Opioids Oxycontin - Tolerance, Dependance, ROA

[1114]

I do oxycontin once a week on the same day. I usually chew two 40s, but it's really hard for me to tell how my tolerance is coming along... I remember getting fucked off 20mg before, but does tolerance taper off if you don't use it frequently? And do you think it's possible I could be unknowingly addicted to oxy from weekly usage? I've read that watery eyes, and fatigue are listed as withdrawal symptoms, but are they really? I'm also depressed and seeking help for it, but do you think my weekly oxy shenanigans could be poisoning my mind?

I've also heard rumours that railing is just as effective as chewing, but I imagine it loses bio availability in the nose. Since crushing the pill in any way negates the time release portion, what is the definitive difference between railing and chewing? I get this shit at a nice discount price, but I'm not a rich man and can't afford to fuck around and find out for myself. I don't like railing anyways, my nose always produces a lot of snot and it just gets messy in there. Yikes.

Thanks,.

 

[swiEric]

from what I know snorting and swallowing have the same bio's, but snorting hits faster and stronger, just lasts a wee bit less. I much prefer snorting (and smoking) to swallowing. I never swallow pills.

and if you were physically addicted, you would know it. the withdrawals are horrible, not just some fatigue and watery eyes.you would have bone pain, not be able to sleep, muscle spasms and all that. its very miserable.

 

[amapola]

OP I think you need to define your terms a little more accurately.

I like to use mentally addicted to mean craving it and unable to just not take it, tolerant to mean you need more of the drug to achieve the same effects, and physically dependent to mean you need the drug to function and if you stop will go into withdrawal.

Along those lines it is difficult to tell if you are mentally addicted. Have you tried stopping before? Do you want to stop but find you can't? Do you find that the drug is causing more problems in your life than it is worth but you still keep using?

Your tolerance has definitely increased with weekly usage. It's not as bad as if you were using everyday, but the only way to lower it would be to take a long break from opiates. If you keep using as you are it could still go up but likely won't get ridiculously high as you are using so infrequently.

As for physical dependence I think you are experiencing some withdrawal symptoms, but due to the infrequency of use, it is almost like you are already in PAWS (post acute withdrawal syndrome) and never had a big detox. The way I see it your brain has become used to being on the drug occasionally and whenever it is not on it you feel bad. The fatigue and depression is consistent with PAWS and taking the oxy each week indeed could be causing these problems.

I think your best bet at the moment is to lay off the oxy and focus on treating your depression (whether related or not) with good sleep habits, healthy eating, exercise, and an active and routine based life.

Best of luck!

edit:
Regarding bioavailability oxycodone is very good orally and not quite as good nasally but does produce a quicker onset of symptoms. Crushing the pills does help reduce the extended release but if you have the OP stamp preparation then it is more complex than that and will still be somewhat extended.

 

[1114]

Thank you for your consideration. I may be mentally addicted in a sense that I look forward to doing it every week, but I don't find it is causing me problems in my life. I don't do it on the weeks that I have midterms and exams and it doesn't get in the way of everything. A friend and I just have a weekly tradition.

I never felt myself craving/fiending for it, but the weeks that we haven't been able to meet up I had felt disappointed... but I think it's the same level of appointment's as having plans to go to a hockey game and having your plans canceled at the last minute.

The next day after, I feel a bit sluggish and still a bit buzzed, but it's a good feeling. I wouldn't think of it as withdrawal because it feels good, but I could be wrong.

 

[amapola]

Yeah it doesn't sound like oxy is really giving you much of a problem with acute effects or anything. You could be suffering from depression (of which fatigue is most assuredly a symptom) which may be compounded or precipitated by your oxy usage, or it could be unrelated. Either way when dealing with depression trying to eliminate depressants to keep your brain normal if you will is definitely the typical treatment.

 

[dramatica]

If you are truly using only once a week then you will not develop real physical dependence.

Still, it could very possibly be making your depression worse. It certainly won't help.

When you do things that are pleasurable, chemicals are flowin in your brain to make you feel pleasure. It is suggested that depressed people feel depressed because those chemicals aren't flowin the right way when they are supposed to. People in withdrawal from oxycodone have the same sort of thing goin on, albeit at a greater level ("crippling" anxiety and depression sort of comes close to describing it).

These people are sometimes helped by forcing themselves to get more engaged in life. For those in withdrawal, this helps re-train the brain into working on its own, since oxycodone is like pleasure auto-pilot for the brain -- it just sends lots and lots of pleasure signals, regardless of what it is you are doing. When they stop the drug, the brain does not know how to function on its own, so the right chemicals aren't flowing. Some would say it is the very definition of depression.

So, what I'm really trying to say is, dosing once a week will not kill your normal brain function, but it can prevent your brain from getting better at what it should be doing. This is a problem since you feel depressed anyway.

If we make an analogy between brain function and the ability to walk, then a person beginning withdrawal is in a wheelchair or flat on their backs. You, being depressed, have difficulty walking on your own but you get by, and you need to improve. But, for 1-2 whole days each week, you are confined to a wheelchair and not able to work on your motor skills... cause you are dosing with oxy. So... it hurts you by keeping you farther from your goal... which is, of course, to feel good, right?!


Anyway... If these are OP formulations, you don't have much choice besides eating them, cause anything else is just a pain in the ass, or simply won't work.

If they are another formulation, then insufflation is the wildly popular ROA. Plugging a solution works great but obviously requires some extra work.

Lastly, don't start taking oxy more often, please... you are so lucky to have danced with the devil and not gotten burned... get out while you still can, or you will, WILL WILL WILL end up saying "omg I wish I had listened." Feel better! PEace!