Opioids Blackouts from heavy long-term opiate useage?

A friend of mine has been taking between 600-700 mgs. of oxycodone a day for the last 10 years or so. Her short-term memory seems to be fukked, as is her concept of time.

Trying to determine if the damage is done, or if abstinence would help rectify the situation?

She's considering one of those detoxs where they put you under and flush your receptors. But if the damage is done, why bother?

Well of course her memory and concept of time is gonna be fucked up when shes half sleeping through life. Opiates do not do permanent brain damage unless someone OD's and stops breathing for a few minutes. I'm certain her memory will improve when shes clear-headed.

700mgs of oxy a day for 10 years is nuts.........im assuming she was doing this to get high & not for medical purposes. The only way to tell if she has lost her memory & what not is to flush her receptors & get clean for at least a year imo. It could take 3 or 4 years before everything turns back to some what normal.............

A couple of times I've taken my usual standard dose (of my Oxy/Dilauded/Tram cocktail) and it'll hit me a bit harder than usual (most likely due to empty stomach) and I won't realize I've nodded out an hour into it and wake up a few hours later without memory of passing out. That's about as close to a "blackout" as I've experienced.

And yeah, ironically Opiates are pretty safe from a non-addiction/OD perspective. They're not all that terrible for your body, other than really slowing down your intestines. I had a buddy who peaked his addiction at 30x 30mg Roxicodone pills for about 8 months, after building up a steady addiction from 1x 30mg /day 2 years earlier. He detoxed and is completely back to his pre-abuse state mentally and physically. He sure went through the seventh circle of hell getting clean though.

I would agree that it is unlikely to be permanent and it is well worth trying to get off them (but I can't explain what happened to your friend CH - have they been to a doctor about it? It could be an unrelated medical issue..)

I also agree that after such a long period of use, simply detoxing quickly using an antagonist isn't going to work. It doesn't change her circumstances and address the psychological aspects of addiction, and it will be such a shock to her system to suddenly be clean after using that much oxycodone daily for years. Your friend is likely to go right back on them. A slow taper with drugs-counselling addressing why she started to take them and what perpetuated her addiction, and how to adjust to life without opiates, is far more likely to be successful..

SaosinEngaged said:

And yeah, ironically Opiates are pretty safe from a non-addiction/OD perspective. They're not all that terrible for your body, other than really slowing down your intestines. I had a buddy who peaked his addiction at 30x 30mg Roxicodone pills for about 8 months, after building up a steady addiction from 1x 30mg /day 2 years earlier. He detoxed and is completely back to his pre-abuse state mentally and physically. He sure went through the seventh circle of hell getting clean though.

Click to expand...

He must also really be appreciating the extra $500-$900 a day in savings as well.