Opioids Withdrawal coping techniques (Mega Thread)

[FormerPianoMan]

Let me preface this post by saying I have an abnormal tolerance to CNS depressants, 100mg (yes, one-hundred milligrams) of Ambien has just the slightest effect on me, barely perceptible drowsiness. Benzo's have very little effect on me. A dose that would incapacitate someone else, affects me modestly. My psychiatrist says my brain is "wired funny." I've been prepped for surgery with Propofol.....the anesthesiologist had to use triple the normal dose to induce the expected sedation. (She had already talked with my psychiatrist about my high tolerance.)

HAVING SAID THAT DISCLAIMER:

Klonopin.

It made the detox from a year-long, 240mg/day hydro habit to zero (cold turkey) absolutely painless.

A week before the detox was to begin, my addiction specialist (note that I'd consulted a doctor) started me on 2mg Klonopin on day one, 4mg on day two, 6 on day three, 7 on day four, 8 on day five, 9 on day six and 10 on day seven.

Then the opiate use was stopped at once.

Nothing happened; for the next 10 days, I increased from 10, up to 16mg/day of Klonopin.

I didn't "have withdrawals" or ANY of the cold turkey detox effects I was dreading, not one.

Then over the course of a month, I was gradually tapered off Klonopin (a drug that can NOT be stopped CT!!!)

I'm soooooooo happy to have found a painless way out. I hope this method will work on others.

I really hope I don't put my body through this chemical obstacle course, again. It's been a few years, so I don't think I'm going to relapse. If I start to have an opiate craving (a few times a month) I take 4mg Klonopin and that puts an end to it. It's a wonderful drug, used for short term applications.

My psychiatrist has great reservations about using Klonopin on a daily basis beyond 12 weeks.

 

[hale]

damn i need to get some kpin

 

[FormerPianoMan]

I would advise going to a psychiatrist. They have a knack for making detoxes easy(er).

The dose of Klonopin I was taking may have been WAY too high (no pun intended) for someone else. The dose MUST be tailored by a physician.

Of equal importance is the withdrawal period. Klonopin MUST be very slowly withdrawn to avoid seizures.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I hear kratom is pretty good for keeping you well, although it might prolong your withdrawls a bit. Someone might have already mentioned this, haven't read through the whole thread yet.

 

[szechuan shrimp]

just read this entire thread - many ways to skin the proverbial cat it seems - while i cant confirm or deny any of the previous coping mechanisms i can tell you what works for me - and since we are all built differently this may not work for everyone but like i said it works for me and i go through it monthly so here it is:

i spend as much money and time as i possibly can shooting dope 3 weeks out of every month - right when i am about to go broke and have a drug problem i get as many 10mg methadone pills as i can afford to buy (no prices here, but usually 30-40 of them)

once i have officially run out of money and begin to have a drug problem i wake up and take 6 dones - then 3 more at night. while there are no exact figures here it is the concept that is important - to load up on days 1 and 2 - consider it like a creatine loading dose for you work-out buffs... now for the using your brain part....

day 3 take 4 and thats it - i am sitting here on day 5 having taken nothing on day 4 due to the wonderfully long half-life dones offer - i may or may not take 2 tonight but if i do it will be like an afterbirth just to let the system know its not time to go into some funky blue depression. there is no exact science to this other than to take as needed only after a loading dose of as many as you feel you can handle for the first 2 days.

bear in mind that i have no plans of ever quitting dope just like i have no plans of ever being hooked on methadone which is THE most brutal kick of them all but i have been using opiates rather heavily for over 10 years and short spurts of methadone are FOR ME the best way to bridge the gap that the occasional going broke/having a drug problem seems to create.

dones are super cheap. i can sleep for a solid 40 hours straight with maybe 3-4 piss breaks while i load up the first 2 days and then i get up eat like crazy drink protein shakes and get my body right and then like i said just a few more dones spaced randomly through the next few days. after 6-7 days i now have my life back and can choose whether or not i want to stay sober or get high and of course i always choose to get high. but the point is i have the choice. when i am in cold turkey wd's i'll cut your ear off with a mat knife to get $20 for that earring at the pawn shop so trust me i know the hell of wd's - methadone is a thing of beauty as long as you dont take it for an extended period of time b/c then you are in for a whole new set of undeniably brutal circumstances that even a dope kick cant offer.

NOTE: there was a point in my life when i was so self-diluted as to my pre-disposition to loving drugs that i would actually think so irrationally that there would ever be a day that i would live a clean and sober life. now that i am 36 i have come to terms with who i am and what i enjoy and the simple fact that i will never be truly happy as a clean and sober individual. it is perfectly ok to want get high and to get high. we are adults. portugal just legalized everything. yes, everything. now there is no crime. drug use has not risen and there are less OD's. the moral of the story is if you are here wanting to know how to best WD because there is pressure being applied to you by those who have no desire to ever be high then just take a deep breath and systematically remove those people from your life. there is nothing worse than having to live your very own life as someone else wants you to live it. live your own life. its your life, charlie brown. at least when its all over you can look back and say you lived it as you wanted to. god bless, and stay safe.

 

[Sepher]

Bustin a nut helps with sleeping.

Well, yeah, but there's only so many times you can come in your own pants for no apparent reason before it starts wearing a bit thin, eh? :lol: Especially when you've just finally managed to nod off.

I have no more to add at this point . . . . sorry . . . but I'll come back soon as I remember what the slightly easier-going, less likely to have me keeling over at the drop of a hat alternative to Clonidine was? My blood pressure used to fall through the floor and just keep going on that stuff? I'll edit in the name of it in due course . . .

Sepher

 

[oliphill]

szechuan shrimp -

Methadone for withdrawal? Risky business. I first strolled into that methadone clinic trying to get off heroin. What a mistake. "Yeah we'll start you on 20ml and take you down slowly." What a load of bollocks that was! Ended up on 70ml with a larger dope habit on top. The kick was brutal. Hardest thing I've ever done. IMO unless you are looking into maintenence avoid methadone like the plague.

Just wanna say about the Klonopin thing, that may well work for hydrocodone, but for my habit of methadone and heroin I don't think it would have barely touched the w/ds. I remember getting through 200mg Diazepam 120mg Temazepam 20mg Nitrazepam and I was still in full on withdrawals. OK I know it wasn't clonazepam, but I sorry but there's no way benzos, in my experinece, can get completely rid of w'ds from an opiate addiction.

 

[Shadow997]

Usually I'll take 2-4 tramadols 50mg, lopermide, (if available) ketamine. For some reason, for me, ketamine is a great substitute for opiates it eliminates all the mental bullshit and some of the physical part. Pretty sure dissociation has something to do with it.

I totally agree with the Tramadol...They have been a lifesaver for me at times! The worst part of w/d for me is the restlessness...

 

[gocards27]

take enough immodium and all the WD will go away...except min rest legs, and foggy brain.

 

[PillPoppingAnimal]

Great thread!!

I have a MILD habit (Oxycodone), but I have been through actual withdrawal....

I always tough it out, I can put up with 3 days of feeling bad in bed.
I usually use Amphetamines aggresively (some people this would be a NIGHTMARE in w/d but they are my doc and don't make me anxious), Benzodiazepines, Ibuprofen, Robaxin, plently of excercize, healthy foods, and plenty of hydration

yeah tahts cuz u havent been thru legit withdrawals

its not 3 days of feeling bad in bed

its 3 days of hell, u dont man it out unless ur in a detox center or CANNOT get ur fix.........or u use suboxone which is still just a plain ole' opiate

 

[RedRum OG]

having a breakfast of some heavy weed cookies/brownies is amazing. drink it down with kratom. then you have a great day.

 

[BlueberryfishY]

having a breakfast of some heavy weed cookies/brownies is amazing. drink it down with kratom. then you have a great day.

lol

 

[JOEY624267]

yeah tahts cuz u havent been thru legit withdrawals

its not 3 days of feeling bad in bed

its 3 days of hell, u dont man it out unless ur in a detox center or CANNOT get ur fix.........or u use suboxone which is still just a plain ole' opiate

Man u got that right ! Hell and back ! Sub is the shit and that's IT !

 

[RedThorn]

I don't know wheather this is necessarily a 'coping' technique but I found 'deep heat' good for easing the aches and pains along with ibuprofen.
It's deep heat in the Uk and Australia not sure what the brand name is elsewhere, but I think something similar would be available everywhere.
it is meant to relieve pains such as rheumatic pain, backache, lumbago and muscle sprains.
It comes in different forms like a cream, a balm, and a spray.

 

[stray cat]

I live in Italy. Would Kratom show up on a drug test?

this is way late to actually help the poster who was stationed in italy (i think his post was around april), but the pharmacies there can prescribe whatever on the spot, and being persistent about what you want/need tends to work. 10/325 percocet is called "depalgos" over there. just an fyi if anyone finds him/herself in italy facing withdrawal.

*****this is not me telling you to try to scam italian doctors or anything btw. just letting you know that you can be seen and prescribed medicine on the spot at a farmacia

 

[ED50of0]

Probably one way of coping with withdrawals is not to think of it as coping. Easier said than done though. Since much of opioid addiction is psychological, if you can get that aspect of it out, any sort of physical withdrawal should be a non-issue, since it's bascially like getting the flu, and people get those all the time. Aside from that, I think the best way of coping is trying to get back all those meaningful activities that you used to do before you started using.

 

[JimmyCocks]

Yeah, sounds crazy but Ive found if I have the resources to go on a vacation when Im about to go into withdraw. Ill go to Miami or somewhere really hot either by myself or with an understanding friend and just sit in the sun and let the drugs sweat out of me. Of course I always bring some bupe with me.
Ive done it 2 times in the past and the change of scenery worked wonders.

This may sound like a pipe dream for those heavily addicted and broke but its not as out of reach as one may think

 

[JimmyCocks]

this is way late to actually help the poster who was stationed in italy (i think his post was around april), but the pharmacies there can prescribe whatever on the spot, and being persistent about what you want/need tends to work. 10/325 percocet is called "depalgos" over there. just an fyi if anyone finds him/herself in italy facing withdrawal.

*****this is not me telling you to try to scam italian doctors or anything btw. just letting you know that you can be seen and prescribed medicine on the spot at a farmacia

You most certainly can...They have a wide selection of low power opiates and are easliy perscribed.

In so many ways such a beatiful country

-vi assicurate mangiare bene per me-

 

[smackncheese]

I've found that hot water is just wonderful, especially the first couple days, if you can handle the feeling of intense heat on your skin. A hot water bottle helped me a lot with my aches when I was detoxing at my mom's house last year. Better yet, my old apartment had a hot tub.. ahhh! A hot bath will do nicely too, although it's easy to feel a little cramped in a tiny little tub.

 

[smackcraft]

Got a question i want to ask rather than making a new thread

As some of you here know i went through some withdrawals at the end of last week from my methadone but done a CWE of codydromol and used some tramadol

Now i know when you start you methadone script you have 3 days for it to settle in properly

Well i finally got my script yesterday and took 70ml instead of my regular 40ml and today i have taken my usual 40ml

but im still feeling a bit shaky and spaced out

is this cos it will take 3 days again to stabalize due to me not having my proper dose almost all of last week then none on the last few days ?