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Positive The Tapering Support Thread v 2.0

Weed causes me anxiety; so for years it was great; but now, it's like, here, have a panic attack! feeling goes away with some tolerance, but smoking it is bound to be anxiogenic without a pre-baked tolerance. So I can be a stoner; but not a casual user, so when I get the guts to quit, I quit for a pretty long time, like years. But I know I will smoke again, as I love it
 
papercuts said:
Save yourself some for a quick taper or get gabapentin (similar med, one sixth the strength of pregabs) and use the gabs to taper off the pregabs with.
OK, so neither of the above is standing out as realistic advice in the circumstances, you are in for a rough ride if you run out CT, I don't recommend that for sure, it can make people suicidal, even gabapentin withdrawal made me feel suicidal one time, pregabs are the big brother, got to be worse.
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How long does the rough ride last?
 
ChocolateChipTrip said:
How long does the rough ride last?
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I've always plenty of gabapentin about, so I would take one if I feel really bad and the next day there is every chance I might not get the bad feeling at all. It is bad but once it's over in a day or three at the most, it's totally gone, no lingering side effects in my experience.
So long as you keep something to taper with you'll be fine, don't jump without that, you'll regret it and have a few needlessly hellish days.

I gave up eating them, I snort the powder as it is quick and less sedating that way, stimulating in fact. I don't know if Lyrica works that way too. it's easier digested than gabs, hence the switch in ROA for the gabs.
My Lyrica got lost, sore point that, don't know the comparison except I know folks who use pregabs think gabapentin is crap.
The doctor gives me 600mg a day and I sniff about 300mg and leave the rest for a rainy day.
 
ChocolateChipTrip said:
Thanks for the advice. I need to taper when it gets necessary, but I’m not sure I have the self-control to save some.

Will weed help?
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I’m not sure. It won’t hurt, but if it doesn’t work you’re in a lot of trouble. I have withdrawn from plenty of meds and Lyrica might be the worst. I strongly suggest you find a way to save enough for a taper. Maybe pick a day that you can try out cold turkey for 24 hours so you can see how it goes. That fear of knowing how bad it will be might inspire you to taper more seriously before you actually run out.
 
Lyrica builds tolerance faster than anything else. 300 mg today feels the same as 600mg 4 days from now. A month later you’re taking so much that you can barely add it up and you’re still not as ‘relaxed’ as that first day. The good part is that tapering down can go just as fast if you need it to.

Just don’t underestimate the wd’s. Nobody ever died from Lyrica withdrawl. It’s not as dangerous as benzos, just feels about the same. But you might wish you could die. It has a way of taking the batteries out of the clock and makes time stand still for a couple of days in hell.
 
ChocolateChipTrip said:
How long does the rough ride last?
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I never made it past 24 hours of cold turkey before I gave in. The wd’s we’re pretty bad. Thankfully I never really enjoyed Lyrica so I have tons of it. Papercuts said it best: a couple of days of scrambled brains. But the anhedonia can go on for a week to a month, depending on how long you have been on it.

I started by cutting my dose in 1/2 for 4 days , then cutting that new dose in 1/2 for 4 days, and kept cutting by 1/2 every 4 days until I got to 25mg and jumped off. Zero wds. Compare that to benzos or opiates where a successful taper (without suffering) can take a year or longer.
 
That answered my question thank you <3 about wanting to take a gabapentin if I have problems when Istop again. (norco)

I actually would almost want to take 'the' pregabalin dose instead because it is supposed to have anti anxiety effect. And God I love
help with anxiety. I just did three drugs already this morning, three different types BUT it was low dose. Can't stop it but I can slow it I guess.

The norco has been helping but this third dose I can feel it

tremendously. I am so hungry and my stomach hurts from the energy drink. And the reason I don't want to take a gabapentin OR even a pregabalin is because
of those unhealthy side effects to start with.

I doubt if I will ever take them again.
I am really depressed and valium can always get me out of it. But I don't have any. And seems way tougher and more difficult to deal with the stiffness and depression always. I really don't know. Always thanx.
 
Squeaky said:
I’m not sure. It won’t hurt, but if it doesn’t work you’re in a lot of trouble. I have withdrawn from plenty of meds and Lyrica might be the worst. I strongly suggest you find a way to save enough for a taper. Maybe pick a day that you can try out cold turkey for 24 hours so you can see how it goes. That fear of knowing how bad it will be might inspire you to taper more seriously before you actually run out.
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That’s great advice. I hope I can follow it.

If not, I’ll be back on here, expressing my experience with CT WD.
 
I feel like I need to taper but I am still going to take a small dose anyway because I feel sick and since I have something to take I feel like I have to. I am still keeping it low as possible. I don't know if I am just scared or if i am going to be sick again for a few days. I will find out soon though, however. I am being cautious but at the same time trying so very much not to be sick or even sicker than I don't want to feel.
Thanks Good Night !
 
hylite said:
I feel like I need to taper but I am still going to take a small dose anyway because I feel sick and since I have something to take I feel like I have to. I am still keeping it low as possible. I don't know if I am just scared or if i am going to be sick again for a few days. I will find out soon though, however. I am being cautious but at the same time trying so very much not to be sick or even sicker than I don't want to feel.
Thanks Good Night !
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I'm doing the same now. All my heroic attempts to get off the shit last winter came to nothing anyway, I'm on more than ever, but I'm tapering down again, cut a third off my opiates this week, not a third when I think of it, but I did cut down some and I stopped gabapentin except to sniff a bit now and then to wake me up, but my weed consumption went through the roof. There is always something, I'm taking zero kratom these days, so that's good, besides I've plenty of weed this time of year and it doesn't hurt my tummy like kratom does :).
I really sympathise with the nausea, I tend to wake up in mild withdrawal and it's not easy to get that first dose down without it returning, miserable until it starts to kick in. If you can get hydroxyzine hydrochloride, it helps. I buy it any time I can, it's really good for opiate induced nausea any time but especially when you are reducing. I had some this morning but it's hard to find.
I'm still saving up all the clonidine I can get too, then I'll try to do it again. Clonidine keeps the blood pressure down as well as taking away some pain of withdrawal and it's anti-anxiety, so I need all that if I'm quitting without a doctor seeing as how I could have fricking killed myself with sky high blood pressure they couldn't even measure last time I tried to quit CT.
 
ChocolateChipTrip said:
How long does the rough ride last?
Click to expand...
papercuts said:
I've always plenty of gabapentin about, so I would take one if I feel really bad and the next day there is every chance I might not get the bad feeling at all. It is bad but once it's over in a day or three at the most, it's totally gone, no lingering side effects in my experience.
So long as you keep something to taper with you'll be fine, don't jump without that, you'll regret it and have a few needlessly hellish days.

I gave up eating them, I snort the powder as it is quick and less sedating that way, stimulating in fact. I don't know if Lyrica works that way too. it's easier digested than gabs, hence the switch in ROA for the gabs.
My Lyrica got lost, sore point that, don't know the comparison except I know folks who use pregabs think gabapentin is crap.
The doctor gives me 600mg a What a relief!
Click to expand...
papercuts said:
Save yourself some for a quick taper or get gabapentin (similar med, one sixth the strength of pregabs) and use the gabs to taper off the pregabs with.
OK, so neither of the above is standing out as realistic advice in the circumstances, you are in for a rough ride if you run out CT, I don't recommend that for sure, it can make people suicidal, even gabapentin withdrawal made me feel suicidal one time, pregabs are the big brother, got to be worse.
Click to expand...
I was able to acquire Gabapentin.

Could you recommend a reasonable dosage for the switch? Yesterday, my Lyrica dose was 675mg. I was thinking maybe 1200-1800mg would work for WD, but I’m interested in maintaining some sort of buzz.

Any advice?
 
I started my taper at 54mg of hydromorph a day, taken in slow release form orally.
I'm now down to 36mg but my sleep hasn't been good so I'm going to stay here for a couple weeks.
I have MS so I will always need opiates when I have a flair up but I want a low tolerance and not have to take it every day.
My advice to anyone is ho slow. I relapsed last year with fentanyl because I rushed myself off methadone and almost killed myself.
We can all do it we just have to stop beating ourselves up about it.
 
ChocolateChipTrip said:
I was able to acquire Gabapentin.

Could you recommend a reasonable dosage for the switch? Yesterday, my Lyrica dose was 675mg. I was thinking maybe 1200-1800mg would work for WD, but I’m interested in maintaining some sort of buzz.

Any advice?
Click to expand...
That ought to take the edge off the withdrawals, then you can skip down the days taking one less every day until you're at zero, if it's difficult then go slower. Then wait for your tolerance to come back. I think that's the only way to regain the buzz, but perhaps some other threads have better info on that.
If I were you I'd use lyrica to get a buzz and keep gabapentin for tapering down from Lyrica. I'm assuming you'll get a prescription every month for Lyrica?

I find it increasingly hard to keep my hands off it to take breaks, but I've been on and off gabapentin like that for years and I can still get a nice daytime buzz off it, it makes me smile without ruining my ability to do anything. Today I sniffed 200mg, yesterday was a bit more, the day before was 700mg, that wasn't planned :shrug:, but I'd been up at 3grams a day (orally) a lot of the summer and wasn't feeling it any more, that's why I started cutting down again. Each day I vaguely try for zero and take a little because I can and I can do zero tomorrow. Once I get to zero I'll put that away in the cupboard behind the kratom for both to gather dust for a few weeks.

I'm already bound tightly to the poppy, I took Squeaky's advice about not getting myself a whole collection of addictions. Whether I'm successful or not I won't quit opiates for good ever. In theory I could, but there are times like right now when I know in my heart that they help me. That is enough to ensure it will always find a weak spot in me where I'll change my mind and use. It doesn't really matter that there are times when I'm equally passionately wishing I had the freedom to travel instead of the words repeating in my head by Alice in Chains, "Like you, myself, in my very own private hell" which I always took to mean the other band members couldn't help him as they were equally in the pits at the time (it being a tribute to the dead singer), those words have been repeating in my head for two days now. Maybe I should vape less weed.
 
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Ugh, I don't like tapering. But sudden is worse. Every time I move, the world spins clockwise or down, I nearly met the carpet face first going to the loo last night.
Of course I keep thinking it's covid or something deadly. I've another tumour to be removed at the end of September, I'm shitting myself as usual, scares me, but I need to do this.
First I need to be safe in hospital and not going into withdrawal infront of them. Second, I'll need the pain relief to work for real physical pain and not just my personal needs, which wouldn't impress the doctors much.
Probably not a dangerous tumour, I've had one before, but this is in the roof of my mouth, so will hurt afterwards.
My cat died from mouth cancer, I'm sure humans get it too.
Only had 5g of pods yesterday and a bump of buprenorphine. My use had crept up to 25g-30g a day average over the summer. Had a good big cup this morning, yesterday's big drop was to shock me into realising I'm doing this. Not quitting, just reducing as much as I can manage, those are both on long half lives and I'm drinking grapefruit to hang onto it longer.
My problem this time is my tolerance for weed is ridiculous, I vape 20% stuff and a gram a day isn't even touching the sides. I don't want to go back to concentrates for tolerance reasons, so again I must reduce or it will never work for me again.
As it is I spent this summer trying to recreate some of the bliss of last summer, or was it the summer before, either way it just isn't happening.
I've got to get a grip on all this at some stage, then I disagree with myself and think, "Why bother? It's not as destructive as pills" I wonder if that's true.
 
papercuts said:
That ought to take the edge off the withdrawals, then you can skip down the days taking one less every day until you're at zero, if it's difficult then go slower. Then wait for your tolerance to come back. I think that's the only way to regain the buzz, but perhaps some other threads have better info on that.
If I were you I'd use lyrica to get a buzz and keep gabapentin for tapering down from Lyrica. I'm assuming you'll get a prescription every month for Lyrica?

I find it increasingly hard to keep my hands off it to take breaks, but I've been on and off gabapentin like that for years and I can still get a nice daytime buzz off it, it makes me smile without ruining my ability to do anything. Today I sniffed 200mg, yesterday was a bit more, the day before was 700mg, that wasn't planned :shrug:, but I'd been up at 3grams a day (orally) a lot of the summer and wasn't feeling it any more, that's why I started cutting down again. Each day I vaguely try for zero and take a little because I can and I can do zero tomorrow. Once I get to zero I'll put that away in the cupboard behind the kratom for both to gather dust for a few weeks.

I'm already bound tightly to the poppy, I took Squeaky's advice about not getting myself a whole collection of addictions. Whether I'm successful or not I won't quit opiates for good ever. In theory I could, but there are times like right now when I know in my heart that they help me. That is enough to ensure it will always find a weak spot in me where I'll change my mind and use. It doesn't really matter that there are times when I'm equally passionately wishing I had the freedom to travel instead of the words repeating in my head by Alice in Chains, "Like you, myself, in my very own private hell" which I always took to mean the other band members couldn't help him as they were equally in the pits at the time (it being a tribute to the dead singer), those words have been repeating in my head for two days now. Maybe I should vape less weed.
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Thanks, Papercuts.

I basically went through all the Lyrica in a week because “saving” some isn’t a thing with me. So now I’m back on gabapentin, and will try to taper off of that. I don’t like to take it because it makes me gain weight quickly. That’s the reason I switched to Lyrica (which I do have a monthly prescription for). But, I take pills when I have them. No self-control. It’s like that Alice In Chains lyric, “down in a hole and I don’t know if I can be saved.” So sad about Layne. Seeing them next month, btw. Great band.

Are you saying you sniff gaba? I read the thread on sniffing it and most people are averse to it. I don’t know if it makes a difference with the high. ?? Also, I’m curious as to whether sniffing it will prevent the weight gain. I guess this stint will answer that. I gained 20lbs in 6 weeks on gaba. Ugh. My plan was to stop Lyrica CT, and taper off of gaba as quickly as possible. I’m leaving town for a week, so I’m going to bring enough gaba to not have WD, but I’m battling with tossing the rest so I can’t continue taking it and I can avoid the extra weight.

“Each day I vaguely try for zero and take a little because I can and I can do zero tomorrow.” THAT’S ME.
 
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