What is the worst drug to have withdrawals from?

[Toz]

Having been through withdrawal from practically everything except alcohol I'll rank them from worst to easiest:

1. Calcium channel inhibitors (gabapentinoids) horrible anxiety and pain that lasted me 2 years before I gave up and reinstated which did not help so the damage done by over-rapid withdrawal is now permanent.

2. Benzodiazepines- (needs no explanation)

3. Opiates. (same here)

4. NMDAR antagonists (completely unexpected, caused the same withdrawal as the gabapentinoids but mostly physical, worse pain than opiate withdrawal but not much anxiety, withdrawal was long 6 months+)

5. Synthetic cannabinoids (physical discomfort / anxiety)

6. Stimulants (lethargy / depression)

 

[hangyourhead]

Opioids- Methadone tops the list of any opi or opi-analogue available.
Benzodiazepams- Alprazolam, temazepam, diazepam bc of length of- in terms of benzo WDS -the worst PAWS for any benzo. Clonazepam being = xanax potency, bad benzo-PAWS.
temazepam- rebound anxiety/depression/major insomnia for months.

 

[hfa]

Benzos were the only withdrawal that landed me in the hospital. They were pretty terrible. Cold turkey from Xanax ~10-15mg w/ grapefruit juice daily. Day 2 the vertigo set in. I couldn't walk at all. Then the side of my vision was flashing light. Then I couldn't even keep my eyes open. Laid in the tub with the shower running for like 10 hours knowing I was about to die. Then woke up in hospital.

Methadone was by far the most terrible withdrawal - cold turkey from 110 mg; I didn't end up in the hospital, but I wished I were dead. My stomach was cramped up so bad, I couldn't stand up straight, I was just laying on the floor wanting to die. For many days.

Gabapentin had a surprisingly terrible withdrawal. Bed bound for a good few days.

Kratom surprised me with a 7 day withdrawal that kept me from functioning.

 

[phoeski]

ill say it again benzos. i didnt even know the meaning of the word wd becasue i thought suboxone was bad. opiate withdrawl is a fucking PARTY compared to benzo wd.
i went to treatment right, all kinds of meds, like 11 tabs, gabapentin, visterol, ssri, nausea meds, 200MG SEROQUEL. still couldnt get comfortable to save my life. it took 20 days of me suffering. 4-5 hot showers a night. shaking like what, horrible.
the only time i knew for sure if i was sleeping was because id remember the nightmare i had.
IMHO opiates, even the long halflife ones arent much. if youre there just sack it up, throw up and sweat for a few days. i say this becasue i have been in wd since april 6th. it has gotten better, but not much.

benzos man, dont do it,

 

[tunesey]

booze is such a bitch to WD from I spent two weeks in rehab getting off the Demon drink also had a home detox. Saw some people have seizures in rehab it wasn't pretty. alcohol is so accessible you don't need to see a doctor to get some you don't need to see a shady dealer its every where. its on the telly its in your super market corner shop. Having the horrors from alcohol WDs is not pretty you feel like you are dying literally.

 

[catalana]

Methadone by far. It never ends. You'll need a good doc that will prescribe meds and will stand behind your needs. Extremely rare in US! Xanax is awful but I have anxiety issues.

 

[I B Profane]

I'll cast another vote for benzodiazepines.

I've been addicted to something or other since I was 15, starting with Adderall. It's been a journey and there was even a point in time when I was a stimulant, opiate and benzo addict at the same time. Guess which one I've yet to kick? 8)

I kicked stimulants cold turkey, and that was absolutely brutal, but downers and dissociatives made it go quite a bit smoother. Opiates I tried to kick cold turkey many times and simply could not, so I weaned myself off using suboxone. Again, that was ROUGH and seemed to last forever, but yknow what got me thru the worst of it? Mainly benzos. And now, even though I've cut down my use quite a bit, I'm anxiously sitting around waiting for my blisters...not even because I like the "high" of benzos more than I do that of opis or stims, but because I am DEATHLY afraid of the w/ds.

Again YMMV and I'm sure the shittiness of withdrawal is dependent on a lot of things including how long you were on said drug, what dose you were taking, etc. But as all these votes are confirming - benzo withdrawal, addiction, and tapering is a BITCH. Best of luck to anyone currently fighting the benzo fight cuz lord knows we need it. Comparatively speaking I'm not even that bad, I ingest ~4mg of etizolam per day...depending on the various stresses that the day throws at me. I've heard of people gaining such mega tolerances, like I heard of this one dude who's daily Xanax dosage was somewhere in the ~20mg range on average. That's just insane.

EDIT: Lol and only ONE vote for ketamine. I guess I've never used enough to be truly addicted, but I hear the withdrawals are like marijuana - completely in your head. You may crave the drug, sure, but your body won't start giving you signs that you NEED it. I will say however that on a psychological level, ketamine is BAFFLINGLY addictive given that there's no physical dependency. Just look at the "what are you craving" thread, fuckin' half the answers are ket. If I have a large supply of k, I WILL do it every day that I have it. I've been at a festival with friends, they each grabbed a half g at the beginning and I grabbed a full. After their bags ran out, they looked at me like they would suck my dick for k bumps! The thing is I would probably suck a dick for k too. Fuck pride, ketamine is awesome.

 

[ambiviolence]

Xanax was a btch.
Came off a 3 year period.
Was completely manic.
crying slash laughing not knowing which one.
wanting to destroy everything.
Just crazy mood swings and crippling anxiety and panic attacks that lasted months.

Oh yea and a seizure that was pretty cool too.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

Yeah benzos can be brutal. Not surprised that they have over 35% of the vote.

 

[t-girl72]

Alcohol is rough, as when I do decide to quit I seize and need to go to detox so that sucks. Bath salt withdrawal sucks and lasts over a day.

 

[Jennjennjennjennij]

Does anyone even use this site anymore I just found it and needed some advice ???

 

[phenethylo J]

Yea tons of people still use this site, you're going to have to tell us what you need help with in order for us to give you advice.

 

[heroin_queen]

The uncontrollable sweating, sneezing fits that come before dry heaving, and the gnawing feeling I get in the pit of my stomach that is my body demanding more heroin:/ that & my arthritis in my knees(I'm only 23..)gets 4757483x worse when I'm dope sick.. Can't even go down a flight of stairs. OH and the insomnia. Going thru all this AND not being able to just sleep thru it is HELL. My boyfriend can sleep like a baby at the drop of a hat. I hate him for that. Every time were dope sick he just sleeps the day away til we can cop while I'm up sweating and aching & puking. And I have to watch him sleeping all comfy & peaceful. Fuckin jerk.

 

[ykm420]

Does anyone even use this site anymore I just found it and needed some advice ???

Send n00dz. Kidding, what are you coming off of, lady? You have a plethora of members at your disposal. I'm just going to toss this out there, getcha some Imodium, Ms.

 

[zzz101]

I always get severe RLS, both in my arms and legs. But the arms are the worst. You just wanna cut 'em off so you can stop flailing and get some sleep. I don't seem to get the diarrhea problems. Everything else, though. Which is a nightmare, but the restless arms and legs can last me 3 days and nights, punching, kicking, and flailing my sorry way through dope withdrawals. Cursing my own stupidity and lack of self discipline, which is the only reason I'm suffering in the first place.

yah cold shower helps a bit for this. not for long but it helps. do you bother with them or no?

if i was in withdrawl i would need a bathtub full of ice so your body is numb. warm up everynow and then. don't do for too long. idk how safe it is.


also the feeling you have to be somewhere else! it's like by brain is telling me, run down the street, go anywhere. doesn't matter where i am, i just need to be somewhere not here! but you are really stuck. and where the RLS , or body achs: you can't lay still to sleep

 

[heroin_queen]

Zzz101 I get that feeling too! Feeling like u have to be somewhere or that ur missing out on something ugh I hate it!

 

[Professer]

For me its the RLS. I already have really bad RLS to begin with. The runny nose wasnt so bad, but now I get teary/runny eyes which is more annoying than the nose. Dont get much more than that before my lope works out.

Edit: Forgot that my RLS can be a bit of a pain sensation to began with. Greatest sypathy to those further down the hole.

 

[bobjayne]

I forgot how frustrating the hot/cold flashes were until I experienced them recently. The first time in a long while.

I have bad enough insomnia at the worst of times but have had a decent month up until they hit. Id fallen asleep early, accidentally skipped a dose and the moment dusk hit, it was on. Like a leaky faucet until the measly 600mg codiene was enough to stabilise enpigh to safely prep a...shot comprised of saved up cottons i had in the freezer. Thankfully it happened to be a refill day.

 

[aroma borealis]

Heaven on earth to hell on earth. God forbid I ever get strung out again but if I do I'm goin off with methodone detox. No cold turkey shit. A detox in my area does it with either methadone or suboxone in week. Doesn't eliminate everything but makes it tolerable. My worst is the anxiety combined with restless leg and muscle aches, with the added torture of relentless insomnia so you never get a break even for an hour for days and days on end. Argh, don't even like to think about it.

 

[Give_me_some_pants]

fuck benzo withdrawal sucks dick. it's been a steady several months. i'm tired of talking about it.