The big chill : My annual withdrawal from opiates.

[samuraigecko]

The annual dry spell rally . . . .

SWIM is about to start (well just started . . ) his annual dry out spell. He has all of the weapons of choice to battle his usual yearly dry out . . .

Certain Benzo's, the kind used will be changed every 3 days as not to deveop a tolerance to any particular benzo. The ones he has on hand are as follows:

Oxazepam
Xanax
Clonazepam
Diazepam.

He will start with the short half life benzo's at first then work his way down to Diazepam which has an EXTREMELY long half life. The reasoning for this taper is so that the effects can be largely reduced over a number of days until one wants off and then can taper fairly sharply because of the long half life of the Diazepam.

Lots of green tea, helps clean out the system.

A packet of OxyNorm 5mg. One per night for 20 nights to take the "edge" of the symptoms.

Other than that, it is usually just a basic "will power" thing. Legs always hurt, stomach always upset, the small dosage of Oxy fortunately keeps the cold/flu like symptoms away except for the excessive mucous accumulation in the throat, thats just something ya have to live with for the duration.

The bright side is, this only lasts for about 20 to 25 days MAX for SWIM. Then he can remain clean for a number of months until he feels it is time to have some fun again etc. It sorta makes sense to him to clean out every year, like spring cleaning for the body and time for the mind to re-sort itself. Should be rather fun as both the comedown and the precluding straitness are a trip of their own.

One finds it an amusing thing that a fair number of addicts are actually scared of this sickness and comedown. It is an experience in itself. Sure, it isn't a pleasant experience but then again there are a lot of other things humans do electively that are also not pleasant experiences. A fair number of users / addicts never actually give away their addiction for any length of time because of the deep seated need for the drug which the body does produce. This is not psychological but rather the body getting fairly sick from the lack of endomorphin production (the body naturally uses endomorphin as a defense mechanism) which is a real physical addiction. This physical addiction is not to be taken lightly, it can affect people extremely adversely especially for those whom are not mentally prepared for whats coming. The physical pain experienced can be extreme, especially in the legs in SWIMs own experience. With perseverance and will power it CAN be over come and sometimes the grass is greener over there . . . sometimes. Even though SWIM has a legitimate physical pain which he will have to deal with while he is strait he still chooses to do this each year. The normal physical pain he is in is quite extreme and he does use opiates for a legitimate reason, though excessively and more often than not . . . not as prescribed. He also supplements this intake with CFO and H while he is being a user every year.

The next 4 to 6 months (depending on how long SWIM decides its time to have more fun) will be a trial as always, but a good trial. It strengthens the mind and soul. It hardens the outer shell. It allows his immune system to build back up (opiates do degrade the immune system over time). But most of all, it allows SWIM to remember whom SWIM is . . . . .

It is also of note that SWIM will still have opiates in the house and not be tempted by them, this extreme mental ability has only been achieved by YEARS of doing this and at first he was prone to slip from time to time. Now he is quite able to still have his regular meds on hand and perhaps some left over CFO and not even blink an eye at it. He knows what is coming and he also knows the result that is to be achieved. In the long run he knows it is for the best so he is able to do things wisely.

Another good thing is that after this stint of straitness his tolerance will drop (in another thread it was suggested that a drop in tolerance may help SWIM get an effect from Tramadol, he will try this and report back on it when this break is finished with).

This is not to say that SWIM will be gone, he will still be here for posts and conversation and advise to those whom need it in areas he is knowledgeable in.

Peace . . . .

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Very interesting. Look forward to seeing how you get on.
	GREAT post!