Residual paranoia due to opiate use?

[Jabberwocky]

While I agree to a certain extent, don't be scaring pagey into thinking she has a really serious disorder when she may and most probably does not. Just hearing that is enough to drive one a little nuts.

 

[Pagey]

this.

Also, remember that taking drugs be it heroin or meth, it causes some people to become paranoid.
I've never seen or thought somthing was "in the corner" but when i was doing alot of OC I would think people were always talking about me, wispering. turns out i was being totaly self absorbed and they weren't talking about me.

I know it's probably out of the question to take a break from H but i would give it a good try.

do you meditate? This would help for sure.

Yeah, I am trying to kind of cut down on the H anyway so I'll be able to see if it gets better. And no I don't meditate, but I'll keep it in mind, thanks

perhaps its a manifestation of anxiety - which is strange i know but opiates do give me anxiety for some reason especially during the rush or come up. Maybe you should have a night light or something too. I hope you can take a break from H and opiates in general, they certainly aren't going to help with mental issues, at least not in the long run. Hope things get better, opiates used to give me night terrors and sleep paralysis constantly so i think they may have something to do with it.

Yes that would make sense. I was speaking to synthetix earlier who said I might actually be going into sleep paralysis (especially since this paranoia only occurs when I'm at nodding level) and that sounded quite plausible.

i think its because of the morphine alkaloid part of the poppy plant. many users of morphine derived opiates experience hallucinations that linger for days after their initial dose, and can even be part of the withdrawal/come down. however if you switch that patient over to a semi-synthetic or fully synthetic opiate they don't suffer those side effects.

Sounds like the most logical explanation I think

If you ate hallucinating actuall objects and hear voices and paranoia, I would not rule out schizophrenia. The k opioid receptors is know to cause paranoia and possible hallucinations, but my guess is that the morphine triggered your schizo.


How old are you? Most people start to show signs of shcizophrenia around age 18-25.

Please go get check yourself with a psychiatrist. Not to scare you are anything. But its a good bet you have schizophrenia

Yeah no I'm definitely not schizophrenic. I get why you're bringing it up and obviously you don't know me so you can't have any idea, but I'm definitely not. I've literally got no behavioral symptoms related to schizophrenia aside from this, and as I said, this only started happening when I started doing opiates - and opiates aren't known to bring out schizophrenia anyway. If it had been weed would have been a different story. Plus I've been seeing psychiatrists for years for depression and I'm sure one of them would've picked up on it if I were.

Also keep in mind the OP doesn't seem to really be hallucinating as far as i can tell it's just anxiety/paranoid thoughts

and the key line: "This never, ever happened to me before I started using opiates."

Exactly. I don't literally see someone there, it's just I'll kind of see a shadow that oculd look like someone (happens) and then it's simply a mental conviction that they're there.

thanks for all the answers guys, this is really helpful!

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Yes that would make sense. I was speaking to synthetix earlier who said I might actually be going into sleep paralysis (especially since this paranoia only occurs when I'm at nodding level) and that sounded quite plausible.

Sounds like it could be one possibility.

I've literally got no behavioral symptoms related to schizophrenia aside from this, and as I said, this only started happening when I started doing opiates - and opiates aren't known to bring out schizophrenia anyway.

Yeah, opioids are actually known to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia.

I don't literally see someone there, it's just I'll kind of see a shadow that oculd look like someone (happens) and then it's simply a mental conviction that they're there.

That makes more sense. I think you don't really need to be worried that it could be permanent at this point, from your description of when the residual effects occur and improve, but from my experience I have been more paranoid in general ever since I started getting opioid-induced paranoia, for whatever that's worth. So I'd say it's wise to try to prevent these episodes from happening so you don't get conditioned to feel that way.

 

[bronson]

I used to have something similar only in regards to the supernatural. Created trouble sleeping and what not. Dumb as it sounds, what finally made me dismiss it was just a quick semi rational thought, even if this were to be real it`s doing me no harm so I'll concern myself no further with it. After that one little thought. It stopped.

 

[pasha]

Your not schizophrenic and you have no mental conditions.

Substance induced psychosis is very common in use, overuse or withdrawal from any dopaminergic such as opioids, cocaine, amphetamine and even in rare cases tobacco. This is caused by fluctuations in dopaminergic transmittion similar to that of the positive symptoms of shizoaffective disorder.

However since your symptoms are drug induced they will reverse once your dopaminergic transmittion reaches homeostasis. I should point out that in some cases use of dopaminergics can trigger schizophrenia in those with genetic predispositions.

GABAergic withdrawal syndrome such as that of GHB, alcohol, or benzodiazepines can also induce psychosis during withdrawal due to neurotoxicity, excitotoxicity, and GABA receptor downregulation. However this is irrelevant to your case.

If you would like studies on opioid induced psychosis during use and withdrawal of opioids I'd be happy to muster some up or you.

Good luck

 

[Pinging brah]

Sleep paralysis i'd say. Which is commonly associated with opiates, although ive experienced from sleep dep from meth and dxm especially.
Sleep paralysis is like being aware while asleep which is scary enough and then hallucinations characterised by seeing people in your room, pressure on your chest, even the sensation of being dragged off your bed. Takes all your will power to pull yourself out of the paralysis.
Although just before sleep, i sometimes see and hear voices with eyes closed.

 

[ijustlovewikidrs]

I didn't read all the posts in this thread so maybe someone addressed this but either way, I feel it's necessary to say and may help you to at least understand some possibilities.

First of all the schizo comment, as comical as it sounds to some, isn't out of the question. Most opiate addicts have to rationalize their behavior in an extreme fashion. It's not so hard to believe that in doing so, the user could develop an alternate personality/reality and dissociate from their primary personality from time-to-time. Honestly from what I read on here that theory makes the most sense.

Here's my 2 cents:

Heavy opiate users feel like they "pass out" a lot, I think we would all agree, yes?

Opiates cause serious respiratory issues in most heavy users. In high enough doses, users can completely lose their ability to breathe involuntarily. As a defense mechanism, your brain will actually stop itself from going in to REM sleep. REM sleep is believed to be as close to a fully subconscious state of mind as a human being can achieve. So let's connect the dots: fully subconscious+no involutary breathing = dead opiate addict. Pretty simple.

My point: if you're using every day, HEAVILY, and going to sleep within a few hours of dosing, odds are you are getting little to no REM sleep. No one really knows exactly why we sleep or why REM sleep specifically is so important, but my theory is that REM sleep is essentially your brain defragmenting, much like a computer. Basically getting rid of all the worthless, bullshit stimuli your brain takes in during the day, committing the important shit to long-term memory, then organizing it all in a way that makes sense to you. If your body is constantly stopping itself from getting to this state, then you're going to have all sorts of psychological problems. It's all subjective such is the case with all this shit we talk about on here, but it's entirely possible that your brain is becoming increasingly scattered, disorganized, confused, paranoid blah blah blah I'm going to shut up now.

This solved nothing but hopefully it entertained you.

Basically stop doing drugs. I went from 20 Roxi 30's a day for years and quit cold turkey. Lock yourself in a room, get some good porn, a bunch of water, and lots of fruit and wait it out. Stop being the person you are and probably not all but MOST of your problems will be solved.

Jesus loves you.

I'm kidding I'm Agnostic.