Addicted to two drugs?

[espo195]

So lets say ur a speedball fiend... that would be heroin and coke and ur addicted to both, do u have to have both to not feel withdrawal affects of one of the drugs? OR does that person only need to take one drug at a time.
Does this apply to other things... Does having at least one lessen craving?

[bloot]

As far as SWIM is concerned, no matter it be a physical or mental addiction SWIM would need both to be fine. SWIM is pretty sure most others are this way, as well.

[Shampoo]

Seeing as both of these substances react with similar manifestations in the brain ("pleasure center" stimulation, controlled dopamine production without natural reuptake) swiy could theoretically replace an addiction to one with a higher amount of the other (though seeing as there is more at play than just dopamine, this would only account for neurological withdrawal). Swiy will not of course get the full effects of both substances, but if a lack of neurological withdrawal symptoms is the goal, removing cocaine would be a reasonable first step, as there are commonly more complications with heroin addiction (neuropeptide Substance-P production). Swim would also note that addictions are commonly based on a specific area of the brain rather than a specific drug, and that swiy should factor this in when considering addiction recovery plans. Thus, removing the drug will not necessarily aid in removing the addiction. Swiy should seriously consider entering a rehabilitation problem if they have a real addiction to both cocaine and heroin, and forget trying to minimize the withdrawal symptoms via increased exposure to one drug during removal of another.

[moda00]

Swim was simultaneously addicted to heroin and coke, daily use of both, most days, iv. If she didn't have heroin she'd be sick, and coke would make the withdrawals worse after the initial rush.. but she could go without the coke as long as she had the heroin. Not sure if that's because her body was more strongly addicted to the opiates, or psychologically, or what.. but heroin iv lasts usually 4-6 hours, while coke iv is a much shorter high-low-high-low cycle. So swim's theory is that she had to have her opiate receptors plugged in order to stay "well," but that even daily coke use cannot result in constant cocaine saturation, so she was used to handling periods without cocaine, whether it be a few hours or a few days. Not very scientific, but while swim was "officially" diagnosed as having poly-substance dependency, she definitely knew that if it came down to it, she would take the heroin over the coke. Also, perhaps since heroin is a downer and tends to be very euphoric and anxiety-reducing, it may have made her less aware of the coke withdrawals, whereas cocaine is a stimulant, and causes physical changes more comparable to a panic attack or fight-or-flight- so use of cocaine during opiate withdrawals would exacerbate them in general, while only providing very short-lasting sporadic highs- dopamine rushes- to compensate, followed by a crash which would deplete these neurotransmitters even more? Is this typical/logical at all?

Also @Shampoo- you are right in that an addiction is an addiction, no matter the substance. So while, for example, an alcoholic could replace their alcohol with daily cocaine or morphine, they'd still be an addict. Or a polydrug abuser/dependent could alternate depending on availability to minimize physical and/or mental withdrawals, but they'd still be addicted. Swim had to remove all drugs for a period of time in order to break the cycle of addiction, and she knows that since it's happened before, it could easily happen again if she is not careful about who she hangs around or what she puts in her body. Recreational use and exploration is wonderful- but swim wouldn't wish the abuse>addiction on anyone. That said, she learned a lot, and wouldn't be the person she is today without that struggle- but there are ways to learn and grow without risking so much.

[Lisa J]

SWIM is dependent on prescribed fentanyl but she wasn't content with that and ended up with a heroin addiction on top, when she got help there was a period when she was also dependent on methadone. Now she only has the fentanyl and the methadone, all these drugs work in a similar way so it's unlikely her body or brain notices much difference between them and SWIM will use extra methadone if she feels her fentanyl patch isn't working too well or if she changes it a bit late. Certainly when her GP increased her fentanyl she was able to reduce the methadone by quite a lot without any problems, no gradual reducer required. SWIM has known a lot of "speedballers" and they would all manage without the coke but once into it heavily none could manage without the heroin. Most had started out with heroin habits but mixed it with coke or speed so they could stay sharp enough to go out "earning", only when they had plenty of money in their pockets would they do heroin on it's own and make the most of it's sedating qualities. They rarely did coke or speed on it's own, only if they could get nothing else as a kind of desperation, they knew it wouldn't stop withdrawals but it was better than nothing. SWIM never got into speedballing and just as well as some of those friends who did are no longer around, even those that survived the period of drug use seemed to get sick or have heart attacks, maybe combining two very strong but different drugs is just too hard on the body.

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks for posting, this is similar to what i have observed and experienced.. glad you've found something that works as ...