Heroin Tapering off heroin?

[shadowstryker]

So I tried and failed pathetically to quit using heroin starting Friday by going cold turkey. It was spontaneous and unplanned so I guess I should have expected it. I usually have benzos to help me sleep when I can't use, but I ran out and went to a party instead assuming alcohol/weed would put me to sleep. I was wrong, was up all night and caved in to using earlier this morning, so I don't think I'll be able to quit cold turkey without benzos, so I think my best bet would be to taper. I've got half a gram left, and can buy another gram if need be, and I'd estimate I use around 150-200mg a day, using once a day.

Do you think a taper would work if I eyeballed it and tried to decrease my dose by around 15-20% per day, or would that not be enough time to stop/lessen withdrawals?

 

[Methacodone]

Don't taper Heroin with Heroin.
It'll be very tough.

I recommend you get Hydrocodone or Codeine, if your WD is not severe.
The taper would be much easier and more comfortable.

If your WD is severe, I recommend either Methadone or Buperenorphine

But make sure you do a faster taper, esp with Methadone or Buperenorphine, because WD from those 2 powerful Narcotic drugs is just as bad if not even worse than H WD.

Good luck.

 

[shadowstryker]

Don't taper Heroin with Heroin.
It'll be very tough.

I recommend you get Hydrocodone or Codeine, if your WD is not severe.
The taper would be much easier and more comfortable.

If your WD is severe, I recommend either Methadone or Buperenorphine

But make sure you do a faster taper, esp with Methadone or Buperenorphine, because WD from those 2 powerful Narcotic drugs is just as bad if not even worse than H WD.

Good luck.

There's no way I could get my hands on any of those other opiates or afford it, I don't see any other options for me other than cold turkey or tapering with heroin.

 

[pbuilder]

Order some red vein kratom. Check out /r/kratom to find a good vendor. You can buy it for pretty cheap, and you can then taper with the kratom.

 

[shadowstryker]

Order some red vein kratom. Check out /r/kratom to find a good vendor. You can buy it for pretty cheap, and you can then taper with the kratom.

I'll look into that, but money is really tight right now so I'm trying to taper off with what I have. I'll definitely look into it though, because quitting is important.

Also, I've smoked twice today and have yet to get the familiar rush/nod I'm used to, is my brain just trying to adjust? I smoked earlier this morning around 8am after caving in to withdrawals and all it did was make me feel normal, and I just smoked again (noon, I'm not sure why I smoked again, too tempting I guess) and I got a slight rush but even though I smoked more than I usually do I'm not getting a nod, which sucks because I have to go to work in a few hours and it looks like I'm not getting any sleep. Why is it that once I stop it's suddenly harder to get high, I'd think it'd be the opposite.

 

[gmlifer]

Get some loperamide and flush the heroin. We tried to warn you about this before you started down this road and you were stubborn. Why are you wanting to quit now?

 

[e92]

i tried tapering too lol. "oh, i'll only do a line in the morning so that i'm not sick, and then at night to fall asleep". yeah right lol. either way, when you taper, you are still going to be in mental and maybe even a tiny bit of physical agony.. thus prolonging the process. you just gotta rip the band-aid off with one go.

get yourself some loperamid, about 100mg or so. doubt you'll need all of that but who knows. get some benzos too. i'm 45 hours cold turkey and i wish i had some benzos just to take the edge off. seriously though, dont take the benzos for more than 3-4 days.. you'll just be swapping one addiction for the other.

just do your last dose or if you wish, finish the dope you have. preferably making your last dose at night a few hours before you fall asleep. that way when you wake up, you're dope sick.

then when you wake up take 30mg lope and some benzos. repeat for the next 2-3 days.

honestly all the times i came off dope, i just got fucked up on xanax to the point where i didnt care about anything and time flew by. unfortunately i dont have that right now. 45 hours clean

 

[CyanThorn]

If you want to come off heroin, if you can manage to get access to Gabapentin/Pregabalin (and are sure that they're safe considering other things you may be taking, and/or that you don't have any hypersensitivity to them) - from my experience and from the experiences of others, they're excellent at reducing the W/D symptoms to the point that if you manage your dosing properly, you don't experience 90% of the WD, leaving you the time and energy to focus on the mental part of your W/D.

However, I am getting the feeling here that you're doing what we've all done - "I am out of money, so I'm going to stop" and it only lasts as long as you don't have money, or can't get access to more kit. Do you really want to stop, is what you have to ask yourself?

 

[shadowstryker]

Get some loperamide and flush the heroin. We tried to warn you about this before you started down this road and you were stubborn. Why are you wanting to quit now?

Because I know it's negatively affecting me, both physically and emotionally, and now that I've experienced both and had my fun I want out.

i tried tapering too lol. "oh, i'll only do a line in the morning so that i'm not sick, and then at night to fall asleep". yeah right lol. either way, when you taper, you are still going to be in mental and maybe even a tiny bit of physical agony.. thus prolonging the process. you just gotta rip the band-aid off with one go.

get yourself some loperamid, about 100mg or so. doubt you'll need all of that but who knows. get some benzos too. i'm 45 hours cold turkey and i wish i had some benzos just to take the edge off. seriously though, dont take the benzos for more than 3-4 days.. you'll just be swapping one addiction for the other.

just do your last dose or if you wish, finish the dope you have. preferably making your last dose at night a few hours before you fall asleep. that way when you wake up, you're dope sick.

then when you wake up take 30mg lope and some benzos. repeat for the next 2-3 days.

honestly all the times i came off dope, i just got fucked up on xanax to the point where i didnt care about anything and time flew by. unfortunately i dont have that right now. 45 hours clean

I used to have a bottle of Etizolam laying around but I blew through it pretty quickly, ending at taking 7-8.5mg a night to sleep because I'd sometimes have to skip days using heroin due to work or something. I never got dope sick doing that though, probably because I'd take Etizolam at night and in the morning. Surprisingly I never got addicted though, and had no problem stopping use after the bottle was nearly out nor did I get sick. I've had 2 pills left in the bottle for a while but they're for my friend so I'm not going to use them. The other night was my second time experiencing physical withdrawals, but the first time was nothing like this (because I had the Etizolam). Emotionally the withdrawals were on a whole other level as well. It didn't help that I was drunk the entire night I was awake too, however.

If you want to come off heroin, if you can manage to get access to Gabapentin/Pregabalin (and are sure that they're safe considering other things you may be taking, and/or that you don't have any hypersensitivity to them) - from my experience and from the experiences of others, they're excellent at reducing the W/D symptoms to the point that if you manage your dosing properly, you don't experience 90% of the WD, leaving you the time and energy to focus on the mental part of your W/D.

However, I am getting the feeling here that you're doing what we've all done - "I am out of money, so I'm going to stop" and it only lasts as long as you don't have money, or can't get access to more kit. Do you really want to stop, is what you have to ask yourself?

Yes, I'm done. I want to quit. I have money left that I could buy more if I really wanted to, and I have a job that could support the habit albeit barely. However, I don't want to support the habit. Emotionally and physically it just isn't worth it. I know It'll always be in the back of my mind scratching at me to use again, but right now I don't plan to let it control me. Caving in that morning and smoking that dope was probably the single most pathetic feeling I've ever had. Shaking and spilling dope on the floor, and trying to suck in the smoke faster than my batty would let me was just so unbelievably pathetic. That was my wakeup call.

 

[gmlifer]

Good luck today shadow, stay strong brotha.

 

[SKR]

Yeah mate, good luck and take care!

 

[PlurPsyed]

maybe you are a stronger person than I but speaking from personal experience and from observing othters attempts, tapering does not work with heroin. My last attempt occured about a week ago and ended about three days later when I intended to taper down to two bags and somehow wound up shooting up three or four bundles

 

[Methacodone]

There's no way I could get my hands on any of those other opiates or afford it, I don't see any other options for me other than cold turkey or tapering with heroin.

Do you have insurance? Most Methadone clinics do accept insurance.
I have Medical and that covers everything, my daily dose, seeing the doctor anytime I want, counseling sessions, etc.

Without insurance it's just $10 a day, and that DOES cover everything I listed above.
But, everywhere I see, no place charges $10 daily, except mine.
On avg. I see people paying $16 daily.
Others charge $20, $25, and even $30 DAILY.

 

[Invisible Helper]

I'm literally in the same boat as you... I work uber and uber pays you weekly and I'm the boss it's not like I'm gonna drug test myself and fire myself... So it's hard to quit :/ that shaking wake up moment I've had like 100 times trying to hit a vein freezing goosebumps about to crap myself at 5 am snot running down my face ... Sucks man :/ fuckin epidemic in America

 

[Tinker55]

I hate to sound like dozens of other posters, but my suggestion is get your comfort meds together, plan a week where you can deal with the issues and just jump. You know what you're in for an dwhat to do about it. Tell your parents you have the flu for 3days, then get out and walk. Try and eat. No, your going to have trouble sleeping so get movies, books, games, whatever. Increase your sensory in put. And then think about a meeting, a therapist or just plain somebody to talk to. OP, you've been starting threads, each a little further down the addiction road, stating you don't care if you die. There's something wrong with that perspective-you're pretty young, why do you want to throw the rest of your life away?

None of this is my business but you did ask.

 

[shadowstryker]

Do you have insurance? Most Methadone clinics do accept insurance.
I have Medical and that covers everything, my daily dose, seeing the doctor anytime I want, counseling sessions, etc.

Without insurance it's just $10 a day, and that DOES cover everything I listed above.
But, everywhere I see, no place charges $10 daily, except mine.
On avg. I see people paying $16 daily.
Others charge $20, $25, and even $30 DAILY.

18 and on parent's insurance, however I don't plan on telling them about my use.

 

[Mind-Melt]

i've found tapering off with heroin is effective in making withdrawal a bit easier, but you'll never make it painless. You owe a debt to heroin and there is no escaping repaying your debt to it.
i needed to have my partner meter my doses in order to effectively taper. I wasn't able to do it myself. Maybe you will be able to, if you're strong willed, but having someone to help you, dose it out to you, and follow a schedule you make may make it much easier for you.

as others have mentioned, kratom, dxm, and loperamide helped me greatly in tapering / withdrawing from H.

Best of luck.

 

[Invisible Helper]

Mind melt that avatar of those pupils are giving me the chills... Just looking at that makes me kick lol . I wish you best of luck as during the Christmas break I'll be detoxing it's the only time I can to do it properly without having over load of responsibilities and chores :/ I'll be posting updating hopefully you too

 

[shadowstryker]

I'm at 12 hours, so w/d should set in soon. I find the worst part of it being in the process of setting in is that I can't tell if I'm hungry or if it's withdrawals, and then once I eat I know I'm in for a ride because I still feel nauseous.

 

[DrFeelGoodForever]

in my opinion (been clean for heroin for about a year ) and I have tried everything before. tapering. subs with tapering methadone u name it even just Vic's but the best way is honestly cold turkey. best if u have some bud maybe some booze but don't try to use opiates even weaker ones. get by the 3-7 days or the worst with booze and bud as alcohol acts on similar but not all of the opiate receptors. just suck it up and get through what can be explained as the worst flu u ever had. I will say that cutting down before hand for about a week will dramatically lessen withdrawal symptoms but it's still no fun. good luck