Opioids The Opioid Withdrawal Megathread and FAQ

[K3nnyb]

I noticed certain things smelled weird and were amplified during days 3-5 of Wd. Certain women's perfume or the smoke from a cig smelled different, weird and pronounced, overriding all other smells.

 

[K3nnyb]

I tried a little bump today and didn't feel any wd. I'm tapering from 60mg oxy.
Here's what I have at my disposal for this taper
8- 30mg ir oxy
4- 50mg tramadol
20- 2 mg Xanax bars
3 - 10/325 norcos
20 - metaxalone 800 mg
3- bumps of crystal.
Lots of weed

Today a little bump + 15 mg up the nose of oxy at 8:30 am. Coached soccer tournament and came home at 3 and felt good and di 15mor mg of oxy. 1-800 mg metaxalone and a joint - I will do one more 15mg oxy by 7pm
Day 2 - little bump, hold off as long as possible and do 15mgoxy three times on day 2
Day 3 - no bump, hold off as long as possible and do 15mg oxy 3 times this day, 1/4 bar of Xanax to go to bed
Day 4 - take tramadol 50 mg in am and hold off taking 15mg oxy in the am as long as possible and then 15 mg oxy later in day, same 1/4 Xanax and maybe a 800mg metaxalone
Day 5 - same as day 4
Day 6 only do 15 mg of oxy the entire day, Xanax 1/2 bar, 800mg metaxalone
Day 7 tramadol only, no oxy, Xanax if needed and metaxalone

I think this may work

 

[Hobble]

melatonin for sleep

I am at about day 11 after abruptly ceasing all opiates and opiods. Withdrawls were bad but mostly have subsided. Mainly lethargy and bad insomnia persists. I'm not concerned about the lethargy. I just want some sleep.

My question is how much melatonin can I take in one dose?

I have some 3mg melatonin pills. The bottle says take 1 pill before bed. The most I have taken is 2 of them(ie 6mg) in a dose, one dose per night. I get a nice calm feeling but no sleep.

Can I take a larger dose? Is a larger dose likely to help any more than what I am already taking? Can I redose throughtout the night if needed and how often?

Also I have been getting plenty of excercise already with 8 hrs physical labor at my job so it's not like I'm laying around all day.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Hobble]

melatonin for sleep follow up

I ended up taking 9mg melatonin(three 3mg pills), 2 Valerian extract pills(sorry don't know the mg) and a cup of Chamomile tea. Felt very drowsy but didn't sleep. Eventually I took 8mg Loperamide late at night and a couple hours later I slept. The sleep felt like a true deep sleep but I did wake up and fall back to sleep several times. I feel the Loperamide had alot do do with the sleep because up until then I had been trying various things over the last many days/nights like Diphenhydramine, DXM, wine, heavy meals and the afforemention natural sleep aids, all with very little success.

My biggest question now is will I go back into withdrawls when the Loperamide wears off? I suppose if I do I can just taper off the Loperamide.

 

[Crake]

My biggest question now is will I go back into withdrawls when the Loperamide wears off? I suppose if I do I can just taper off the Loperamide.

Well 8mg Lope seems fairly low, I am sure the withdrawal from it would be much less than from the Oxy. But you might consider even tapering the Lope. I had been taking 4-6mg of Lope for the 2 months during my taper, and I stopped taking it before my tea taper was over and I did feel some withdrawal. Nothing major, but did notice a difference without it.

 

[Hobble]

melatonin cont'd

Thanks Crake. I am going to continue to taper with the Lope. It seems to have helped me get some sleep finally and I need sleep if I am going to be functional during the day.

I do wonder if it really helped or if it was just time for my body to sleep last night. I did have one night of somewhat decent sleep(about 5 hours) during the 11 or so days before resorting to Lope but the other days ranged from 0 hrs to 2 hrs sleep per night.

I would be interested to hear how long and how bad other people's insomnia was and whether it gradually ended or if it just broke eventually to where one day they could suddenly sleep normally.

 

[Crake]

Thanks Crake. I am going to continue to taper with the Lope. It seems to have helped me get some sleep finally and I need sleep if I am going to be functional during the day.

I do wonder if it really helped or if it was just time for my body to sleep last night. I did have one night of somewhat decent sleep(about 5 hours) during the 11 or so days before resorting to Lope but the other days ranged from 0 hrs to 2 hrs sleep per night.

I would be interested to hear how long and how bad other people's insomnia was and whether it gradually ended or if it just broke eventually to where one day they could suddenly sleep normally.

Yeah I definitely hear you on the sleep.

Surprising this time around I haven't had any problems with sleep whatsoever after the first 7 days or so. I am attributing this to the fact that I had tapered this time and didn't go cold turkey. I can already sleep 8+ hours straight and only finished the taper 14 days ago. Other times quitting cold turkey I did notice my sleep was messed up for quit a while. And from other posts I have read that insomnia is commonly one of the last physical symptoms to disappear. It gets better over time, I would guess in a couple weeks you will be sleeping relatively normally again. Keep with the melatonin too if its helping.

 

[lman_15]

Hey I've been addicted to oxycotin for a year and 4 months. My daily dose ranges from 80-120mg's a day.. I sniff oxycotin and occassionally use heroin and morphine when i can't get oxy.. I have set my quit date for next friday.. my gf is also addicted and we plan on quitting together.. we have acquired 29 10mg valiums, 8 15mg oxazepam, and 3 0.5mg lorazepam. We were hoping these will help with the anxiety and inability to sleep.. we plan going hard this weekend and then starting on sunday doing a quick taper.. thursday is our last day to use and then friday once we wake up we will both have run out of opiates and will just deal with the withdrawal.. aside from what you have already mentioned do you think our plan is good and is there any further advice you would have?

Thanks in advance

 

[DeLee]

Question about the weakness and fatigue-

I have been clean now 11 days and there are no more bothersome physical symptoms left except for feeling very weak/fatigued for most of the time I am awake. I am sleeping 8 hours a day again, even the restless leg is gone, but I still feel so weak sometimes I can't even sit in the computer chair my back feels too weak to sit up...

I had a decent habit, daily for over a year, and I managed to taper to less than 1/20th of my original dose over 2 months and then jumped off from there. It is the 11th day now like I said, and I know everyone is different but I am just wondering in your experience, if you had fatigue how long did it take to disappear??

For me it takes a while for the energy to build up again. The fatigue is most def a symptom that stays a while.
Every time ive come off heroin it has taken at least a couple of months for the energy to rebuild.
While 11 days is very good its not long at all so just hang in there, its beautiful when you start to replenish the energy more every day that goes by.

Working out does help a lot to replenish energy.

 

[adder]

Hey I've been addicted to oxycotin for a year and 4 months. My daily dose ranges from 80-120mg's a day.. I sniff oxycotin and occassionally use heroin and morphine when i can't get oxy.. I have set my quit date for next friday.. my gf is also addicted and we plan on quitting together.. we have acquired 29 10mg valiums, 8 15mg oxazepam, and 3 0.5mg lorazepam. We were hoping these will help with the anxiety and inability to sleep.. we plan going hard this weekend and then starting on sunday doing a quick taper.. thursday is our last day to use and then friday once we wake up we will both have run out of opiates and will just deal with the withdrawal.. aside from what you have already mentioned do you think our plan is good and is there any further advice you would have?

Thanks in advance

It's basically cold turkey. Save diazepam and oxazepam for anxiety during the day and use lorazepam as a sleep aid. 3 0.5mg tablets is a very small dose so pray you've got enough diazepam and oxazepam to stop thoughts that cause you to think it's worse than it is in reality. You should be physically alright after 10-14 days but then you will still feel physical weakness and have depressive episode for a few weeks to a few months. It's a personal thing.

To make it less severe you would need a drug like clonidine, it helps fight racing heart and anxiety. But then it should be used with caution as it lowers blood pressure and if you overdo it then you jump from one physical addiction to another. If clonidine is used, then after the withdrawal ends it's usually tapered down. Also, you'd be better having some typical hypnotic benzos, lorazepam is prescribed for insomnia but it never made me sleepy, I hope it helps you but like I said 1.5mg is a small dose so it will play a minor role. Maybe some weak neuroleptics like levomepromazine would be good to help you at night to fall asleep but then again they aren't good for restless legs.

And one more thing. Make the fact you go through it with your girlfriend an advantage. If she goes nuts, don't you go nuts as well and even make it worse. Calm her down and see it as a better option to withdraw with a close person. Don't give yourselves a mindfuck. Withdrawal is actually mostly in your head so it depends what your attitude is before the start of withdrawal. This is a crucial thing and it may make the W/D much less severe but it may also make it one big hell on Earth.

Good luck!

 

[lman_15]

Adder thanks for the advice.. I'm supposed to be getting my wisdom teeth taken out a week after I plan to quit could this complicate things? i.e. will i be physically well enough to get my wisdom teeth taken out or will i still (after a week) be in such pain and misery that I wouldn't be able to? the clinic i'm going to to get my wisdom teeth taken out at is putting me completely under so I don't think it will be a problem.. but what do you think?

 

[trancespottingpl]

Hey everyone! This is a great thread! I'm starting my last semester of college and I really can't afford to screw it up. I've managed to balance a heroin addiction and a college education at a prestiguous university but I have my hardest classes to take this year and I need to start looking for a job/internship. I think it's time to quit for a while- I can't afford to do it daily like I have been as it takes up a TON of cash and time as you all know. I've been on and off opiates, primarly heroin, for about 3 years. I was clean for the majority of the summer of 2010 and started IV'ing again once school started in August. I was only doing about .1-.2g a day at first but now several months later I'm up to doing .3 to .5g daily. Somedays even 1.0. The dope I get is pretty potent; I'd rate it around 7/10.
What I'd like to know:
How long does it take to get through the worst part of withdrawals? I.E. When will I stop having hot/cold flashes, leg cramps, etc.?
What OTC medicines/herbs/vitamines/etc. can help ease withdrawals? (Can I get a list please? I know Immodium and Dxm help)
Should I go to the hospital/doctors office to try to get prescribed something to help? If so, what would you recommend I say? (I really don't want to tell them the truth as I had cancer when I was younger and have been in remission 20+ years but nonetheless my health insurance is expensive and will be even more expensive if the company knows I'm opiate dependent. If I'm out of options I guess I'll have to tell them though.)
After how many days do you think I'll finally be able to sleep, even if only for a few hours? (I know that during the first night, and probably the second, sleep will be out of the question.)
What prescriptions meds or even street drugs may help with withdrawals? ( can't smoke pot b/c I have an upcoming drug test but perhaps JWH is an option? Or something else?)
Any other advice????
Also, I know benzodiazepines may help immensely, however they aren't available in my area (Cincinnati) at the moment.

Thank you so much for your help. Hang in there everyone, we can do this!

 

[trancespottingpl]

"Adder thanks for the advice.. I'm supposed to be getting my wisdom teeth taken out a week after I plan to quit could this complicate things? i.e. will i be physically well enough to get my wisdom teeth taken out or will i still (after a week) be in such pain and misery that I wouldn't be able to? the clinic i'm going to to get my wisdom teeth taken out at is putting me completely under so I don't think it will be a problem.. but what do you think?"

I had my wisdom teeth pulled out this winter. Are you getting both top and bottom pulled out? The bottom ones hurt a lot more than the top. I got kind of screwed over because originally I went to the dentist, who told me that yes I do need to get my wisdom teeth pulled and so he pulled my top ones... and Im like wtf? why are my bottom ones still there? So he tells, well I'm a dentist, you have to go to an oral surgeon to get the bottom ones pulled out... grrrrr... so be careful of that - don't go through two surgeries and twice the pain if you don't have to.

They put me under nitrous for the top ones and put me competely under for the bottom ones. Before they put me under for the bottom ones I got a shot of fentanyl and versed which felt pretty damn good.

As far as going through WD's and then a week later having your wisdom teeth pulled, you'll body will not have opiates in it anymore prior to having your teeth removed as opiates typically leave the body in as quickly as 2-3 days. So while you don't have opiates in your system, you may be more sensitive to the pain. However, they'll give you medicine to help with the pain. They'll most likely give you vicodin or percocet. I got vicodin 7.5's but most people from what I've heard of get Perc 5's. If you take them as prescribed, either medicine, you shouldn't feel much wd symptoms after you stop - especially if you taper down. I had pain for about two weeks but that's because I kept smoking and it formed a dry socket. THESE ARE REALLY PAINFUL! DON'T SMOKE!! YOU'LL REGRET IT LIKE I DID! During this time I was taking both the vicodin I was prescribed (which didn't do much) and heroin, because well I've been doing heroin quite a long time but now am ready to quit for a while and go through wd's as my current situation pretty much requires it.
Hope I could be of help, if you need more info PM me or msg me on AIM - my screen name is trancespottingpl

 

[SilverWidow]

Swapping Withdrawal?

What happens when one is withdrawing from a particular opiate, then uses a different opiate (assuming equi-potent doses) to relieve withdrawal and even get a little high too. Would this SWITCH the opiate from which you are withdrawing to the most recent one?

For example, on Monday I snort 10mg of Opana, 3 times within 12 hours (total of 30mg). On Thursday, when I am in full mild withdrawal I plug oxycodone 30mg (~equal to 10mg Opana), 3 times within 12 hours (total of 90mg).

In this scenario, on Sunday when I am feeling shitty, am I withdrawing from Oxycodone or Opana?

Does it change to the most recently-used opiate (OC), or does it then become a combination of OC and OM (b/c OM's long WD would make it overlap into the OC withdrawal time-wise)? What ever you know on this, please include. THX

 

[rolls_]

This is what I did from pod/seed tea which is long acting and stronger than most people realise.

Need to obtain somehow from a doctor, last two are easy, lyrica not so much.
lyrica - anixety, depression, sleep
clonidine - chills, gooseskin etc, sleep
benzos - sleep, anxiety (be very careful mixing with lyrica, severely depressed breathing

OTC
loperamide - cramping and diarrhea
ibuprofen and aspirin - muscle aches
ibuprofen gel to rub on your legs - helps stop RLS slightly
Phenibut - helps with sleep, depression, be careful mixing with the above depressants, they ALL reduce your heart rate and breathing.

This does a pretty good job at eliminating every single symptom for me, you'll be in a drugged out haze from the lyrica, benzos and clonidine, won't be able to do much but lie in bed and watch TV but fuck me it isn't too bad, only symptom you'll really have is depression and RLS.

Hot bath helps with the RLS but I'm at a loss what else to try, someone suggested using topical benzocaine (OTC) used for bikini waxing as it numbs the skin, might help reduce RLS.

 

[b3ngal]

Just sharing my current experience.

I've been taking an assortment of 5-325 Percocet, 5-500 Vicodin, 4 mg Dilaudid and the occasional 40 mg OP Oxy for about a month now, always at prescribed dosages only and rarely in combination. Different day, different pill. And although I have enough drugs to last me the entire year , I decided to see what the withdrawal would be like if I went one whole day without any of it (cos I'm curious and weird like that).

It's been a day and I've been miserable.

Most of you know the feeling, of course, but yeah it's what I'd imagine if my boyfriend ever told me he hated me and while I had the flu. I'm still functional but hurt all over and am rather irate. If it's this bad having only indulged in low-dose opioids for a month, I cannot and do not wish to imagine what it's like for real junkies of any sort of opiate. I popped a Perc about an hour ago and already feel better; that weird burning in my sternum area is slowly dissipating. So my plan is to start weaning myself off over a two- to three-month period. I also have some methadone, which should help. Looking at the post above ^ I'll give Lyrica and Xanax a try too. And weed. Lots of weed.

I could push through my withdrawal now and quit the pill-popping ... but that'd a huge waste of my cabinet.

 

[ophelia-artaud]

I'm currently on my first day kicking Suboxone, which I tried to taper down to 1mg a day but was half sick during the whole attempted taper. (I usually take 8mgs.) I've been addicted to H for 2 yrs and taking Subs on and off for a year, using them to supplement my heroin addiction. Well, I figured kicking subs couldn't be nearly as bad as withdrawing from heroin but I fucking wanted to blow my brains out all day.

So I went to the drug store and bought several medications. I took 24mgs Loperamide and 3 "Hyland's Restless Legs" tablets, 5 Neurontin AKA Gabapentin, which is used to treat nerve pain, seizures and RLS (my Dr gave it to me for anxiety) and Naproxen. I now feel amazing. But I've been having hallucinations and I feel like I'm on speed, my boyfriend wants to kill me cause I've been talking really fast and acting crazy. However, I'd highly recommend the restless legs tablets because the worst symptom for me is the constant need to change position, uselessly tossing and turning. Gabapentin is effective too but it's not as accessible since it's not OTC.

But aside from medications, the most effective way to deal with junk sickness is meditation. It brings tremendous physical release, and it's just about the only thing I did when going through severe heroin withdrawal. I'd meditate for hours. Astral projection is the best relief there is, escaping the body. If you don't believe me, that's cool. No need to argue about that shit. But if you're interested, there's a lot of info out there about these techniques. And in my experience, the heightened awareness of junk sickness lends itself to astral projection.

Any one else think early w/d can be compared to the come down from acid? I'm talking about the enhanced sensory and mental aspects, you know, like Burroughs said, it brings back the magic of childhood. And the tension and muscle aches. That's the closest thing I can compare it to.

 

[rolls_]

lyrica/gapapentin is a life saver for the restless legs, the tablets you bought for RLS are homeopathic so probably did nothing, the gabapentin definitely helps.

Try and get some clonidine as well as that will stop the cold sweats and shivers.

Clonidine, gabapentin, phenibut, benzos, lopermide can make even the most powerful withdrawal quite easy. Be careful as gabapentin and benzos can cause life threatening lowering of breathing, be extremely cautious when combining them.

 

[ophelia-artaud]

yeah, I only need a really small dose of Xanax to get to sleep, so I'm not worried. Nothing else works, not even an industrial dose of sleep aids. It only produced a nightmare state of half consciousness. I'll take the risk. But thanks for the warning. Oddly, I don't recall my Doc mentioning that- but then again she prescribed a much smaller dose than I'm taking!

 

[tricomb]

Maybe merging this thread with this one would be smart