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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Opioids Need Some Harm Reduction / General Using Advice (IV user)

S

SmokePots

Greenlighter
Joined
Feb 23, 2012
Messages
4
Hey guys,

I'm going to start by saying I am in no way new to using or my preferred ROA (IV), however I spent about 2-3 years basically completely sober and recently reboarded the sinking ship a few months ago. The substances I use daily include BTH, crystal, and benzos (currently Kpins, but take bars when I need to quickly calm tf down). The balancing act was rough at first but is getting more manageable; however, I know this can't last forever. Given that, I have a few questions:

1. Is plugging BTH going to be my best option when I can't hit a vein and NEED a dose? I woke up super sick the other morning and was barely able to even prep my rig, ended up missing most of my shot because I was so desperate to feel okay again. I don't like smoking it, feels wasteful and tastes like shit, but I am okay with plugging other substances so if this roa works well with BTH it would really help in desperate times.

2. Eventually I need to kick this shit, but I can't cold turkey due to work and other responsibilities. What is my best option as far as a substance I can taper down with? Idc if it's prescription, street, RC, etc. What is the BEST opiate to do this with. Obviously tar is not suitable because I cannot reliably taper a substance that has varying potencies. Money is not much of an issue.

3. Will taking Amoxicillin do anything to help me if I miss a shot and it starts feeling infected? I have enough to run 2-3 full cycles and would love to avoid a doctor / er visit unless it absolutely is necessary.

4. Is there any advice that is unrelated to the above questions that you think I should be aware of? I know that's vague, so if you don't have anything to say in response to this one don't feel pressured to. I just threw this in here to show that I am open to any advice, tips, or tricks that you may have learned that will help me sustain my situation until I figure out a solid exit plan.

Anyways, thanks in advance to anyone who responds. I'm very aware that my current situation isn't pretty and will end badly if I don't find a way to either kick it or find a more sustainable way of living lol.
 
If you have a history of drug use, I would think that the risk of relapse afterwards is pretty high. For just a taper, Bupe is supposed to be a great choice. But again, I would consider maintainence, and imo Methadone works way better than Bupe for that.
But be advised that both Bupe and Methadone ha e an extremely drawn out, uncomfortable withdrawl with Methadone being quite violent. I would suggest assessing your risk of relapse and making a plan from there. You don't want to relapse again and again but you also don't want to commit to an extreme maintainence drug like Bupe or Methadone if you don't need to. Good luck! I hope you break this hellish cycle!
 
Thanks for your response. I really hope I break it too, as my body seems to be reacting noticeably worse to this shit every day (obviously, with the shit im doing) and circulation in my arms is horrible rn. Unfortunately, I have been a chronic relapsed ever since I stopped loving drugs and decided I wanted to change. Maintaining the responsibilities in my life makes this difficult for me because every day the withdrawals I will have to endure to stop are at best going to make me less functional, I am just hoping to stay functional enough during my taper that I don't lose my job (which thank god is remote work).

One more question: until I bite the bullet and start down this road to recovery.. what can I do to still keep using like I am while giving my body (specifically my veins) a break? I've been moving sites as much as I can, but as anyone who IVs knows, when you cant seem to register somewhere foreign the chances of using ol' faithful (my overused veins) is almost inevitable. Plus, these hand veins react badly to even the tiniest misses.

I guess the obvious answer is to not IV, but again, if you are accustomed to this RoA its hard to take it any other way. If anyone has advice on that it would be greatly appreciated. I guess I will try plugging my solutions and see if it satisfies my cravings enough to let my veins heal, I hate and suck at smoking tar so thats out of the question. Snorting it is nasty and I feel like it takes so much to get well that way.

Anyways, thanks for responding ChinaGroove, I appreciate all help I can get, even if I am too consumed to follow it right now it will be useful when I finally decide its time. I'm doing my best to not let that be a never ending wait, but it just doesnt feel like my ducks are in a row yet, at least enough for me to be successful in my attempt.
 
Hey there. I think the questions you're asking are pretty straightforward, but you're still probably going to get some differing answers from different people on here based upon what they've done and what has worked for them in the past. I'm not necessarily going to go in order here.

First, about the antibiotics. It's not generally advisable to choose antibiotics and administer them on your own diagnosis. Antibiotics are great and effective for treating infections caused by injection-related infections, but that doesn't mean you can't benefit from being checked out by a doctor and among other things, having them culture your infected area to determine the most-suitable antibiotic possible.

If you're not going to seek professional attention and you do develop an abscess, you're better off administering antibiotics than not... generally. It's always better to see a doctor for this sort of thing if it's possible though.

If you're talking about efficiency in your route of administration, than rectal administration isn't a bad way to go. I frequently recommend it to people here on Bluelight for many of the reaons that you have listed already. As far as Harm Reduction philosophy is concerned, it's great for it's relative safety and favored by many for its relatively high bioavailability. Among other novel routes of administration for Heroin in tar form would be making a solution and administering it nasally.

Heroin is very souble in water. You can make a relatively potent solution of Heroin in just a milliliter of saline as you would an injection. In fact, you would probably find no insturment better suited for this purpose than an insulin syringe with the needle itself removed. In fact, you can quite easily divive up your dosage using the units on the side of the syringe.

But yes, rectal adminsitration is just as viable. I never smoked/vaporized Heroin outside of a few times in my entire life, so I can't really provide good adivce on that route of administration, but everyone seems to indicate that it is a skill that doesn't necessarily come easily or naturally, but only becomes truly efficient over time. I don't know.

I think I addressed most of your questions here, but feel free to counter if there is something specific you want to talk about.
 
What they said.

I'll say this about medically assisted recovery: I did really well on methadone. Better than with bupe. If you can keep your appointments and pass the drug screens, it's a great option. BUT do NOT get arrested. Do NOT quit methadone cold turkey. I would not describe it as "violent" but it is no walk in the park and it lasts for months. Hellish.
 
SmokePots said:
Thanks for your response. I really hope I break it too, as my body seems to be reacting noticeably worse to this shit every day (obviously, with the shit im doing) and circulation in my arms is horrible rn. Unfortunately, I have been a chronic relapsed ever since I stopped loving drugs and decided I wanted to change. Maintaining the responsibilities in my life makes this difficult for me because every day the withdrawals I will have to endure to stop are at best going to make me less functional, I am just hoping to stay functional enough during my taper that I don't lose my job (which thank god is remote work).

One more question: until I bite the bullet and start down this road to recovery.. what can I do to still keep using like I am while giving my body (specifically my veins) a break? I've been moving sites as much as I can, but as anyone who IVs knows, when you cant seem to register somewhere foreign the chances of using ol' faithful (my overused veins) is almost inevitable. Plus, these hand veins react badly to even the tiniest misses.

I guess the obvious answer is to not IV, but again, if you are accustomed to this RoA its hard to take it any other way. If anyone has advice on that it would be greatly appreciated. I guess I will try plugging my solutions and see if it satisfies my cravings enough to let my veins heal, I hate and suck at smoking tar so thats out of the question. Snorting it is nasty and I feel like it takes so much to get well that way.

Anyways, thanks for responding ChinaGroove, I appreciate all help I can get, even if I am too consumed to follow it right now it will be useful when I finally decide its time. I'm doing my best to not let that be a never ending wait, but it just doesnt feel like my ducks are in a row yet, at least enough for me to be successful in my attempt.
Click to expand...
I totaly understand wanting to find a new roa. Iv use is hard on the veins. My "ol faithful" collapsed a few years ago. As scary as that sounds, it sure didn't stop me from finding a new site. The needle, imo, is an addiction all its own. There are times I've been sick and would re wash a cotton that had no dope left in it. Yet, the whole ritual of preparing the shot, looking for a vein, seeing blood fill the plunger. That in itself almost made me feel better from some sort of placebo effect.
As Mod Keif Richards said, plugging can be a great alternative to iv. I have no experience, however i'm sure there are plenty of threads on bl that can give you the info that you need.
Also, if you are able to do a taper and never use again, and you're really ready to go through life with no opioids at all, then I wish you luck! However, if you end up not being ready to completely stop yet, and a taper interferes with you life and job, then I strongly reccomend methadone. Methadone probably saved my life. If you go that route, then make sure that you do as much research as possible. Methadones a powerful agonist. It takes some getting used to if you've never taken it before.
Again, no matter which path you take, I wish you all the best! The important thing is getting away from the illegal opioids and off of the needles and to get healthy!
 
i love you guys, you did answer my questions in good detail. I ended up self-administering the amoxicillin and am still finishing the cycle. it worked wonders for keeping it at bay, especially those possible septic moments when id smash it hard on something by accident or do some dumb shit that made it feel like it escaped its bubble. i started with a regular dose recommended by google and made small adjustments when I felt the infection was winning. I am going to give rectal a try because this mornign was a bloody mess that made me late for work and has my inner arm looking like I got attacked by a bobcat or something. if only people who were considering trying IV knew how gruesome it really gets. and as you said very well, the roa itself and the instant zero to 100 is hard to give up, so much so that ill sit there for an hour poking instead of just cutting the needle and putting up my pooper lol. insanity. waking up with numb arms and some of the weird definitely alarming symptoms ive been experiencing are really making me want to change that tho. at least until they can repair enough to not be in the condition they are now.

anyone happen to know a good vasodilator, while were on the subject? something that would at least counter the constriction from the crystal a little bit?

and any equal or less powerful opiates that will satisfy my tar addiction that have good oral bioavailability? i dont want anything thatll make tar not satisfy me anymore like fent, and maybe an oral opiate can help me taper to a more manageable level that would make detoxing easier?

anyways, I appreciate your responses so much. rn i am pretty lonely in this world of sickness and desperation. if anyone is looking for a friend like I am, dm me. we shouldnt have to do this alone and its sad that a lot of us are :/
 
jasperkent said:
What they said.

I'll say this about medically assisted recovery: I did really well on methadone. Better than with bupe. If you can keep your appointments and pass the drug screens, it's a great option. BUT do NOT get arrested. Do NOT quit methadone cold turkey. I would not describe it as "violent" but it is no walk in the park and it lasts for months. Hellish.
Click to expand...

Well said. In short, if you're willing to play ball it can save your life and the "chains" or "handcuffs" are mostly invisible. It can't be noted enough how things have changed in the past decade with the clinic here in the United States. When I first starteda Methadone program in the Boston area like 8 years ago, I literally didn't know anybody with take-home medication and it really was reserved for special situations and for people who had done years of straight, unbroken clean UA's. Not to mention, Cannabis was an automatic disqualifier.

In many, many places now, Cannabis is not even tested for. For a lot of us, this is a gigantic thing. Basically, you need to be sober, but you can still smoke Cannabis and a lot of people I know are up to once-per-week dosing after less than 6 months of clean UA's and that's not even constant. There is much more discretion. If you get caught smoking crack or something, as long as you make it a blip on the radar and not a consistent thing, counselors and staff will work with you.

Going to the clinic once per week is a completely different animal than going every day.
 
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