Addiction - SWIM wants to stop

[LinusMundane]

As above, SWIM really wants to stop taking pills, but he's terrified of w/d. He has no insurance and hasn't had a primary care doc in almost 10 years. Can he just go to a doctors office, confess to being an addict and expect help, or expect to be thrown out on his butt? He knows people who have done this, but they had a relationship lasting years with their MD and were given suboxone to help treat but SWIM again doesn't have this.

[returntozero]

i hear radio ads all the time for people with opiate dependency

theres also opiates dot com

donno if this has to do with prescribing anything but i would have to imagine for the short term at least there would be a prescription for something

[10001110101]

the WD's arent' the bad part, it's what's after the WD's that sucks.

just seriously start titrating down now with whatever you have left or get real high and hang on.

basically if you've ever had a bad flu you'll know what to expect, so it's not something you haven't been through before. what are you coming off of, percs, hydros, oc's?

how did you use?

seriously when you start goin thru WD's just call up work and tell them you have the flu or food poisoning, which basically is exactly what it will seem like you have and take a few days-week off.

how much were you using daily? it might not be that bad, like i said it's the psychological want to keep using them that will be tough to deal with (at least for me) ie. you go into work after WD's and you are grouchy irritable tired, blah blah, like you quit smoking or something.

i quit smoking, i bet it's worse! lol

10001110101 added 1 Minutes and 40 Seconds later...

and don't get on suboxone or methadone unless you have a serious habit that's been going on for years and you've already gone through wd so many times that you've basically given up on quitting.

just my 2cc's

[MEKONE]

Originally Posted by 10001110101

the WD's arent' the bad part, it's what's after the WD's that sucks.

basically if you've ever had a bad flu you'll know what to expect, so it's not something you haven't been through before.

seriously when you start goin thru WD's just call up work and tell them you have the flu or food poisoning, which basically is exactly what it will seem like you have and take a few days-week off.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' INSANE!!!???
W/D's ARE HORRIABLE!!!Alot of people say that it's simmilar to the flu but more than likely these are people that have either a LOW tolerance,have NOT been using for long,or have NOT experienced FULL BLOWN W/D's.
Comming off of long term opie use CAN be done HOWEVER it is NOT a walk in the park or "A BAD FLU".You will need to lower your doses GRADUALLY and stick to it.Even after your off them you will STILL get cravings but you need to be strong and stick to your goal.
Also depending on the severity of your opie addiction it can take MONTHS to get fully over it,and WEEKS to get over the initial W/D's so that couple of days off from work will be more like a few weeks so that you can go back feeling somewhat "Normal".Good Luck and Keep your head up!!!

[Lady Codone]

Withdrawals can be hell, but the physical symptoms subside fairly quickly...faster than influenza, which can last 2 weeks to a month. Expect nausea, diarrhea, intense cravings, weight loss, restless legs, insomnia, sweating/cold chills, and an increase in overall pain. Like the above poster said, it's what comes AFTER the withdrawals that sucks. Until your body/brain adjust to the absence of opiates and recover their ability to produce enkephalins/endorphins again, you may feel depressed and tempted to go back to opiates thinking you'll never be happy again. What you have to remember is that it WILL get better, whereas a life of opiate addiction will only lead to increased tolerance, dependence, loss of money, and will probably end in depression anyway. With proper care, your body will slowly regain its natural ability to produce feel good chemicals, but only if you give it time.

Weigh the pros and cons of using opiates and decide beforehand whether or not you REALLY BELIEVE you're ready to quit, because your success depends on it. If you're not committed, it's not going to work; plus you could come away feeling like a failure. You'll know when you're really ready to give up the opiates and when you are, there are plenty of options:

Methadone clinics
Detox/inpatient rehabilitation
Buprenorphine therapy
Ibogaine therapy
Rapid detox clinics
Narcotics Anonymous/12-step programs
Religious rehabs (not recommended)
Tapering
Quitting cold turkey

Some things that can help your body produce natural opiate-like substances are vigorous exercise, laughter, sunlight and fresh air, vitamin/mineral supplements, certain foods, natural antidepressants (5-HTP, SAM-e, St. John's Wort, etc.), and doing things that make you feel rewarded, like working at a job you enjoy or indulging in a healthy hobby. Of course you won't feel like doing these things during acute withdrawals, but if/when the PAWS (post-acute withdrawal syndrome) sets in, they can help speed recovery. The key is to stay busy, be productive, and stay away from triggers you know will make you want to use. And don't let the fear of withdrawals keep you enslaved to the drugs, because there are things you can do to lessen that, too.

Here's a list of items you'll need to have on hand for the physical w/ds:

*Imodium AD (similar to Demerol in structure and stops diarrhea/stomach upset)
*Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and other OTC painkillers (for joint/muscle pain)
*Sleep aids like Doxylamine Succinate, Valerian root, or Benadryl (insomnia)
*Ginger root and peppermint tea (godsends for nausea)
*DXM (eases cravings and physical symptoms)
*A heating pad, hot tub, or other heating device (pain and muscle stiffness)

If you have access to benzodiazepines like Valium or Xanax, these can help you relax and sleep during the worst parts. Just remember these are addictive drugs, too, and not to trade one addiction for another.

Reputation Comments on this post:

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[LinusMundane]

SWIM thanks you guys for the answers. SWIM has been a moderate percocet/oc user for 2 years, for the last year, he has been using mainly roxi's(the kind with no apap) 30mg's at as little as 90mgs a day to as much as 210mgs a day. Which he would call heavy use.

He has gone thru w/d's before when he took a job flying around the country and almost got busted in an airport with a pocket full of oc's and again when the people who supplied them ran dry for a few weeks.

He has faked injuries to his knee and back and gone to hospitals to get perc's but has not resorted to stealing or anything like that for his fix. He also has never resorted to heroin when nothing else was around. And he always took meds orally.

[Lady Codone]

That's a pretty high dose, but it's good that SWIY stuck to oral admin and never progressed to heroin. Smart move! The needle adds a whole other dimension to addiction, so please never go that far.

Can I ask what has prompted SWIY to want to quit? Is it draining SWIY's funds, causing SWIY to shirk off responsibilities, or does it just not feel good anymore? Just curious, as everyone has different reasons for quitting.

[LinusMundane]

Mainly, he wants to stop because the feeling he gets when its not around, is mostly terrible. SWIM can usually always get it but sometimes the cost is at a premium, normally in his area, 30mg's go for a little more than 50 cents an mg and when the cost is up over a dollar an mg, its hard to pay that much. So for SWIM its a combo of availability and funds.

[fair_gamble88]

W.d sucks... cramps, shakes, cant eat, never warm, always sweating

SWIM suggests a saline drip (if possible) and a loud TV as well as xanax bars (as many as possible... at some times you can get lost in the TV and that gives a few moments of peace. havnt found much food that works so the saline drip atleast will keep u hydrated if you cant keep anything else down (i couldnt)

But dont worry, SWIM has done it 3 times and been 2-days in many times.... you get over it after first time or so as long as you can keep urself straight.

Most w/d gets risky only when people dont keep their shit together and forget/dont realise that they havnt eaten and their body cant take it.. my first time happened this way and was rushed to hospital, all they could do was give saline and try to get me to eat pudding to rehydrate/nurish

[silent545]

Swim has gone through w/d many times now and has done a lot higher doses and worse opiates than oxycodone. For a long time swim would go through w/d a couple days at a time every time he couldnt get his hands on something. The first time Swim did it he overdosed on morphine intanasally and woke up in the hospital afterwards he quite cold turkey scared to death from the event. Swim didn't even consider the fact he might be addicted and the first few days suffered extreme restlessness, anxiety, depression, and felt very sick like the flu. when Swim saw his psychiatrist he knew right away what it was and offered to prescribe something to help. By then though swim knew he was already through the worst part and just finished on his own. Swim eventually did opiates several more times and got addicted to more of an extent. He accepted the consequnces and never tried to deny being addicted which is very important not to do. After going through hell for long enough and pawning his own personal possesions and everything he decided it seriously was time to stop because it wasnt worth it. All it takes is willpower if SWIY wants to quite SWIY will quite. As for the week of w/d the first few days will be the worst and the severity of effects will depend mostly on how often SWIY dosed. SWIY will go through cycles of feeling horrible when SWIYs body expects its next dose and then feel a little better shortly until the next expected dose progressively getting better until SWIY is completely adjusted back to normal. SWIM recomends in SWIYs case of addiction that he quite cold turkey and have a close friend or family member take care of him for the week. SWIY will not want to do anything thinking nothing could help him feel better besides opiates. SWIY will probably find though that as long SWIY or SWIYs friend keeps SWIY busy and doing something SWIY will have a much easier time keeping his mind off it. The worst thing SWIY could do is lay around and try to sleep all day cause he feels so tired and sick because if SWIY cant sleep it will only stress him out to try. SWIY should never give in to his cravings and SWIY should make preventing SWIY from touching any opiates SWIY's friend's number one priority for te week. The smallest amount will reset the whole week back to day one. When its all over SWIY will feel extremely relieved and should lose a significant amount of the cravings enough tio the point where SWIY feels when he looks back that he was a different person as an addict. SWIMs life is a million times better now and making it through that week will be totally worth it. SWIM still does opiates every once in a while but knows not to do them more than once a week. Once SWIY is off them he can do them again without immediately getting addicted, but SWIY shoulod use extreme caution because SWIY will be prone to depending on them much easier than before, and if SWIY doesnt have much self-control it is probably better that he doesnt do them at all. By not using opiates except on special occasions SWIMs tolorance stays low, he has a lot more fun and spends a lot less money than when he was addicted. Good Luck and if SWIY finds that the withdrawls are just too hard to deal with on his own Benzos can be very helpfull with most of the effects and doing other drugs that are not opiates can be very helpfull for getting through the depression but generally SWIM recomends staying away from any drugs if SWIY can. A good friend really is the most important asset!

[10001110101]

all i have to say is take it easy on the Xanax bars.

the W/D from benzos is far far worse than from opiates.

you'll be fine, just be strong brother.

[silent545]

Originally Posted by onzero

all i have to say is take it easy on the Xanax bars.

the W/D from benzos is far far worse than from opiates.

you'll be fine, just be strong brother.

Hes right benzo withdrawal is one of the most deadly u cant just stop those it's worse than alcohol withdrawals. It takes at least a month of constant abuse to really get addicted to a deadly extent though. using them when u need em' usually doesn't result in addiction.