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Opioids What can opiate withdrawal be compared to?

I never had a true taste of withdrawal until I accidentally caused precipitated withdrawal with suboxone. I was on 70mg of methadone for 8 months before switching to suboxone. My doctor stupidly said that I could start taking the sub 24 hrs after my last 70mg methadone dose.

I could not believe the intensity and severity of my withdrawal that acutely began shortly after taking my first suboxone. Immediately I became anxious and and started shaking uncontrollably. My entire perspective changed...even the very layout of my living room took on an evil, menacing form. It was as if the world turned into hell at that moment. I was screaming inside, but I tried to keep as quiet as I could so as to not freak my family out.

I rushed to the bathroom with diarrhea. While on the toilet I tore off my shirt because I was sweating profusely, yet at the same time I had goose bumps and chills running all over my body. I couldn't differentiate my tears from my snot, and even when I tried to blow my nose and dry my face, the ever seeping wetness wouldn't leave my cold clammy face. Unskillfully, I grabbed a wad of toilet paper and tried to wipe my ass with my trembling hand. I couldn't do anything right.

Nothing would relieve my suffering. If I laid down, I would leap back out of bed feeling like I just had to move, as if I were being held down by an assailant, pressing on my chest, suffocating me. Once I was on my feet, all I wanted to do was to crawl into bed and curl into a ball. I would continue this pattern....laying down, standing up, down, up, down, up.

All the while, mind you, I was experiencing a soul-crushing depression, jumpy anxiety, and a intense feeling of self-loathing.

The end :\
 
I agree, the anxiety is insane, I just can't stop movieng every menbers every second because I can't control the anxiety, in one of my withdrawals I was on 720 mg morphine ORAL + durogesic 200 mcg + fentanyl IV, I took 20 mg of clonazepine and nothing. I was thinking jump from the building to end it.

The pain is horrible, but the anxienty feels like will drive you mad. I
 
I agree, the anxiety is insane, I just can't stop movieng every menbers every second because I can't control the anxiety, in one of my withdrawals I was on 720 mg morphine ORAL + Duragesic + fentanyl IV, i took 20 mg of klonazepam and did nothing. I was thinking about jump from the 5th floor to end it.
 
Metal_Lord I feel where you're coming from. Suicide doesn't seem too irrational when I'm going threw opiate withdrawal. To answer the original poster, opiate withdrawal can be compared to, in my opinion, someone forcing you to run a 5 mile marathon while you have the worst case of the flu imaginable. Not only that it's way worse than any flu imaginable, you experience freezing cold chills, high, and I mean high anxiety, muscle cramps, restless body sydrome, as I like to call it, and a whole array of other bittersweet feelings. By bittersweet I mean, you know you're sick, but on the same token, you also know that this is all part of the game of opiate addiction. Suboxone was a life saver for me, in the short run. And for anyone screaming that suboxone is just trading one addiction for another, you can go preaching that notion in your authoritarian view, but the truth is, suboxone saves lives every freaking day. Overall, yes, opiate withdrawal is hell on Earth and can literally, and I mean literally, make you feel like death wouldn't be so bad, solely to take you away from this current state of agony. But, and this is what separates me from the do-gooders in my circle of friends, I keep coming back to opiates, go figure.
 
I went cold turkey off oxy a few years back because of moving to a new town and not knowing anyone to get anything from and it was awful. Imagine a very bad flu plus multiple other symptoms and going nuts from being to weak to get out of your house. One second your sweating up a storm and the next second your cold as ice. Your skin constantly has a crawling sensation, restless leg syndrome horribly, insomnia hardly slept hardly ate for a whole week and if you can eat or drink you vomit it back up. My anxiety was just off the chain and I just could not be comfortable because of these crazy twitches. I hope I never have to go through something like that again longest week ever. Oh yah totally forgot about the diarhea cha cha cha.
 
AirNod23 said:
I went cold turkey off oxy a few years back because of moving to a new town and not knowing anyone to get anything from and it was awful. Imagine a very bad flu plus multiple other symptoms and going nuts from being to weak to get out of your house. One second your sweating up a storm and the next second your cold as ice. Your skin constantly has a crawling sensation, restless leg syndrome horribly, insomnia hardly slept hardly ate for a whole week and if you can eat or drink you vomit it back up. My anxiety was just off the chain and I just could not be comfortable because of these crazy twitches. I hope I never have to go through something like that again longest week ever. Oh yah totally forgot about the diarhea cha cha cha.
Click to expand...

This is the God's honest truth. I couldn't of stated it any better. I hope you're doing better now, AirNod23.
 
Much better I learned my lesson. I occasionally use but not often. The crazy thing that I feel kinda cured my addiction after the withdrawals was a shroom trip. Afterwards I didnt do anything for a few months just didnt even have a craving.
But theres nothing like a good opiate high definantly fell in love at first sniff.
 
never got hooked till the Panas came around (oxy/hydro didn't get me and even still i can do 120mg/day oxy and I don't even feel like that gives me real withdrawal). Just feels like the absolute end of the world. Everything is just so fucking grim it doesn't even seem like real life
 
I'll throw in my two cents on just one of the symptoms of opiate WDs and it is, for many people, the absolute worst, hardest to ignore or do anything about: the dreaded Restless Leg Syndrome (or as someone above me wrote, Restless Body Syndrome). My experience with opiates started precisely because I had RLS without any opiate use. It has been with me since my late teenage years and has only become worse and worse over the last 10 years. My doctor and I started with Requip (a new drug at the time that was supposed to help, but in the end, actually made the RLS much worse), then moved on to anti-Parkinsons drugs like Neurontin and Lyrica (this is why you'll see people advising taking this during opiate withdrawals, because it does help somewhat with RLS). When those didn't work, we moved on to opiates, as per the Mayo Clinic algorithm for treating chronic RLS. I started on hydrocodone (2 10mg tablets a day), but those were so short lived it was never enough and I would have to take another six hours after the last one or I couldn't get any sleep. Finally, the answer came in the form of low dosages of methadone. It was strong and had a very long half life so I wouldn't have to take it as often. And that's when things got bad.

I started out on 2.5mg twice a day. This kind of worked for a little while, but after 5-6 months, I needed to go up to 5mg twice a day. This is still an incredibly low dosage when compared to what is given to heroin addicts, and many of the RLS forums I've been to have frequent posters who take, at the very least, 20mg a day. My doctor is not comfortable going above the dosage I'm at right now and I'm thinking about seeing a neurologist to help and possibly prescribe something different (a patch of some sort or increase the methadone). I've come to accept that this will most likely be a lifelong condition, and while there are certainly other things besides opiates that I could do to help alleviate the symptoms (regularly scheduled aerobic exercise and stretching, eating a very particular diet, etc...), it was the opiates that give the only real relief.

So, when some friend of a friend who was at a party at my house swiped a number of my methadone, I was fairly terrified of the withdrawal, since I was well aware that one of the worst symptoms of opiate WD is RLS. And dear god, was it terrible. Since the half-life of methadone is rather long, the withdrawals didn't hit until a few days after my last dose. When they did, it was pain like I had never felt before. My legs, my arms, my back(!) were wracked by the most intense RLS symptoms I've ever felt in my life. If I lay down, I would either be writhing in the bed or I would have to get up after 3-4 minutes and pace. While there were certainly other symptoms going on, such as diarrhea, sweats, yawning, watery eyes, and depression, none of them compared to that particular type of restless "pain" that comes with RLS. At it's worst, it got into my back at the top on both of my shoulder blades. It felt like something was trying push itself out of me, out of my skin. In my delirium I thought it was perhaps a pair of wings trying to free themselves from my body.

I only had a shower and no bath and hot showers do not compare at all to being able to soak in a hot bath or, if you're lucky, a jacuzzi. If I had access to a jacuzzi, I probably would've spent 95% of the time I was withdrawing in there. No joke; over-saturation be damned. If there ever is a next time (and who among us can absolutely guarantee there won't be a next time), I've got a few options that I've thought of and prepared for. First, I have a full bottle of neurontin and clonidine to take. This will help somewhat, but not nearly enough. Second, I have two large bottles of a powerful topical anesthetic that is used for horses for sore muscles and such. I read of a report elsewhere that claimed this stuff was a miracle worker when it comes to fighting off the RLS. Hot water is a topical treatment, and that works wonders, so I thought it was at least worth spending $20 for this stuff since I lack a bath or jacuzzi. Third, if all else fails, I'll try to find a motel with a "honeymoon suite" that hopefully isn't too disgusting and isn't too pricey and spend the worst of my days in what I assume will be the required heart-shaped jacuzzi bath in cheesy suites like these.

So, there's my story and contribution. Anyone else suffer from RLS while also taking opiates? Or have other ideas for defeating the RLS that comes with opiate WDs?
 
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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.
 
I feel like the worst part of withdrawal is the anxiety coupled with the restless leg syndrome. RLS is simply disgusting, it makes my legs feel like they're made out of jelly, and that there is air floating through my veins. The fact that it is impossible to sit still and get comfortable then just increases the anxiety. I remember the first time I went through it, I actually didn't connect the symptoms to opioid use, I just thought I was sick and going insane. I would break down and just start sobbing randomly throughout the day and sit shivering,covered in tears and mucous in the corner of a bathroom.

I also hate the skin sensations, where my body feels like its covered in sandpaper and snot, and constantly switching from one temperature extreme to another. In the end it's all bad.
 
lethargy and RLS are the worst parts of it for me, they are the only two symptoms I have no medication to fix.
 
the flu times a trillion....extremely tired but sped-out at the same time....shit ur pants...basically everything that could go wrong with ur body does. I find it fucking hilarious when doctors say (it is compared to having the flu for about two or three days) hahahahah wow.....

i can't even imagine benzo withdrawl :(
 
Bwyhlder I agree 100%... I was talking about this with a friend tonight and by far the worst withdrawals I have ever had were from suboxone precipitating withdrawal. I was on about 80mg of oxy daily and the doctor told me I could take 2mg suboxone even though I had taken hydrocodone that morning. I had severe projectile vomiting, stomach cramps so bad I couldn't stand, vicious diarrhea, it was like instantly I had the worst flu ever of my entire life. I thought I was dying so I called the doc, who told me that I was in real bad withdrawal and that I must not be on a high enough dose of bupe so he had me come get a script for 8mg pills.

Fuckin doctors. I've never been that dopesick from regular withdrawal.
 
Having an unprofessional pull and yank everyone of your teeth out for a week straight, with no breaks, over, and over, and over again-while some one rips every single strand of your body hair out-one by one, while ALSO at the same time, a third person has a large BURLAP POTATO SACK, and they are scraping and rubbing THAT all over your body, constantly/nonstop for about two weeks straight.

This is what withdrawal feels like to me--but it's really just worse than my description, in all honesty.
 
LOGan1314 said:
the flu times a trillion....extremely tired but sped-out at the same time....shit ur pants...basically everything that could go wrong with ur body does. I find it fucking hilarious when doctors say (it is compared to having the flu for about two or three days) hahahahah wow.....

i can't even imagine benzo withdrawl :(
Click to expand...
that's a pretty good description. benzo withdrawal is somewhat similar, but much more psychological. it reaches deeper into your soul than opiate WD, if you can believe that o.o
 
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