son ODed on heroin

jjandharry

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Jul 30, 2011
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My son died 3wks ago from a suspected heroin od. His friends said they put him to bed after he passed out (he was injecting) heard him snoring through out the nite but he was found dead in the morning. Im just wondering if anyone can tell me if he would possibly have suffered. I know each case is different...I suppose I'm hoping that someone will tell me that he may have felt no pain or discomfort.
 
i am sorry for your loss :(

i am going to send this over to the dark side. they are a supportive forum and there are several members who have lost close ones to overdoses.

homeless ---> TDS
 
You can look for yourself on this site, almost everyone who ODed experienced nothing but bliss and a massive rush when they overdosed on heroin, so it is highly unlikely he suffered at all. The only thing I can think is if he realized the rush was too strong once he injected, possibly making him panic, that's all I could think of. Personally when I overdosed on another similar opiod it wasn't painful at all, quite the opposite actually. I am truly sorry for your loss, ma'am.
 
Thank you fatstep-my mind has been in turmoil since his death fearing that he would have been in pain or frightened. You have given me some ease knowing that he may not have suffered at all.
 
Hey I am truly truly sorry about your son.
It's just not fair when somebody we love loses a life to heroin.
I hope you and your family can find peace <3
 
I'm so, so sorry. I don't know if any parent could go through anything worse and you're incredibly strong dealing with this. All my thoughts are going out to you and your family.
 
Sorry to hear that man, im a heroin addict who is in the recovery process, and like fastep mentioned; most heroin overdose cases, if not all, the user feels little to nothing for pain. He went out maybe not in the best way, but in a peaceful painless way.
Prayers go out to you brother..stay strong
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. It horrifies me to think that l could have put my loved ones through the same loss that you're suffering. Like others have said, your son just passed painlessly in his sleep. Thank you for posting here, it's a great reality check for those of us who are still struggling with sobriety.
 
jjandharry, first of all I'm truly sorry to hear of your loss. No parent should ever have to bury a child. You have my sincerest sympathies.

I don't know how much to give here so I'll be frank. Heroin overdoses tend to come in two flavours, either an immediate fatal OD with a high dose, or a slower, more gradual sinking into OD territory with something more borderline. In both cases it is completely painless. Breathing slows to the point of unconsciousness, and then stops. Your son will not have known much about it even if he woke later in bed I can assure it, but chances are he simply drifted away his sleep. He would not have suffered, not even the mental anguish of knowing he was sliding towards OD at some point. You tend to be completely unaware it is happening, which is why users are so powerless to prevent it most often. I was not aware with the borderline cases I experienced as an addict anyways, I was enjoying the slide down. I hope that is not more than you wanted, and brings you some comfort. My condolences again.
 
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I am very sorry for your loss. I found out a friend from HS I haven't spoken to in years OD leaving behind a wife and 2 kids. I am so sorry you had to experience this.

If it means anything no there was no pain. I've ODes a few times and you don't even realize it.

During an overdose there is nothing but peace. To outsiders it's scary but the person does not feel or remember anything then the rush and maybe the idea they went a little too far.

Also your a saint for not blaming his friends. They might have done all they thought they could have and thought they got it right. These accidents are no ones fault, it can happen to any of us. My fear is that my girl or myself will fall asleep and not wake up leaving the other wandering this cruel world alone and scared.

Every night since I ODed and ended up in the hospital my mom is so worried I won't come home one night. I'm blessed by the fact she doesn't know how close I've come i wish these stories could change things I wish it was so simple.

Im so sorry about all this. Im sorry about the rambling it just hits close to home, my mother only wants the best for me and this is how we repay our caring parents. If only words could change the struggle. If you need to talk PM me.
 
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Hope you have found peace in these post. The strength you had to come here and talk about this is nothing short of amazing ! May peace be with you and your family. As previously mentioned this is quite the reality check for those of us struggling with this "demon" of a drug.
 
I am so sorry jjandharry. I lost my son to a fatal overdose as well. I am going to send you a private message--too much to say here. Much love.<3
 
I saw a video of a young man who had overdosed on heroin, turned blue, stopped breathing but was revived, and he said it was the most blissful experience of his life and he was angry at the people for saving him because it felt so good.
 
That is terrible, I'm so sorry for your loss. The one person I know who died in a similar fashion (Matthew Jennings RIP) was found in the morning and people thought he was just asleep. He had mixed benzos before shooting up and I think the mix of respiratory depressants is the cause. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but a heroin od basically involves your brain forgetting to tell you to breathe. This is probably stupidly simplistic but a good friend is a surgeon and tole me that Naltroxone (sp?) stops the receptors reacting to the heroin so stops the brain forgetting to tell you to breathe. So I don't think he suffered, the post mortem on Matthew showed he died of a mix of heroin and temazepam and passed away in his sleep essentially. Coroners verdict was 'misadventure'. So sorry for your loss, I hope Herbavore can provide you with some comfort as she has gone through a similar horrific ordeal. He'll be in my prayers
 
jjandharry, first of all I'm truly sorry to hear of your loss. No parent should ever have to bury a child. You have my sincerest sympathies.

I don't know how much to give here so I'll be frank. Heroin overdoses tend to come in two flavours, either an immediate fatal OD with a high dose, or a slower, more gradual sinking into OD territory with something more borderline. In both cases it is completely painless. Breathing slows to the point of unconsciousness, and then stops. Your son will not have known much about it even if he woke later in bed I can assure it, but chances are he simply drifted away his sleep. He would not have suffered, not even the mental anguish of knowing he was sliding towards OD at some point. You tend to be completely unaware it is happening, which is why users are so powerless to prevent it most often. I was not aware with the borderline cases I experienced as an addict anyways, I was enjoying the slide down. I hope that is not more than you wanted, and brings you some comfort. My condolences again.

this post is the tops jj!! i know its not nice that he died from an OD,but due to the effects of heroin if he felt anything it would of been pure bliss,you can take comfort in the fact that his death was nothing more to him than the most relaxing soothing sleep you could imagine,i am so sorry for you,its a shame he got caught by the most deceiving drug in the world..rip!!!
 
Thank you all for taking the time to leave me a message. I have taken great comfort from them-knowing at worst he felt nothing and at best he felt some sense of euphoria. I will be forever grateful to all of you. Bless you all and keep safe xox
 
Jjandharry, I'm really glad it helped you some. Thanks for taking the time to come back with a reply yourself. I think you've been immensely brave now, and in the past ( yes, I've read a coupla previous threads of yours regarding your son ).

I know a site like Bluelight may be the last place you would want to come in future given the circumstances but the Dark Side sub-forum at least is full of people who are / have been in your exact shoes, as I believe you've already discovered, and lots who have been in the exact same shoes your son wore. I hope you feel able to come back here at any time if there's anything at all we might ever be able to help with in future. If not then that of course is completely understandable. Whatever happens I wish you peace.

N x
 
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