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@Becky i am right there with you. I am also too old to be doing this  again. the mind is what we need to fix and work on. its what keeps us going back to the pain meds. When i do get off the pain meds  5-6 roxycodone a day sometimes more for the last 2 12 yrs. the wd is HELL and no one who hasnt been through this can't really understand. so this time i am working on the mind. To keep my mind very strong to stay off the opiates. its the no energy that makes me go back. I feel so depressed and so tired i end up doing one pill that turns into 2 and 3 and 4.. so this time i am trying to work on my mind to keep it strong!! Praying to a higher power and giving my will to a higher power is helping. I am on day 3 . i know its hard, so hard. i am wishing you the best and hope all goes well for you. i ordered the kratom tea leaves but the havent arrived yet. also taking st. johns wort 3 times a day for depression. gabupentin is good if you have restless leg but nothing seems to help with sleep. i have tried everything out there. it works one day but then nothing. if you can keep your mind occupied with something other than the pills, we might have a chance this itme
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i also got addicted from a dr for a neck injury. wasn't told how addicting it was. because the dr's want to make sure you come back every 28 days and pay that money to them. they are just legal drug dealers. melatonin helps with sleep for most people, and any otc meds for flu like nyquil or alka-seltzer for flu will help with the chills and aches. St johns wort is good for depression also. keep the mind strong. the physical will pass but the mind will play with you because the brain wants the opiates. stay strong!! you can do it
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I've been off Suboxone for 10 days & I have found it very helpful reading all of these posts. I have been addicted to Subs for almost 2 years & I have had a very hard time with withdraws. I have took Baclofen, Neurotins, and ibprofen & it has helped a lot with the withdraws. Also I don't think I could of quit without Jesus Christ in my life. My relationship has grown since I quit subs. Addiction to drugs & alcohol will put a barrier between you & God & also with family & friends. Choosing to quit will open up the world to you so be strong & know your not in it alone. Praise Jesus :)
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Kratom has been shown very effective in treating opiate withdrawal symptoms. It is not directly an opiate itself but acts on the receptors similar to other drugs with a less severe withdrawal.  ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed***

 

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I was an opiate user for about 5 mnths (i know others were on it a lot longer than i was) but i was determined to get off the stuff because i was just tired of a pill running my life.  this is a method i've come up with and hope it helps anyone who tries it. first i took the basic formula of the Thomas Recipe (L-Tyrosine, B-6, strong multi vitamin, other vitmains for mood enhancers Immodium) and added my own little twist to it.  i started taking a strong thermogenic (oxyelite pro)twice a day to boost my metabolic rate to get the opiates out of my system quicker and speed up the withdrawl symptoms.  this also gives you more energy than any energy drink or anything else you can take i find for energy.  you can find thermogenics at any GNC, smoothie king.  and each day drink at least 2 smoothies with protien and antioxidents. well the first day was downright miserable and the first night i may have slept 2 or 3 hrs, don't know if it was my body hyped up on the thermo or just that it was the normal part of the withdrawl symptoms.  2nd day was very bearable, i was able to get out and jog/walk 2 miles, this in return made me create natural dopemine and made me feel great.  in fact after doing that, i felt almost normal the rest of the day except for the occassional goose bumps.  but i decided that i needed to sleep the 2nd night just to recharge my body so i took some benzo's to help me sleep and i can say i only woke up once during the night.  the 3rd day i was almost normal with slight body chills, but did some physical activity and got in a sauna to help expel more of those bad toxins.  by the 4th day i can say i was normal as could be, my mood was great, wanted to be around people and was finally myself again after 6 mnths of being a different person.  i hope this works for anyone that reads it and wish you all the luck on your battle with the addiction
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I don't even know where to begin but I can say I feel for everyone here posting. The support here is great. About 5 years ago I moved away from my parents, met some people and started experimenting with almost every drug. They were fun at the time But nothing I felt I wanted to do constantly untill.... Heroin. I had a rough childhood and a rough string of relationships. When I met up with heroin it made me feel great. it made me feel happy again. I forgot all my pains of depression and anger of the past and I kept using. I got up to using 15 bags or more a day for almost 2 years and I hid it very well. During the last 6 months of it I hated life. I didn't know why I should even be alive and I wanted to quit only I couldn't. If I quit i would hurt so bad I wouldn't be able to work and thus lose my house. Later on I was fired and it was very upsetting but at the same time I was releaved. I knew I could I could kick this horrible habit. So I then made the choice to quit cold turkey. I turned off my cell phone. Locked my doors and lied in bed and proceeded to quit cold turkey. It was the worse feeling I have ever felt in my entire life for two weeks. Towards the end of it all, my ex girlfriend and love of my life came to visit me. She somehow heard what I was going thru and said she wanted to help. After her coming back into my life made me happy again and feel like I never needed a drug again. Well recently she ended it with me and left me for someone else. Depressed again I relapsed after 1 year sober. Not on heroin but roxy 30s. I will never do H again. I've been doing 4 to 5 roxys a day for 4 months now and I started watching intervention. It made me realize how happy I was sober and miserable using. Not happy just because of the girlfriend but because I was living my life and doing me. I didn't need drugs to do it. So I decided to quit drugs again. My last roxy was 20 hours ago and I'm getting ready for the pain. I know it won't be as bad as my first kick but it will suck and I have work again in 2 days. Not good. But what I really came on here to say is I've been there. I know what everyone is going through. I know opiates make you feel great and forget problems and numb pain physical and mental. It's an escape but being sober for that year I was happy and didn't need drugs. Im ashamed I started again and after this I will never again. If I kicked it anyone out there can. There's always hope. Once sober find what makes you happy. Get out, have fun. When I kicked H I dropped everyone I knew that involved themselves with drugs and that helped a lot to. Opiates might make you feel like they bring out a person in you you always felt you wanted to be. Happier, more outgoing, fun and exciting. They probably make a boring day better and not boring but it's all fake and a mask. You can be that person without help from drugs. That person you like on drugs is hidden inside you wanting to come out while you are sober. You just need to find yourself and find what makes you happy. Just do you, sober. Ifyou fell like you need to use come on here and post, we are here for you. Well enough rambling. Wish me luck on this WD coming up. But hey that's what I get. Oh and sorry for the typos I typed this all on a smartphone haha. Good luck everyone! I'll be checking in regularly.
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I have had a long on and off relationship with drugs in general. my opiate use began when i was given my first perc 5 after a break up when i was 16 by a "friend" to "make me feel better"... since then i did all kinds of different types of drugs for the following three years. i did EVERYTHING. i am truely blessed to be alive. then i got pregnant when i was 19 and stopped doing everything. i didnt smoke weed anymore, nothing...bc i wanted my child to be healthy. i dont remember going through any real withdrawls (maybe i just chalked it up to mirning sickness, maybe it was because i was alternating different drugs so much i wasnt depending on one sset drug i dont know). i stayed clean for over two years and had anothere child when i was 21. the day my second child was born, theyput me on pain meds for the pain of just having a baby (i had denied them with my first child). i have been backed being hooked ever since... it started off really small, just what i was prescribed. and then my boyfriend got huhrt on the job and got prescribed vicodin and my "best friend" was on pec 5s. they wewre both giving me what i would ask for freely. i never had to search it out and never had to pay for it. i was only taking one pill a day at the most. i felt great! i could do all my housework, work full time, take care of my kids, and still have eneregy leftover, but i still knew that i was getting myself into a mess. fast forward two years to today and i am now coming off of h. its so weird to acknowledge it considering the ONLY person that knows the truth is my "friend" that got me started on it. i lost my job due to completely other circumstances and the money became short to where i couldnt afford my pill habit anymore and it seemed so much cheaper. i was doing a 1/4 of a $20 bag a day and it didnt seem so bad really at the time even though i KNEW better. last week, i decided it was time to quit and i made it three days and was actually beginning to feel a bit better and then my childrens father gave me two vike 7.5s and i took them thinking it wouldnt really do any harm and i would be able to get rid of my backpain that i have from a car accident. well from there it made me want to get a roxy 30 which i did all of it in one day (yesterday) and didnt even feel anything from it. and now im back at square one feeling like a complete loser for taking that first pill. i even tried to cope dope, but thankfully couldnt find any. if i had just stuck it out this would be day FIVE and i would be pretty much done. i cant believe i didnt stick it out. today hasnt been bad. last night was rough i only got three hours of sleep and tossed and turned in pain and RLS. ive been reading these posts all day and it has helped me so much and been inspiring! ive taken lots of vitamins and walked a lot outside and it really did help a lot. just to get the mind on other things is great. i know i can do this and i cant wait to feel like my old self again. just a couple more days and ill be done with the physical stuff!! :-) p.s. also, i drank an energy drink this morning and also took quite a bit of vitamins on an emtpy stomach and i wouldnt suggest that...i got reeeeally dizzy and felt like i was going to pass out! be careful! :) thank you to everyone for the inspiration!!!
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This is day two of heroin withdrawls for me. I've been here before. I was clean for two years and recently got involved with H again. I suffer from Colitis which is a painful bowel disease and opiates are the only thing that can relieve the pain, but I'm sick and tired of chasing my dealer around and spending all of my hard earned money on this stuff. I suppose you could say I'm a functional addict. Nobody knows I struggle with this. It feels like a deep dark secret that I'm too ashamed to share with anybody else. Its an extremely lonely feeling. The only reason I'm going through WD is because the money's run out. I've lost everything I own. I've lost my car, my home, my girlfriend, my friends, and I've alienated my family. Please, people, for the love of God, don't mess around with opiates. There are other ways to treat pain. Marijuana is the only thing that takes the edge off, but its only a replacement and only helps a little. I'm in hell right now. I know from experience it takes my body 2 weeks to finally feel normal again. I've got a long way to go. I just hope I can stick with it this time. Best of luck to all of you. You're not alone.
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I too have been an opiate addict for a couple years now, I can't tell you how many I look back and think how did I get here? I've been clean from them for going on 11days only a 1mg suboxone every other day if needed, the first week sucked major balls, and I admit I smoked a lil green to help with anxiety ( which it does ) I don't advocate smoking it but I have for many many years and have never had a problem with it, like I did with Opiates, so green is the least of my worries in reality. I also take 1mg klonopin if needed to help me sleep at night, which works like a dream. I'm prescribed the klonopins monthly so I don't have to worry about running out. Those things and the support of my husband who is also WD ing from Opiates like me is soooo helpful. I don't know where I'd be without him truly he is my savior despite the fact he's going through the same thing I am, We both keep inspiring the other to keep going when one of us is having a bad day the other jumps in and hugs the other and says it will pass and everything will be ok ( that helps so much to have someone to hold you and reassure you ), also I found a concert he would LOVE to go to so I brought it home showed him the paper and said this is what we eat when we choose those horrible things over life, we miss out on fun one time things like this! It struck a cord with both of us and we haven't looked back,  now 11 days later the worst is over it's just the mental part that is hard, the thinking about them constantly wondering " oh maybe it's been long enough that if I just take one I'll be ok " yea dream world, once you relapse you relapse and your back on the bad road. Trust me I know it sucks now but just imagine ALL the things you can do with the $$ you'll have and the life waiting for you. I went 2 years without anyone knowing my problem but my husband and to this day him and I both have told no one about the issue or us stopping all together we feel it would be safer that way. I hope everyone makes it through the other side, just always know you're not alone, alot of us go through it and if you just get up everyday and say to yourself " pull myself up and do it " you can! reading everyone's stories even helps keep me going on the right path, we all can do it, it's just a matter of taking the responsiblity in knowing the after will suck but won't last forever, it will get easier and better. You have to believe in yourself know that you are better than this, that you once were someone else and how much you miss that person you used to be. I can say I've never resorted to H I fear needles like nothing else in the world so I refuse to even acknowledge it. Don't let something literally a thing take control over you! take back your life, you won't believe the wonderful feeling in knowing you MADE IT! and I believe we all can! God Bless and Good Luck to All!!!!!! <3

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Reading this gave me hope. I have been struggling with hydro and oxy addiction for over 10yrs. The last 6 months i keep trying to stop and then i go right back. Longest i made it was 17 days. But i have to do this or I won't be around much longer. My tolerance is through the roof. I just wanted to say thanks.
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i ahve been abusing oxy for maybe 2 years now. before is was all fun and games took small doses maybe 60 mg for a few days quit for a week and come back to it. however the past 6 months, ive lost all control. at my peak i could smoke 15 pills of 30 mgs a day and wake up the next day just chasing that high. about a month ago i quit cold turkey, after bingeing the hardest ive ever binged. the withdrawal was frikkin hell on earth, frikkin jus counting the minutes. i knew if i could make it outta the first week i was free and i did. it took so much to do that and i was sooo happy again, i felt normal full of energy and high on life. yet i always had cravings to go back to it. finally after being sober for about 2 weeks, i fell again, into a black hole. now its more than ever. now its gotta hold of me stronger than ever, its running my life. its so hard to quit again i swear. anyways, im longing for that soberness again. that high on life feeling. i was to go back to being happy without oxy.

this my 2nd day of withdrawal, it feels like an eternity. i dont know how i made it through the night last night. i keep grabbing my phone wanting to relapse but im tryin to stay strong.  god bless all u guys..

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As of today I have made it one week with out using. I'm in no way "out of the woods" but i woke up today and felt more like me than I have in years. It's an amazing feeling. I've been taking daily vitamins and supplements as well as Valerian root and melatonin in the evenings to help me wind down and sleep. Daily vitimin see has been wonderful in helping my body get back to normal. Now its all in my head. Which is even scarier than the dependency because I've never done well unsupervised.
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  I am an addict. My active addiction lasted about 6 years of almost daily use.   I have been clean for over 3 years now.  3+ years without a drink of alcohol, a benzo, narcotic, or even marijuana.  I strongly suggest that if one is trying to quit, asking for help.  It is the best thing that I ever did!  I found that I was completely hopeless and totally incapable of getting clean on my own.  I found treatment centers and 12 Step Programs (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Cocaine Anonymous) invaluable.  It was amazing to be able to relate to others and get support that I didn't even know was available.  What is the point of using another substance to come off of what you are already using?  That is just trading one drug for another.  Also, the truth is that no substance is only "slightly" addictive.... it is like being "a little bit pregnant."  It either is addictive or it isn't.   WHich substances are more "addictive" (i.e. appealing) to which addict is stirictly contingent upon the individual and their chemical make-up... that is how we develop our drug of choice (DOC).    The bottom line is that there IS HOPE.  If I can recover, then anyone can!  Seek help!  THat is the key.  Truth is that none of us are really ever alone.  There are more out there.  The scariest part is taking the first step. 
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I have post both on this thread and the old one so many times. I used it to chronicle my various withdrawals from opiates. You see, my usage pattern was not constant. It was a week or two on, a few months off... a week or two on, a few months off.. over and over again. I would always taper my dosage down. I was very good at tapering, it was just the staying off part.

Eventually I got sick of it and checked myself into a rehab program. This is not going to be a 12 step testimonial. The program and the meetings helped me at first. But after 100+ meetings I started to feel very uncomfortable and pressured. What did praying every day and "getting on my knees" have to do with not using? I have always been extremely grateful, even while using. I tried two sponsors, both were difficult and not examples of who I wanted to be. Over time I cut back on my attendance at meetings. Furthermore, I was not going to have my use of Suboxone challenged by a bunch of holier than thous. What medication you take is only between you, your doctore and the loved once you chose to share what you are prescribed with. People in 12 step meetings are not "experts" at staying clean. The 12 steps are not "infallible" and they are not for everyone.   I occasionally attend SMART recovery online meetings. Those help. Anyways I digress..

At that program I was able to start taking Suboxone. I can testify right now that Suboxone was one of the major keys in me not using. Sub+A true and strong desire to quit (something I often said here, I did want to quit, but not enough) allowed me to finally make the turn away from using. I have not used anything, even pot or beer for OVER A YEAR. I have made a promise to myself to not use anything for a length of time. I will never use a hard drug ever again. I need to be very careful if I do decide to go have a beer with friends. Right now, its in my best interests to not use anything.

Anyways, it is hard, but at the same time its much easier than I thought it would be. After I got past 3 months, it felt like I was on cruise control. After 6 months, I didn't really consider myself an "addict" anymore. I rarely ever crave, sometimes I think "a beer would be nice" but I cannot have one now. There are far worse things in life.

When I was withdrawing before I got on Suboxone, I often would use beer and marijuana to get myself off. These helped, but they are nowhere near as effective as proper medication from a doctor. If you are in trouble, do not be afraid to tell someone. The rehab program I went to helped me out quite a bit and taught me how to form my own program.

I may be lucky, I have seen many from my program relapse. In fact, I am only one of two who have not relapsed from the group I started with. I am slowly tapering my suboxone and am currently at half my dose. I intend to get off of it at some point, but it is going to be a very slow taper. I already know I respond well to tapers from my using days.

Anyways, I just want to let everyone know that they have an inner-strength that they can draw on to help them through this. It is inside you. Figure out how you are going to get clean. Go to meetings, give them a shot. If they start to make you uncomfortable, than find other activities. You need to keep yourself busy.

If you do relapse, do not beat yourself up too much. Of course, try not too. I was trying to get myself off for at least two years, I look back on my quits (which later lead to relapse) as improtant practice time. I proved to myself that I could live life without opiates, I just need a little extra help to make that permament. 

You are worth it! As I have said before, Do Whatever It Takes! 
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It all started with arthritus in my knees and ankles.. I started taking 10 mg of oc about everyday.. I was taking it for a few months then just stopped.. No withdrawals or nothing.. Then I got back into it with all kinds of stuff.. no herion tho thankfully.. I recently tried to stop but i just get too weak too the point where i cant even lift my head off the couch.. I stop eating and drinking and sleeping.. Im scared im gonna kill myself faster by stoppin cold turkey.. I want to quit, believe me.. The worst thing for me is the hot/cold sweats and cramps.. a few of my friends do not know what being "sick" is all about so they tell me just to suck it up and stop.. man do i wish it was that easy.. I haven't took anything hard with in the last few months and by that i mean like oc, but im still having a hard time stopping..I have that mental image all around me, and i cant just pick up and leave.. I have responsibilites to tend to. I want a better life and i dont want to be at the gateway to herion any longer.. Everyday I tell myself this is going to be the day, I wish I could just wake up when its all over.. I can't do this anymore.. Any suggestions other than stoppin cold turkey because that is not an option for me, like i said i would probably die.. I have thought about trying subdetox im just afraid to go and don't really have the extra cash right now.. PLEASE SHOW ME THE LIGHT!
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