Opioids Opiates - "Controlled crash" withdrawal program

[Cartesia]

OK so I've been floating through life in a nothing job living at my parents place spending all my money every week on opiates, which at the level I'm at get me very mildly high (barely at all) but stave off withdrawals for about 24 hours. So I take one dose a day. I've managed to keep it at one by sleeping in in the morning, and working in the evening - so the only time I can get hooked up is middle of the day, and once I get my hit I dont bother about buying more until im sober again (by which time its work, then its too late after that)

Anyhow, I've been given an opportunity to move in with a friend and take on a real fulltime job. wow. but I'm going to need to move in before I get the new job, which means i need to have the money from my current shitty job (all of it) to afford to move. Which means I need to stop spending it.

I only have 1 month.

The only times I've quit before have been due to lack of money or lack of ability to get what i needed. Oh and once for a girl i loved (that ended badly obviously lol)

Anyhow, something I've contemplated alot is a kind of 'controlled crash' - I go in 3 day cycles, every 3 days dropping my dose by enough to be uncomfortable but not enough to make me unable to work/shit burning fire water/roll around in agony/lose too much sleep.

My goal is to cut back in 10% chunks.

day 1,2,3 90%
day 3,4,5 80%
day 6,7,8 70%
day 9,10,11 60% and so on...

I chose 3 days because generally thats how long withdrawals take me to not completely fade, but to become bareable. so in this case im hoping they will be barely there as it should only be very mild withdrawal.

Of course the problem is that after you get down to the 60ish % mark you start to think about how your tolerance must have dropped, and how high youd get if you went back to 100%! Or you say 'youve been good all week, reward yourself!"


Anyhow, that basically explains everything... I'm wondering if anyone has tried this kind of quit, if anyone can help in any way, provide some info? Need your help guys, its been 8 years and I'm so over this thing, but I know its not gonna go without a hell of a fight. I dont have any benzos or anything to help btw, and cant get any.

 

[cj]

Tapering definatly works if you can stick with the plan.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Sounds like a reasonable plan, though I'm sure if you coordinate with a doctor it would go more smoothly, or they could at least stabilize you on suboxone/methadone. Try to stay busy (maybe pick up an old hobby), exercise daily, meditate, and keep away from things/people that are known triggers. Delete your dealer's number. Keep us posted on your progress; make a thread in the dark side if you feel so inclined.

You could also try setting up a system by which you reward yourself with something less damaging, such as a sweet treat or a beer (assuming you aren't an alcoholic and are of age) when you make it three days.

And lastly, don't be down on yourself. Recognize that this is a big but hard thing to do.

 

[Znegative]

What opiate is it that you are using? I ask because allthough tapering is a good way to go (better than cold turkey for sure), you have the best chance for success if you switch to an equivalent dose of a long acting opiate (methadone, suboxone, perhaps even an extended release formula of something like morphine or oxycodone). For so,e reason I honestly have always felt that buprenorphine is a great way to go if you are performing the taper yourself, as it has limited abuse potential due to its partial agonism and ceiling effect, and therefor the temptation to take more is not really there. In fact, most people find that they start to feel the drug more as they come off of it, so it is even rewarding to taper down (though at the same time this can be a bad thing ).

The reason I feel that it's best to do a taper with a longer acting opiate is due to the fact that you want a slow and steady detox, and even with these long acting drugs, once you get down towards the end of your taper, their effects can wind up wearing off before the 24 hour mark (and if that can happen with methadone, than I can't imagine how the end of a heroin taper might feel). Anyway, just a suggestion, best of luck, and keep us posted.

 

[Cartesia]

Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions & encouragement..

It is actually codeine, conveniently available in every pharmacy across the country without prescription....
- but I occasionally use oxy instead when I have access, to give you an idea of dose its around 700mg codeine, or 80mg oxy to get an equivalent dose.. of course when I have oxy I tend to use more than that (if available), since there is no ceiling limit as with codeine. or I would take the 700mg codeine + some oxy on top. But I haven't gone above my 'keep withdrawals away' dose for quite a while now, as I'm just somewhat over it.. I heard someone say that it seems like most opiate addicts reach a point about 7-10 years through where if theyve made it that far they just kinda get sick of all the bullshit.. Definitely feels that way to me now.. no longer chasing those early highs, just living life with a weight tied to my shoulders.


Anyhow, it's only day 2 but I've managed to stick to the plan so far, which is a good sign to me. Normally I'd fuck up on day 1.
I feel fine today, I think it may be to do with being right at the ceiling limit of codeine, so even though I have reduced the dose by 10%, it wont be a 10% reduction in effective morphine dose... Might drop straight to 80% tomorrow instead of the day after, depending on how i feel when I wake up.

I'm sure as I get lower I will start to experience problems with the dose not lasting me through the whole 24 hours... But hopefully it wont be too painful - I've specifically worked to get myself down to one dose per 24hrs over the past few months to try and remove the problem of only having money for half a week - used to do 2, or even 3 if I was being financially reckless. I've also thought about trying to adjust my dose to right before bed, rather than the middle of the day how I'm doing now.. But then I think any attempt to 'rock the boat' will probably just end up with me making excuses to dose twice in one day, and I'm afraid not sticking to a strict schedule I will give up too easily - one slip up will easily be enough to throw me completely off track.