How long have swims been on opiates?

[eklypised]

Swim was wandering how long other swims have been taking opiates for? And any side effects from it?

[JJx23]

I have been on Percocet for about six weeks. I have a chronic ailment that needs pain management. I don't really get any side-effects when I am on them, but I do feel a little flushed when I wake up, nothing too serious though. Once my condition gets better (if it ever does lol), my doctor will taper me off of the medication. Remember that everyone is different, and that people who stretch this "Narcotics are bad for you," or "If you take them for long periods of time, you will feel like crap." Simply taper down from them, and you won't feel that bad. You may feel a little irritable, but that's life, and there are people who feel irritable when they haven't even touched an opiate or another potentially addicitive drug.

Now obviously, if you are abusing the drug, that's your problem once you are out of them, you did it to yourself. I know that sounds mean, but there are people actually suffering out there with actual pain conditions where they need these potent pain killers. I am one of them.

As for Vicodin and Percocet, they are both Class III (Vicodin) and Class II (Percocet) drugs, meaning they can be addictive, but the withdrawal of them isn't AS serious as such drugs such as Morphine and long-term OxyContin abuse. Like I said before, people will feel irritable for a little bit, even after tapering off of them I am sure, but then again, everyone is different.

Regards.

[Guardian]

swim been taking opiates on and off for about 10 years, started with heroin when swim was 18 and did that on and off for 4 years, stopped cuz the long arm of the law stepped in, 3 years later went on a 9 month run them moved away, clean for bout 2 years then started a on and off pill bindge die to cronic shoulder pain. btw the pills been worse for swim then the heroin. more likly cuz swim mixed them with xanax, bad idear the xanax withdrawls are far worse then the h. 2 weeks and off the xanax and swim is finally starting to feel somewhat normal

[Methuselah]

This SWIM has been on Percoset for 3 years without a break. His dose is 10mg 4 times a day. The only side effect SWIM notices is a bit of pleasant drowsiness. The occasional 20 or 30 mg dose swim takes for recreation is a really pleasurable few hours off life's treadmill. Swim has had no problems conected to Percs.

[eklypised]

Thanks for the replys..anybody else?

[beena]

SWIM has been taking tramadol for two years, morphine tablets (MST) for about two years and heroin for roughly a year. SWIM has been on methadone for one month to try and get clean from the heroin. SWIM has also had/tried in the past fentanyl, oxycontins, and diamorphine.
SWIM has suffered withdrawals in the past from the MST's but now she only takes them recreationally and doesn't have any problems going without them.....because of her heroin abuse though she doesn't get as high taking them as she used to. They are really SWIMs drug of choice and when she is totally clean of heroin addiction and can bring herself safely off methadone she believes she will still take MSTs recreationally. At the moment she has quite a high tolerance to them too and has to take at least twenty 30mg tablets at a time to achieve the euphoria she seeks.
SWIM takes 100mg of tramadol every day and has done for the last two years....she began taking them for depression rather than for any sort of buzz, but now she gets very ill if she doesn't take them so she is trying to reduce her dosage slowly and will try and stop soon........the withdrawals from tramadol include: insomnia, nightmares/night-terrors when she does fall asleep, pains in her shoulders and pains in her hips, then pain going down all her leg(s), flu-like symptoms, fits of shivering, sneezing, sweating, depression.....it's not very pleasant.
SWIM (stupidly) got herself hooked on heroin by using it as an aid to comedown from crack-cocaine (which she's been addicted to for eight years). She gets physical withdrawal as well as mental cravings for that drug too when she doesn't take it but she's in the process of stabilising on methadone at the moment and hopefully she won't be taking that particular substance anymore soon.

[chillinwill]

SWIM has been on heroin for about 5 years but has been trying to get clean the past 2 years and finally has about 4 months now

[dasfonzier]

regularly for maybe 1.5 years. not everyday, but periods where it was. especially once SWIM quit smoking pot.

[ChestRockwell]

Swim has been on and off vicodin and other opiates for about four years. The longest run is Swim has been on either vicodin of codeine from about october of 2006 until present day.

[Spyder]

swiS has been playing w/ Opiates for 10-15 years. The first 5-8yrs, just using pills. Mostly he used Vicodin, Codeine, etc. This was a time of on/off use...not really heavy or anything...rarely more than a few days at a time.

Then on to Oxycontin's....over a year or so, these were taken more and more....

One time, swiS wasn't able to find any Oxys and his dealer told him, "could give you some stamp bags instead?"....swiS thought....oh yea!!! And that was it.

For the next 6-7 years swiS has used daily. There were 2-3 occasions where he was able to quit for maybe a week or two at a time. One time he quit for about a month(HELL!)....Eventually, the breakdown of his life was so severe (Need to point out this was due to $$, nothing else, which is due to the horrible prohibition laws directly responsible!). Anyway, this breakdown was bad and he couldn't live a "Normal" life, so he decided to give Methadone a try.

This was the best Fucking move he made in a long long time. swiS has been on it for about 3 years of so.....He uses every now and then, but the motivation for this use is mostly out of boredom, not "Craving". The methadone gives him everything he was looking for, for no where even close to the cost (Back to that prohibition thing...)

So anyway....swiS guesses that answers it.......oh yea, except the OP asked about side effects. swiS assumes this means physical? If so, swiS has never had ANY med problems associated w/ his opiate use. He does have some scarring on his hands/arms as a result of IV'ing the drug, but no one ever notices or questions because they are not really that noticable. swiS dosn't have much knowledge in this area, but he is pretty sure that there really isn't much in the way of physical "Side effects" to opiate use, assuming that the supply is not interrupted. The supply problem, causing a "rollar coaster" of up's and down's causes many many more problems than the use of the drug itself (Hence, the desire to get pregnant addicts on the methadone program, rather than ride the coaster of withdrawls....)

Best to all............S

[Ididnotinhale]

Swim took opiates about 2 years ago for about 2 months, he was taking about 40mg of hydrocodone and 30mg of oxycodone daily. Swim decided the pain wasn't bothering him very much and stopped immediatly, no side effects, or even sickness. A little diareah, but swim barely noticed it.

About 3 months after swim stopped, he had a second surgery. Something went wrong and he was put on opiates again to deal with the extreme pain. He started on 30mg of ms contin daily and increased until he got to 160mg daily.

One day, he decided that he wanted to try to take them recreationally. Horrible idea. It felt so so good. Soon he was taking his morphine once every three days, so that he could get that tremendous high. Before long he was buying opiates of all sorts wherever he could find them. Now he has a wonderful addiction that is slowly ruining his life. Swim has been living a life of addiction for about a year and a half, it is horrible. Swim wishes that he would have just dealt with the tremendous pain by gritting his teeth and would never have started the opiates. Almost no amount of pain is worse than a big addiction.

If possible don't take opiates. And if you have to, never, never, never use them recreationally. Even one recreational dose could lead to a situation similar to mine.

[Zendo]

swim has been using opiates for around 15 years with breaks here and there,
swim has his medical records so nicely intact than swim has no problems to get opiates from a doctor,
swim has to know when to stop or reduce prescriptions to keep the doctors mind at ease that swim is not using these for recreation, currently swims doctor is so busy swim cannot even ask for a reduction plan as swims scripts are now written automaticly and without a visit to the gp, swim wants to stop using for the summer but swims doctor makes it easy for swim to just stay on them,
yes swim uses his opiates intreveinously, recreationally,
yes it destorys swims life and swim has a extremley addictive personality,
swim loves opiates and cant imagine life without, *sigh*

[eklypised]

^^how much does swimmy take in one day

[mrsyavez55]

swim has been on them for 3 years. swim is a Chronic Pain patient. SWIM has had every rx drug u can think of vicodin, lortab, norco, darvocet, percocet, tramadol, ultracet, demerol, dilaudid, morphine, fetanyl patches and now oxy's. All of thest on very high doses. i have a high opiate tolerance. after transfering swim's care to primary doc he rx'd swim oxycontin 40's 3x a day and this is a miracle drug. SWIM's never been so comfortable on only 3 pills a day! swim was on Fentanyl patches and like oxy's much better. swim knows swims dose will be increased next month but swim doesnt even need to break, snort, shoot this at all. it works great for swim and swim is happy that swim's primary was willing to take over chronic pain care. swim has been in physical rehab type Chronic pain clinics and seen just a private pain management doc and none of them gave me oxy's. instead swim was given scripts that were written to take so many per day that swim got liver toxicity or on patches of 75, then 150mcg and was just tired all day and still had to have break through meds.Thank God for swims new primary doc!

[Lisa J]

SWIM has been on opiates for 25 years, she has been prescribed dihydrocodeine, codeine, buprenorphine, pethidine, fentanyl & methadone, she has also used heroin on & off during that time.
SWIM is currently prescribed 125mcgs fentanyl, 20mgs methadone and up to 240mgs codeine each day for chronic nerve pain (methadone was originally prescribed as a substitute at a higher dose)
SWIM has never had any health problems from her use of opiates other than constipation which she solved by eating more fruit and abscesses/skin infections from IV heroin use.
SWIM has a high tolerance so if she wants to get high she has to mix heroin & fentanyl together, but most of the time she takes what she needs just to be comfortable.

[thebige]

From the age of fourteen,about 26 years on and off................mostly on.............Hi LisaJ!

[G_nome]

Since the age of 14, when SWIM first crushep up three temgesic pills and snorted them, not knowing much about them at the time. He didn't enjoy that much at all, just threw up mostly.
Wasn't until he got into his 20's that he started taking dihydrocodeine, methadone and codeine recreationally every now and again, whenever his friend offered him some. Never really went out searching for them, partly because of the stigma that was attached to opiates in the area that he lived. And he was more into his coke at the time, and weed. He mostly enjoyed taking opiates for when he was coming down off the coke, or mixing up the two, that was nice.

SWIM's obsession with opiates only really began two years ago, when he had to move to a new place where he didn't know anyone and was homeless living in a hostel, and then a shitty B&B. So he soon started smoking heroin, just a few lines now and again when it was offered to him. SWIM thought to himself, "uch i'll never get addicted to this, i'm stronger than that" ha! How wrong he was.
Wasn't too long til SWIM was on at least 3 bags a day, IV. Needles being something that SWIM thought he would never touch.
After being on the heroin for about 6 months he took the decision to get off it, after a few things happened to him that made him think about what the fuck he was doing. He was also living in a squat by now with the ceiling caving in from damp and mushrooms growing on the carpet. He also had a massive needle fixation too and would shoot up anything if he couldn't get any heroin...valium, vodka, methadone, subutex, pills, anything!

So he came home and got off the heroin cold turkey, a month of hell.
Ever since then he still can't get rid of the feeling for opiates, it's like opiates are the only thing that makes SWIM feel like himself. And he's been a regular user of dihydrocodeine and more recently poppy pods ever since.
SWIM thinks he has an addictive personality as he's been on one substance or another from the age of 14.
He hopes one day to be clean from any substance and just be happy in himself.

And side effects, just constipation or the nasty withdrawals if he hasn't had any opiates.

[msmogadon]

SWIM has only been using opiates since her 25th birthday. Thats 3 and a half years now. Side effects she rattles like a mfer without at lest half a gram of heroin a day. Also her arms are covered in bruises track marks and lumps. Also she can barely afford to afford to buy food and is off to work in a gentlemans club before heroin ravishes her looks completely.
sob story over
Apart from that it makes her feel normal and able to hold a conversation without anxiety taking over and SWIM running away to hide. She feels happiness which she never felt before in her life. SWIM loves heroin and dosn't care what anyone says. neh neh

[nleksan]

SWIM was prescribed opiates for various maladies when he was younger (in his early/middle 'teens, i.e. 12-16 year old) but didn't know what they were except that they were "prescription pain medication". As far as he knew, it was extra-strength Ibuprofen. For example, when SWIM was 17, he hurt his back during the summer while bicycling. The doctor, a pediatrician, gave him #30 Vicodin ES 7.5/500mg (hydrocodone/APAP), and was told to take ONE every 6 hours. He did exactly what the bottle said, and after about 8-10 days, they were gone and SWIM felt fine. He never felt "weird" or "off" from the pills.
This changed when SWIM was 18 and had his wisdom teeth removed. He was scripted a bottle of #60 Percocet 10/325mg (Oxycodone/APAP) with directions to take 1-2 pills ever 4-6 hours. The first couple of days, he was only taking 1 pill every 6 hours, as to be honest, he wasn't in much pain at all (despite having 2 of the four teeth being impacted). Then, his girlfriend dumped him, and he knew that oxycodone could "fuck you up", so he took 3 of his Percocet10's at once. He sat at his computer for 5 hours feeling very "wavy", "warm", and apathetic. He remembers it feeling good just to sit and scratch his itches. SWIM then started taking them 1-2 every 4 hours, knowing that he felt like a million bucks. After his "supply" ran out, he developed dry socket and had to go in and see the oral surgeon again. He was prescribed #60 Soma 350mg (carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant) to take 1tab 3x/day, #60 Valium 10mg (diazepam, muscle-relaxant/anxiolytic) to take 1tab every 5 hours, and #75 Roxicodone 15mg (oxycodone IR, no APAP/NSAIDs) to take 1-2tab every 6 hours. This is when SWIM learned about potentiation. That week and a half was a blur... He took the Soma exactly as directed, took the Valium only 1-2x/day (not in the AM due to drowsiness, but would take 1 after school and 1-2 in the evening around 8-10pm), and took the Roxi's exactly as prescribed (2 when he woke up, 1 at lunchtime, and 2 in the evening), although occasionally he would take 3 at once to feel that "high" again (honestly, though... he didn't realize he was getting "high"). He never snorted them, or took them in any manner other than was consistent with the labeling (apart from taking 3 on RARE occasion). After another week ran out, he had another appointment, and the dry socket was getting better, so he was given #30 Soma (2x/day), #30 Valium (2x/day), #60 Percocet 10/325mg (take 1-2 4x/day), #120 Dilaudid 4mg (take 1-2tab PRN, max 6/day), and #45 OxyContin 20mg (take 1tab every 8hrs). Scripts ran out again, and due to recurring infection (SWIM was extremely hygienic, but the infection had nothing to do with his hygiene... they just happen), he was back at the doc's. This time, he got #60 Xanax 1mg (take 1tab PRN, max 3x/day), #60 Meprobamate 200mg (take 1tab 3x/day), #45 OxyContin 40mg (take 1tab 3x/day) and #60 OxyContin 20mg (start taking after OC40's are gone; take 1tab every 6 hours for 10 days, then 1tab every 8 hours).
His last visit, 4 months later, he walked out with #120 Valium 10mg (1tab 1-3x/day), #90 Xanax 1mg (start taking when Valium is gone; 1tab every 4-6 hours), #120 Meprobamate 200mg (take 1tab 3x/day), #90 OxyContin 20mg (take 1tab every 8 hours), #180 Percocet 10/325 (take 1-2tab every 6 hours), #120 Norco 10/325 (hydrocodone/APAP, start after Percocet is gone, take 1-2tab every 4-6 hours), and 240mL of Roxanol (morphine SO4 syrup 20mg/mL; take 1-3mL every 6hrs PRN when the OxyContin runs out; max of 8mL/day).
SWIM really, really wishes he had some kind of dental problems so that he could see this doctor again. He had a small office, and SWIM never, ever saw anyone else getting these kind of scripts from him. SWIM was the youngest person he ever saw in the waiting room by at least 40 years, and the doctor himself was close to retirement (told SWIM about the new Porsche 911 GT3RS he bought and was planning on modifying (SWIM saw it; had $8k wheels, aftermarket coil-over suspension, and at least $15k in engine work), but how he still drove his 505hp supercharged 2005 M3 Competition Package as a daily driver; and that he was going to be getting a house on the East Coast and splitting his time between there and here), and was probably 60 years old. That explains why he was so loose with the scripts. SWIM got A LOT of weird looks from pharmacists, and every single time he filled a script it was called in. SWIM could hear the doctor on the other end saying "of COURSE I wrote that script! Can't you see the young man? He's in PAIN! Hell, if his insurance covers it, I require that you DAW!". SWIM got all brand name narcotics.
When SWIM started college 15 days later, he had amassed a huge quantity of narcotics. He was no longer in pain, and didn't take them. It was somewhere along the lines of:
#150 Valium 10mg
#90 Meprobamate 200mg
#120 Soma 350mg
#90 Xanax 1mg
#180 Tylenol 4's (60codeine/300mgAPAP)
#25 Roxicodone 15mg
#200 Percocet 10/325mg
#110 Norco 10/325
#35 OxyContin 40mg
#110 OxyContin 20mg
#220mL Roxanol 20mg/mL (MSO4 syrup)
#90 Dilaudid 4mg

SWIM didn't realize the goldmine he had, but he moved into his dorm and his mom bought him a safe to keep his pills and big bottle of syrup in. SWIM was also getting #180 Dexedrine 10mg a month for ADD along with #30 15mg Dexedrine Spansules, and his GP (a pediatrician) him a constant supply of #90 Tylenol4's a month (60/300mg codeine/APAP) for 3 months due to headaches, which didn't do anything.
His safe held all of those narcotics for a good year or so, when he devloped an addiction and tore through it in less than he thought. He did "part with a few in exchange for green papers", enough to make it worth his while, but for the most part, he would open the safe when he needed something to help sleep (Valium, Soma, Meprobamate) or when he was aching (depending on how bad; minor ache/pain, 1-2 Vicodin or Percocet; if it was worse, he would take an OC20 along with 2-5mL of Roxanol, which kicked in fast, and he would be solid for a good 12hrs), and the Xanax helped his anxiety a lot, which he would take 1 tab maybe 2-3x/week.

Well, he met some friends, and they found out about the safe and this is when SWIM learned about abusing opiates. They begged, pleaded, and groveled before SWIM for him to even sell his pills, but SWIM declined, although he couldn't believe people would pay a dollar a milligram for some of this stuff. This is when he found out that the Roxi's and OC's could be crushed and snorted for Immediate effect, and a "high" (which SWIM remembered from the very beginning, when he took 30mg oxycodone IR and felt really good; however, b/c SWIM had no real tolerance, he always felt a slight high at least, even from just one 10/325 Percocet or 1.5-2x 10/325 Norco; 4mL of Roxanol had him floating). So, SWIM started reading online about this stuff.
Next thing he knows, he's taking the opiates and benzo's everyday. He knew that his supply was limited, and treated it as such, so on the average day he would take:
AM:
10mg Valium
200mg Meprobamate
350-700mg Soma
15mg Dexedrine Spansule
30mg Dexedrine IR
1-2x Percocet 10/325mg
1x Norco 10/325mg
2-4mL Roxanol 20mg/mL
1x OxyContin 20mg (Insufflated)
1x Dilaudid 4mg (Insufflated)

Afternoon:
30mg Dexedrine IR
1-2x Percocet 10/325
1-3mL Roxanol 20mg/mL
1x Dilaudid 4mg OR 1x OxyContin 20mg (Insufflated)
350mg Soma OR 200mg Meprobamate
2x Tylenol 4 (120mg Codeine)
1mg Xanax OR 10mg Valium

Evening/Night:
2mg Xanax OR 20mg Valium
200-400mg Meprobamate OR 350-700mg Soma
1-3x Norco 10/325mg
1-2x Percocet 10/325mg
2-5mL Roxanol 20mg/mL
1-2x OxyContin 20mg (Insufflated)
1x Dilaudid 4mg (Insufflated)
3x Tylenol 4's (180mg Codeine)

The above would be a "HEAVY" day, as he usually used less, sometimes 1/8th as much as listed above, less often half as much, and much less often that exact amount. His stash lasted him 6 months; and he never used without a purpose. If he wasn't going to take enough to get high, he wouldn't take it. His tolerance didn't increase more than 3x what it started as, due to SWIM taking multiple-day-long breaks fairly often, and at least 1 week/month he wouldn't use for the whole week. Never had W/D's, or even did he feel uncomfortable or have cravings.
The OC40's, Roxi's, and Dilaudids (for the most part) were saved for "special occasions" on SWIM's part. He knew that those were the "best" stuff he had, and didn't just use them randomly. They got broken out when SWIM needed to travel and take narcotics with him (less pill, and SWIM found that people were more "impressed" b/c he was a fool and cared what people thought), or when he wanted to get higher and didn't want to fuss with all of the other pills taken orally or having large amounts of binder/filler (a la OC20's).

That was a good time in SWIM's life. This next time, though, he was on the needle, which was NO good. The only better "run" he had was when he befriended a pharmaceutical wholesaler Head Salesman, who would sell brand new, unopened pharmaceutical bottles (with the goodies inside, of course) to SWIM at wholesale+20%. SWIM went through thousands of Dilaudid 4mg (always IV), Opana 10mg IR (always IV), Opana 40mg ER, MS-Contin 200mg (IV), MS-IR 30mg (always IV), Roxanol 20mg/mL (1L bottles), Duragesic 100mcg/hr (IV/transdermal/chew), Actiq 1600mcg, Fentora 800mcg, OxyContin 80mg(snort/IV), and Roxicodone 30mg(IV/snort/oral). That is just the opiates, as there was a constant barrage of benzo's (Valium, Xanax, Halcion, Restoril), barb's (Seconal, Pentobarbital, Butobarbital, Chloral Hydrate (close enough)), muscle relaxants (Zanaflex, Soma, Meprobamate), and uppers (Desoxyn, Dexedrine, Adderall, Vyvanse, Focalin, Daytrana, Modafinil).

That lasted for about 7 months, and SWIM had it HARD after he moved and lost that connect.

SWIM now has a chronic pain condition (degenerative joint disease, degenerative disc disease) and has had 40% of the meniscus in his right knee removed. Currently, he is symptomatic in his back, where he has intense lower back pain on the right side, intense pain in his tailbone, intense pain in his right buttocks, and shooting/burning/stabbing nerve pain that shoots down from his back through his buttocks and the back of his right leg usually ending at the knee but sometimes continuing down to his foot. He has been unable to work/go to school for 45 days now due to this new back pain, and X-Rays and MRI's are "inconclusive", but he is finally seeing a pain management doc.
His GP started him on Methocarbamol 500mg 3x/day and Percocet 7.5/500mg 1-2 ever 4-6hr (120 of the former, 30 of the latter). He was referred to a specialist, who gave him a prednisone taper and #60 7.5/325mg Percocet to take 1-2 3x/day. The specialist then gave him #30 OxyContin 20mg to take 1tab at night (SWIM COULD NOT SLEEP). He then gave SWIM #60 OxyContin 20mg to take 1tab every 8hrs. SWIM was doing physical therapy and all adjunct treatment, but his pain had only gone from 8/10 baseline with 10/10 spikes to a 6.5-7/10 baseline with 10/10 spikes. The specialist ignored SWIM after the last OC RX, and wouldn't consider upping his meds or trying something different.
SWIM then found an Interventional Pain Management clinic, and started there a week and a half ago. First visit, they switched him to Opana ER 20mg 2x/day (gave him 10 as a "trial run"). Last visit, they gave him #28 Opana ER 20mg (enough to last until the next visit) along with a local anesthetic injection and a steroid injection, both in his spine. SWIM inquired about Opana IR as a BTP med, but the doc said they typically only use BTP meds for cancer patients, as their goal was to reduce pain as much as possible with the use of as little medication as possible. SWIM thinks he could get some Opana IR (no more than 2x/day) if he continues telling the doc that he only thing keeping him from leading a normal life is the pain flare-ups (which is true). He can't complain, though, as the Opana is 10000x better as an analgesic than oxycontin.

That's SWIM's story and he's stickin' to it!

[Swimette]

Been a while, but I like this thread and I thought I would add a story to it.

This is about my unicorn.

She has been taking opiates for about 4 years. Prior to that, she had not tried many drugs at all, except for the occasional joint which she was rather unimpressed by. She doesn't even drink alcohol. But when she was younger she was thought to be a very pretty unicorn and she was working as a model. Drugs were plentiful and accepted - it was much better in the mind of her agent that she do a line of coke rather than eat a sandwich. But she didn't partake. So why is she now addicted to Fentora and Opana? Partly because of a very serious medical condition that used to be very painful, but now the pain is purely psychic. So she self medicates for her mental pain. She can go through a box of Fentora 600mcgs in a day (28 tablets). My unicorn has the tolerance of a horse.

Side effects: none. Except for a lingering, nagging feeling of guilt, remorse and fear that one day she may lose her source (pain mgt doc). She gets angry reading posts from self-ritious a**holes who feel the need to blast their hatred at drug abusers and blame them for making pain meds difficult to obtain. Such rubbish. What makes them hard to obtain is our puritaical, small-minded government and their ridiculous "war on drugs" that costs billions of dollars and thousands of lives causing nothing but bloodshed and misery. How can you judge the pain of another? Let people pursue the alleviation of their pain, be it mental or physical.

Thus goes my unicorn's rant.

But she is interested in meeting anyone else who has experience with Fentora.

-Swimette

[MEKONE]

Originally Posted by Guardian

swim been taking opiates on and off for about 10 years, started with heroin when swim was 18 and did that on and off for 4 years, stopped cuz the long arm of the law stepped in, 3 years later went on a 9 month run them moved away, clean for bout 2 years then started a on and off pill bindge die to cronic shoulder pain. btw the pills been worse for swim then the heroin. more likly cuz swim mixed them with xanax, bad idear the xanax withdrawls are far worse then the h. 2 weeks and off the xanax and swim is finally starting to feel somewhat normal

WOW!!That's almost my exact story:
Started out messing around with "H" at a YOUNG age which lasted quite a few years.SWIM got on done to get off "H" and was sucessful.He then got off the done by himself and was opie free for a few years UNTIL a BAD shoulder injury gave him the permission/excuse to use countless amounts of opies including Done again.This time however he had a hard time getting off Done even when he switched to something else.He has also dabbled in"H"again quite a bit since the injury but currently has that under control(THANK GOD!!!) and is just taking his meds(however the ROA may be).
SWIM was also on the Benzo train for awhile but thankfully found it easy to get off of but hates the after effects(W/D's)although for SWIM they arent THAT bad.Now Opie W/D's ......thats a WHOLE other story.
All in all SWIM would have to say he's been nodding for about 20yrs. give or take.Which is NOTHING to be proud of!!!!!

[EyesOfTheWorld]

My friend has been on prescribed tramadol and hydrocodone with an occasional oxy break for the liver (his doctor doesn't know he CWE's his hydro) for at least 8 years now due to chronic, unfixable upper back pain from repetitive stress injury and 2 car accidents that impacted the same region. He tends to take these meds more or less as prescribed, sometimes binging on the hydro, but he will use other opiates as they are made available to him. My friend is also a believer in the controversial idea that some people's depression responds to opiates rather than SSRIs or therapy, ie: some people may be naturally endorphin-deficient, and require an outside source of endorphins, iepiates, to feel normal and happy. He has tried ssri's snri's, Wellbutrin and therapy, and while the therapy is helpful, it is no cure, the only thing that really helps is the opiates.
Due to these issues he has accepted that he may need to take opiates for life, or at least until better solutions to these problems are found. He is ok with this as long as his MD continues to prescribe, which so far has been the case. He has not had any health issues due to the opiates themselves, although the roller-coaster of the withdrawal cycle takes its toll on his well being. He is going to try this coming month to take exactly as rx'd and avoid this.

[LinusMundane]

SWIM has been using percocet/roxicodone/oxycontin for 3 years now. When things are good and abundant, he can use up to 210mg/day and feels terrible when his dose is around 30mg/day. No side effects from it when he has them, when he doesn't he exhibits the usual irritable behavior.

SWIM is a social user and while he likes to sit on the bed pop some pills and watch tv or a movie, he is just as at home popping a few pills and being with a small or large group of friends. When he is around people who don't use/don't know he uses, he will take an antihistamine to alleviate the itchies but normally SWIM loves the itchies.