Looking for an opinion on withdrawl...

[betty21]

Hey everyone,

swim is looking for an opinion from a few people about what she's about to face.

swim has been chasing the big 'ol "H" dragon for about 8 months now...smoking up to about a gram a day (she thinks) for a few months straight.

swim ONLY has about 5 days worth of smoke left! and is home at her parents house for the holidays )

she only brought a little bit home with her on purpose, because she wants to get off it. She is sick of spending so much money and having a terrible cough all the time, she also wants to get back in shape.

she does not have any dealers around or friends who use.

she does have 10 valiums and a few strong painkillers (3.5) )

swim would love to hear some words about what she is about to face.

How bad is the sick, how long will it last, and whats the best way to get through it?

swim is hoping it will be just a few days, but does anyone here know someone who has been through a WD after smoking a comparable ammt for a year or so?

Any foresight, encouraging or otherwise, would be helpful....

thanks,

Betty21

[msmogadon]

Dilemma SWIBetty

I know this cat and she smoked that heroin stuff for a good 3 and a half years and still does so but sorts herself out with methadone cause this cat is a cowardly one when it comes to withdrwal Sure that makes 2 addictions blah blah but SWIY can take one without having to take the other yea? So methadone is easier to store at parents place. They won't catch that cat of SWIYs as it'll only be once a day in private. It will last a fair while too.
SWIY dosn't say where they are or where they are going hopefully not any borders or nothin like that thats when things would be hairy canary.

PS if that cat of SWIYs dosn't mind to tell me does it really want to stop smoking the gear for real or is it just because its too dear or smokers cough is present. Personally this cat thinks your cats not is not really ready cause it aint destroyed his world yet by the sound of things. prove swim WRONG - please

[Andrew Hirschmann]

I had 3 H-addicteds in online therapy, and many more in face-to-face therapy. According to my expereinces, nobody can just leave the drug, and live his/her life along.
The first thing to do is to change the outlook, the second is to change the life, and leaving a drug comes after.
Otherwise, "psychic withdrawal symptoms" lead the patient into a miserable life cycle, which is called depression by psychiatrists, and that might be worse than the withdrawal itself.

(ps. as I saw, smoking marijuana helped many people through the cold turkey process, but if you were a junkie while smoked H, you will be a junkie while smoking weed too)

[Dickon]

betty,

Don't listen to the doom-mongers. It is simply a myth that your life has to be destroyed before you quit, however that said it often does take something of a wake-up call to provide the necessary motivation.

If you are bored you can read my own fairly fully documented withdrawal fantasy on "Screaming in the Night Air". This was a w.d. from methadone not heroin, but the thing is similar, although a heroin w.d. will almost certainly not be as long drawn-out. Another similar thread is called "Patient X's story" or something like that, and details a w.d. from Oxycodone (Oxycontin) which would have a fairly similar w.d. profile to heroin. Both these threads are long and give some ideas of the difficulties you could face. They do however deal with opiate users who are drug-wise a lot longer in the tooth than you.

I point you in the direction of these threads not to put you off, but to give you an idea of the level of motivation you might be called upon to show. I would suggest thinking in terms of 5-7 days withdrawal duration, with the worst being days 2-4. This is only an estimate as there is no one unique time when you can say w.d.s are over.

You will also have to consider staying off if you do succeed. This will almost certainly involve cutting ties with using people and places where you use/score, at least for the short/medium term.

There are a lot of people on here who have knowledgeable pets who have experienced this first hand, successfully or otherwise who will be able to answer most questions. The trouble is w.d. is different for all, and different for the same person at different times. It is also very different describing how unpleasant something is and feeling how unpleasant it is. For a heroin user who's had a fix quitting is a far easier prospect than for a heroin user who's starting to get sick!

I'd suggest you get support from people on here and in the real world. Expect a nasty hell, and if you get away with less discomfort think yourself exceedingly lucky. 8 months is not very long, but it is long enough. What you feel now will be nothing to what you would feel had you been using for a few years. If you do not stop now you will be putting off worse for later.

I'll not wish you a happy new year but a successful one in your endeavour. Become someone you would be proud of. Do this. You can.

Dickon

Reputation Comments on this post:

Your posts are always so accurate and positive. This one is no exception and you are 100% correct that it may take "...

[AvidFan]

Originally Posted by Dickon

I'll not wish you a happy new year but a successful one in your endeavour. Become someone you would be proud of. Do this. You can.

Dickon

Seconded

[doublezero]

if u are stuck and want to get un ill, go to the chemist and get cocodamol,,paracetamol/codiene. Im english....also buy some coffee filters....

do a quik cold water extraction..............swim will send u a link to a video,,,,,should take the edge off of things,,,,swim and his friends were ill, and they did some and they felt ok for 4 or 5 hours

[award11]

I'm not trying to scare you but it's awful. SWIM will likely feel like they have the flu multiplied by 10. When my friend detoxed at home, his body ached all over. He had muscle spasms and basically flopped around in the bed like a fish. He had diarreah, his eyes watered a lot, runny nose... He felt extremely fatigued and had no energy or appetite.

Opiate withdrawl is extremely hard and my heart goes out to anyone going thru it or about to go thru it. Suboxone has been a godsend for opiate addicts. You can go to suboxonedotcom and get a lot of helpful info and maybe find a dr near you. If you aren't familiar with suboxone, it is a drug taken to help you thru the withdrawls. I know a lot of people who have had great luck with it, including myself.

If you are able to make it thru the withdrawls and get clean, I would suggest finding an NA program in your area, maybe even while you are home for the holidays. NA provides you with the support system you will likely need in order to stay clean; it's usually not as simple as just laying the down the foil.

I wish you the best... Send me a PM or update this post to let us know how you are doing.

[betty21]

Thanks for the info and support )

swim is trying to do a somewhat un-scientific taper to ease the comedown, and she has no connections here, so once she is in it, there is no out...except the Doctor...which is very undesirable considering no one on the east coast knows her predicament (yet).

swim tried to get some Subs before she left the Baja, but the pharmacies are a bit behind the times there )

Anyways, if the swiy's are interested I'll keep posting after the junk runs out, and let ya know how it goes....should be an interesting ride....

Best, Betty

P.S. Dickon...thanks for the good words!

[award11]

What kind of pain killers do you have ? Depending on what they are, they could definately be a big help on the taper. If they are opiates you are in luck.