfort]

yep, i remember quitting methadone, i was a ball of nerves for the first 4 months, mood and energy was very low..i just exercised and got as much sun as possible..you go back to morphine you are just starting it all over agan..

i have chronic pain too so i know yor pain..u might want to try kratom as it is much less severe than opiates but its great at relieving pain..

dealing with stress and anxiety is just part of life..you numb to it for so long on opiates..

 

[Reise_JJ]

yep, i remember quitting methadone, i was a ball of nerves for the first 4 months, mood and energy was very low..i just exercised and got as much sun as possible..you go back to morphine you are just starting it all over agan..

i have chronic pain too so i know yor pain..u might want to try kratom as it is much less severe than opiates but its great at relieving pain..

dealing with stress and anxiety is just part of life..you numb to it for so long on opiates..

Methadone is no joke. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

But the question is, is there anything he can take to relieve his pain. I wouldn't have any solution for chronic pain such as an RX that wouldn't be an opiate. I'm sorry you're in pain. I am taking DLPA at the moment for my WD and it actually takes away the pain significantly in my case, it also gave me a boost of energy (either that or the b-complex) read about it ANY WHERE. DL-phenylalanine (DLPA) inhibits endorphin degradation, this leads to an inhibition of GABA release in the ventral tegmental neurons (in the midbrain), which results in greater dopamine release.

 

[Jabberwocky]

yep, i remember quitting methadone, i was a ball of nerves for the first 4 months, mood and energy was very low..i just exercised and got as much sun as possible..you go back to morphine you are just starting it all over agan..

i have chronic pain too so i know yor pain..u might want to try kratom as it is much less severe than opiates but its great at relieving pain..

dealing with stress and anxiety is just part of life..you numb to it for so long on opiates..

What was your experience like getting off methadone? Did you do the like 1mg a week taper, a quicker taper or just jumped off your dose? How long were you taking it and how high to you go (for how long)?

I'm at like 12mg now and taking a break from the taper (went up to 90mg, stayed there for about four months, and have been on it now a total of just over two years, coming off it 1mg/week but not currently tapering, probably gonna restart it this Tuesday if I can see the fucking doctor), but my sights are on getting off. Fucking hate the clinic. Love the done, hate the clinic. Life's a bitch, no?

 

[crzydiamond]

@toothpastedog as far as the methadone, I have kicked cold turkey off about 50 mg in jail. Horrific 32 days.

I have kicked like you are doing now, where I was at 95 and went down 5 a week to like 40 then 3 a week to 20 (had to stop a while and re adjust at 20) then 1 mg til zero. I did have to stop at 4 mg for a few weeks. But it was quite an easy and successful taper. No withdrawal at all to speak of, other than the fear when it came to go from 1 mg to 0. I remember when I was at 4 mg people would ask me why I bothered coming lol...but seriously you can still feel the difference when you take it, that little bit of feeling shitty in the morning goes away. (It's like that for me at any dose--4 or 40 or 90)

I had 9+ years clean. Relapsed for 2+ years. Currently been in clinic about 2 years like you. Was up to 95 mg. Started randomly decreasing last year (5 mg here, 5 mg there). I never notice the drops. I'm at 50, due to go down to 45 this week. No issues

So, sorry for going off topic, but wanted to encourage you and let you know it's very doable to get off methadone the way you are. Methadone is only an awful detox when done fast. Due to the long half life, if you let it out of body slow (the same way it built up), you won't experience withdrawal or discomfort. You can do it!!


And OP, lest I be rude and not comment to you--having had dependencies in the past pretty much means any time you use an opiate for consecutive days (2 or more) you are going to have withdrawal symptoms. At first that didn't happen to me unless I used for a week or more straight. Then it happened if I used 3+ days. Now, one day I would feel a bit hungover. 2 days in a row I get minor symptoms. 3 in a row is full wd.

So I don't recommend using morphine. Could you successfully use one day and not again for a while without issues. Probably. But soon as your brain has that taste it's unlikely to stop at one day. So I would try to get through. Look into other pain management techniques?

And remember, cravings have no power unless you feed them

 

[cire113]

My experience quitting methadone was MOTHER FUCKING HELL. oh my fucking god. If you think regular opiates or suboxone is bad;

methadone is FUCKING UTTERLY ABSURD. There is no fucking way I would've been able to get off methadone without IBogaine and it still was fucking HELL.

FUCK. The only withdrawal worse then methadone is valium or benzos; not by much though.

so glad to be off that poison.

 

[Jabberwocky]

What dose were you on/what was your experience like cire113? Same questions I put to crzydiamond:

What was your experience like getting off methadone? Did you do the like 1mg a week taper, a quicker taper or just jumped off your dose? How long were you taking it and how high to you go (for how long)?

Apologies for hijacking the thread peoples

 

[cire113]

i was on 80-100mgs for 2.5 years; i switched to approx 500mg oxy for 21 days then a full ibogaine flood; then took suboxone taper for 6 weeks and quit. it was brutal.

 

[closeau]

Years ago my pain clinic put me on Methadone and i hated it. Didnt do shit for my pain and no buzz. I know a lot of people would disagtee but thats just my experience. They topped me off at 80mg and i would beg to get off and for oxy or something. The dr at the time was a smartass and said ill give you oxy. He gave me one 5mg every 24 hrs. His way of being funny. Anyway i went down 5 mg every few days and like has been said, pure hell!! Everytime i went down id drop into horrible wd and just as i would adjust, another drop. Ive wd off most opiates but methadone was the worst. I cant imagine cold turkey. Others ive done cold turkey. I sit now somewhat comfy relieved of my chronic pain with dilaudid and morphine

To morphine 30mg, sober life after opiates sucks for a long time. PAWS aint no joke. You just feel a sense of loss. I kicked alcohol after 25 yrs of heavy abuse but once the physical dependence was away it was gone. I mean you need to let the obsession for alcohol to go away if it ever does but its nothing like PAWS. You cant just stop opiate use and be yourself. Depends on lenghth of use and stuff but if youve been on opiates every day for months then stop and wd or suboxone or whatever, PAWS exists. Im lucky and unlucky cause i have life long chronic pain so most likely ill be on opiates but opiates have a downside becides addiction. They kill testosterone in males and cause hair loss and host of other problems. Like the head dr of my pain clinic told me in Jan, opiods have a price. I hate having to be on them but cannot manage my pain without. So thats enough rambling. Sorry.

 

[Jabberwocky]

i was on 80-100mgs for 2.5 years; i switched to approx 500mg oxy for 21 days then a full ibogaine flood; then took suboxone taper for 6 weeks and quit. it was brutal.

Yeah, that sounds horrible. I'm really grateful I'm taking is so fucking slow. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'm actually loving getting back to the person I was before drugs. I was warned about methadone. Sounds like pure hell
the depression sucks but it's spring so that's great

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well, methadone, like any medication or form of therapy, is what you make it. There are a lot of factors involved, but MAT saved my life (a bit of an over statement, but it's not far off). If don't properly, as it was designed, a methadone detox or maintenance program is incredibly safe and effective. Statistically it is one of the most effective forms of treatment for serious opioid addiction, especially when one is "treatment resistant." Coming off methadone really isn't bad in my case, thank god. I feel better on 12mg than I did on 90mg.

 

[manboychef]

Well, methadone, like any medication or form of therapy, is what you make it. There are a lot of factors involved, but MAT saved my life (a bit of an over statement, but it's not far off). If don't properly, as it was designed, a methadone detox or maintenance program is incredibly safe and effective. Statistically it is one of the most effective forms of treatment for serious opioid addiction, especially when one is "treatment resistant." Coming off methadone really isn't bad in my case, thank god. I feel better on 12mg than I did on 90mg.

Bill wilson was actually asking around for doctors that could create a medication for alcoholics in the same way ORT is available to opiate addicts.

I find that it is individual specific. I am a loose cannon. I cannot conform to the rigidity of a taper in that way for opiates. Only benzos.

OP: I can't stress enough that it will be bad unless you work on it. It is up to you to achieve happiness and fulfillment. It is a choice, and I suspect you just haven't made it yet. I was once like you, I let everything wrong with my day overshadow what was right about my day. One of the big things that should make you happy is you aren't using a drug to feel normal anymore. You can feel normal without it. The next step is to build on that normal feeling with things that you enjoy.

 

[closeau]

I can vouche for Bill Wilson seeking medicine for alcoholics. I know he was obsessed with Niacin for years. He swore it was gonna heal alcoholics. I think it was debunked by medical field but i know i went thru spurts where id take it and i would feel amazing. Like that alcohol cloud was lifted. Idk. Just thought id throw that in