Opioids What can opiate withdrawal be compared to?

[poppyplanet]

As I'm getting older, I can't handle the withdrawals as well as I use to. To be honest, I'm scared to death of the next time I have to go through that hell. And that's truly what it is like; hell. My worst symptom is the chills. They're internal so there's not much I can do to relieve this. Years ago, a doctor told me that the reason for the intense chills during withdrawal is the result of your organs pulling blood in because they're working overtime and your body's going threw such turmoil. I honestly think that you can die from opiate withdrawal despite what many health professionals may say. But to answer your question, it's like being thrown into a freezer, naked with the worst flu times a thousand. Then add a constant running nose and eyes, muscle aches, restless legs and arms, mental anguish including deep anxiety and depression, and just a general feeling of malaise. And if you do get 'some' sleep in the event that you're lucky enough to temporarily escape this, the worst nightmares you could ever imagine.

 

[Acanthus]

Props for sticking it out. How long did it take for you to get back to normal physically? Most have been a few months at least.

Thanks Mr.Scagnattie The acute physical withdrawal stopped in around 7 days after taking last dose. Having said that, proper (badass) withdrawal symptoms didn't start until day 3 (!) due to the very long half-life of buprenorphine. On the 7th day I went out for beer and tacos to congratulate myself (and get some much needed calories after not being able to keep anything down for 4 days except a bowl of soup).

It was actually interesting because on day 7 when all acute withdrawal symptoms stopped, I felt joyous. My mood was actually higher than average. Also I had no other physical symptoms beyond this point, so I guess you could say my recovery was mercifully quick.

Unfortunately this *post-withdrawal high* didn't last, and after 5 months of not taking any psychoactive chemicals at all, intense anxiety and a persistent gloominess led me back to taking dihydrocodeine, and soon thereafter Suboxone, again (now 8mg/day).

It probably should be noted that since then I've been diagnosed with type-II bipolar disorder twice, so this may be the reason I end up seeking solace in opiates, not necessarily PAWS.

 

[infectedmushroom]

I can only talk about WD from milder opiates, Codeine/DHC. It's like having a fever, insomnia, depression and mood swings all in one for a good 5-7 days. The days drag out feeling twice as long as they normally do.

I'd sum it up as "a shitty fucking feeling."

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Thanks Mr.Scagnattie The acute physical withdrawal stopped in around 7 days after taking last dose. Having said that, proper (badass) withdrawal symptoms didn't start until day 3 (!) due to the very long half-life of buprenorphine. On the 7th day I went out for beer and tacos to congratulate myself (and get some much needed calories after not being able to keep anything down for 4 days except a bowl of soup).

It was actually interesting because on day 7 when all acute withdrawal symptoms stopped, I felt joyous. My mood was actually higher than average. Also I had no other physical symptoms beyond this point, so I guess you could say my recovery was mercifully quick.

Unfortunately this *post-withdrawal high* didn't last, and after 5 months of not taking any psychoactive chemicals at all, intense anxiety and a persistent gloominess led me back to taking dihydrocodeine, and soon thereafter Suboxone, again (now 8mg/day).

It probably should be noted that since then I've been diagnosed with type-II bipolar disorder twice, so this may be the reason I end up seeking solace in opiates, not necessarily PAWS.

Hah. Damn. Going through PAWS on top of being bipolar? Brutal. Mood swings from hell.

 

[cj]

I can't imagine stopping sub at 12mg that dude is more man than I will ever hope to be. For me what breaks my spirit is the bone chilling cold flashes added with sweating and restless body. I always end up in bed flailing around like I'm trying to have a seizure. I have been kicking lightly for a few days trying to transition back to bupe from heroin and its been horrible enough that I don't think I will have the courage to ever jump off completely without a very long taper

 

[belfort]

Yes PAWS is very real indeed, but 7-8 years later...? Come on. PAWS generally lasts 6 months-2 years on the high end.

lol try again...read up on Paws in long term addicts..it can last a lifetime! i thought when id get clean within a few months, id feel 'normal' again..nope, then a year passed, still didnt feel right, a year and a half, same thing..trust me, Paws lingers around even with good diet and exercise daily..

 

[Bowieparty]

Dankj, do you still live in Bowie/crofton area?

 

[Kid Amine]

Opiate withdrawal can be compared to:

1) Racing the Daytona 500 with a failed cool suit. You are EXHAUSTED and drenched in sweat.
2) Menopause on steroids. Hot/cold flashes, losing 15 lbs sweat overnight.
3) T.......I........M.........E..........F........U........C........K........I........N.......G........S........T.......O........P..........S.
4) you will have dope using dreams but never ever get high.
5) You will think of every possible way to get high, including sketching out how to rob pharmacies, robbing people at ATMs, etc.
6) You CANNOT watch any movie with drug use in it (like "Trainspotting").
7) Being beaten by MIke Tyson, Jose Canseco, and some MMA guys. You will HURT.
8) You will throw up/shit up liquids that science doesnt fully understand.
9) You might become horny as hell, whenever I dont have opiates Im like Im 15 again.
10) You will contemplate doing things that you'd NEVER do in a normal mindset to get drugs. You may/will take risks, and this is where shit usually goes horribly, horribly wrong.

 

[HdoubleODeezy]

^ excellent description kid amine.
Felt all those. Plenty of times.
Done some of the shit you say that's when things go horribly wrong.
And you're right. They did.
Been dealing with these battles a decade. I win them most of the time, but always end up back in the same pattern.

ADVISE TO THOSE READING WONDERING IF IT IS WORTH THE GAMBLE: NO IT ISNT

-HOOD

 

[thizzlemonster86]

Yeah I think Kid Amine pretty much got it all.

 

[windtalkers1221]

Yep: restless leg syndrome is the worst: solution: tie several socks to the bottom of your feet, this will give you some relief, at least it did for me. *Clean from methadone for 8 months using sub @ 8 mg per day: it's worth it, but expect serious sickness; have doc prescribe sleeping agents & possible rls meds. I didn't plan,( was cut off by my pharmacy) - but rehab is best place for serious methadone withdrawl as your body goes nuts with lack of dopamine.

 

[Killers91]

So withdrawal... Depends on how you go at it... If say, you are doing 300 mg+ Oxy per day until your fresh out and go cold Turk! then your in for more of a hurting! or you can do what I think everyone would say is best! ween your way down until your out, and it won't honestly be too bad at all, especially if you save a couple 15mg OCs, so right when you feel the worst take one, it's amazing, then go another day or so and wait until you can't and take another one, in a way this is also weening your body off it, most of addiction is the mental side, though, physical WD is real as hell itself, the mental messing with you and not being able to quick I feel is worse. The reason I know its mental for me and not so much physical dependency, is because my doc gives me 90-15mg Oxys, and if I somehow come up with 90-30s I will eat the shit out of them, like 15 a day right, and then I'll have to go like 25 days with only 120-15mgs which to some May be a lot but to true Junkers lol it's not shit, that's why I really regulate what I take now, and late at night instead of telling myself, shit I can down three more, before this last year I couldn't stop myself, now it's easy... It's simple self control, free-will, thank you God... Me being honest with everyone, I had a serious injury while fighting fire, that's how it all started and for about a year, I enjoyed it all, I never felt like I was chasing like people say, but I was doing something wrong, that's why now I only go with what my Doc says and gives me, nothing else, being a junkie for even a year will Fucking Ruin You! So please be careful, please...

 

[Killers91]

Yup

 

[Methadoodle]

Having been on 120mg of methadone since 2006. Originally i was driving to a dosing clinic 1.5 hours a day but fond a local doctor to prescribe my dose. Every now and then he does something completely screws me even when i taker my meds just as directed. LIke he will be out of town for a week on your appt day and no one ever bothers to call and notify you. So the last time he did this he was gone for 11 days, and I had to detox for 6 of them. The worst part is the feeling that every nerve in your body literally ever nerve ending is burning. You cannot regulate body temp properly and go from hot to cold in a matter of seconds. No appetite - no sleep, clock watching , you contemplate things you'd never contemplate such as corporal self harm - if you get my drift. I was afraid cannabis would make the terrible anxiety that comes with it worse but in very small doses it offered some comfort. Also hot showers and soaks for some reason helped me. Benzos would if they're available and none were. Once during that 6 day period i payed 100 dollars for 2 15mg roxys because the guy had a pill count the next day and was going to have to take flack for being short. I hear people mention diarrhea and restless legs syndrome and frankly i'd prefer either of those to feeling like my nerve endings are literally burning, being touched is uncomfortable and the sweats never stop. I realize that no ER doctor would have sympathy even with a soaring BP and obvious acute withdrawal. I am sooooo sick of the junkie cycle, All i really want is to taper myself, very mildly until i hit 30mg a day and can try suboxone or maybe skip that step and phase out all together on my own. I need someone in my family or someone neutral and trustworthy, who doesn't use, and who will not cave to my to appeals to dispense extra here and there. Because many times the detox part has been my fault -- we all know how it goes. "Ill take a couple extra today, make up for it tomorrow by taking one less". That rarely if ever goes down that way though and we end up 4 days til appt. day suffering or expending all the time , money and resources to procure the relief we seek.

 

[Erikmen]

Having been on 120mg of methadone since 2006. Originally i was driving to a dosing clinic 1.5 hours a day but fond a local doctor to prescribe my dose. Every now and then he does something completely screws me even when i taker my meds just as directed. LIke he will be out of town for a week on your appt day and no one ever bothers to call and notify you. So the last time he did this he was gone for 11 days, and I had to detox for 6 of them. The worst part is the feeling that every nerve in your body literally ever nerve ending is burning. You cannot regulate body temp properly and go from hot to cold in a matter of seconds. No appetite - no sleep, clock watching , you contemplate things you'd never contemplate such as corporal self harm - if you get my drift. I was afraid cannabis would make the terrible anxiety that comes with it worse but in very small doses it offered some comfort. Also hot showers and soaks for some reason helped me. Benzos would if they're available and none were. Once during that 6 day period i payed 100 dollars for 2 15mg roxys because the guy had a pill count the next day and was going to have to take flack for being short. I hear people mention diarrhea and restless legs syndrome and frankly i'd prefer either of those to feeling like my nerve endings are literally burning, being touched is uncomfortable and the sweats never stop. I realize that no ER doctor would have sympathy even with a soaring BP and obvious acute withdrawal. I am sooooo sick of the junkie cycle, All i really want is to taper myself, very mildly until i hit 30mg a day and can try suboxone or maybe skip that step and phase out all together on my own. I need someone in my family or someone neutral and trustworthy, who doesn't use, and who will not cave to my to appeals to dispense extra here and there. Because many times the detox part has been my fault -- we all know how it goes. "Ill take a couple extra today, make up for it tomorrow by taking one less". That rarely if ever goes down that way though and we end up 4 days til appt. day suffering or expending all the time , money and resources to procure the relief we seek.

Me too. Was on Methadone as from 2008, at approximately the same dosage. 80 mg at the end.
Methadone withdraws are really harsh!! It lasts for ever and when you after you go through all of that you start having all sort of cravings.
Nearly impossible to achieve IMO.
I did it after decreasing my dosage for 3 months and it´s been almost 2 months. Haven´t yet recovered.

 

[Methadoodle]

brother I wish you all the luck in the world with your continued efforts!! I wouldn't wish the feeling that comes with DT'S on my worst enemy. I hear stories of ppl still having bad physical symptoms 3 to 4 weeks later and that concept is scary as hell. My proposed plan of attack in conjunction with the taper -- especially when the taper starts to really hurt .... is a having a daily regimen with heavy structure(essentially what i believe is done in in-patient rehab although i've never been to one) that gives me little to no time to sit and think about how awful i feel. Be it grocery shopping, doing the dishes, feeding the cats or a 30 min walk - a schedule that accounts for most if not all of my time and forces me to spend the day doing everything BUT thinking about how bad i feel and what I crave to relieve it. I have seen similar methods employed on people who are grieving a loss of a loved one and it seems to work similarly. Pointedly in regard to the passage of time being necessary in order for it to not hurt quite as badly. I also expect that like grief it will hit in waves when you least expect it sometimes... cravings, symptoms etc just coming on all at once out of nowhere. Common sense and some research leads me to believe that feeding yourself the right foods, the right hydration and exercise SURELY would make the process more tolerable. Also coordinating it with a good understanding doctor(easy to fInd right? like a purple unicorn centaur) who can prescribe some sleep meds perhaps a small quantity of benzos for the anxiety etc. Of course this particular dilemma and the resulting agony. and i do mean agony ...seems to be pretty well ignored in the medical community in the US. Where you can be sneered at in the ER by a super judgemental idealist (all untested in real life of course) 22yo with no real life experience much less enough to have learned some true compassion. Eesh im rambling but yeah i wasn't expecting a response so quick and needed to vent. I look at how other countries ie: Scotland treat their pain patients and it makes me nauseous the disparity between the two.