Dealing with amphetamine withdrawals

[cobetcknncoio3]

well SWIM first tried amphetamine about a year ago, and since then has been taking very massive quantities just about every day, tolerance way up and everything. SWIM knows it's a psychological addiction, and that he could easily just stop anytime. however, he doesn't want to right now, but whenever, for any reason, he can't get it, the withdrawls start gettin really miserable (chronic insomnia, heavy nausea, feelin like passin out after standing for too long, fucked up eating habits, depression, inability to think clearly, total loss of motivation), especially after the long high-dose binges that SWIM likes to indulge in every now and then.

so in a nutshell, SWIM is addicted, but is fine with that, and just wants to know how to deal with the withdrawl symptoms. the psychological withdrawl symptoms SWIM can tackle with some coffee, good music, relaxing, and plenty of effort after a couple days, but the physical symptoms seem incessant and unhelpable. all SWIM can think to do then is little, decent doses of alcohol, weed, and/or coke. any suggestions on what to do on those shitty days when the usual dosings stop coming for awhile, not involving taking something else?

[rokman nash]

Start with a good multivitamin,lots of fruit juice,lots of water,and try to stay as active as possible through the acute phase(first few days).Its also very important to try to eat good healthy food,including lots of bright colored vegetables,as a lot of nutrients are missed when "binging".


Good thoughts

[ex-junkie]

substituting one drug with another doesnt help your body to recover. fish is high in protein and essential fatty acids, and will help to make swiy feel more alert and motivated. swim has been running around this forum lately praising smoked tuna.

swim had major depression up until a couple of weeks ago, and she was 5 weeks behind in school work. when she started eating tuna everyday her motivation, creativity and energy levels were definitely boosted. in fact, shes no longer depressed and has now finished all her work for the term.



TUNA TUNA TUNA TUNA!!!!!!!!!!!! (just ate a tuna salad sandwich then lol).

[phishHead92]

instead of tuna/ other fish (because of personal prefrence/ cost) SWIM takes fish oil everymorning with a multi-vitamin (centrum), and SWIM has just found these vitamin-B chewy things that are good, taste like smarties, its orange with purple on a white bottle, SWIM forgot the company. but those help him get over it, and playing hockey!!

[ex-junkie]

^canned tuna is all swim buys. nothing fresh.

the smoked tuna fillet things in a can are the sickness. they are expensive, compared to the little tins of sandwich tuna though.

[blakec]

Speaking only for swimself - swim could not make the withdrawal bearable consistently. ended up having to go through the month and a half of severe, severe depression and then emerge on the other side clean. At four months swim feels so much better than they did when they was high...just about all the time. Just a thought.

Reputation Comments on this post:

well put, personal advice

[phishHead92]

for SWIM is was/ kinda still is a problem seeing how i am perscribed to focalin, he feels like a bum like on his comedown just cause he is trying to quit. but he cant stop the perscription because he needs it for school, well w/e my buddy will probly figure something out. He ends up quitting for like a week and then jumps back in, it sucks. the longest he has gone is like a month and a half, but he was soooo depressed it was rediculous, especially the school setting he is at doesnt help anything. he generally hates his school

[cra$h]

should have kept up swiy's fluids throught those binges, and kept eating. but as the old saying goes, better late than never. drink a lot of water, get a healthy meal, and masturbation has helped swim cope with some perty bad comedowns. not sure about anything over a day, but i'm sure keepin healthy wouldn't hurt.

[cyndi]

Coffee, coffee, coffee helps swim. Eating well and getting lots of sleep. Vitamins also help. Time again heals all. Swiy shouldn't sub. one drug for another, that would defeat the purpose.

[humdroid]

Y eats more when on speed, than when off it. This helped him stay vertical when he needed it with no fainting.
He has had psychosis after speed, so uses vitamin B.
He has also vomited after speed, but dosent know if it was the booze, the opiate, or another dose of psychosis.

Y thinks its important to maintain extra vitamins and decent food in the weeks and months after speed.
Y came down from the last lot a month ago, and dosen't seem to be looking for any more. He is even concerned he may be triggered into bying some, although he dosen't want to do it.
Y has been good with diet, albeit, he is eating much less.
Y has bad anxiety and depression - A + D - (things that made him do speed) but the A + D are so bad, he dosent want to take speed, as he is anxious it will make him more depressed.
So, this fellow is in a right muddle.
He is depressed and anxious
but, too anxious of the depression to take speed

this is what this stuff does to SWIY

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good advice that anyone should follow

[ex-junkie]

the depression and anxiety is completely normal when you quit meth/amphetamines. "usually" it lasts from 4-12 months, but getting gradually less and less as this time goes by.

so careful about looking for treatment of anxiety and depression, especially considering so many doctors are willing to hand them out like lollies. unless its severely affecting your everyday life, its best to avoid them. when youre brain starts to balance out naturally, they can often be ineffective/even contribute to depression/anxiety. eg. the medication may work at first, then 6 months down the track they can be ineffective/contribute to depression/anxiety that would not normally be there if you werent taking them.

i really hope that made sense.

[humdroid]

Originally Posted by ex-junkie

the depression and anxiety is completely normal when you quit meth/amphetamines. "usually" it lasts from 4-12 months, but getting gradually less and less as this time goes by.

so careful about looking for treatment of anxiety and depression, especially considering so many doctors are willing to hand them out like lollies. unless its severely affecting your everyday life, its best to avoid them. when youre brain starts to balance out naturally, they can often be ineffective/even contribute to depression/anxiety. eg. the medication may work at first, then 6 months down the track they can be ineffective/contribute to depression/anxiety that would not normally be there if you werent taking them.

i really hope that made sense.

Y says it makes sense to him.
4-12 months?
Luckily, Y has only done speed about three times in the last 6 months.
Before that, he used to do it two or three times a week, well 2 or three sessions, but loads of doses, if you will.
Y is hoping that the bulk of the depression is over, as he feels too low to get out of bed, and spends a lot of time crying.
Y can remember feeling this low before he ever did speed though, and he wonders if he is clutching at straws by pinning the blame for this current depression on his past speed useage.
In a way, Y hopes the depression is due to the speed useage, because, 1) it will go, and 2) it will mean that it is not just his miserable personality and life.

[tyranny4u]

In this posting, the tyrant is talking to the cat that lives in
his neighborhood. So using "you" means talking directly to the tomcat

T will promise to you, (well can't guarantee *g*), but still he promises,
that eating while being on what you call the "binge" is one of the
essential things to do, to make the come down only a third as
uncomfortable as when "fogetting" to eat and by the way get a bit
dehydrated cause of "forgetting to drink enough" as well.

So when tweaking for a week, eat twice a day! We have a saying in german,
translated in short means "who can tweak he can eat". In the morning
have two or three slices of toast with jam, some milk, a yogurt.
In the evening half a pizza or spagghetti or mashed potatoes - carbs!
While eating, watch the tele, to tt cartoons work best - tom and jerry,
the simpsons, or any totally absurd stuff like the news.
concentrate on the screen, and do the eating "just by the way". The
more you concentrate on eating, the more wearisome it will be. And
always have lots of milk, bananas and grape-sugar (no, not grapejuice
;-) ) in the house.

If you can't eat anything, make a milkshake from ripe bananas and milk,
add grape-sugar to it. With every meal and every Milkshake (and if it's
only half a slice of toast) have some additionals with that: Minerals,
Fishoil, Vitamin B-Complex and drink, drink, drink lots of water.
TT remembers an amphetamine binge that made him so mad,
he didn't drink a lot for three days, it was a very hot summer.
It ended like this: He had to call in sick on Monday, went to
the next Doc who was kind of "shocked", and immediately would have
called an ambulance car to get TT to hospital (which would have ended
TT sitting in the detox-station of the funnyfarm). So TT prayed and beg-
ed "No, Dr. pleeease...i can't go to hospital, i can't...)
It ended that TT stayed in Doc's practice, getting infusions, i guess it
was 1.5 or 2 litres. Then tt went to the supermarket and bouhgt a bag
full of energy drinks (milkshakes, mineral drinks and so on...)
He was able to go to work on following wednesday, but in such a bad
condition.

Another thing: If SWIU should be one of the "teeth grinders" when on
dope, have chewing gum all the time. have it anyway, it's good, as it
produces spittle, which protects your teeth.

And no matter what you do while your binge, brush your teeth at least
twice a day. Even if you "run" a marathon-f*ck, don't forget to brush
your teeth. Make your alarm clock reminding you of this. You even could
both brush teeth at the same time and keep on f*cking.

So eating and relaxing for an hour or two every day also will limit the
chances of getting paranoid. The paranoia actually is not caused by
the drug on its own, but more of the enormous lack of sleep and
nutrition.
So not eating and drinking and no sleep PLUS the drug would get
tweakers into that paranoid state on day 3 or 4. So it is no joke,
when saying that regular meals and an hour of "sleep" per day
could save a cat from getting into a cell in the animal shelter, you
understand?

At the end, something for the health:
If you snort your dope, there is a way to clean your paranasal sinuses:
There are devices, made of glass or plastic, that will wash your nose
and the sinuses. This will help you to come down faster, as you might
remove any dope that still sticks in there and is absorbed slowly.

two examples of nasal douches:

lestout.com/article/health-beauty-fitness/natural-health-wellness/neti_pots.html

emcur.co.uk/produkte/nase_duschen.php

ask in your local drugstore, they might have a cheap one made of plas-
tik. use lukewarm water (rater a bittle more cold, as warm water will
burn. add a few crystals of table salt (what you can take with thumb
and forefinger at once, this should be enough, also could be twice as
much. it doesn't have to be expensive himalaya salt). The salt is only
added because of the "pressure equalisation" when water gets in con-
tact with cells of your body that would "suffer" from plain soft water.

the head held over your washbowl vertically (means eg right ear show-
ing up to the ceiling you hold the muzzle of the douche right into your
right hole of the nose, and by relasing the flow by removing the finger
that closes the second hole in the douche now the water will flow
through your nose and comes out of the other hole of your nose.

Do that when stopping the binge, it makes sense in several meanings.
Health of your sinuses is one of them.

The nasal douche also makes a lot of sense to those, who sniff keta-
mine crystals. Because doing a few fat lines in the evening still could
have effect on the next day, being on work or having other duties to
take care of, because the ketamine crystals also get adsorbed slowly
during the next hours or next day.

Simply blow one's nose won't help, it simply doesn't remove enough.

What might have good effects on you:
Before starting a binge, clean your house and have enough of fresh
laundered of your favourite clothes. Taking a douche and slip into fresh
smelling, clean clothing will make you feel great, it's good to do before
getting out side and have a walk (with no dope carrying with you, only
have one line packaged when walking in a real cop free area).
Breathe fresh air, and then relax a little before taking the next dose at
home.


Should it really be neccessary:
In no way start getting into a benzo habit, but for an extreme case
have some benzos in the house. Don't store packages of 50
pills, only have an amount to stop a bad comedown or even a
runing binge for two persons (you and gf). Without benzo-
tolerance tt would recommend, per person:
- two pills of Zopiclone 7.5 mg
- 6 pills of 10 mg diazepam
- 3 pills of 30 mg flurazepam (or 6 of 15 mg)
- 2 pills of halcion 0.25 mg

Those pills aren't meant to swallow them all at once.
But for example try 1 pill of 7.5 zopiclone plus two
diazepams, 10 mg, plus one halcion. If that should not
work at all, take 45 - 60 mg flurazepam. (not to be
confused with "flunitrazepam"

If it makes you sleepy, but not sleep, take one more
zopiclone plus one or two diazepam. With a very small
sip of vodka or similar. (don't overdo it, 50 ml
are enough!). If you still are restless after an hour, take
all what is left of the pils, won't kill you...
^^ that applies to a cat, is no medical advice for
human beings

The Tyrant hopes that this posting makes some sense to a few cats,
as he didn't contribute a lot of good info to the forum within the last
3 weeks...or so...

[humdroid]

Y's teeth would ache in their roots if he didnt eat enough.

Y says bananas are good for speeders too.
Y cannot understand people who can go days with no food, it would kill him.
Y went to hospital after going psychotic, he hadnt eaten niether. Its all too easy to float off somewhere in your mind, and an empty stomach went hand in hand with mental illness symptoms for Y.

hosse rehydration sachets you get in chemists are good for speeding.

Y is victim to teeth grinding. Know that dream where your teeth crumble, well Y had that for real. He broke a tooth by chewing on a bit of tooth that had broken loose. Ys mouth looks like someone has taken a jack hammer to it - the molars are smashed.
Brushing teeth and chewing gum is prudent, y agrees.

Y had a benzo habit but he is 19days clean off valium. the withdrawals only kicked in about 10days ago. Y dosent do speed these days, but he would choose valerian or kanna over valium or benzos/hypnos.

Booze makes him sick on comedowns, so he sticks to herbs. Horses for courses though.

the cats say thanyou

[cobetcknncoio3]

yeah, SWIM finds himself having panic attacks and a fucked-up mentality all the time now.

[Methclinic]

I hate to say this but opiates will eliviate some of your withdrawl pain.
In fact Ive seen someone kik Meth with opiates but then they were hooked
on opiates.Its a lesser of two evils.Im just saying if your in a situation where
you have to function like talk to a judge your boss or something where you have to be coherent a couple of vicodins may help you out.Just dont do them daily.
I know kiking meth is tuff I altered my brain chemistry and was depressed for two years.Meth is the one thing i wish i never would have tried.
MC

Reputation Comments on this post:

poor advice and a lack of "swim" in post.

[ex-junkie]

^hmm.

swim was an IV amphetamine user when she was a teenager (17-19), and she swapped the witch for the bitch. ended up a IV heroin/methadone addict until she was 26. then after she kicked the opiates, she ended being a methamphetamine addict (oral and later smoker) for around 18 months.

whatever path you follow into the forest, is generally the same path you follow back out. opiates are NOT WORTH the headfuck, and youre amphetamine addiction will just lay there dormant until you kick the opiates. (IF you can kick them). some people arent so lucky.

running around the speed tree after opiate addiction is extremely common. almost all of the people that end up doing so, were on speed/meth before opiates. its a horrid little path to choose.

Reputation Comments on this post:

This post showed acceptance of addiction and had a descriptive ring of honesty to it that someone that has been there ca...

[Methclinic]

Originally Posted by ex-junkie

^hmm.

swim was an IV amphetamine user when she was a teenager (17-19), and she swapped the witch for the bitch. ended up a IV heroin/methadone addict until she was 26. then after she kicked the opiates, she ended being a methamphetamine addict (oral and later smoker) for around 18 months.

whatever path you follow into the forest, is generally the same path you follow back out. opiates are NOT WORTH the headfuck, and youre amphetamine addiction will just lay there dormant until you kick the opiates. (IF you can kick them). some people arent so lucky.

running around the speed tree after opiate addiction is extremely common. almost all of the people that end up doing so, were on speed/meth before opiates. its a horrid little path to choose.

And what a hoorid little path it is
MC

[~lostgurl~]

Originally Posted by Methclinic

I hate to say this but opiates will eliviate some of your withdrawl pain.
In fact Ive seen someone kik Meth with opiates but then they were hooked
on opiates.Its a lesser of two evils.Im just saying if your in a situation where
you have to function like talk to a judge your boss or something where you have to be coherent a couple of vicodins may help you out.Just dont do them daily.
I know kiking meth is tuff I altered my brain chemistry and was depressed for two years.Meth is the one thing i wish i never would have tried.
MC

Switching one addiction for another is ridiculous. Who can say what the lesser of the 2 evils is or that you won't end up addicted to both. Addiction is not something that should be messed with, there is plenty of help available without resorting to taking up a new drug to replace the old - though this is in fact the mentality of many addicts who want or believe that everything can be fixed with a pill or a drug, most are still searching for this miracle substance.

[BA]

You've gotten a lot of good answers to your "Dealing" with amphetamine withdrawals, I personally can't think of anything additional that would help.

Good luck!

[VashYsk]

Originally Posted by cobetcknncoio3

SWIM knows it's a psychological addiction, and that he could easily just stop anytime. however, he doesn't want to right now, but whenever, for any reason, he can't get it, the withdrawls start gettin really miserable (chronic insomnia, heavy nausea, feelin like passin out after standing for too long, fucked up eating habits, depression, inability to think clearly, total loss of motivation), especially after the long high-dose binges that SWIM likes to indulge in every now and then.

so in a nutshell, SWIM is addicted, but is fine with that, and just wants to know how to deal with the withdrawl symptoms

As long as you don't want to quit because its fun or something you are still in a good part of the forest so be careful until you do decide to come out for good, otherwise you will end up lost in a bad part of the forest, and if you don't want to quit because you need it to function or you can't handle the withdrawal symptoms you are already there.

From what SWYM has gathered from reading here and his friends have told him who don't want him to end up in a bad positions, SWIM noticed everyone mentioned being normal(not tweaking, hygiene, sleep, food, ect)
And even be healthy such as taking vitamins.

The withdrawals might be eased if you could make your tolerance drop a bit. So whenever you start doing it again decrease how much you take at a time and how often you are doing it, that way during your abstinence from it while your brain repaired itself you didn't un do it all when you start again, it should make the withdrawals less intense and save you some money and make it much easier when you do decide to stop for good. I saw an articile somewhere, maybe here on meth tolerance and it listed some drugs which act to reduce keep you from devloping a tolerance or reducing it, I only remember the recreational drugs, the others you would need a script for anyways.

1. Probably the worst choice but they said PCP, people doing a lot of meth have enough problems and I don't think they have room for PCP
2. DXM/Robotussin Releated to PCP in a way this would be better considering its legal and you don't go crazy on it, you do get pretty sick though, and not just from the drug, the couch syrup it is in tastes horrible.
3. Ketamine, probably the best choice seeing as is does't last as long as DXM(K is anywhere from 15 mins to an hour depending upon dose) DXM can last longer than 8 and you don't get sick from it. Plus according to SWIM its fun.

Originally Posted by cyndi

Coffee, coffee, coffee helps swim. Eating well and getting lots of sleep. Vitamins also help. Time again heals all. Swiy shouldn't sub. one drug for another, that would defeat the purpose.

Don't recomend them to substistute one drug for another right after you advocated coffee which contains caffeine the most widely abused substance in the enrire world

VashYsk added 3 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

Opps don't recommend them to not substitute one drug for another right after you advocated coffee to ease the withdrawal

[kailey_elise]

Originally Posted by VashYsk

The withdrawals might be eased if you could make your tolerance drop a bit. I saw an articile somewhere, maybe here on meth tolerance and it listed some drugs which act to reduce keep you from devloping a tolerance or reducing it, I only remember the recreational drugs, the others you would need a script for anyways.

1. Probably the worst choice but they said PCP, people doing a lot of meth have enough problems and I don't think they have room for PCP

2. DXM/Robotussin Releated to PCP in a way this would be better considering its legal and you don't go crazy on it, you do get pretty sick though, and not just from the drug, the couch syrup it is in tastes horrible.

3. Ketamine, probably the best choice seeing as is does't last as long as DXM(K is anywhere from 15 mins to an hour depending upon dose) DXM can last longer than 8 and you don't get sick from it. Plus according to SWIM its fun.

The dextromethorphan you take at 1-2 times the recommended dose (we're talking 15-60mg); it's not a high enough dose that most people feel nauseous on. It's available in tablet & liquid gelcap form as well, so you don't have to drink cough syrup at all.

When taking it to prevent/reverse tolerance (and I've only read about it in regards to opioids, but don't doubt it working with other substances) you don't drink an entire bottle or 7 of cough syrup, like some might to "Robo-Trip" - you're not looking for the dissociative effects at all.

There are good articles about the pain management field using DXM with morphine and codeine to keep the same dose of said medication working longer for the chronically ill who are in chronic pain - I wish I had access to my actual computer to find the links. You could try google if you're interested.

~Kailey Elise

[ex-junkie]

^fairplay, but even a spastic amount of coffee is only going to result in headaches. considering some of the medicines people take to deal with amphetamine withdrawals, coffee is still a massive harm reduction in itself.