Opiate withdrawals

to be frank, if i were ever put in this type of situation where i knew this was the fate that awaited me i would simply never quit. assuming i was using this post as nearly the precise experience i were to have then i would do everything in my power to never, ever fucking stop.

whether it be by getting on methadone for the rest of my life or through any other viable means, I WOULD POSITIVELY NEVER STOP DOING THE DRUGS.

in my mind, it makes no sense to stop once you've reached this point. a fight with not just the short-term withdrawal, but a LIFELONG one with this horror would be too much for me to endure. why would anyone? there is no light at the end of the tunnel - no 'bright side' of the things in this scenario you described. there are people in this world that require eating 40 different pills a day and multiple visits a month to a doctor in order to survive. if i ever reached a point where drug use would result in this kind of prolonged withdrawal and agony, I would simply embrace and accept the fact that this particular drug will simply have to be something i take everyday in order to survive.

 

I kicked a 5 year habit with no pills or anything worst 2 months I ever had still have sick as cravings but that's better then the first week of w/d

 

Getting your balls stomped on by a fat Asian hooker is better than the first week of witdrawals. Heavy use withdrawals has got to be of the most fucked up times a person can intentionally do to one self. I am on Subs, and while I havent taken any opiates since Dec 2011, I dont consider myself drug free, Taking it slow on the taper......

 

I couldn't of said it better my self bottlefed.. That shit was the worst experience ever... that's amazing man how many mg of Subs are you down to? I couldn't afford to tell anyone I was on opiates it would have ruined my life so I couldn't get treated at a methadone clinic so I just said fuck it and stopped cold turkey best decision ever.. BUT I still use here n there. The battle is still not won I suppose :/

 

\And honestly, depending on your habit, Cold turkey is hell for a few days but it does go away, and the odds you will actually die from withdrawals is pretty slim. I did stop cold turkey once cause i wantwed to take a month break. Of course it was the easiest withdrawal by 20x than any other i went through. I guess the mind is a very large part of it! I was down to less than 3mgs/day, but when I had my accident, instead of jumping back on Opiates, I used a tad more subs. i would do .75mgs up the nose like 7-8 times a day. im now getting over that and am back on track currently around 6mgs a day!

 

The withdrawal is different for everyone.
It depends on alot of things.
The type of drug you used.
How much of it you used.
The half life of the drug.
How long you used.
Your state of health as it is without the withdrawals.
Your metabolism.
And probably many other things effect what kind of withdrawal a person goes through. As I said it is different for everyone. But the experiences I have had, I would not wish upon my worst enemy.
The first withdrawal I went through was when I was around 18. I had been given my second knee surgery, and was prescribed 10 mg of hydrocodone. I took this for about 3 months. I noticed as time went by, I needed more and more of the drug in order to relieve my pain. And just to feel normal.
At this time I didn't know much about the drug, the effects of it, the addiction, or any of that. I was completely innocent towards all of this information. No one told me about it.
The surgeon that prescribed this to me then cut me off of it. No tapering. No warning. No nothing. Just taking away.
The symptoms seemed to be just like a bad flu. I was tired and didn't really feel like doing anything. My body felt like it had been hit by a truck repeatedly. And sleeping was almost impossible.
And this was just the first withdrawal. As time went on by, I got into taking up to 100mg or more of Hydrocodone. Just to feel normal. And relieve the bone disease that I had been diagnosed with.
I got to the point that I would be able to go through an entire bottle of pills that was supposed to last for a month, in about 5-7 days, and this was 120 pills, 10mg a month prescription.
The withdrawal from this after taking it for about a year was horrible. It was the worst pain that I had ever experienced in my entire life.

Day 1 - The anxiety was the worst of the symptoms. The fact that my brain kept trying to think of ways to get more of the drug. I would of probably of done anything just to get that pill. The fact that I knew the withdrawal symptoms was soon to come was a horrible feeling that made the anxiety and cravings for the drug so much worse. The sleep I got was alright, but not a "good" sleep, it was more of a restless sleep. This is officially the last normal sleep I got until the withdrawals were gone.

Day 2 - I wake up. At first I think everything is alright but then as I awaken fully I notice that things are definitely not alright. There is a headache pulsing in my head. It feels like one of the worst migraines I have ever had. Later on in the day, I felt nothing but tired and just wanted to sleep. But I couldn't. It was impossible. I would lie down only to get peaceful, and quiet, and my thoughts were racing. Then I notice there is a weird feeling in my right elbow. This slowly progressed to a awful restless sensation that even becomes painful. This builds up over time until I have no choice but to slap my arms around on the bed. The feeling is gone...for a few seconds. This process repeats. Until I noticed the same things is going on with my legs, and then my entire body. I have no choice but to flop around on my bed like a fish out of water. Almost like break dancing in bed. I know that sounds hilarious and stupid, but it's not, or atleast it wasn't for me. It was utter hell. So I surrender to the fact that sleep is just not going to come, so I get up, and notice every single part of me is aching. It's a dull ache, but it's enough for me to notice it. I knew I should eat something, but I just wasn't hungry. The thought of food made me want to throw up. The best I could manage was to chug some apple juice down. And maybe eat a piece of bread or something. But anything that I put in my mouth tasted so awful. It was disgusting, and made me nauseated.

Day 3 - I noticed that my nose was runny all the time. I had to just keep sniffing and sniffing and sniffing, but that didn't help. I blew and wiped my nose atleast 100 times, until my nose was red and raw...But still, there was somehow more stuff running out of my nose. Then came the excessive yawning for no reason. I just felt like yawning out of nowhere, and I couldn't make the feeling stop, so I would end up involuntarily yawning. My eyes also became watering, It looked like most of the time I had just gone done crying. The body aches that were a dull pain, were now feeling like something someone would probably feel on their death bed after falling off a huge building and surviving it and lying in the hospital bed waiting to die. The restlessness, that was once only when I laid down, was now a constant feeling, that even moving couldn't manage to hold back for more than a few seconds. The feeling would just keep building and building until I wanted to smash my head repeatedly into a door to knock myself out. I was depressed. Miserable. And felt like I was going to die. And to be honest, At this point, I wanted to die. But it got worse... I noticed that even though I hadn't eaten anything in the past days... I had to go to the bathroom. I nearly almost didn't make it. And when I sat down on the toilet. Then came the explosive, painful diarrhea. I would get done, wipe, and have to wipe and wipe and wipe until I was sore and bleeding. I'd leave the bathroom only to run back after about 10 minutes. I never knew someone could have so much shit inside them. At this point I began to sweat as if I had worked out for hours. It didn't matter what I did... sweat poured and poured. And the smell, oh god the smell. It smelt like I had gone diving into a sewer system fishing for gold or something. Showering didn't help. Staying cool didn't help. Nothing helped. Then I began to get cold chills and hot flashes. One moment I would be near the point of freezing with sweat pouring off of me, and the next minute I would be burning up and sweating profusely. It got to the point to where I considered pulling up a chair next to the thermostat and staying by it in order to adjust the temperature just to get a tiny bit of relief.

Day 4 - The symptoms from the day before continued. I was agitated, and on the edge of losing it. I wished that I would just drop dead. Anything to get me out of the miserable state that I was in. My stomach was also cramping. My butt was sore from all the explosive diarrhea that I was having. These four days felt like a eternity of pain. That had no end. No escape. That I would have to live with for the rest of my life. On this day, even my teeth hurt. Every single bone, muscle, and nerve in my body was sensitive to pain and screaming in agony. Begging for some sort of relief. At this point... I was going through cabinets, doing everything that I possibly could to try and find some relief. I begged for some sort of relief. I was willing to down anything in order to get some sort of relief. Even advil and other things that agitated my chrons looked so damn good to me at that point. Still no sleep.

Day 5 - The symptoms continued... It seemed that they were still not letting up. At this point, I'm so pissed. It got to the point I was having an emotional breakdown at everything. My mood and emotions was all over the place. Mood swings all the damn time. Every few minutes. I could watch a commercial on TV, see something on tv, hear something in a song, hear something someone else said, or think of something, even if it wasn't anything sad... I would burst into a ocean of tears. And had no control over it. I was beginning to punch the bed. The couch. The walls, anything that would cause self inflicted pain to relieve the mental and physical pain of the withdrawal. Self inflicted pain felt much better than the withdrawal pain. My body was still restless. And now there was more symptoms to add to the diarrhea, the nausea, the aches, the chills, everything that I was already going through. This is when my body temperature went really out of wack. So now on top of feeling like I'm either freezing to death and sweating to death at the same time, or having the god awful hot flashes. I was now experiencing goosebumps. They would go all over my body, forcing me to shake, not a inch of my body was spared.

Day 6 - This did not seem like it was ever going to clear up. And I could not take it anymore. I was beginning to fall into the worse sort of depression that I had ever felt in my entire life. I was started to contemplate suicide because it was that bad. The mental part of it and the physical part combined had turned me into a crazed person by day 6. And I feared that there would be no relief in the world besides popping more of the pills or just offing myself. This is when I knew I had to do something and that I couldn't ride it out anymore. I had tried. And just couldn't This is where I broke down. I just wasn't strong enough to go through with it. I had expected from what I had read that by this day the withdrawals would be getting much better, but it never did. By this time, the best I could do was have a blanket and pillow on the couch while I just laid there, kicking and squirming around, crying, watching tv, or running to the bathroom in order to keep from having the explosive shits all in my pants. This is the day that I broke down and gave into the fact that I was addicted. And that I would probably have to be on some sort of opiate for the rest of my life, or atleast a maintance drug, because the withdrawals are something I am not able to withstand. Even with the strong mind frame that I had. Even with the courage to go through with it. And even with the wanting to quit, it was impossible for me to do. And this is the day I broke down and got more pills. Because I could not bare the withdrawal I was having anymore.

Sadly, what I have posted above from my own experiences, happens to more people that some would like to imagine. Many people think that just by being mentally strong, and having the will to get off the drug is all that is needed for them to get sober and off of the pills. It's not. When faced to face with that beast, it will chew you up, and spit you out, and do it repeatedly and laugh in your face at your willpower and determination. The above was done cold turkey. I did not taper. I did not have anything to help me. Though I have tried tapering and have tried other methods for getting off of it, to keep me from suffering as much as I did then, I still was not able to get off of the pills. Tapering didn't work because even lowering the dose a tiny bit for me caused severe withdrawal symptoms. And the other things that I tried barely held back the withdrawal, exacerbated the symptoms, or did nothing at all. I wish I had the strength and power to get off of the stuff, but I don't.

So to sum up my reply to your question is.. Opiate withdrawal is probably what it would feel like in my own personal hell. That would be a sure fire way to torture me.

 

Every tried suboxone Yenihimi ^? With a long taper the withdrawals aren't near as bad as you described. Shit my 120mg oc habit withdrawals wern't as bad as you described in some aspects but i know how shitty it is.

 

I thought about it. But then I looked up that Suboxone is worse than hydrocodone and that the withdrawals from it can be even worse. Last thing I need is two problems.

 

Ya I've only heard one incident were a dude died from getting a brain hemmorage from w/d but haven't heard anything else oh and he was hooked on that brown eyes girl:.. Anywho wow man I respect you it's so hard for me to quit I passed the part where I get withdrawels because I cut oxys out of my life and opana .. So I'm using recreationally but I don't wanna get hooked again its definately. Mental like my brain reminds me how bomb it help... It sucks ass.. Wow is it possible to snort subs!?!!?

 

Where*

Idk why I can't type fast on these message boards through my iPhone without it misspelling a bunch of shit cause it lags -_- POS!

 

Yenihime, that was a pretty good description of the process, probably the best one I've seen on this forum, down to the last detail. At day 6 you were just about through it, though. I'd say another day, or maybe two and it would have started to taper off. My experiences weren't quite that bad, but the drug I use is Hydrocodone. By the 7th day mine were pretty much over. But the rest of that description is very accurate. The part I really hated was the insomnia and rolling around in bed with RLS. And I was even taking Trazodone for sleep and Xanax, and I still couldn't sleep. And the racing thoughts part is accurate too. For me, I would get a song stuck in my head and I couldn't get rid of it. Then I read about Loperimide that's the active ingredient in Imodium, and I tried that. About 16mg per day, which probably wasn't enough, but it helped somewhat. Then I heard about Gabapentin, and that was pretty close to a cure. With that all I have is some mild cravings and diarrhea, which is controlled with Imodium.

 

Hydrocodone was the same thing I tried going off of. Though I have a feeling the reason it was so bad for me was a mix of things. As my body already has some problems in the endorphin and dopamine department. Also in the bowel department. And with the fact that I've been diagnosed with fibromialgia, have bulging disc, degenerative bone disease, and some other things. So I think this complicated the experience.

I've also tried the xanax method. That didn't do much for me except make me fail a drug test. That was fun trying to explain off... Immodium,I've tried as well, the only shame in it is that it doesn't cross the BBB (Blood Brain Barrier), I've taken up to about 90mg of the stuff, maybe 100, as we can get large bottles here at our Dollar Generals for pretty cheap. Not brand name, but with same ingredient, Loperamide. Though that did not have much of a effect on me, probably because I have Chrons' disease. Which is the bowel problem I mentioned.

I've also tried a bunch of other things, as far as otc and prescription help goes. I've also tried tapering as I stated. Both with medications and just plain raw cold turkey, or tapering... I have no either no luck with anything or very little. Why, I'm not sure. I've read how tons of people have had plenty of success with different recipes, like the Thomas Recipe. I myself didn't get much out of it. Maybe I am just one of those unlucky people.

And I know my was alot more severe than it should of been, though the above I stated probably has something to do with that along with the fact I had a REALLY bad habit. And I knew that usually the withdrawals would begin to get better around Days 5-10, And at day 6, When it hadn't gotten better, I began to question if I had permanently screwed myself up.

Most of the symptoms I can handle, the worst of it for me was the restlessness. Restless Legs? My ass! Try restless body. That was the worst symptom out of all of it. I could handle smelling like crap. I could handle being cuddled and laying in puddles of sweat. I could handle the nausea, I could handle crawling to the toilet every 10 minutes with explosive diarrhea, ass on toilet, head in trashcan puking. I could handle all of those other symptoms except the restlessness. The insomnia I could deal with, as I was already used to staying up for long periods at a time... But with the restlessness, You start considering very odd thoughts about ways to relieve it.

The withdrawal that I posted about was unmedicated, and cold turkey, which also might have to do with the length and the severity. Below is some of the other things I've tried. Both prescription and over the counter. It might not of helped me, but it might help someone else. I might just be one of the lucky few, and if I can prevent someone from going through the nightmares I went through, then all the better. No one deserves the pain I went through.

Immodium (Loperamide) - Going to need a pretty high dose of this, but alot of people have had good experiences with this stopping most of their withdrawal symptoms and keeping that diarrea from starting. Or stopping it after it has started. My only few warning is, the kind I took, which was the store name, the kind that is cheap and you get tons of the pills... When you take it. Be prepared for it to dissolve in your mouth very quickly and taste extremely horrible. I remember downing about 40-50 of these pills. Using in 10-20 increments. And the taste almost made me puke. So that is the only bad thing about the pills. Also I noticed that it left a horrible taste in my mouth, so eating anything was out of the question. Even drinking anything tasted pretty raunchy.

Benzos (Xanax and Valiums category) - Should help calm you down. Relieve some of the anxiety that is going on, possibly calm the restlessnes, or atleast mask it. Help with sleep, if you take enough of it to knock you out. Though be careful when doing this. My experience with this is... It just left me feeling drugged and extremely tired. So, now I was going through withdrawals while feeling doped up and fatigued. Another tip is... be careful how long you take it. Only use it when you really have to. The last thing you want is to trade one addiction for another.

Ambien - Supposed to be to help put you to sleep and knock you out and keep you asleep. I tried taking this. Again, just like with the benzos, just left me with a feeling of being doped and exhausted. The feeling of begging for sleeping because of how exhausted I was, yet the withdrawal still prevented it. Again, use caution if you take it, as it can be habit forming and again, you don't want to trade one addiction for another.

Tramadol - Some people have success with taking this, though it's usually at a very high doseage, 200+ Mg. Some say it raises your mood level and motivation. It could also become an addiction because of its effect on opiate receptors. So it's not safe by any means, but can be used for tapering. I tried taking this and it did nothing for me except made me sick to my stomach and give me a awful headache.

Ibuprofen/ Motrin - Can help relieve aches and pains. This wasn't very effective for me. I would have to take a extremely large dose that could end up screwing my liver up very easy.

Multivitamins - This one actually did help me somewhat and helped with the restlessness a bit. I was taking the fruit gummies type that you can by at walmart. I was taking alot more than what was recommended. But it did help with some of the withdrawal, but still not enough to make my withdrawal manageable.

Clonidine - Works for some. Doesn't for others. It might help with the chills, sweating and temperature related symptoms. Though it might also cause pretty bad restless legs, or exacerbate the already restlessness you have. I have not tried this one, seeing as I can't get my hands on it, And after reading it may might the restlessness worst, I would be very hesistant to even give it a go.

DXM - Some people will chug a bunch of DXM down while in withdrawal to help the mental aspect and also the physical aspect. I did this a few times, kind of a way to get my mind off of the suffering... Though it just left me very really akward, uncomfortable, and zoned out of it, but still withdrawing.

Diphenhydramine - Some use it to get sleep, or to get messed up on. Biggest mistake of my life. This made my restlessness and paranoia shoot over the roof. I don't advise it.

Seroquel - Supposed to knock you out, and is good for sleep. I never tried this during withdrawal giving the fact when I was younger I used to take this stuff and had very negative reactions to it.

Gabapentin - I've also tried taking this. In a high dose range, about 3,000MG, it did help somewhat, but not completely. Still leaving the withdrawal unmanageable.

Hot Showers/Hot Baths - This does give some temporary relief for the aches and restlessness, and makes the sweating unnoticeable. So take all the showers/baths you can manage.

Hylands Restful Legs - Homeopathy for restless legs. I never found it to work too good during withdrawal. But it might help someone else.

Magnesium/Potassium - Can help with the restlessness. Though too much magnesium will end up leaving your diarrhea even worse.

Milk Thistle - Can help clean your liver out and detox the liver. Getting the withdrawals over maybe a little quicker.

Quinine/Tonic Water - Can help with the restless legs.

Pacing/Rocking back and forth - Might sound weird. But the pacing can keep the restless pains at bay for as long as you keep moving. And Rocking back and forth is sort of a mental comfort. Or atleast for me it is. I think most people do this instinctively though when going through withdrawal hell.

I'm sure there are other things in here that I've forgot to include, but this is a pretty good list and about the most I can think of at the moment.

 

I'd gladly try this. If only I could find somewhere reliable to buy it. And also there is that whole illegal factor in Tenneessee.

 

I did use Tramadol once for wd's and it worked. I mean, it should, because it hits on the same receptors as other opiates, even though it's not an opiod itself. It metabolizes into substances that have a better affinity for opiate receptors than Tramadol itself, although it's still not very strong. I just rely on the Gabapentin (Neurontin). It works really well for me. It has side effects in itself, but they're manageable. An even better one is Lyrica (Pregabalin), which is much more potent than Gabapentin. I didn't take more than 2mg of Xanax when I was going through it. Maybe if I had increased the dosage I might have been able to sleep, I don't know.

 

Late post is late. And yeah, I've tried tramadol before, because a doctor didn't want to give my hydrocodone or any of the other stuff, and back then they thought that the tramadol was 100 percent safe. Well I took it,I had given it about 2 months to work. But I never seen any kind of relief from it. It only gave me some awful migraine headache. And made me nauseaous. I looked into Gabapentin at one point in time, it was good for restlessness, Don't get me wrong, it worked like a charm for my restless leg syndrome. But I started reading about the reports people had after going off of it, and knew that it would just be another problem if I took that. I've never tried Lyrica. Not even sure how that works, but have read some good things about it. And Xanax, I've had Xanax before, it was great for Anxiety, and when in withdrawal it was good. Though I no longer go to the psychitriast that I got that from. Also another thing I'd like to point out with the Tramadol, it seemed to be all side effects to me and no release. When I stopped taking it after about 2 months, I went through some of the weirdest, shittiest withdrawals I've ever been through. It landed my in the hospital for about a week. I had some of the weirdest bowel movements. It wasn't diarrhea, and it wasn't normal, it was this weird doughy stuff. It was awful. It was just the worth thing I think I have ever taking, mainly because I was told it was 100 percent safe, and that no addiction, or withdrawal or any of that stuff could ever happen on Tramadol, I found out the hardway.