Heroin Patterns of Respiratory Depression

[JackBurton89]

Does the peak of respiratory depression (RD) vary. I have had it anywhere from within a few minutes to an hour, but recently around 20 - 30 minutes. I am lucky that I didn't take any benadryl or DXM. Sorry mods I meant to make this really brief but ended up going into my OD story at the end the first half is relevant to my topic so if you could keep it in OD for a little while I'd appreciate it. I really just want to hear others experience of respiratory depression.


For someone who has been using opiates daily for over three years and shooting dope for over two, you would think I would have more knowledge on the subject of how respiratory depression works. As I am typing this I feel my breathing becoming ever so more shallow and ironically "Hand of Doom," by Black Sabbath came on shuffle on my iTunes. I did a shot 45 mins ago and for the first 30 minutes the initial amount of respiratory depression (henceforth referred to as RD) after the first few minutes remained the same. This dope I got is from an older connect so I know its most likely has a different cut, I am sensitive as I am sure most not if everyone else is the varying types of dope and cuts but I really started to notice this tonight. It may be that I am going to go inpatient for the fourth time within the last two years, not counting detoxes and crisis centers, and sadly it would be even more if insurance would of covered it; although the first two times were directly court related and the last time and this one are occurring while I am intending outpatient as an alternative to jail time while I am trying to finish school (the first arrest I was in treatment court and this case is still pending) Oddly Enough I am the point where my breathing is shallow yet I am not nodding. This has happened to me before and I don't understand it. Sometimes I can be nodding so hard yet my breathing is nowhere shallow as it is now. Is it my nerves? This has led me to overdose in the past, as I did a shot and didn't feel much after the initial rush so I took a nice swig of robitussin and/or a few 25 mg benadryl. I was up to popping four 25 mg benadryl at one time and polishing off one 12 oz CVS brand Tussin (DXM as the only active ingredient of course) because the dope I was getting was consistent. I am wrong in assuming that the peak of intravenous heroin use isn't the first few minutes after initial administration? Most of the time I passed out it was right after the shot. I don't mean just going overdosing, more like within three minutes I would pass out and just wake up anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes later. The one time where I overdosed requiring medical attention I am not sure if it was right away or later. I was told by mom that she found me on the floor at 4 am but I remember doing a shot around 12 or 1 the latest. I think I popped a few benadryl and I remember going into her room and telling her I thought I did too much shit which unfortunately she ignored until she found me hours later a trip to the emergency room and apparently my heart stopped for 6 minutes and I'm told they usually try for five minutes to revive someone but I'm lucky the went the extra minute. I woke up three days later with no brain damage or nothing significant and it's funny they didn't know if I was going to be retarded so when I apparently looked at some hot nurse and said "how you doing?" they knew I was ok. Also, its been over two months almost three and some hair hasn't grown back right where I hit my head apparently and had a concussion. I'm assuming they shaved my head to see how bad it was. I also have a scar on my nose from where the tube was draining the shit out of my lungs. Dude I am so crazy, this happened after I was clean for three weeks the longest I ever had outside of rehab or jail, right after christmas I go some money and got a bundle and did two bags apparently that night because the crazy asshole I am got home like four days later chilled then like ten days after near death found 8 bags in a dvd case and RAGED 8 bags in two days. Needless to say my mom and sister were not please. I am a piece of shit I know

 

[Foreigner]

I'd imagine the RD rate would depend on your tolerance and how much you take. In your OD story you hadn't done any for 3 weeks, then did a shitload. That's kind of a recipe for bad times.

 

[quidamsoul]

ne, and switched to heroin once the cocaine ran out. I did a shot, mild potency from what I gauged, the product was from my usual guy and the look/strength is highly consistent over time, but when I'm coming down from IV cocaine my vision gets blurry (plus I suffer night blindness, it was 1am and only one of the two ceiling lamps in my room is working), so I'm unsure of the actual strength of the shot.

Thing is, ten minutes later I had felt an unsatisfying peak, mild euphoria but hardly any somnolence, which is what I was going for, so I ended up making myself a second shot, similar potency if I recall correctly, maybe a tad stronger. I put it in the syringe and had my girlfriend inject me (I suffer from essential tremor, unable to inject myself), and then proceeded to smoke two or three bowls of pretty good weed. Ten minutes later, I was definitely feeling it, but it felt wrong--it felt a little too strong, a little too (CNS) depressive. I got worried, but didn't mention it to my girlfriend because she was still trying to inject her cocaine, and she gets paranoid and I didn't want her stressing out and stressing me out in the process, so I shut up and tried to wait it out. I laid down, watched TV, trying to be aware of my vitals. After about 30 minutes (some 45 minutes after the 1st shot, 30 after the 2nd), I felt my breathing become very forced, I could feel a strong pressure on my heart and lungs, a compression I don't remember experiencing before. I started nodding, which further worried me, thinking I might pass out and have a respiratory arrest, with my girlfriend not noticing due to being in the bathroom injecting (better light) or just assuming I fell asleep as usual.

I stood up, stretched, walked around the room, basically attempted to get my blood pumping, while also breathing deeply and slowly. After about fifteen to twenty minutes of sitting up in bed, minding my breathing, I felt the urge to throw up, which I did, pretty violently, but at least I made it to the toilet. Vomiting seemed to make the RD better. Ten minutes later, I vomited again (this time out the balcony, as my girlfriend was searching for a vein on the toilet and I did not want to interrupt her). After the second vomiting, the RD normalized to a level that did not feel unsettling, though I still refrained from injecting or insufflating any more heroin for the night (once I throw up, the smallest amount of heroin will make me throw up again within five minutes). I went to bed and slept like a log.

Long story short, in my experience, RD peaks 30-45 minutes after dosing, at least intravenously.