Opioids What can opiate withdrawal be compared to?

[dread]

lots and lots of buprenorphine.

 

[atlian8]

my withdrawal experience.

i know... just wishin there was a way outside of any drug... lol... some miracle fix. eat massive amounts of turkey and it'll subside. ive really been tryin to taper down to nothing. I know everyone says its near impossible but i really feel like i have the self-control. I cant take the bad stuff this time. and on topic... lemme try my hand...

i goto sleep... wake up and its been 8- 10 hours... your mind starts to wonder....how long has it been....whens it gonna start.. am i ready for this? cause im dry....and im keepin it that way.

12 hours. almost on the dot for me. BAM. i walk into the bathroom..feelin like my energy is starting to drain. take a shower.... dreading gettin out.

As i dry off i start to feel...clammy. oh god here we go. its like i cant get dry enough. as the hours pass my skin starts to feel clammy....sweaty... rubbery.

check my phone. phones cut off. Maybe itll suddenly come on? maybe someone could just give me a bag. one bag. NO. not this time. i lay back down....somehow i dose off to sleep. i wake up... and here it is.

18 hours and i feel like i cant stand to walk out side. dont wanna be nauseus. try to eat somethin....drink some water... waste away. get in bed. Tylenol PM... please god let me just sleep til tomorrow. toss. turn. over. flip the pillow. bathroom. sweat. (i look at the clock...its been 45 minutes. if this is a movie... i hope someone up there is gettin a kick out of this torture..

 

[atlian8]

Day 2 - i wake up.... i feel. empty.

i start thinking about how the shots felt...i goto the bathroom and throw up. god i dont wanna be clammy anymore. my bed felt like a waterbed with a leak. the smell of sweat is surrounding me. my hair...my body...a constant sweat. shower? fuck no. i dont wanna be hot. i dont wanna be cold. so i lay on the couch. hot. and cold. hot... my heads burning up. (damn long hair.... part of me wishes i could shave it for this.) i call a friend...hang up before even 2 rings. i dont wanna have to fake feeling fine. start to think about that brown liquid...filling... registering... and then the sho....(bathroom here i come.) i throw up again. realize i have to pull it together to do some work. thank god i work from home.

all day long i just wish i could fill my void. this void that i never saw before. I CAN FEEL...SEE... i understand now what the void is. IV of water would prob. suffice. why is that? is it the habit? the production that goes into a setup? here's my tools... my ritual. lights dim....i take the spoon... (NO). i cut the thought out of my mind. gotta go back to sleep. toss. turn. all i wanna do is call out...where can i find a peice of rock? where can i fin....somehow in fighting myself i fall asleep.

Day - 3....why do i feel better. maybe im not so clammy..but i walk outside and i realize...i dont even feel like me. everything looks...clear....but i feel heavy. christ...i get it now. i feel...uncomfortable. in my own skin. i gotta find a hobby. i made it this far.... no turning back.

 

[atlian8]

so what can it be compared to? for me? take your idea of depression...self actualization and the flu....then put yourself in hell dealing with each i wish everyone who goes through it.. all my blessings and best of luck. stay safe

 

[Virtuoso]

i know... just wishin there was a way outside of any drug... lol... some miracle fix. eat massive amounts of turkey and it'll subside. ive really been tryin to taper down to nothing. I know everyone says its near impossible but i really feel like i have the self-control. I cant take the bad stuff this time. and on topic... lemme try my hand...

i goto sleep... wake up and its been 8- 10 hours... your mind starts to wonder....how long has it been....whens it gonna start.. am i ready for this? cause im dry....and im keepin it that way.

12 hours. almost on the dot for me. BAM. i walk into the bathroom..feelin like my energy is starting to drain. take a shower.... dreading gettin out.

As i dry off i start to feel...clammy. oh god here we go. its like i cant get dry enough. as the hours pass my skin starts to feel clammy....sweaty... rubbery.

check my phone. phones cut off. Maybe itll suddenly come on? maybe someone could just give me a bag. one bag. NO. not this time. i lay back down....somehow i dose off to sleep. i wake up... and here it is.

18 hours and i feel like i cant stand to walk out side. dont wanna be nauseus. try to eat somethin....drink some water... waste away. get in bed. Tylenol PM... please god let me just sleep til tomorrow. toss. turn. over. flip the pillow. bathroom. sweat. (i look at the clock...its been 45 minutes. if this is a movie... i hope someone up there is gettin a kick out of this torture..

The easiest way is a controlled withdrawal in a hospital. They put you into a coma and then flood your body with naltrexone. If you were awake you would be in unimaginable pain, but since you are not its basically like going to sleep and waking up without a physical addiction.

Aside from that, this is pretty much gonna suck. Tramadol is a great drug substitute as it is easy to taper down from and it actually take care of most of the withdrawal symptoms. Immodium will take care of the GI issues, but the mental wds are still there in full.

 

[kkaisu]

I have only had to go through withdrawls from Opana and hydrocodone(many many times). Been out 1.5 days my legs have been crazy all morning, sick to my stomach, headache and the sweats(same but milder compared to the heroin I am sure) My pops just walked in with my hydro script so now I have relief and I promise to myself I will take as directed (yeah right).
I often think to myself one of the only things that has kept me from trying heroin when available is the fear of withdrawls because i know i will become addicted.

 

[I_Stay_Dead]

Tramadol is a great drug substitute as it is easy to taper down from and it actually take care of most of the withdrawal symptoms.

Tramadol is another addictive drug with bad withdrawals. Using tramadol you're taking the same risk as using methadone for withdrawal management. I've not taken methadone and understand the withdrawals are very bad, however I have been on tramadol long-term and the withdrawals are were Hell for me!

 

[QuasiStoned]

I get very limited opiate effect from tramadol (I'm 90% sure I'm lacking that liver enzyme, same one for codeine and DXM which I got little effect from). But tramadol still makes withdrawal so much easier due to the SSRI effects and norepinephrine. And the antidepressant effects help to put me in a good mindset.

IMO as long as someone doesn't trade one addiction for another, tramadol is very helpful to some people experiencing withdrawal. It probably takes a bit of time to build tolerance to the SSRI and norepinephrine effects, so as long as you stop once the withdrawal is over should be fine.

 

[sonic]

Tramadol can help, but some people would argue that it just sort of prolongs the withdrawal. It will partially keep you out of withdrawal due to it's metabolite's binding affinity to your mu opioid receptors. When you stop taking tramadol, you'll most likely still go through mild withdrawal for a few days. Then again, tramadol and M1 (O-desmethyl-tramadol) are only partial opiate agonists, so the withdrawal from tramadol is going to be weaker and easier to get through compared to a full opiate agonist drug. Buprenorphine is also a partial agonist, but I think tramadol is much weaker based on personal experience.
I agree that you can even get short term benefits from the SNRI properties of tramadol.

Edit: You could try taking a CYP2D6 inducer, alcohol works as one. I don't condone mixing tramadol and alcohol, but alcohol does potentiate tramadol. There's no denying that. I've read on the DEA's website that this combo can also increase the risk of seizure, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. If you do mix alcohol with tramadol, only take 1-2 drinks an hour or 2 after you take the tramadol. Check our OD directory for the CYP450 interactions chart. It will give you a list of all CYP2D6 inducers. It would be more ideal to take one that didn't have depressant effects.

 

[dryhump2000]

i guess ill give my input.

opiate withdrawal is probably one of the worst experiences of my life at its worst. imagine feeling like you can move, even know you know it hurts so much, but you dont have the energy to do anything. every joint in your body aches like hell at all times. you sweat so much, but still have the chills like you were freezing cold. you're stomach is killing you, dont even think about eating, you vomit all the time. you're eyes are constantly watering up, and you're sneezing 24/7. oh yeah, and everytime you sneeze, you shit yourself. sitting on the toilet for hours at a time, shitting out everything in you, like pissing out your asshole, and puking in the tub next to you. your legs just cant stay still, you just cant get comfortable. sleep? so tired and lethargic, but you cant sleep because you can never get your legs in the right posistion. this isnt even getting into the mental aspect. you feel like you will never feel normal again, even after the physical systems are gone.

it goes on and on... there are so many things that are part of it. for anyone out there who is considering using opiates that hasnt started already, consider what it can turn into so easily in what seems like the blink of an eye. opiate addiction is not something that you wan't to try and see what its like.




as far as the horniness, im with you. its such a contrast, from no sexual interest, to out of no where needing sex/masturbation. to be honest, ive jerked it in the bathroom at work, lol.

im on suboxone now, 4mg a day, gonna try and drop to 2mg soon. but im still tempted to use occasionally now, and have slipped up twice. hopefully someday it wont be like this. but for the time being, it is. and i cant really complain about my life overall

that was free advice... and all the years the us gov't has been fighting the war on drugs... all they had to get to me to not try hard opiates at least was direct me to this cat.

 

[KStoner6tb]

The "rush" from opiates is a rush of endorphins flooding your system making you feel...well...incredible. Since endorphins also act to kill pain, it can only be expected that if you were to stop regularly stimulating your endorphins, you're going to feel pain. Hence opiate withdrawal.

I see what you're getting at. To put it bluntly, when you're on opiates, you feel zero pain(emotional) So once you're in withdrawal, other than just feeling shitty in general, all those emotions are in overdrive. That's seriously one of my least favorite withdrawal symptoms. Having to hide my eyes tearing up from a family member, while watching some dramatic news story.

 

[kneeco]

Let's face it, opiate withdrawal cannot be easily compared to anything, it's hell. Especially when you have other obligations you can't put off and have to go through while sick [ie court, family outings, cant miss anymore work because you've missed all you can due to other times you were sick]

the worst for me is the nonstop production of saliva my mouth seems to create and I have to constantly spit and if I swallow it once I start myself on a bile vomitting spree for the next ten minutes and while doing so your body temperature SHOOTS up from freezing cold to sweating balls and then back to freezing but now your covered in sweat plus your nose/eyes are running horribly bad worse then any cold/flu/allergies anyone experienced and u sneeze which are borderline excurrciatingly painful [and the yawns just milk your eyes and nose more]; u just want to relax cause you just strained the shit out of your stomach muscles but no position or bed is comfortable enough to qwell the RLS+muscle cramps/spazems, then you have an uncomparable depression/anxiety that seems like it will never go away and the only cure is another fix which you try to rationalize by saying you'll only use ONCE MORE to just get a little rest in cause your so fucking tired and drained of energy but no matter how hard u try and no matter how many OTC meds you take you just can't sleep... and if you do have some benzos and accomplish some sleep, you could sleep for 24 hours and the rest from that will wear off shortly after you're back in the hell of reality that is opiate withdrawal.

 

[atlian8]

thanks all... i think with the state of mind that i am in now... the way that everything feels, the clarity ive regained can allow me to take somethin like tramadol to taper down and not allow myself to even borderline making it an issue. I really just look forward to gain back the part of life that allows me to go out and party, even dabble in the mind/physical altering drugs once in a blue moon and actually enjoy it. actually be able to breathe in and experience the world and not be controlled by it. Sounds nice to me at least!

 

[edarrin]

Well for me I think the best analogy would be 'being alive while dead'.

The deprssion and hoplessness coupled with insomnia, increased body aches (anywhere you've ever had an injury for instance) and joint pain. And let's not leave out the cramps and other GI problems. I feel like body is not producing ATP or something. Feels like no energy at a cellular level to me.

 

[BumpyJohnson]

I think I read someone saying before that opiate withdrawl is similar in feeling (physical) to having full blown Mononucleosis while having every.. single.. cell.. in your body jumping up and down craving narcotics.. I have to agree.. coming off a heavy methadone habit truely isn't something I'd wish on my worst possible enemy.. thats the truth..

 

[enoughorangejuice?]

anal rape.

 

[ToxicFerret]

Hell.

 

[BiggDirty01]

I think Opiate Withdrawal can best be compared to total physical depletion combined with pain, nausea and inability to do just about anything.

The first time I went through WD's I thought for sure I was going to pass out or die. That was coming off a 18 month, 20-25/a day Norco 10-325 .

Obviously have gone thru it many times since then, as we all have. Makes you tougher and makes you learn alot about yourself. Wouldnt trade that for the world.

 

[supermarket]

Well - you guys made me feel a little bit better.

I'm going to the doc soon to find out how to get help with a kratom addiction. I'd say its comparable to codeine - nothing like M or H.

Although, I cant say I have just a kratom problem. I was just on a methadone binge last week, all week, 7 days straight, granted only about 20mg a day....

either way, withdrawal from opiates sucks period.

This is what I get just from kratom withdrawls, starting 12 hours after my last dose - and lasting 3-5 days (I guess, at the 3-5 day mark I cant take it any longer, and if I'm out of kratom I go get some oxy or M)

-Anxiety like feeling in the pit of my stomach, but a physical type of anxiety - I guess its called RLS...because you have to constantly move or its unbearable. And I do mean unbearable.
-Absolute fatigue during the day. 3 cups of coffee and just the idea of walking up or down stairs is so fucking draining.
-Inability to sleep more than 30min at a time, NO EXCEPTION (not even sleeping pills)
-Hot flashes then horrible cold chills...then hot flashes again.
-having to run into a warm bath because you are so fucking cold - only to jump out because you just got way to fucking hot
-nightmares - the worst ever, usually involving cartoonish M or Oxy pills 50x times their size (dont ask)
-Inability to function at work, school, or even talk to anyone. This is probably the worst - taking 5 classes and working 25 hours a week does not leave any chance of detoxing open.
-depression, anxiety, HOPELESSNESS
-If I do manage to make it into work - feeling as if everyone is conspiring against me
-yawning, watery eyes, constant fatigue, clouded mind


and thats only kratom withdrawl
I really feel for you guys who have it 100x worse then I do - I dont see how you guys make it

 

[enoughorangejuice?]

^ we don't....


(for real)