• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Heroin Trying to quit heroin/oxycodone on my own

raiders

Greenlighter
Joined
Nov 12, 2014
Messages
29
I am sure there are many on this site who have tried to quit drugs on their own without any medical help or checking into rehab. I have gotten to the point where I am just disgusted with myself and want to stop snorting/injecting heroin as well as taking oxycodone.

A little bit of background I started taking norco for medical issues which then progressed to percoset, then morphine, but I was tired of being a zombie so I wanted off the morhpine and have been on percoset for almost 3 years. A few months back a friend came to me and suggested I try heroine as he claimed it would relieve my pain much better. Like an idiot, I tried heroin and have been using 3-4 bags daily for about 4 months. Sometimes I shoot it but mostly snort it. But again, I was a zombie and felt like I was living under a dark cloud of drugs which I really didn't want to be there anymore.

Last Friday, I snorted my last 2 bags of heroin and was determined to stop cold turkey. I went through awful withdrawals over the weekend which included, stomach cramps, diarrhea, sweats, restlessness, and the ever dreaded restless leg syndrome. Sleeping was nearly impossible and by the time Monday (yesterday) came around, I was exhausted and couldn't take it anymore. So said friend told me I should use just one bag of heroin, I asked if this would set me back at day one and he said no. So yesterday, I shot up a single bag of heroin. It felt great and I was instantly energetic and back to my normal self and I slept great last night! My friend left me with 4 bags of heroin stating to use it a little here and there to get over the 'hump' of withdrawals. I woke up today with those dreaded stomach pains and a little bit of hot flashes.

My questions are: Did doing that single back set me back to day one again? If I do a bag a day for the next 4 days and then stop how bad with the withdrawal be? How many days into withdrawal until the worst part is over? When can you sleep again and when does that awful restless leg syndrome stop? If there is anyone who has stopped using themselves, can you give me any advice or helpful suggestions? I really want to stop using but am weak once those withdrawal symptoms start. I do have prescribed oxycodone, if I take that while getting off the heroin will it help or make any difference at all?

Any info or advice is welcomed. And thank you in advance!
 
4 day taper is way too short. Also if you're quitting cold turkey you shouldn't be taking even one bag, this will only delay the inevitable. If i were you i'd use benzos to sleep, loperamide to keep the shits/belly cramps away. Combined with multivitamins and hot showers/excersise. That's the only thing i can recommend. Personally i quit my fentanyl habit cold turkey as well but luckily for me i had my wonderful girlfriend with me to take care of me which was a great help.

Also, have a gander over yonder. For some basic discussion related to heroin. You might find some useful info there.
 
if you keep using heroin then you will keep getting withdrawals, you cant have your cake and eat it too.

even using once after quitting can bring back rebound effects when it wears off. so don't even bother with that.

also other opioids like oxycodone or loperamide may make you feel better when you take them but they will just extend your opioid w/d because they too are opioids.

if you want to quit using opioids you have to deal with the fact that you will feel like shit. that's really the long and short of it.
 
First, I want to say Thank you for taking the time out to respond to my post. Can you please give me examples of some Benzos and loperamide? I am not familiar with those. This whole area of drugs in general is very unfamiliar to me. I cannot believe I went 34 years without using anything and now I am here...stuck!! How long will the stomach pains, diarrhea, restless leg syndrome, and problems sleeping last? I am prescribed xanax to sleep but it hasn't helped at all. Anything I can take to sleep. I think if I can conquer the stomach pains/diarrhea with a good nights sleep, I can definitely do this! Again, Thank You!
 
Ha! Ha! I feel like an idiot. I just googled benzo's and xanax is on the list so I have been taking Benzo's for a very long time. Basically, how long should I expect to feel like garbage? And best ways to sleep? Am I going to be feeling awful for a week, 2 weeks?
 
Uh oh how long have you been taking the xanax and at what dosage? Are you going to be coming off of those as well? The xanax will be a miracle drug for sleeping but be careful how long you take those for because bento withdrawals are just as bad/worse as opiate withdrawals. But kicking both at the same time I could not even wrap my head around! I would suggest getting one or two suboxone and doing a rapid taper, its in the suboxone megathread....The last couple months Ive been doing opiates like you have been and I am about to do a rapid taper with the subs. Good luck and make sure to keep us updated!
 
I have been on xanax for over 10 years and that is a medication I will probably be on for the rest of my life. I am on disability for severe anxiety and take xanax to help me sleep. Although, it does not help me sleep while going through withdrawal thats why I was asking for other suggestions on a good medication to sleep. A good nights sleep makes a big difference in how much you suffer while going through withdrawal. I noticed over the weekend that time seems to move extremely slowly while going through withdrawal.
 
For over the counter medications I use benadryl. It always does a good job making me drowsy so I can fall asleep, but sometimes it doesn't keep me sleeping for a long time. But sometimes 3-4 hours is enough to get by....I will also use Tylenol PM or the generic sleep aid.

Ok ok good don't try and alter your xanax dosage then while doing this opiate kick, if I had some xanax right now I know I could kick my opiate problem no problem! I just don't know the right people to help me so I will use my suboxone once I have been off all opiates for 24 hours then do a rapid detox with one or two suboxones.
 
WDs shouldnt be bad if sniffing 2 bags will get you high
just stop
i was shooting maybe a half bundle a day and i cold turkeyed (jail) and i was fine
 
Ha! Ha! I feel like an idiot. I just googled benzo's and xanax is on the list so I have been taking Benzo's for a very long time. Basically, how long should I expect to feel like garbage? And best ways to sleep? Am I going to be feeling awful for a week, 2 weeks?

You could always supplement your daily xanax dose with an additional dose of Temazepam for sleep at night, or maybe a longer acting benzo like clonazepam. Loperamide is sold as anti-diarreal as immodium. Get a couple of those to help with cramps and shits. Also as has been suggested getting benadryl might prove useful in promoting sleep as well.

The acute symptoms will probably last about 2 weeks however the post acute symptoms may last a good while longer. It's different for everyone though.

Good luck and take care, if you need someone to talk to we'll be here :)
 
WDs shouldnt be bad if sniffing 2 bags will get you high
just stop
i was shooting maybe a half bundle a day and i cold turkeyed (jail) and i was fine

Kicking a habit in jail is totally different. You generally have no access to drugs and so you don't play the mind games with yourself that you do when your problems can be solved with a simple call to your dealer and ten dollars. I've been through several brutal jailhouse detoxes and it was ten times easier than on outside.

OP, first of all it sounds like you might need some new friends haha. Sorry you're going through this, but one way or another with opiates, you're gonna have to pay the piper and endure feeling like shit. If you find yourself completely unable to stay away from the heroin (happens to the hest of us), you might try to find a strip of Suboxone and take a small 1 mg piece at a time. This is also an opiate but has a long half-life and will stretch out the detox process and make it more bearable. Don't take it any longer than a week. Regardless eventually once you stop taking that you still are gonna feel shitty for a while.

You're lucky you have the xanax, not only does it help with sleep buy can also be a godsend for anxiety during the day. Loperamide is also helpful for the physical symptoms.
 
Nitrous 0xide got me through withdrawals. Clonidine & loperamide helped a lot too!
 
Top